Headmistress Help!

Chapter 3

For the next three days, the only reason Eleanor left her room was for food. She didn't speak to anyone, even when they tried to speak to her, she would turn her head away from them slightly, almost expecting to be shouted at. If an arm lightly brushed hers she would flinch and jump away, catching the attention of everyone at the table. She lived in constant fear, knowing that when all the girls came back she would constantly be brushed, constantly be bashed into and that frightened the living daylights out of her.

On the last day, Eleanor left her room for lunch, heading down the now familiar route. Once she reached the Staff Dining Hall she walked over to her usual seat. Waiting patiently for the food to be handed out, Eleanor sat staring at the white table cloth. When the bowl with chicken pieces in it reached her, she reached out for it, but it was handed straight passed her and to Ocean, the nurse, instead. Retracting her hands and holding them close to her chest, Eleanor felt a pang of pain in her chest. She looked up and around the table. Another bowl was being passed around and when Eleanor reached up for this one, it was still handed past her. Looking around confused, she wanted to say something, but couldn't. She didn't have the heart to. Her eyes became dull as she realized that she wasn't getting any food today. Everyone around her was laughing, making her feel very small. She was lost in a sea of people who didn't care whether she lived or died. And that was the sad truth. They all had their own lives. If she died, nobody on the entire planet would care. Their lives would carry on even though hers had been ended. She looked sadly over at Ms. Bennett, hoping that she would notice her, but she didn't even look at her. Eleanor just wanted to be recognized as being there. Eyes closing in pain, a tear fell down her cheek. She fought with her emotions, trying to keep them in check, but it was becoming a much more difficult task as the seconds ticked by. Opening her eyes and putting her head down, Eleanor very slowly, so as not to disturb the happy atmosphere, pushed her chair back. It made a loud scraping noise against the floor and Eleanor froze, looking up slowly, expecting to see several eyes glaring at her. But it appeared her expectations were far too high. No one had noticed. Her bottom jaw began to quiver as she tried to hold back the tears. Standing and walking away from the table she stopped halfway and turned to look. No one had noticed. Tears were falling freely from her eyes now like rain does from a cloud. Defeated, Eleanor left the room slowly.

The walk back to her dorm was painful, every single step causing a shattering pain through her body. Once at the dorm she froze. She didn't really want to be there. Turning away, she made her way to the Grand Hall, within which was a Grand Piano. Walking into the empty hall, Eleanor made her way over to the piano. Lifting the lid, she glanced down at the ivory and black keys, brushing her fingers along them before she sat at the piano stool. She began to slowly and quietly play Nuvole bianche by Ludovico Einaudi. The tears fell from her cheeks and onto the keys as she played the piece of music. Now she was totally alone. Her family had disowned her and sent her far away so she was no longer their problem. She had pushed Ms. Taylor away because of her fears and the headmistress hadn't even tried with her since she screamed at her and slammed the door in her face. Coming to a halt in the music, Eleanor let out a quiet sob before wiping away the tears and continuing to play. None of the teachers cared about her. They seemed willing to let her starve to death. She began to play furiously, the pain and sorrow mixing into one as she put all her energy into the music. She didn't want any of this. A sound caused her to startle and she stumbled away from the piano to see Ms. Bennett and Ms. Taylor both standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry!" She stammered, backing up as far as she could go. Neither adult said anything, either seemed to acknowledge her being there. A terrifying thought took over Eleanor. "You can't see me," she whispered quietly, but the acoustics in the room carried her voice. Ms. Taylor looked over at her and frowned slightly. "You can't see me," Eleanor sobbed before lifting her hands up in front of her face. They were shaking uncontrollably. She stared at them as if surprised that they were there. "You can't see me, because I'm not meant to be seen," she whispered again, pure terror coating her features as she slid to the floor. "You can't see me because I'm nobody," She sobbed, bringing her knees up to her chest and rocking back and forth in horror. "I didn't ask for any of this," Eleanor cried, looking up to see that both adults had come closer to her. "I didn't ask to be alone, I didn't ask to be afraid of being touched, I didn't ask for everyone to ignore me," she whimpered, totally broken.

A tear fell from a green eye as Elisabeth crept closer to Eleanor. Amy was standing shocked just inside the doorway. "Eleanor," Elisabeth whispered quietly before kneeling down in front of the rocking girl. "I see you, sweetheart, I see you," another tear fell from her eye as she watched Eleanor rock relentlessly. It hurt her to see the girl so shattered. "Eleanor," she tried again. "Please." Eleanor slowly lifted her head and when she focused on the headmistress, her face contorted as she let out a scream of pain and hurled herself at her body.

"Make it stop!" She cried, burrowing close to the woman who wrapped two arms securely around her and held her tightly.

"I don't know how, darling. If I did I would," she soothed, running her hands up and down Eleanor's back, tucking her in closer to her body. It was obvious that Eleanor needed this, even if her body was resenting her touch, her mind needed this. Her mind needed contact and comfort, even if her body protested. Her hands gripped her headmistress tightly as she snuggled closer.

"Please don't let me go, Ms. Taylor. Please. I'm begging you," Eleanor pleaded. Elisabeth sighed.

"You don't have to beg me darling. I will never let you go," she replied.