Chapter 14: Juliet vs The World, Round 2
I wake up to a delicious silence.
Rolling over, I smile, before realising that today is Friday and Aunty said I had to go to school.
I groan and slump out of bed, I'm toast; there's no way I'm making it through today alive. They probably all knew it was me when I had to cure them of their worst fears.
Cringing, I grabbed a clean uniform and headed to the bathroom and notice that Cara hasn't woken up yet. Good, now I can have first shower.
I slip into the white tiled room and lock the door; it would be awful for one of the boys to walk in on me.
Shower, dress, smile into the mirror and tell myself I can do this.
I can.
Can't I?
Eat breakfast, get an encouraging smile from Aunty, make lunch, walk out the door.
Surprisingly, Cara is taking the train today. She walks beside me in silence, her earbuds in and looking anywhere but where I am.
Like I said, complicated. I have absolutely no clue what's going on in her head right now.
But you could, a little voice whispered, just make a gap in the wall and have a listen. There's no one else around to distract you so you won't get overwhelmed…
I shake my head with a frown. No! It's a HUGE violation of privacy. I couldn't do that to her.
I don't have time to do anything else because the steps to the station yawn beneath me. I shiver involuntarily, staring into that echoing abyss. Taking a deep breath, I follow after my rapidly disappearing foster-sister. I focus on building up my wall and the red bricks composing it are so much easier to visualise here in the city. It protects and shields my mind.
I can do this.
And I do.
The train is silent except for the clacking bumps of the rails beneath us. I can't hear anyone's thoughts, and nobody speaks except for the robotic lady over the loudspeaker. For once, I don't have to worry about missing my stop because there is no competing noise.
"Next stop: East Bridge Station"
We get up and wait at the doors. When they open, I walk calmly out into the open air of the platform, exultant in the freedom I feel in even this small act. Grinning, I almost skip the rest of the way to school.
Cara looks sidelong at me for the first time since we left home.
"Is there something wrong with your face?" She asks suspiciously.
"What do you mean?" I respond cheerfully. Not even Cara can get me down today.
"You're smiling, no, grinning," She said thoughtfully with a funny look on her face, "I don't think I've ever seen you do that."
"I feel happy," I admit, a little intimidated by her bluntness.
"Humph," She harrumphed, and then left for the motley crowd she called friends. Or did she? She hung out with them, sure, but I'd never heard her call them friends. I shook my head and thought, you've got enough problems enough of your own, Juliet, let it be.
The rest of the day seemed to go pretty well, and I was especially enjoying actually listening to my Psychology class rather than having to read the textbook and class notes at home.
However, things got a bit awkward in English.
As it turns out, the police had tried to keep quiet the identity of the student who'd caused all the trouble on Wednesday, but everyone in my English class already knew, or suspected. Furthermore, because of my little freak out, Mr Kliff hadn't recovered yet either and we had a substitute.
I was braced for some hostility, but I didn't expect fear.
Muttered comments, wide eyes and nervous glances told me that they all knew I was a meta. I sunk lower in my chair near the door.
No one wanted to sit near me, not that anyone normally sat next to me anyway, but they took it to a whole new level. No one sat behind me, or next to me, or in front of me. It was like they were creating a barrier of empty seats around me.
The only one who didn't seem affected was Bronwyn Jones. He scowled and sat in the corner as usual. Now I thought about it, he had been out of the room at the time. He seemed especially sullen today, and I wondered what was on his mind.
Even the substitute teacher seemed to walk on tiptoes around me. She'd obviously been briefed by someone.
I'd like to say it didn't affect me, but it did. I think my face was pink the entire time. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to apologise to all of them.
As I was leaving my last class, the assistant principal walked up to me and took me to the office.
The pale green walls and thin carpet gave it a definite feeling of age, but the ranks of filing cabinets and the computer dominated desk clearly indicated that she was a busy woman. The woman herself was in her late forties with the few obligatory strands of grey in her brown up-do, and seemed to have contracted a permanent frown. There were two chairs on the other side of her desk, but she didn't ask me to sit down. Grabbing some scattered papers, she began to shuffle them before speaking in an even tone.
"The school has had a discussion with your guardian and the police. We will take you until the end of the year on the proviso that you don't pull a stunt like you pulled on Wednesday again. After that, you will have to find another school that is better equiped to deal with you."
"What?" I say, confused, "You were going to expel me? You are going to expel me?"
I guess that makes sense; I did freak out and cause most of the school to hallucinate their worst fears. But it was just an accident! Surely they know that.
She frowned, arranging some more paperwork as we talked, "You caused a panic and we've had parents asking to pull their children out of the school. On top of that, we're just not equipped to deal with your-" she paused, obviously trying to find a polite way to put it, "-special needs."
"You mean the fact that I'm a meta." I say flatly, already wanting to leave. I remembered dispelling her illusion as she slept a drug-induced sleep in S.T.A.R. Labs. Her worst fear was being alone. I wondered if the parent's complaints had anything to do with her response to the 'problem' I posed to the school. I guess I couldn't blame them for being afraid. Of me, a little voice whispered.
"Yes," She admitted defensively, yet somehow also defiantly, but still not looking me in the eye. "If something goes wrong, we just don't feel equipped to deal with it."
"Deal with me, you mean." I clarify quietly. I almost wished I'd kept my mouth shut. Then I shrugged it off, why should I be worried? She was probably more afraid of me than visa versa. Not that that's a good thing...
She doesn't respond and continues to shuffle her excessively organised papers.
A few seconds later, I leave, deciding that the meeting is over.
There's a bit of a sinking feeling in my stomach, but no issues on the journey home.
Author's Note:
So! Juliet's first day back at school wasn't exactly a roaring success, but it didn't exactly fail either...so, like most school days!
Fear is such a funny thing, and as I write, I'm finding more and more ways that it becomes a theme in this story. Well, more like 'overcoming fear', but still. Juliet was afraid of trying and making mistakes (she'd obviously never met Ms Frizzle XD), and when people knew about her powers, people were afraid, and later in the story of which I will not spoil, other people do stuff because they're afraid. Hmmm so deep... too deep! Sorry for the monologue, it just struck me in the spur of the moment
Anyone else a childhood fan of the Magic School Bus? No? Okay...I'll reminisce alone...
Trix
Oh yeah, and here's the response to guest reviewers:
F
Cara is pretty complicated - she's not a main character, but she's not unimportant either. She's apart of Juliet's arc to be less afraid all the time, if that doesn't spoil too much. Mostly, Cara's just one of those people who you don't really understand at first, but if you pay more attention, they're more complex and different than you thought they'd be.
Yes! I kind of love doing the S.T.A.R. Labs team's banter because it's so fun to write! There will be a bit more coming up shortly I think, but we'll have to see. I would have trouble writing from their perspective too much I think because I'm afraid of going out of character.
I didn't actually say when it was set because I wanted to make it vague, but I figured that didn't really work because there's too many clues that might be considered spoilers. I set it just before season 5 (which I recently finished watching, now to s6!). So no Nora and Killer Frost is still mia, but everyone/thing else I think is all good with that timeline. (*conveniently skipping the part where season 4 transitions directly into 5*)
Thanks for reviewing!