Poisonous

Chapter 18 - PE Class Takes A Fall

I walked into my apartment. My mom came running through the door.

"You worthless, no good, little, dirty—" my mom continued to shout names at me; names I never wanted to hear again.

"I-I don't know what I did." I coward in fear.

"You're a disgrace to the family! To myself! I hate you!"

My mother started punching me. First it was in the stomach, then she moved to my head.

"M-mom, I-I'm s-sorry!" I tried to shout, but my voice wasn't working.

"It's your fault! All of it! I wish you would just die!"

"Red! Red!" a new voice rang through the air. "Eva!"

I wasn't in my apartment, I was on the streets of Gotham. I was dressed as Poison Oak.

Damian was next to me. "Oh, Eva. What have you done?"

"What?"

"You killed her." I looked down. Olivia's dead body was on the ground. "You really are poisonous."

"No!" I screamed. "I'm not! I didn't mean for it to happen!"

Olivia sat up. "It's all your fault, Eva. You caused this."

I can't remember if my scream was real or in the dream. I woke up in a cold sweat. I was still in the parlor of the Wayne Manor.

Along with the dark oak, like the rest of the house, the parlor was decorated for Christmas. The tree was up and brightly decorated, holly themed curtains were hung up, throw pillows seemed to match the curtains. The sun shined through the windows.

I'm sure I looked like a mess. I still had Damian's hoodie on and my school uniform. (I didn't change for the funeral). My hair was probably in tangles.

I took off the hoodie and put it in my arms. I began walking. The smell of breakfast lingered the halls. I hadn't realized the last time I ate was at lunch. I didn't have dinner last night because I was at the cemetery. But the bad part is: I wasn't hungry. I guess I'm never hungry. My lunch yesterday was a bag of chips, breakfast was just an apple.

I walked into the kitchen. Alfred was in there making omelets. "Morning, Alfred," I said.

"Good morning, Miss Eva. Pleasant sleep?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied.

"Do you have an preferences for your breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," I said. It was the truth.

"Miss Eva, you really should eat something."

"I'll just have a piece of toast."

Alfred popped some bread into the toaster. After a minute, the bread popped out as toast. He handed it to me.

I took it. "Thanks."

He gave a small smile. "Good morning, Master Damian."

Master Damian? Weird. Who knew Alfred could be so . . . formal. I turned and saw Damian. He was dressed for school. He, also, had crazy bed head.

I let out a laugh. "You got a little something, um. . ." I pointed to a strand of hair that was sticking up.

He grumbled and tugged his hair down.

"You really should get up sooner, Damian. You're going to be late for school," I said in a smart aleck voice.

"Oh, shut it."

"No."

Damian glared at me, I cracked a grin. He sat down at the bar stool next to me. He ate his omelet in peace. Soon after, we were on the road to school.

I did my best to look presentable as I walked in to the school. Luckily, I always carried a hair tie and gum in my bag (which was in the car along with my phone. No messages from Mom). I pulled my hair up and chewed on gum.

I made it through first and second without Rachel causing a stir. I didn't have third period PE with her because she actually played sports.

The gym coach, Coach Blossom, blew her whistle. "Alright, ladies! Today we will be running laps!"

Coach Blossom was anything but a blossom. She was loud, always mad, and didn't care to be at school.

"Before you start moaning and groaning, we will be running outside with the boys' gym," she continued.

One girl raised her hand. I think she was in tenth grade. "Why are we running outside? It's winter."

"It's not winter until December 21. And it's not that cold. Now come on!" Coach Blossom started walking outside.

The class groaned and walked outside with her. Damian was in gym right now. So I would actually know someone in the class. Coach Blossom stood next to the boys' coach. I didn't know his name. We had to run a mile. It was only four laps around the track. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"Wanna race?" Damian asked behind me.

"You're so on!" I smiled.

Some of the students already started running/walking. Damian and I stood at our made up starting position.

"Three. . ." I began.

"Two. . ." Damian continued.

"One. . . Go!"

I took off running. Damian was at my side. We passed kids who were trying to aim for first by running. I guess running through the streets of Gotham has really payed off. We ran our first lap. Three to go.

"I'm going to beat you!" I shouted. I ran a little faster.

"It's on, Red!" He caught back up to me.

By our fourth lap I was getting tired. My breathing started to get rough. I had barely a lap to go until I was finished. Damian was a foot ahead of me. If I ran faster I could catch up to him.

I didn't run fast enough. He beat me by half a second. He didn't even look out of breath.

"Looks like I win, Red!" he said in a cocky voice.

"Y-yeah," I wheezed, "l-looks l-like i-it."

"Are you okay? This isn't like you."

"J-just t-tired."

"No, no you're not. Come sit down."

Damian grabbed my arm and guided me over to a curb. Before I could sit down, my knees gave in. I grabbed Damian's shirt. I got a dizzy feeling. I gripped his shirt tighter before I passed out.