Abused

Chapter 7

Nate dropped me off at the front entrance. "Hey," I turned around to face him. "Smile." He gave me a thumbs up and smiled at me. I quickly smiled back and got off. Looking back, he started the truck and left. I sighed and continued walked to the office, my heart pounding against my chest. Once I was inside, I approached a young lady with thick, round glasses and a bun in her hair. "Do you need help with anything?" She asked, glancing up from her computer. Stammering, I told her I was new to the school.

"Name, please?"

"Angelica Quiroz."

She looked at me then at her computer, typing my name.

"What grade are you in?"

"Eleventh grade."

Two minutes later, she then handed me a piece of paper, saying it was my schedule. I took it from her and said thanks. The first thing was English. Great.

As I hurried up the stairs, my stomach turned into a giant ball of knot. What if I say the wrong thing about myself? I thought, panting. What if the teacher doesn't like me? What if the students hate me? "Shut up and stop worrying so much, Angie!" I hissed at my inner voice. A girl with glasses stared at me as if I said that to her face. "S-sorry, I-I was just talking to myself." I told her, awkwardly smiling. She nodded and left. By the time I got there, the door was already locked. I groaned, knocking. Once. Twice. Nothing. Either the teacher didn't hear me, or I was disturbing the class since I was already late. The door slowly opened and a middle-aged lady stepped out of the room, glaring at me. "What do you want before I call security?" She asked in a threatening tone. I jumped back, my insides tingling.

"Well?" The lady impatiently asked, her eyes locking mine. "I-I..." No words. Nothing. Nada. "Yeah, I might as well go call security and -"

"No, no, no, no, no! Wait! I-I'm new here. S-sorry if I disturbed you!" I apologized quickly, handing her my schedule. Snatching the piece of paper from my trembling hands, she scanned it up and down, saying, "Well, in that case, your current teacher is out sick so you'll be with me for three days, understand?" I nodded, still shaking. She gave me a packet as I took a seat in the corner of the room.

I was almost done with the packet when the bell rang. "Make sure you turn it in!" She yelled from her desk. I turned mine in and headed out the door. A few students pointed and whispered at me- well, at my uniform, really -as I walked down the hall. Unaware of where I was going, I bumped into a tall girl, who asked in a rude voice, "Ex-cuse me, watch where you're going, you freak! Also, FYI, that's a guy's uniform, do you see any girls wearing pants?! No, you do not!" I started to say something, but she held up her hand. "Also, I don't want any excuses from you! Just stay out of my way, or else..." She shoved me aside and left me standing.

The day seemed to drag on and soon, at around eleven forty-five, came lunch. Inside the cafeteria, I reached for my phone and turned it on. A bunch of notifications popped up, most were either from my mom or from Gloria asking me where was I or if I was okay. I was restricted to answer them, for fear that Nate would beat me. A wave of sadness washed over me as I stared at the screen. The rude girl who I had bumped into earlier was peering from behind my shoulder, smirking.

"What's the matter? Too afraid to answer your mommy?"

"Just leave me alone, please." I responded back, tears starting to form in my eyes. "Aww, you wanna cry, huh? Hey everyone, this girl wants to cry!!" Almost immediately, everyone turned to me. My eyes burned as the tears starting trickling down my cheeks. I felt weak as I hung my head and collapsed on all fours, crying. "Look at you. It's your first day here and you're already crying. I bet at your old school, they wore uniforms as well. You're weak, you know that? Well, well, well, what's this?" She picked up a blue lanyard from the floor. I recognized it immediately. MyCarl Hayden lanyard. "GIVE IT BACK! WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?!" I screamed, my breath getting heavier and heavier. She dangled it in front of me, my eyes following it, longing to reach out. "Exactly, what did she ever do to you, Jennifer?" A guy shot back, a few tables from me. I looked up, tears streaming down my face.

"Shut the fuck up and mind your own business, Brandon!" She yelled back. Brandon stood up and walked towards us, kneeling down to face me and extended his hand out.

"You okay?" He asked, his hazel eyes staring down at me. I hung my head in defeat and let him take that as a no. Rising me up to my feet, he turned to Jennifer, who started examining her nails. "You need to go and get a life. Besides, what did this poor girl do to you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do know that this is her first day here, right?"

"So?"

"I'm asking you to leave her alone. If she wants to wear pants, let her. This is her life, not yours. You can't control her. You can't tell people how to live their lives, no matter how hard you try, you just can't." He said, defending me, wrapping his hand against my shoulder, rubbing it. Jennifer got so close to his face, their noses almost touched, and glared at him directly in the eye, saying, "You don't know what I'm capable of, do you? It's best if you stay out of my way, got it?" She tossed her hair back and left.