Forever Bound

Chapter 5

       Three to the left, full around to the right, turn right to the next, and my locker opened and out tumbled a perfectly folded piece of ruled paper. I bent at knees to pick it up, already with the premonition of what it contained. My mind raced as I unfolded the paper trying to figure out what it was this time. Much to my surprise the page was blank except for the blue lines that acted as a guide of writing. My eyes travelled down the page to the bottom where in small print written in faded ink read the words, "you aren't worth the space or the ink."

        I rolled my eyes crumbling the paper in my hand and tossing it in the garbage, now that school was approaching an end, they were trying to fit in as many pranks as possible. That note was not from Greg, after all these years, I knew his writing by heart, sloppy "y" and undotted "I". This was someone else entirely; it really is no exaggeration to say that the whole school hates me. I wondered what they got from leaving me these notes, wasn't it a waste of their time? They say bullies bully to make themselves feel better, the logic behind that was totally lost to me. How could wasting time to formulate a sentence that could get you suspended, wasting energy to fold said note then trying to fit it into a pint sized hole into my locker possibly make you feel better about yourself? I shoved my book into my bag and slung my sweater over my shoulder. I walked slowly down the hall not bothering to rush, school had ended 30 minute ago, the halls were completely deserted. Although I hated Badica High I never left school early; I would rather spend thirty minutes in the school than in a dumpster. I learned my lesson after the first two years.

         “Riley” a voice called out to me, I turned around and met the only teacher who had ever been kind to me. Ms. Scalioni poked her head out her classroom door, her auburn curls falling to one side.

      "Hey Miss"  I said retracting my steps, she opened the door and let me into the room that had been my English class last semester.

       "I finished reading your submission" she said walking over to her desk, she placed her hands on my work and slid it over to me. She stared deeply into my brown eyes and said in a rather dramatic voice, "powerful". 

"This isn't fiction," she said.

         I took the papers and took a seat in one of the desks flipping through them, “purely fictional.” She took a seat on her desk crossing her legs and her arms, “are you going to sit here and lie to me Riley Cruze?” My eyes travelled down her long smooth legs one of her many assets along with her dazzling emerald eyes curly auburn hair, and amazing personality.

        “I’m not lying this piece is all fake, I made it all up” she squinted at me “so you mean to tell me you wrote a story about a boy who is bullied 99% of his life and later finds the courage through himself to overcome it and become something untouchable all out of your imagination?”

         I nodded slowly, "I don't own a multi-billion dollar empire in which I am indestructible...yet" I answered with a wink.

        "Nobody likes a smart ass Riley," she said shaking her head disapprovingly.

        "Nobody likes me anyways" I shrugged.

        I sat in her class for hours discussing the pros and cons of my story among other things. I was using this story as my submission for a chance to become a student of a new program set up internationally aiming to train the most promising writers and hone their talent so they truly could become the new Shakespeare, and Twain. This was the reason I hadn’t accepted any university offers; the universities were my ticket out of Badica, this was my ticket out of the country.

        I closed the door behind us making sure it was locked, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ms. Scalioni said heading to the parking lot. I made my way back to locker realizing I had forgotten my physics binder.