Waking Up

Worried

Chapter Sixteen

I took a double take at my calendar; school was almost over. I held in a yell of excitement. But what if Matt wanted me to go back next year? I sighed. It was a lazy Saturday, Matt didn't have to work. His job here didn't pay any better than in Tulsa.

I walked out of my room and sat next to Matt on the couch. "Matt, do I have to continue going to the school next year?" I asked. He turned to me abruptly.

"Yea, why?" he responded. I gave up and didn't say anything. All that mattered was his happiness, I guess.

On Monday, it seemed even harder to concentrate. My mind felt numb and I was dreading getting picked on later.

In gym, we played dodgeball. Continually, I got hit. Not very many people wanted me in the game.

For the rest of the time, I sat out. I kept getting hit, so I saw no point. 'Bash their heads in,' Dally's voice echoed through my mind.

The couch blew his whistle. "Alright! Dress in!" he ordered. All the girls went to their locker room.

Quietly, I took off my clothes and stepped in the shower like everyone else.

I was glad none of the other girls could see me and I was certainly glad I couldn't see them. When I finished, I wrapped the towel around my body and went to my gym locker to get my clothes. They were gone.

I frantically searched around the room for my clothes, but didn't find them. I ran down the hall "Hey, Reagan, looking for these?" a cruel voice taunted. The next thing I knew, other kids were surrounding me. The two girls threw my clothes at my face. "Stupid, lonely, greaser." I heard someone say.

"Wow," I said. "This is some prank. Way to be original, I've seen this in the movies all the time. You have no right to treat me different." Nobody responded. I ran back to the locker room and changed quickly. 'You ok?' Delaney asked me.

'Yea,' I replied. She gave me a doubtful look and placed an imaginary hand on my shoulder.

'You'll get through this, there's only a month of school left,' she reminded me. That was something to look forward to.

When I got home, Matt sat me down on the couch. "The principal told me what happened today," he said, looking down at his feet. I nodded slowly. He pulled me in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," he cried. "I had no idea you were being bullied. I thought taking you away from Tulsa would make you that sweet innocent girl I used to know. But I guess all its doing is making things worse." I only looked at him with blinking eyes.

"The principal wouldn't expel them. I asked but they obviously don't care about the lower class," he added. His eyes were full of pain, but that was only because they mirrored mine.