Dream Shadow

Two

I watch as Dan leaves the room, phone in hand. He's angry. He runs into my chair on purpose, causing me to flinch. Sighing, I feel my face burn as I pull tissues from my bag and begin to sop up the sticky, caffeinated mess. I grumble under my breath, standing and hurrying out of the classroom. I make sure my phone is clutched in my hand as I leave, knowing full well that everyone is looking at me. A man in jeans is at the door as I scurry out and down the hall, pulling up a map of the school on my phone. I look past the cracks spiderwebbing across the screen. Of course, the infirmary is on the lowest level, 3 floors down. Why does this school have to be so big? What do rich kids need so much space for? I descend the carpeted stairs, feeling bad because I'm dripping coffee onto them. Tears fill my eyes as I make my way through the lobby to the next staircase. I wipe them away as I descend those and the final set of stairs. When I enter the infirmary, I sign the little sheet and sit on a hard plastic chair, the only thing familiar to me from my old school. It's less than 5 minutes before I'm called. Slowly I stand and go into the office, shaking.
"Oh what's happened to you, dearie?" The nurse asks. I swallow my pride and explain that I got coffee spilled on my head. She doesn't react as she goes into a closet and pulls out an extra uniform for me. "Here you go. Just change into this ok? Then take the dirty one to get dry-cleaned. Okay?" I nod and head into the little bathroom she has connected to her office. Slowly, I peel off the wet clothes and pat myself dry with paper towels. As I'm about to start getting dressed again, a knock on the door causes me to jump.
"I- I'm almost done!" I shout, quickly stepping into my pants and pulling on the standard uniform white shirt. With shaky hands, I do up the buttons and pull on the Blazer, avoiding the mirror. Sighing, I quickly tie my tie and step out of the bathroom. The nurse smiles at me and hands me a plastic bag for my coffee-covered clothes, which I stuff them in before rushing out the door, calling out a thank you. The bell hasn't rung yet, which is strange until I remember that homeroom in this school lasts a half an hour. As I walk, I feel pain in my right hip, causing me to jerk to the left and switch pressure. In doing so, however, I accidentally smack a red-headed girl with my bag.
"Watch it!" She exclaims. I mutter an apology and head back to my classroom. The man in jeans is sitting on the desk, calling out names. He doesn't pay any mind as I slip into my seat. Dan is nowhere to be seen. I stare ahead and watch as the man pauses, squinting at a name. Knowing it's mine, I flinch, awaiting the sound of it.
"Lester? Phil Lester?" He calls and I silently sigh in relief as I raise my hand.
"H-here," I stutter. The man doesn't say anything as he puts a little tick mark next to my name, but I can feel everyone's eyes on me, scrutinizing me, analyzing me. Dan comes in and sits down. No less than five minutes later does the bell ring and I sigh as Dan pushes past me. It's going to be a long day.