Friend or Foe

My alarm clock begins chiming mercilessly at exactly 7 am making me murmur in bed, there was a time when I loved mornings and sunshine and color but that was a faraway past that now seems foreign to me. I roll out of bed grudgingly and begin preparing for school, I finish with breakfast and dash out the door, I stopped using the bus a long time ago it gives people the wrong impression and they try to talk to me.

I get to school just as the first period bell goes off and i dash into class, Mrs Margret as usual is some minutes too early, she gives me a dirty look as I walk past her to my seat at the far end of the class far enough to sometimes day dream that I was in a separate universe.

"Home work young lady" She barks at me in her masculine voice.

I look at her with a confused expression that changes to realization, oops, I forgot about that.

"Don't keep the class waiting and submit it" she orders again, every pair of eye in the class is settled on me

"I forgot" I say simply

"You forgot your homework at home, I've already heard that one today" she says impatiently

"No, I forgot to do it" I correct her. The class begins to snicker, I hear a red faced girl with glasses say not too quietly "how does she manage to pass with this attitude, it is infuriating "

"She doesn't just pass" mrs Margaret says somewhat angrily, "she has the best GPA in this class, almost the highest in the school with this same attitude, what does that say about all of you here?" She hisses at them. I see people shooting me angry glances but again it has nothing to do with me.

"I would send you to the principals office but we both know even the principal has had enough of your nonchalance, get that homework to me before the end of today"

I nod in acceptance and the class begins. I constantly forget about assignments, I don't exactly study either, I have one of those brains that remembers things exactly, but It only works for my school work because I somehow don't recall names or places or even conversations if I venture to have one, I guess my brain classifies those as unimportant and trashes them. I also understand things easily after looking at them briefly, maths is one of the only subjects I truly enjoy maybe partly because it makes everyone else so miserable.

Again I tap my desk inpatient for the end of school, a memory flashes to my mind of when the bullying first started, I had tried to avoid them by using the exit door behind the school and I had gotten away safely smiling and beaming at my cleverness and escape. The next day during lunch Zachary and his crew came to find me In the cafeteria, and I got the dose of bullying I had missed the previous day and some, it was extremely bad that day and I realized there was no escaping them, that was also the last time I ate lunch in the cafeteria, now I eat lunch alone behind the school in a deserted outhouse no one ever uses. I had tried waiting them out but it just made me go late to lannys and she wouldn't let me work because she felt i was slacking off, i got a paycut that week.

There is no escaping Zachary. The bell goes off, I get up quickly and begin dashing for the door.

"Miss Marley" I hear the geography teacher call, what now I sigh.

I turn to him and walk over to the table, "why don't you help me take these to my office" he says giving me a stack of ungraded test papers, the test we just took, the one I took absentmindedly waiting for the bell to ring. "Why" I ask suspiciously, I don't exactly trust anyone.

"Well, I can't carry all of these alone" he says laughing playfully, I don't laugh back not even a smile, he walks ahead of me and gestures for me to follow him, i follow behind him and we walk the length of the hall in the opposite direction of the main door going towards his office. He opens the door and I step in after him, placing the papers on his disorganized table and turning immediately to leave. "Wait" he calls, What now, I turn back to face him, "can you sit for a few minutes" I look at the chair and look back at him shaking my head, "that's fine, I eh...want you to reconsider joining the debating club, we could use you there...wait.." he calls as I make to leave" I know you have previously Expressed your disinterest but there's a competition coming up and the prize money for first place is actually pretty nice, I know you work after school, if you win this money it will be of great help to you, won't it?" He asks me looking me in the eyes. The debate club have tried in the past to recruit me, understandably as they have never won first place in any competitions. The money prize sounds tempting though and I find it hard to turn him down as quickly as I would like, he sees my hesitation and finds hope in that, just maybe they will finally come home with the cup this year and shame the science club who came first at their last competition, the rivalry between the science teacher and the geography teacher is no secret. "We would really love to have you on the team, hesays with more assurance this time as if I had already agreed " I sigh, "No" I reply and walk out of the office holding onto my bag straps, I look at my cellphone clock, fuck, I am 10minutes behind schedule. I hear students whispering and feets shuffling hurriedly towards me, I raise my head just in time to see Zachary push me into the wall, ahhh, I groan internally

"Where have you been" he shouts angrily. Is this guy serious right now.

"You don't keep me waiting" he growls, I stare up at him and wonder if he is really demented because no normal person behaves this way, he acts almost as if he looks forward to this every day.

"Sorry " I reply weakly " I was busy blowing your dad" I finish with a smile. His face grows red as he hits me in my stomach, thesame spot as yesterday.

I take it better today but the pain still incapacitates me on the ground.

"She always runs her mouth even when she knows what will happen" I hear a female voice say pitifully. "Serves her right, she's always acting so high and mighty" another replies. I sigh shaking my head to clear it.

"I'll kill you one of these days, keep running your mouth" Zacharys deep voice booms sweetly, a sirens song stood no chance against the smoothness of his intoxicating voice, why such a voice will be given to my tormentor is the great mystery.

"You shouldn't hit girls, didn't your mother teach you that?" I retort from the ground, I see him clench his fist and harden his jaw In rage," what did you say?" he asks daring me to repeat it.

"Nothing" i say looking away.

"I thought as much" he replies walking away. I sigh out again, another day checked.