The day proceeded normally for Sally. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary. She was a ghost at her high school, extremely quiet and small; not many people noticed her entering and exiting a room, and when they finally did notice her, she would catch most by surprise. Sally navigated the hallways of her school with expert precision, sifting through an endless mass of hormones, pheromones, and teenage angst without so much as making physical contact with another person.
Until she reached music class, that is. Sally enjoyed learning about music, and in her rush to enter the classroom, she opened the door rather quickly… right into the face of the Mean Girl. The force of the blow was enough to knock the girl to the ground, and she clutched at her own forehead, howling.
"You're so dead!" the Mean Girl shouted, jumping to her feet and advancing towards Sally. Sally, still stunned at the fact that she'd hurt someone, stared stupidly at the blonde girl's hate covered face.
Somewhere in the time it took for the Mean Girl to reach Sally, the current state of events registered in her mind. She retreated back into the hallway, a little confused and unsure of how to handle the situation.
Thankfully, she didn't have to. The Mean girl's two friends stepped in, one pulling Sally backwards by her backpack, away from the Mean Girl, the other pulling the Mean Girl back into the classroom.
"Let me go!" the Mean Girl screamed, eager to inflict some form of pain on Sally. The redheaded friend didn't let up, yanking the Mean Girl by her underarms into the classroom. The brunette who helped Sally let go after a few moments, apparently satisfied that she was out of any immediate danger.
"Sorry about Jamie," she sighed. "She can be like that sometimes… it was obviously an accident."
Sally opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her heart was frozen, and it was affecting her vocal chords. She wanted to say something, anything; but no words would come out. She was still scared, and her brain hadn't caught up yet.
"You should be okay after she calms down some," the Redhead continued. "Just… don't talk to her for awhile. She'll start ignoring you again in no time."
Say something! Sally's mouth opened and closed several times. After about fifteen seconds, the Redhead continued.
"Are you okay?" the Redhead smiled worriedly. "People aren't gonna talk to you if you keep acting weird." she turned to leave, opening the front door to the Music room.
"Thank you!" Sally blurted out loudly. Not used to being loud, talking to people, or having attention on her made Sally instantly cover her own mouth and blush, embarrassed.
The Redhead paused at the door, looking back with a smile. "You're welcome," she replied before entering the classroom.
Relief washed over Sally. She'd had a normal interaction with someone, something that never happened normally. Even if she was a friend of the Mean Girl, Sally felt happy about her two word conversation with another human being.
Music class was nearing it's end, and Sally returned to the room after a quick trip to the bathroom. The teacher, Mr. Simon, was in the middle of speaking.
"…competition deadline is today. The assignment was to write a musical piece, using whatever traditional instruments you could include, and present it to a panel of judges. The musical piece that is deemed the best will be performed by a live orchestra, and the top three will be submitted for the Tangerine Melody Scholarship, which guarantees full college tuition for four years to the college of your choice, which will hopefully be used for a music degree."
Sally slipped into her seat. Today was the day. She'd finished her music score last period, and now they would all turn them in. Heart rising in her chest from excitement, Sally opened her bag to grab her music. Only… it wasn't there.
"All right. Everyone bring your music up. It can be in any format, as long as the judges can interpret it in some way." Students began to form a line, most holding CD-ROMs, others with flash drives, hard drives, video tapes… one even had a Cassette tape.
Checking her bag again, sure that there was some mistake, Sally began to feel a knot growing in her chest. She rifled through her bag once, twice, and a third time. The music wasn't there! The line of students began to dwindle, and Sally could feel her frustration rising.
"Is that all of them?" Mr. Simon asked. "Sally, didn't you have one? I've seen you working on it."
"It's gone," Sally whimpered, hints of panic beginning to show. "It's gone!"
"Sally, is everything all right?" Mr. Simon approached her, genuinely concerned. Sally's hands had started shaking, and everyone in the class was looking at her now.
"My music is gone!" she found her voice, speaking loudly and clearly. The room went dead quiet as she started to cry. Tears ran down her cheeks, her eyes were wide open with shock, and her body shivered as if she was freezing cold.
"Sally, calm down," Mr. Simon spoke quietly, attempting to calm her. "Did you check your bag again? Maybe you missed it."
"I didn't miss it." she nearly screamed.
"Did you have another copy?" he continued. "A rough draft? A backup?"
"It was handwritten…" Sally moaned softly. "There is no backup…" through her tears, Sally fought to think. When could someone have taken her music? "When I went to the bathroom! Someone must've taken it!" She whipped her head around, staring accusingly at the Mean Girl. The Mean Girl was slumped in her chair, smiling smugly and lift ing her hands in a show of innocence.
"No one went near your bag, Sally," Mr. Simon confirmed. "I was here the whole time. I kept my eyes open. I'm sorry to say this Sally, but you may have just misplaced it."
Sally could feel her soul being crushed under the weight of the situation. That music was her pride and joy! She'd worked on it consistently for three years! Her waking moments, her late night oil burnings, and over half of every day went into perfecting that music! It had become her life, and Mr. Simon had just suggested that she might have misplaced it?
Unable to take the stares, the situation, or the hopelessness anymore, Sally stood to her feet, grabbed her book bag, and fled the room
