Girl Unnoticed

Girl Unnoticed [2]

Two

My father had kindly offered to drive me to the school since I was still trying to get around town by foot. It would take me a while to memorize my way back home and until that happened I wasn’t going anywhere alone. He stopped in front of the large double doors of the school that frightened me to the bone. I hesitantly opened the door and stepped out of the car, my steps weary and slow. He drove off almost immediately after my feet hit the pavement. I looked up at the tall building of what I thought to be three stories high. It was similar to my former high school, the walls made of brick and the parking lot in front to show the large amount of students attending the school.

I sighed deeply and walked inside to meet the tumultuous horde of students loitering in the broad hallway. There weren’t any signs that helped me make my way to the front office to get my class schedule. Passing by the frenzied crowd I finally spotted a glass door labeled with FRONT OFFICE on it. I pushed my way inside and stood in front of a cherry wood counter where an elderly woman was standing behind. She smiled welcomingly, obviously an expression she was accustomed to.

“What can I do for you dear?” she spoke kindly.

“I’m a new student, Harlow Terrance,” I hoped that would be enough information for her to understand what I needed.

She nodded and walked back to a file cabinet, looking for my class schedule. After a couple of minutes of waiting, she came back with a white slip of paper in her wrinkled hands. “Here you go dear, your classes are listed by day and on the corner I wrote down your locker number along with the combination.”

Taking the paper in my hands, I thanked her and swiftly sauntered out the door. The hallway was even more packed with students than before. The first floor only had the lockers with the numbers of the first hundred so I had to go up the stairs to find mine. I passed the hallway two times before I found my locker number and opened it to store all the books in my backpack inside, keeping the ones I needed for today. Making my way to the homeroom that I had located after a while, I noticed a familiar blond head stick out from a group of girls inside. It was Jovie and when she had spotted me she looked back to her friends and pretended I wasn’t there.

The teacher strolled into the room and began to take attendance, not bothering to introduce the new students if there were any that I knew of. The classes passed by slowly, some students falling asleep in between lectures and others making conversation with the person sitting next to them. At lunch, I didn’t want to go into the crowded cafeteria so I went outside and sat down on the ground, my back against the wall of the building. The only positive aspect of the new school was that no one had harassed me—yet. I was afraid that the protective bubble I had created around myself would burst at any moment and I would once again be tormented to the point of no return.

By the end of the day I had more homework than I could count and with no stimulation to do it. Dad was waiting inside his car outside the school to take me home. He drove in silence and stopped in front of the house, not bothering to say goodbye or anything of the sort as I slipped out of the car. The house was much too quiet for my discomfort. Before, I would immediately log into my computer and check my e-mails and Facebook. Now, I couldn’t even approach a computer without cringing at the thought of some new rumor or oppressing comment written for me.

It took me three hours to finish the homework plus getting some reading done. I went downstairs and ate a light snack since I hadn’t bothered to eat lunch before. My appetite had diminished along the years and sometimes I couldn’t hold my food down. Because of that problem, rumors about me being either anorexic or bulimic roamed around my former school.

My parents came home at late hours of the night. I had already showered and put on my pajamas, which consisted of a long, loose shirt and shorts. Mom had brought take-out food so I decided to join them in our late dinner. There was no conversation at the table and we said our goodnight when we were all done. I went up to my room after I finished washing my plate and opened the small door that led to the balcony. The houses opposite mine had all the lights turned off. I looked over to the right and noticed a small park next to the last house on the street facing mine.