NUMB

Day Twelve - Elyse

Edie has been doing her best keeping herself composed over the past few days, but she keeps slipping. She never seems to get angry, only upset. She cries a lot when it is just the two of us. I do not know what to tell her to make her feel better. All I can do is hug her.

I walk into class by myself, since Edie told me she was going to use the bathroom first. I take my seat by the window and look down on the courtyard. The Wardens in the courtyard now carry bigger guns. They keep them on straps over their shoulders. I turn my attention to the door and watch the other students come in and sit down. Mrs. B shows up and Edie still isn't here.

I get up, walk to the front of the class and tap Mrs. B's shoulder to get her attention. She turns and looks at me, smiles a little. "Elyse. What can I do for you?"

"Edie isn't here. She said she was going to the bathroom. Should I go check on her?"

She seems hesitant, but says yes anyway. I thank her, leave the classroom. The hallways are empty and each of my steps echoes off the laminated floors. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway and I can see from where I am that the door is open. There are voices coming from it. I pick up my pace.

When I reach the door, I see Edie. She is not alone. There are two other girls in there with her, a Two and a Three. They are all arguing. Edie's face is flushed with color and her hands are shaking by her sides. I step in before things can escalate further.

"Edie, there you are." I reach out and grab her lightly by the wrist. You can tell that she tries not to flinch at the contact. "Class is starting. I told Mrs. B I would come find you." I give her arm a gentle tug and she turns away from the other girls.

I recognize the Two as we leave the bathroom. Her empty eye is shut this time. She smiles at me and wiggles her fingers. I turn my gaze ahead of me.

Edie yanks her arm away from me and folds her arms over her chest, tucking her hands under her them. "Thanks, but I had that situation under control." She side eyes me.

"I do not doubt it. But that girl in there," I glance over my shoulder at the bathroom as we walk away from it, "the Two. She's one of the ones that had a violent outburst in the courtyard the other day. Krysta."

Edie watches her feet as we near the classroom. "I can't go in there right now. I'm not...I'm not in control of myself, Elyse. My emotions are all over the place. I got so angry at those girls in there." She looks up at me, dropping her hands to her sides. "You don't know what that feels like. It's terrifying. I thought I was going to lash out at them."

"You don't have much of a choice, Edie. If you do not go in there, Mrs. B will become suspicious and then you will be found out."

"I know." She digs her nails into her palms and nods, a quick jerk of her head. "Okay. I can do this. You believe in me, so I should too." She straightens her back and inhales deeply. On the exhale, she forces her face into a blank expression and nods at me.

We enter the classroom and Mrs. B stops her lecture and looks at the both of us. "Everything all right?"

"Yes." Edie says, doing well to keep any emotion out of her voice. I think that if I were capable of feeling emotions, I would feel proud of her. We take our seats and the lecture continues.

///

There is another fight. It happens during afternoon classes, in the hallway near my classroom. I am able to see two boys through the glass window on the door, but they move away from it moments later. Most of the class is unfazed by the disturbance happening and Mrs. B does her best to continue with her lecture, though you can tell by the tense expression on her face that it is hard for her to do so.

The boys are shouting at each other and you can hear them slamming one another against the walls. A few doors can be heard opening somewhere in the hall, probably Level One or Two classes coming out to watch the fight.

The boys pass by the window again and I can see that they are both bloody in the face.

Finally the elevator sounds and there are rushing footsteps echoing down the hall.

"Move away!" A Warden yells.

"Break it up!" Another Warden.

There is the sound of a struggle and then two shots ring out. Mrs. B snaps the piece of chalk in her hand and the pieces fall to the floor. She turns her back on the class and braces herself against the board on the wall. The class stares blankly ahead at her, waiting for her to continue the lecture.

Edie is sitting at her desk with her hands covering her face. Isaiah touches her side from where he is sitting behind her. It takes two minutes for her to stop crying, but the redness in her eyes doesn't go away until class is over.