Yellowjackets: The Broken Victors

Chapter 29: Bystander (Part 1)

"Hey, got a paper?" the girl asked her. "A scratch will do."

Agami quickly tore the page she was drawing on and gave it to the girl without saying a word, who then stared at her weirdly after accepting the paper.

"Dude, I said a scratch is fine. Not with a sketch," she said to her.

"It's cool," Agami replied in a flat voice.

"If you say so," the girl shrugged, spitting out the gum on the paper and crumpling it, then throwing them on the bin on the other side of their room as if she were doing a three-point shot.

Agami raised her eyebrow as she stared at the girl, prompting herself to ask a question.

"Got a name?" she asked the girl, who immediately shifted her attention back to her.

"It's-"

The girl was interrupted when the teacher, who was currently doing the roll call, yelled.

"Natalie Luisa Scatorccio!" said their teacher.

"HERE!" the girl beside her yelled back in annoyance as a response. "And it's pronounced Scatorccio! Do not roll the fucking 'r'!" she corrected the teacher, whispering the last part to avoid detention.

Natalie shook her head, still annoyed.

"Why does he have to include my middle name?" she complained.

"Luisa is so Catholic," Agami remarked.

"Exactly," replied Nat. "And nobody likes the fucking Catholics."

"I am a Catholic," said Agami.

Natalie leaned back a little upon hearing that, contemplating whether or not she should apologize or just claim what she said was a joke.

"...though I'm neither devoted nor religious," Agami added to her statement after seeing Natalie's expression. "You're fine."

"Oh," was all that Natalie could say.

That made Agami smirk, quite entertained.

"So, why did you attend the class just today?" she asked Natalie.

The girl shifted her body forward, making sure the teacher wouldn't catch them talking.

"My parents didn't know school had already started," Natalie replied.

Agami chose not to ask more about it because she's not that dumb to not get a hold of the girl's situation. No responsible parent would forget or wouldn't realize that their child's school had already started. It just means Natalie didn't come from a lovely home, so she simply nodded at the girl's response and focused on the class.

"Hey, what's your name? I'm not listening to the teachers unless my name gets out of their mouth," Natalie asked.

"Agami Dickinson," she responded in a low voice.

"Holy shit," she caught Natalie looking at her again with a huge grin visible on her face.

"Fucking Dick."

Having someone to talk to in class and feeling not totally alone was great. Although it's mostly 'hey', 'hello', 'g'morning' and the exchange of nods as greetings in the hallways between her and Natalie if they see each other outside the classroom, it's better than not saying a word at all in school for half of her day.

After spending two months in Wiskayok High, Agami finally got used to her boring weekday routine: greet Natalie, eat alone in the cafeteria for lunch because Natalie always disappears during that time for some reason, then say her goodbye to Natalie once the bell rings.