Girl Unnoticed

Girl Unnoticed [7]

Seven

The week had passed without any mishaps or injuries made towards me. I knew that Casey was planning something bigger than last time. I kept to myself for the entire time, ignoring the stares that were directed towards me and barely paid attention in class. My grades were likely to go downhill if I kept my routine up but I couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything to change it. The only positive aspect of the week was that it was Friday and I wouldn’t be seeing my classmates for the weekend.

The school was decorated in banners and flyers announcing the homecoming game that was being held today. The cheerleaders were conversing outside, some taping more flyers outside the school and others practicing part of their routine. I vaguely paid any attention to what was going on around me until I felt something hard hit the back of my head, making my body propel forward and I landed with a thump on the school’s steps. Laughter resonated about and I closed my eyes trying to force the reality of the situation out of my consciousness.

A warm fluid trickled from my nose to my lips, I lifted my fingertips to it and as suspected, it was blood. I hadn’t felt the force of the cement stair hitting my nose, as the pain in my head was much greater. I looked back to see one guy run across the lot towards me to retrieve his football that lied on the ground. Casey cackled on the side of the school with the rest of her posse, confirming my thoughts on her being behind this. I bit my lip as others joined in the laughter and not being able to take any more embarrassment, I ran away.

I had no idea where I was going, I just let my feet hit against the pavement below me and continue until I they were numb. Tears poured down my cheeks but quickly dried off as the wind hit against my face. I dodged a few cars coming towards me that I hadn’t seen clearly because the tears blurred my vision. Tires screeched in front of me and I stopped short where I was. A familiar silver BMW was parked and my mother came out of the driver’s side, her face turning a shade of red.

My head hung down and I watched as her expensive heels stopped before me. She lifted my chin with her long, manicured fingers and a scowl grew on her lips. Both my parents had been gone by the time I woke up, as usual, and I hadn’t thoughts that my mother would be in the area. I wiped my tears with my long-sleeved shirt even though my mother was probably not aware that I had been crying. She was more concerned on the fact of why I wasn’t in school.

“What in the world are you doing running in the middle of the street?” she asked, fuming with anger.

My fingers fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, hoping that she would drop the subject and drive me home. But as always I was proved wrong because nothing could go the way I wanted it to. She prodded on, asking the same question over and over until she got the truth out of me, or what she thought was the truth.

“I was ditching school,” I lied. My face instinctively turned to the side as the palm of my mother’s hand connected with my cheek. She had never hit me before but times were changing and she was becoming a new woman.

“Your father and I try so hard to give you all you need, a good education, a nice home to live in, and this is how you repay all our hard work? Ditching school is beyond you Harlow, I expected so much more from you. You’re going back to the school and once it’s done you go immediately to the house because you have earned yourself a week’s worth of grounding.”

I nodded and watched her walk back into the car and drive off, leaving me standing in the middle of the road. I touched my nose, feeling more blood drip down from it. My mother wasn’t blind to not have seen the blood but she had better things to be concerned about. The bakery on the street beside me was open and I went into the bathroom, washing my bloody face and any trace of my red eyes from crying. Once I felt that I was ready I made my way back to school, were my abusers were probably waiting for my return.