Laurent hurried down the corridor, already 5 minutes late for her English Lit class, when she heard a group of students behind her. She felt her stomach churn at what was likely to happen next.

"Hey shrimp, hold up!" someone yelled behind her. Lauren ignored them and kept moving until another body blocked her forward movement.

"What's your rush, girly?" Lauren looked up at a larger girl blocking her. She didn't know her name, but she was sure she saw the girl in one of her classes, probably even one she was now late for. The group that she heard behind her had now caught up with them, and Lauren had dropped her backpack and turned a full circle slowly. There were 5 girls surrounding her, all older and taller than her. No matter, she thought to herself. Whatever they were going to do was going to happen, but she would remember their faces and stay clear of them from now on.

One of the girls prodded her in the back "Are you a deaf-mute, shrimp?" She made some meowing noises, and the others around Lauren laughed and prodded her from all sides. Lauren privately thought that the sounds ware more reminiscent of a dying walrus than anything that a real deaf-mute was likely to produce, but outwardly didn't react to the provocation. She knew it would only prolong their abuse if she let on that any of it was bothering her.

Lauren thought she may have spaced out for a few moments, because when she refocused on the here and now, the girls around her were laughing again, presumably at a new joke. They were also looking around to make sure they were not seen. Lauren closed her eyes and tried to relax her muscles in preparation for what was to come next. She heard grinding of metal hinges and felt herself picked up and shoved into a nearby locker. Then the door was slammed shut, and she was engulfed in darkness. She took a deep breath and tried to relax in the narrow, smelly metal box. She knew she'd be there until the end of the period.

Suddenly, the door was yanked open and Lauren had to blink to readjust to the light. She was surprised, expecting to spend the next 40 minutes or so in the locker. Instead, she knew that no more than 3 minutes has passed since she heard her tormentors depart. She looked up to find the same girl who had blocked her earlier standing in front of her now, her expression more concerned than mean.

"Are you a retard?" the older girl asked.

"No, and please don't use that word around me" Lauren stepped out of the locker and tried to walk around the girl to where her backup was still sitting where she dropped it. But a strong hand held her in place, pressing her against the row of lockers.

"Then why didn't you scream for help or something?"

"What's it to you?" Lauren was honestly confused at this point. Usually people who stuffed her in lockers didn't stop to ask her any questions.

"Look, I'm all for having some fun and all, but I'm not down with fucking up someone retar… uh…" She stopped before using the term again, obviously looking for another word, "mentally impaired."

"I'm not impaired in any way. I'm actually very intelligent." Laurent tried to move again, but the hand on her shoulder held her steady. Obviously, this girl wasn't going to let her go until she satisfied her curiosity. The situation was new to Lauren. She was used to bullying of every kind, but this questioning was new and didn't seem to be overly cruel. If it wasn't for the hand holding her captive, it would almost feel like a normal conversation.

"Then why didn't you call for help?" The girl asked Lauren again.

"Wouldn't change anything." Lauren shrugged and looked at her feet, bad memories of past encounters flushing before her eyes.

The other girl seemed to sense that Lauren was hurting and took her hand off of Lauren's shoulder, stepping back a bit to give her some space.

"How many lockers have you be stuffed into before?" her voice was gentler now, and Laurent chanced looking up again.

"Eight," she answered somewhat meekly.

"You've been stuffed into a locker eight times?! I thought you just started here in Sacred Heart!"

Lauren shook her head no. "I've been locked in lockers eleven times. Twice in the broom closet. Five times in boy's bathroom, twice in girl's bathroom." Lauren felt compelled to list all confinements. "And it's my first at Sacred Heart. Kids in my other school were responsible for the rest."

The other girl cringed and folded her arms. Lauren didn't know what to make of the posture – it didn't seem aggressive, but other than that she wasn't sure what it did mean. She wished for the nth time she could read people better.

Finally, the older girl spoke again. "Wait, first you said you were put in lockers eight times, then eleven. What gives?"

Lauren let out an exasperated sigh. Why were other kids all so imprecise? "Your first question was 'how many lockers', and second 'how many times'." She explained. Seeing confusion on the other girl, she continued, "I've been put in some lockers more than once."

The other girl shifted postures again. "What, you are not going to list how many times you were staffed in each locker, and the number of each locker? Do you know what a square root of 17 is? Or, like what's three billion squared?"

Lauren was sure the other girl was laughing at her again, and here she thought she was actually making a connection. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She bit back the tears. She will not give the other girl the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"I'm not a savant. But I was an idiot to think you were anything but a bully, like your friends." She stepped around the other girl, this time unimpeded, grabbed her backpack and run towards her classroom.

She pulled the door open and stood waiting to be acknowledged by the teacher.

The teacher looked at the clock above the door, than at Lauren. "Lauren, you are 20 minutes late."

Before she could answer, Laurent felt someone standing behind her in the threshold to the classroom.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Walters, this was my fault." Lauren was surprised to hear the voice of the girl she just ran away from. "I felt dizzy because I missed lunch, and I asked Lauren here to fetch me some water and a protein bar from my locker," the girl lied smoothly for both of them. "I didn't realize how much time had passed."

The teacher seemed to have bought the lie. "Bo, do you need to go to the nurse's office?" she asked the other girl kindly.

The girl, Bo, shook her head no. "No, all better now, Mrs. Walters."

Lauren felt uncomfortable with the lie, but didn't want to get in trouble over this, or get the other girl in trouble. "Mrs. Walters, may I take my seat?" she asked the teacher, happy that the other girl had inadvertently provided her with both the teacher's name and her own. Lauren was horrible with names.

"Yes, Lauren, you may. Bo, you too." Mrs. Walters allowed without further argument.

Laurent settled at her desk, next to the boy whose name she also didn't remembered either. Bo went to hers, further back, and Lauren thought she could feel the other girl's eyes on her until the end of the period. When the bell rang, the students rushed out, this being the last period for most. Lauren took longer, as usual carefully putting away her notebook and pen into the bulging bag. She still had one more class – Civics – to attend. When she stepped out of the classroom, she saw the girl, Bo, waiting.

"Lauren, hey!"

Lauren didn't acknowledge her or slowed down. Her next classroom was just around the corner, and with all the students shuffling around on the way to their lockers, she thought she would be able to reach it unmolested. She was relieved to see that Bo didn't follow her in. The next hour passed uneventfully, and no one bothered her as she left the school that day.

Day 4 at Sacred Heart high school was Lauren's worst one by far. She sighed and focused on what was ahead. This was not pleasant, but survivable. She was going to be OK. Eventually. Perhaps.