The Eighth Time

Chapter 7 : Speechless

THE EIGHTH TIME

Chapter 7

Speechless

The next day in school, something unspeakable happened—girls were looking at me, and I mean, really looking at me, for longer than just furtive glances.

            Hi, my name is Keegan Bundy and I don’t think I have anything wrong to say about that.

To say I was confused about this new turn of event was the understatement of the year. As far as I knew, I didn’t have a second set of eyes growing on my forehead but a dude was never sure, so I dodged in the first bathroom I saw. Sighing I walked up to the sink and looked at myself in the mirror.

Nope. Definitely no eyes on my forehead. Everything looked at the right place. I did have the beginning of a pimple on the left side of my nose that would probably be mistaken for a wart in two days, but that was hardly a reason to stare at me like I had leper for now. Pimples on my face were hardly a new sight.

But everything was where it should be. My straight, slightly aquiline nose was still in the middle of my face, with the flat cheekbones on both side and my thin lips under, hiding behind them slightly crooked teeth—my mother never had the money for braces and it wasn’t really that bad. There was also my uninteresting chin, and my bad skin, and my mop of wavy brown hair which might need an hair cut—the sides weren’t that bad, they didn’t hide my ears, but with the top and front I was almost on the verge of having bangs with the fringe curling on my forehead—at least it hid a few pimples underneath. And finally there were the eyes with the boring brows over them, my mud eyes—not exactly brown but not green either, not the kind of eyes you’d drown on, the kind that would suck down your booths with the mud after a rainy day.

I gazed down at myself. Yes, I was wearing pants—jeans more precisely—and a black t-shirt with a faded Gun’s N Roses sign in the middle after one too many turn in the washing machine. Black skate shoes were on my feet, even though I never skated. My old black backpack was swung over my shoulder.

Yes, everything was as it always was.

So, why was everyone staring?

            I jumped on the spot when someone stumbled loudly in the bathroom like he had been pushed in—Paxton.

            “What the hell dude?” I all but yelled in surprise.

            “Don’t look at me like that!” Pax whined, looking back towards the door and pointing at it. “That freaky girl pushed me in!”

            “Liesel?” I asked to make sure.

            “Do we spend time with other crazy girls?”

Yeah, I really had no reason to ask. “Do we spend time with any girl at all,” I added, and snorted.

Hi, my name is Keegan Bundy and the only girl that will spent time with me—sort of—is probably clinically insane.

Before Paxton could add more to that, someone banged loudly on the door. “You guys stop shoving your hands down the other’s pants and come out of the closet already!” Liesel yelled.