"Today's class is movie time," my History teacher said. He was standing at the front, near an old, but workable, television. The class was happy to see a movie and not be doing work. Even Billy was saying things along that line as well, although he never looked at me directly, and didn't make snide remarks about how I knew nothing about History.
The teacher had also been kind enough to give me a bigger notepad and a pen, so my notes wouldn't smudge. I was all ready to take notes, as well. However, the movie he played was not note worthy.
It was a war film. A lot of guns, killing, blood, bodies… I didn't feel I needed to note any of it. All battles are the same: some people live, some people die, most get injured and there are no winners. There's a lot of blood and guts, much massacre.
I noticed a lot of my classmates weren't taking notes, either. A few of them were looking sick. Billy was goofing off silently in the back. Only two people were taking the movie seriously, and they were Jake and I.
I looked at Jake. His eyes were glazed over, but he was watching intently. His lips barely moved. He neither looked sick, nor happy. He was completely robotic. He looked sort of how I did when I watched this film.
At the end, the teacher had to excuse a few of the students to the bathroom. He wanted a discussion about the film, but I didn't feel much like talking. I guess the teacher was disappointed.
Jake looked like a rock. Then again, I probably did too. Only when the bell rang did Jake finally move. He gathered his things and left; without a word or glance in anyone's direction.
I did the same.
Outside the class, there was Cassie. "Hi, Jake," she said.
"Oh, hey, Cassie," Jake replied. He shook his head vigorously and it was as if shaking off a veil. He returned to his usual perky, leader-like personality. "How was class?"
"Test," she said simply. The two laughed a bit. I could clearly see that they were a couple. Or at the very least wanting to be. They stood close together, and always looked right into each other's eyes. I could almost feel their auras pulsating.
"Hey, Sarah," Cassie said to me. I just nodded.
"Oh, Sarah, could I ask you a question?" asked Jake.
Confused, as he doesn't usually speak directly to me, I said, "Okay."
"When we were watching the movie, you looked sort of, um…"
"Emotionless?" I offered. "Unaffected? Somewhat detached as if I was there but not there?"
"Exactly!"
I looked him right in the eye and said, "You looked like that, too."
He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I suppose I did."
There was an uncomfortable silence, which Cassie broke by asking, "So, Sarah, you wanna sleep over tonight or what?"
Jake's head snapped up and he looked at her kind of the same way I did. Did he not approve either?
"I thought I said no," I pointed out.
"No, you just told me to ask Rachel."
"In that case, no: I don't want to sleep over."
"Please? My mom's making meatloaf. It's really good!"
"Cassie," Jake said, sternly, "she said no."
"Listen to your boyfriend." As soon as I said that, the two of them blushed, denied the comment and turned away from each other. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Well, think about it," was Cassie's last comment before she hurried off. Jake muttered a goodbye and went in the opposite direction. I headed to the gym. The two of them were more humorous to watch than just about anything else, I decided…
"I don't know what she sees in you," Rachel said, as she tried to punch me. I dodged easily.
"I don't either, and I hate it," I replied, half lying. The truth was I really didn't mind Cassie wanting to be my friend so bad. It was better than sitting in the silence with nothing to do except think about my past.
I ducked, allowing Rachel's other fist to sail over my head, and then I tripped her for the fourth time this class. When she fell, she caught herself with her hand, jumped back up and finally managed to hit me. It didn't hurt, but she felt it was a victory nonetheless. Fine. Allow her one little victory. I'll never make that mistake again.
"You expected me to fall, didn't you?" she asked, almost bouncing in joy.
"I did, yes. How did you balance so well on your hand? You never did that before."
"I'm in gymnastics."
"Then why aren't you very agile?" I moved to her left, threw out my own fist, raised my opposite arm to defend her on-coming attack and successfully kicked her shin. She fell to the ground in pain, taking away her smugness from hitting me earlier.
After a few moments, when she got back to her feet, she replied, trying to hide the edge of pain in her voice, "I'm too tall."
"You're not agile because you're tall? That's a feeble excuse." She was only a head taller than me; hardly anything that could stop her from being a better fighter than me. "Use your height to your advantage. You also have long legs: easy for quick dodging. You have the potential to kick my ass, you just won't do it."
"I can kick your ass and I will." She growled at me.
"Then do it!" She attacked, but it wasn't very coordinated. I knew she was going to feign left before she even did it. Her weight was unbalanced on her feet and I managed to trip her before she even realized she had been tripped. She fell forwards, rolled, and jumped back to her feet, the swirled around to face me. I hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Where did you learn to fight like this?" Rachel asked.
"My Guardian taught me. I used to fight much tougher opponents than you; ones who actually knew how to fight."
