In the stars

Cacophony

An unpleasant mixture of loud sounds

I knock on the door and wait for the teacher to come open. Normally I would try to come just as Miss. Bedel walks into the classroom. that way I am not late, and the sounds do not get to me. But lately, that tactic, has not been working. I have been late for most of my classes.

Miss. Betal opens the door and looks down at me. I look at the floor, to avoid eye contact.

"Late again Parker"

"Sorry Miss. Betal"

"get in"

I slide in beside her and take my place in the front row. Everybody knows that I sit here. I stare at my desk, and the class goes on. I try to act like everything is normal, but no one looks at me. Miss. Betal barely notes when, my hand is up, and she doesn't take me. I start to stop. I start to stop looking at the bord. I start to stop paying attention. I start to stop caring.

When the class finally ends, Miss. Betal cleans the bord, and shouts over her shoulder: "Parker you stary here, I want to talk to you"

I stop packing my pencils and ignore the talk that goes on around me. Even though I hear my name. When everybody is out, she sits on her desk and tries to cash my eyes. I start to look at my book. Like I am trying to solve a problem. Aren't I always trying to solve a problem?

"What is going on Noah? You have been late for the past many weeks, and I have talked to your other teachers, we are all worried"

Worried? yeah right, they just want me to spill it, tell them I am crazy. But I am not going to do that, I have been fine for 14 years, I am not going to start asking for help now. And even if I was, they won't believe me. "I am fine Miss. Betal, thank you for your concern"

She still tries to look me in the eye. Can't she just move on? I don't need this.

"You are a straight-A student Noah, but you are going to fail all of your classes is you keep coming late like this, maybe if we knew what was going on, we could help you?"

I shake my head, I don't need help "I am really fine Miss. I well try and be here on time from now on, I promise"

She sighs but nods, and I close my eyes, before starting to pack again. One pencil at a time, one book at a time. But when I am done, Miss. Betal is still here. She looks at her paper. This is my homeroom, technically I could just stay ...

"You can go now parker, I am done" She keeps her eyes down like she is playing me for a bit, but then she looks up, something I would never do.

"What is wrong, something you want to say?"

Ohh no, not this again. I shake my head and get up. The door is oddly heavy, and I don't look back.

In the hall, everyone is yelling. They are always yelling. I don't remember where my locker is. I keep going. There is sound everywhere. I try to block it. I put my hands over my ears. It doesn't help. The sounds keep coming in. it is stabbing me. it hurts.

Someone is yelling to me. At me. I can't see. I feel the wall, the gound. The sound gets louder... then it stops. Everything stops.