"Haley. Haley." I'm jolted back to reality by Ms. Martin calling my name. We have spent the majority of English class presenting our projects. She didn't give us a specific topic, but instead a few guidelines. The main guideline was that it had to express something about ourselves, about how we feel about ourselves. She said to try to be as open as possible. "Haley, can you please share your project now?"
I look down at the box sitting in my life. Tightening my already death-like grip on the box, Ms. Martin asks, "Haley is everything alright?" Behind me I hear whispers and the snickering of my classmates. "Class quiet down," she calls, but I barely hear her since I already have my hand on the doorknob. "Haley? Haley what are you doing?" I look back over my shoulder, then walk out the door.
I'm not sure where I' headed yet, but I keep going trying to wipe the tears that are blinding my vision with the hand not holding the box. Somehow my legs seem to know where they are going and I find myself in front of the old art room that has been deemed the "make out" room by the jocks. The curtain is not drawn over the small window in the door so I know it is empty. Opening the door carefully so as not to have it make any noise I slip inside.
Once inside I immediately collapse and the tears that I've been fighting back begin to pour. I look down at the box that I wrapped so gingerly in brown packaging paper, and tied up with a string. The box was a major part of the project I was supposed to have shared. It had to look nice because it represented my outer surface, my protective shield. Look like everyone else, blend in with the crows and nobody will ever have to know what you're hiding underneath it all.
The first time I saw her I was trying to get my stubborn locker open. A door slammed in the distance and I heard the shuffling of feet down the hall. That's when I saw her. Long brown hair hung over her face as though she were trying to hide behind it. Never looking up she scurried over to what I, myself, had deemed the make out room. Looking over her shoulder she'd slipped inside the room very cautiously.
"Hey Nathan," Lucas said coming up and hitting his brother on the back, "you ready for the big game against Cove City on Friday?"
"You better believe it," I replied all thoughts of the mysterious girl now pushed out of my mine. I was soon caught up in their laughter but I still couldn't get something about the girl out of my mind. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but for one second I thought I'd seen that beneath that brave face was someone screaming to get out.