I walked with my head down all the way to Calculus and when I got there I gave the teacher my slip to sign and was sent to sit down by a girl who was putting on mascara. She took one look at me, wrinkled her face in disgust and scooted her chair over to the other side of the table as I sat down. I hid behind my hair, trying not to think about it. I looked to my right and found myself looking at a boy who was even taller than Embry. I caught his glance for a second, overwhelmed by his warm brown eyes and quickly looked away. I got a weird feeling in my stomach that wasn't like being hungry, I figured it must have been fear since he could crush me like a bug in a second.
The teacher began the lesson then and I realized I already had learned about what she was teaching. I decided to start on the assigned homework since I already understood the concept. In the middle of one of the problems I heard my name. The teacher asked for the answer to the question on the board, obviously she had noticed that I wasn't paying attention. I glanced up at the board and knew the answer quickly but was afraid to say it.
"Um, 46.28," I said quietly looking at my desk.
"What did you say?" the teacher asked. I looked up and saw her leaning forward and realized she hadn't heard me.
"46.28," I said a bit louder and the teacher nodded, her eyes wide. I looked down quickly, making sure my hair was shielding me from their gazes as I continued the homework.
"As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, I quickly jotted down the answer to the last problem on the homework and quickly gathered my things. I walked into the hall, head down, trying to avoid another confrontation. I made it to my locker peacefully and glanced at my schedule, it was time for lunch. I didn't have money for lunch and even if I did my stomach probably wouldn't be able to handle it anyways so instead of heading to the lunchroom with everyone else, I headed to the bathroom.
I did my business and washed my hands, noticing that my arm felt wet and headed back into the stall. I rolled up my sweatshirt and saw that the blood was starting to soak the gauze. I gently took of the gauze and flushed it down the toilet. I then looked into the mirror and thoroughly examined the cuts. I discovered they were deep enough to need stitches but I couldn't go to the hospital again. Hospitals meant money, questions, and phone calls. It would result in more injuries, worse than what I went in for. I dug around in my backpack and found my extra package of gauze and wrapped my arm up again.
Once I had finished wrapping it up again, I headed out of the bathroom and through the empty hallways. I enjoyed the silence after all the noise of the other kids in my classes. I wandered through the hallways until I found signs pointing me towards the library. I followed the signs and found myself in front of a large room with windows all around it showing extensive aisles of large bookcases. I opened the door and stepped in, taking in a deep breath of the smell that could only be found in libraries. I sighed, this was now my favorite place on earth.
I strolled through the aisles, my fingers gliding over spines of books as I looked around for a book to read. There were so many choices and I was very picky about the books I read when I was in certain moods, so it took me awhile to find a book that fit my mood. Eventually, I found the perfect book and clutched it to my chest as I walked around the room, before finding a large beanbag chair in the corner which I cuddled into, reading and listening to music until the end of the period.