Unfamiliar Territory [Book One]

Chapter Five | A Frail Reality

A few people fit Mary's physical description, but she was almost literally the only person I saw reading a book in this school. Everyone else just liked making up supernatural nonsense and stupid rumors.

"He had to be, like, as big as a horse to drag Spence like that. Really!"

I rested my head against the wall, heaving a silent sigh. Choosing to sit in the back of the classroom stopped people whispering about me behind my back, but it made it much easier to hear everything else. And, for the unforeseeable future, that everything was--

"Hero, man! Jules said Spence swore it spoke to him when he was in the water. Crazy, right?"

"So crazy!"

I stared up at one of the florescent lights when it flickered. Something about it suddenly made me very sad.

"Man, what's keeping the teach?" someone wondered out loud.

The teacher was running late. I closed my eyes as I let that sink in. They were going to run out of things to say about that damn dog soon. And, after that, they'll switch to their second favorite supernatural topic.

"She hasn't said one word yet, has she?"

A trio of girls with their desks pushed together were talking, in not-so-hushed voices, in front of me. Like curious vultures, their necks craned over desks and around heads to look at someone as they continued their gossip.

"Yeah. Becca said the freaks probably ripped off her tongue when they kicked her out."

Okay, first of all, disgusting. What sort of people joked about something like that?

But even worse were the ones who used insults like that. The freaks. Not the first time I heard someone called that in my lengthy career as a high-school student, but at this school that insult was practically synonymous when talking about the Tea Drinkers. I rapped my fingers on the desk.

"More like she's so ashamed that not even a pack of freaks want her. If I were her, I would be trying to hide too."

"What did you say?"

The girls jumped in their seats. All at once, they turned their heads to look back at me.

Strange. Had I said something?

They had bright blue eyes--all three. One of them looked down, then back up at me, and laughed. Her voice cracked. "E-Ew, it is looking at us," she said, elbowing fellow blue eyed friends.

"Yeah, so gross," another said, attempting a smile. The third remained silent. Silent enough to grab the attention of the other two.

"Em?" one said.

"Let's just leave him alone," Em said. I could barely hear her.

She avoided looking at me as she turned back around in her seat. The other two followed suit. They continued to talk, but it was nothing more than hushed whispers-- their heads lowered.

I looked down at my hand. It was white. Shaking. I grabbed it with my other hand and it gradually stopped. The entire classroom had become quieter.

She was wearing a deep blue dress. Mary. The only person who wasn't either looking at me or avoiding looking at me. A notebook was open on her desk and a pen held loosely in her hand. In her lap, she was reading a book-- something thick and old. Every few seconds she would use her free hand to turn the page. Was she really reading it that fast?

She was small. Had to be the smallest person in class-- maybe even the school. But everyone still treated her the same way they treated the intense Kat or the walking mountain, Stallion. Whispering about her behind her back, making up rumors--stories. And, whatever the circumstances, she was alone against them.