"And I've fought tougher opponents than you, too." Somehow, I managed to stop myself from scoffing that. Her eyes told me she wasn't just boasting. Then why was she such a klutz fighting me?
I didn't get the chance to ask because the bell rang. Finally: I could go home. I went to shower first, where all the other girls were all in awe of me being able to beat Rachel. Please: it's not like any of them couldn't. She was too sloppy in her movements. A child could take her on and win.
After leaving the gym, Cassie came up to me. I didn't object, but Rachel did. "Hey, Cassie. You wanna hang out at the mall?"
"No, Sarah's sleeping over today," Cassie said.
"Did you not hear me at all? I don't want to sleep over!" I snarled. It was as if everything I said to her went through one ear and out the other.
"I don't know why you want to be friends with this scum," Rachel muttered, although I could still hear her. I think that was the point. "She's untrustworthy and stupid."
"I don't think so." Cassie stared down her friend, which seemed hard to do, considering Cassie was shorter than me.
They looked at each other for a long time before Rachel sighed. "Fine. If you wanna trust her, that's fine. But I still don't." She gave me a shove. "If you ever hurt Cassie, you'll wish you were never born."
I decided not to reply. I had no intention of hurting anyone; unless they gave me a reason. Cassie and I started walking out of the school. It wasn't until the damned sun hit my face that I realized I was following Cassie to her home. Why had I suddenly decided to go with her? Maybe I just didn't want to be alone anymore.
"The first thing we can do is go to my barn," Cassie was saying. "My parents run the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic out of our barn; I think I told you once already."
"Twice."
"Oh, okay. Well, we can work with the animals for a while. I told my parents that I'd sweep out the barn as payment to having a friend over."
"Whatever."
"Oh! We got a new patient today. He's a deer that my folks found close to the highway. I guess someone was out hunting and, well…" She trailed off. She spoke of animals as if they were people and were close to her. Whatever. It sounded noble, but I didn't think of them the same way.
"He is a big fella, though," Cassie continued. "I could use your help holding him down while I apply ointment. It is a rather nasty wound."
"Sure."
"Oh, here's the bus." I don't even remember reaching the stop, much less noticing the bus' arrival. But we boarded just the same and rode it for quite a while before Cassie declared we reached our stop.
When I got off the bus, the sun was brighter. Perhaps it was because we were in the country, or maybe it was because the weather reflected Cassie's personality, and since we were nearing her home, the sun shone for us.
Perhaps I have too much of an imagination.
"There's my place!" Cassie said, pointing to a country home with a barn a little ways from it. It was also quite close to the forest, as well. No wonder it was a place for treatment of animals. Once treated, they can be simply released back into the forest. I suppose that was the point.
Cassie led me across the field to her home. This must be a difficult place to trek through during winter times, but it looked as if Cassie was able to manoeuvre over the grass and such quite easily. She no doubt was better able to get through snow than most others, as well.
Of course, so was I. I kept up with Cassie quite well, and at times pulled ahead of her. Not too much, of course, as this was her home, and I had no right to invade it without her going first.
"Come on to the barn. We'll see to the deer, sweep out the floor, then go inside and play video games." She led me to her large barn, and upon entering it, I was attacked with a wave of animal smells. Most of it was manure, but the rest was burned fur, animal feed, among other things. Cassie didn't seem affected by it at all. To me, it was a mass of sensation all at once.
I think my face showed what I just explained, because Cassie said, "Sorry; probably should have warned you first."
She led me to a stall near the back of the barn, away from the vicious meat eaters that could smell its burning flesh. I could smell it too, and when I saw the wound, I understood why Cassie didn't want to talk about it.
She instructed me to calmly enter the stall, and assured me that the deer was too tired to attack me. I held onto the deer the way Cassie explained and held down. Cassie dipped a cloth in some ointment and approached the wound. When she neared, the deer started shifting, to get away from Cassie. I held on more firmly, as Cassie whispered reassuring words and soothing noises. It wasn't until she touched the wound with the cloth that I realized why she needed someone to hold him down.
The animal heaved and backed me into the barn wall. I grabbed on again just before the deer could hoof Cassie in the mouth. She backed up just in time. It was like that until Cassie applied all the ointment on the wound, but I still had to hold on until Cassie was completely out of the stall. Only then did the deer relax, so I left as well.
"That's nothing," Cassie said, when we got far enough away, "you should have seen him when my parents were getting the bullet out. My dad had to sedate him twice." She grabbed a broom and shooed me to the side so she could sweep.
While she was doing that, I took notice of all the animals in the barn. They were all different species, sizes, shapes and colours. I've never seen so many animals in one spot before. Most of them growled at me, but a few of them just stared at me, wondering what I was.
