Maddy leaves science class, her favorite class of the day, in a pretty good mood. Lunch is next, but she just plans on going to the library as usual. A small glance behind her tells her that Mark is still on her tail. She laughs internally at herself – this just proves that the only time a guy who looks like that would pay attention to her is when he is paid to. "Hey, friend," someone say sarcastically. Maddy slowly looks up, though she doesn't want to. She knows who it will be. "What? No hello?" Some kids laugh near her, but Maddy just glances over her shoulder. No sign of the Reynolds boy. Thank goodness.
Maddy looks around and finds a corridor that's nearly empty. She dashes, making a run for it, when someone grabs her arm. "Get off of me, John," she snaps. He shoves her backwards and she grimaces as she lands up against a metal locker with a thud.
"Did you really think you would outrun us?" John Ward, aka Mr. Popular, asks.
No, Maddy thinks. I thought I could outrun Reynolds, though. And it seems to have worked.
Louise Greenfield, John's girlfriend, speaks up, "What's that look for?"
Maddy's face falls. "I didn't mean to," she mutters. "I was just … thinking."
"Thinking?" one of Louise's friends gush. "Awe, the little girl was thinking." The group of twelfth graders laugh.
"So, how is the eleventh-grade baby today?" Louise asks. Maddy just looks at the ground. Agreeing to skip a grade was the worst mistake she ever made. Now she has to deal with this more often than before.
"Fine," Maddy mutters. "Now can I just go?"
"Where would be the fun in that?" John asks. "Friends are supposed to hang out together. And it is lunch time. What ya got?"
Maddy sighs. She was nervous this morning, so she didn't each much breakfast, which means she's actually hungry now. But lying about whether she has food or not won't do any good; they would just steal her bag and go through it. Maddy rummages past her Plex, rebreather, data cards, and Plex Pens until she comes across the meager crackers, water, and dip. She wordlessly hands over her stuff.
"You are too sweet," Louise says as she takes a drink of the water. "Always thinking of others and sharing." Maddy doesn't reply.
John smiles, "You are in Trigonometry this year, right?" Like he doesn't know.
"I took it already," Maddy says quietly.
"Great!" John says. "So you can lend me some notes?" Before Maddy can get out her Plex and a spare data card though, and she would have, her bag is ripped from her shoulder.
"Give it back!" Maddy snaps.
"Make us!" one of the other boys, who is at least twice her size, challenges.
At this point in time, Maddy doesn't even lock her Plex, for they would just beat her until she puts in the passcode. The older kids goof off and download her work while Maddy leans up against the lockers, fuming and silent. Someone drops one of the small data cards. "Opps," a mock apologetic female voice says. "Could do me a favor and get that?"
Maddy sighs, knowing what's coming next. Not seeing a choice, Maddy takes a step forward and leans over to pick it up, only to get kick in the side. She bits down on her tongue as she falls to the floor. "Try again," one of the boys dare. Maddy doesn't move. "Do it!" Slowly, she reaches forward and secures the card in her fist only for her hand to be grinded into the floor by someone's shoe. She's then kicked in the stomach and side again while everyone laughs above her, incessantly cracking jokes.
"Awe, somebody looks sad."
"You'd think someone so smart would know what they're not wanted."
"Some people just can't take a hint."
"Insufferably annoying."
"Explains why she doesn't have any real friends."
The laughing, the taunting, the physical abuse: all things that Maddy is used to at this point. She stays on the ground until she knows the other kids have all moved on. She quickly jumps up, grabs her things, and ducks into the nearest bathroom.
Maddy tries not to cry as she looks in the mirror. She is already sore, but the feeling has become normal for her. There's only one mark on her right temple from where she hid her face in the ground, so that's easy to cover up. Maddy rearranges her hair so it isn't noticeable. She then runs cool water to splash over her face and massages out the fist that was grinded by a shoe. There is redness and light swelling coating that hand now, not to mention it hurts like Hell. She knows she needs a good excuse for this one, since she can't cover it up like the bruises and scars elsewhere on her body, but it shouldn't be too hard. Being clumsy can be a helpful trait – it leaves her with plenty of excuses.
Maddy ducks out of bathroom and just about runs straight into Reynolds. At least it was him and not another student. "Sorry," Maddy stutters.
"It's fine, I was just looking for you," Reynolds says.
"I had to go the bathroom," Maddy answers. "I didn't realize that merited an announcement," she says with a certain edge to her voice.
"I … uh," Reynold falters. "No, you're fine. Were you going to the cafeteria now?"
"No!" Maddy exclaims quickly. Worst idea of the century. Maddy walking into the cafeteria is comparable to a lamb walking into a lion's den. "I just … I just realized I forgot to do something for one of my classes," she covers up briskly. "I was going to the library."
"Aren't you hungry?" Reynolds pushes.
"I'm not a big lunch person," Maddy lies with a shy smile. "But don't let me stop you if you want to go get food."
"No, I'll go to the library."
"Great," Maddy mumbles dryly. The timing was pretty great though. The twelfth graders got their laughs in and Reynolds wasn't there. Maddy's secret is safe.
It is a skewed sense of well, but if only things would work out that well for the next three weeks.