Something that Makes me Smile

She's that crazy girl.

I am not stupid. I can hear everything they say about me, even if they think I can't. Sometimes I think it's the whispers that are driving me crazy, like the constant buzz of insects in my ears. Then I remember it's not that.

I sit at the polished dinner tables, alone of course. There's something on the surface that I try not to look at. Across the canteen I spot the table my friends are sitting at. Elspeth's friends. I remember the day Elspeth called me over to sit with them, and became my friend. Since Elspeth... Left, I don't sit with them anymore. I feel the stares of the people behind me and look intensely at the broccoli on my plate. Ooh that is a great bit of broccoli, isn't it?

It's hard not to look around, but I know whoever it is will be watching me. So instead I close my eyes and imagine. I see myself on the beach where Elspeth and I used to swim. I don't know why there are no sandy beaches in England. My feet are screaming from where the small rocks are digging into them. But I carry on walking, not exactly sure what I am walking towards.

Then I see it. At first it just looks like a bubble in the waves, coming towards the shore, then that bubble turns into a head, followed by shoulders and finally a whole body. I can't see who it is so I walk towards them.

"Grey," the figure says. So they know my dreadful name.

"Hello, who are you?" I call out.

"Oh my God, Grey! How can you not recognise me?"

I realise it's Elspeth. She's out of the water now, and surprisingly her cloths aren't dripping. I reach out to touch them, but she steps away.

"What?" I ask

"You can't touch me, sorry Grey but they're the rules," she says. "Cheer up!"

Suddenly I feel a splash of water on my face. Thinking it's just Elspeth massing around I giggle.

"Why is she laughing?" Someone says. It's not Elspeth. I open my eyes to see the whole canteen watching me and I feel myself going red. In front of me three girls are sitting, smirking at me.

"What were you doing sitting there with your eyes closed?" One of them asks.

I shrug. I wish they'd just leave and get on with their own lives, but mine is obviously more interesting.

"You're a freak, you know that right?"

I don't know what to do. Should I sit and take it, agree with what they think of me?

Before I can actually do anything, I'm pulled up out of my seat. I tense up, thinking I'm about to be beaten up. 'At least there are witnesses' I say to myself.

Nothing happens.