The barn was huge, so it took Cassie over half an hour to do a thorough job. She put the broom back and led me out of the barn, which she closed behind her, one big door at a time. "Let's go inside now. Maybe Mom will let us have some brownies." She led me to her house and opened the door for me. "I'm home!" she yelled.
"Come inside before it gets dark already!" a female voice replied. I assumed that was her mother.
Cassie walked right in, took off her boots and hung her coat. Before I did any of that, I wiped my feet on the Welcome mat four times, then took off my own shoes and set them by the door.
"Why did you do that?" Cassie asked.
"Take off my shoes? It would be rather rude to enter your house with muddy shoes on."
"No, no; I meant why'd you wipe your feet like that? You're taking your shoes off anyway."
I looked at the Welcome mat and then back at Cassie. "Force of habit."
"Oh, okay."
She took me into the living room and I saw her parents. Her mother was sipping something I assumed was either coffee or tea, and her father was reading in the recliner. When they saw me, the got up and came over.
"Introductions, Cassie," said her father.
"Mom, Dad, this is Sarah. She's new at school," Cassie greeted. "Sarah, these are my parents."
I nodded at each of them in succession. "Sir. Ma'am."
"Oh, don't call me that!" said her mother. "It makes me feel old!"
"Sorry; force of habit. I was taught to always respect my Betters."
"And who taught you that?" asked her father.
"My older brother."
"Smart boy." Her father winked at Cassie and went back to his recliner.
Her mother said, "I'll get your kids some brownies," and disappeared into the kitchen.
Cassie turned to face me, blocking her father, so he wouldn't hear anything, and whispered, "You never told me you had a brother."
"You never asked. Plus, it wasn't any of your business."
"You're right. Sorry." Her mother came back and gave us a brownie, then shooed us to Cassie's room. Cassie took me up the stairs and into her room, which was filled with animal posters, toys and vet books.
"Sorry for the mess," she apologized, taking a huge bite out of her brownie. I did the same with mine. She sat down on her bed and asked, "So how many brothers do you have? Just the one?"
"Two. And no, I don't have sisters."
"Why don't you live with them then?"
"They're dead," I said simply. I told her than in a tone no different than if I had told her the sky was blue. It was a fact. What could I do about it?
"Oh." She finished her brownie in silence. It was a rather delicious brownie. The old lady once made me a brownie. This one was far superior. I told Cassie this and she smiled proudly. "I helped my mom make them."
"I see."
"What were your brothers' names?"
I looked at her sharply. "What does it matter?"
"I'm just curious."
"So you can tell Jake?"
"No! I told you I'm not telling them anything you tell me from now on."
"You don't need to know their names."
"Fine. Tell me about them, then."
"Why do you care so much?"
"Because I don't know anything about you and I'd like to know more!"
"Then tell me about yourself first," I demanded. "It'll be one for one."
"Alright, fair enough."
I shouldn't have started this. Now, because I am bound to my word, I have to tell Cassie things about myself that I would rather keep private. And the only thing I'm getting in exchange is things about her miserable life. It wasn't worth it to me.
"I have no siblings and I pretty much grew up in this house. Your turn."
"Hardly much of an exchange," I retorted. "I could have guessed all those things." She just sat there, staring at me. I sighed. "My parents died when I was two, I was adopted at ten, and my brothers died shortly after I turned thirteen."
"But you're thirteen now. Does that mean they died recently?" I just stared at her. It was her turn to release information first. "Um, I had several pets at one point, but my parents thought that since we had the barn, there was no point keeping pets."
"I never had pets."
"I once got a bruise from falling off the rafters in my barn because I thought I could fly."
"I once ate something poisonous and was sick for a week."
"I chased a squirrel into the forest and ran through a patch of poison ivy."
"My Guardian taught me how to swim by throwing me in a body of water and waiting to see if I'd swim or drown."
"I learned how to swim almost the same way, but on my own."
"I no longer see the point in this."
"What do you mean? I already know a lot more about you."
"Useless, pathetic information."
"Then tell me more about you."
I gazed into her eyes, and to my surprise, she wasn't taken aback by the dismal colour of my look. "I will tell you the story behind my brothers, if you admit to me that Jake is your boyfriend." She blushed, but I continued, "I am rather sick of watching you two show obvious signs of affection with neither of you admitting anything."
"You sound like Rachel and Marco."
"I hate to say it, but they're right."
She sighed. "I can't say that because, at this point in time, it would be a lie, and I have no intention of lying to you."
We stared at each other for a while, until Cassie's mother called us down for dinner. I was trying to see if Cassie was lying me then. I couldn't see anything that indicated betrayal in her eyes, but I have seen that before. I didn't want to trust Cassie. Really, I didn't.
But somehow, I think I did…