Misfits

3.0

"You can't keep leaving school early Ellie" my brother sighs. "I know it's hard and believe me I wish you didn't even have to go, but you have to stay and fight a little longer"

"I'm just tired"

Tears run down my face and my brother pulls me into a hug. "Life shouldn't be this hard" I whisper.

The school called my brother while he was at work to tell him that I cut classes again. I feel bad for burdening him and having to make him leave work early but at the same time I'm glad he did. I really just needed a hug from him.

"What happened today?" he asks rubbing my back.

I tell him everything that happened. Everything that resulted in a cracked phone screen, broken glasses, and an almost fractured face had it not been for Damon even though it was a prank the whole time which I tell my brother too.

I know it isn't easy for him to hear about how people treat me at school, his body always tenses and he curses under his breath a lot. But he makes me tell him because he won't let me keep it all in, which I really appreciate.

The last thing I tell him about is the project for home economics.

"Ellie I don't want you to be scared to talk about Hazel, Logan, and Ella if you admire them. I damn sure don't want you to be scared about astronomy and outer space because that's what you love" he tells me.

"But it's why people hate me. Why should I be excited to do a presentation on why people hate me?" I mumble against his shoulder.

"People don't hate you because of that. They hate you because you'd rather go through hell than change who you are. They envy your strength to go against the societal norms that they squished themselves into so that they could be just like everyone else in this city. The people who care about you love you for the same reason the people who are envious of you hate you. That's something to hold onto Ellie"

"That doesn't feel like much" I sigh.

"I know" he kisses my forehead. "But it's something"

☆☆☆

I think Tuesday was the only day in my history of school days that absolutely nothing happened to me. Not a prank, or a joke, or a verbal berating. Nothing.

And I think it had a lot to do with the spawns of evil still recovering from the verbal berating they got from Damon.

Even if it was fake, some of those words still had to sting.

But it's Wednesday now and we're back to regular programming.

At least I think we are. The day isn't over yet.

I sit down in my seat in home economics class and rub my strained eyes. I haven't been crying or anything but I won't have a functioning pair of glasses until I pick them up this afternoon and I hate wearing contacts, so I have to brave the day blindly. It's also giving me a bad headache.

Damon walks in and I immediately look away focusing my gaze on my pencil that I'm drawing stars with on my desk. Don't worry I erase them immediately after, it's not vandalism if I clean it up right?

Something hits my desk with a thump and I jerk from being startled. I glance at the middle of my desk.

A king sized Milky Way chocolate bar occupies the space in front of me.

Before I can even react Damon sits down behind me with a loud huff. Like he's trying to make his annoyance known. Annoyance of what, I'm not exactly sure.

I can't stop staring at the Milky Way on my desk. Why did he give me a Milky Way? I thought-

The demon trio enters the room and my body stills halting my thoughts.