My Middle School Curse

Chapter 4: The Curse Reveals

I walked to school on my crutches on Monday. Ugh,Mondays. Yes, school. Even with my visit to the hospital, I was still stuck to going to school. Nobody drove me, because I refused and insisted that I could do it myself. I still had to go to school, because the doctor insisted that nothing was bad now, so I could still go to school. And there was no way to convince my parents otherwise. As I got near the school, I pulled the hood of my light gray sweater up, hoping that no one would notice me. My hair puffed out a little and I wished for the a hundredth time why my hair couldn't be straight. My hair was a golden blonde, and it liked to curl and wave, and it refused to stay how I wanted it to, including how much I straightened it. As I started passing students, I looked down at my black and white running shoes, and tried to blend in with the crowd. That day I was wearing some blue jeans with a plain red T-shirt, with a light gray sweatshirt that covered my red tee. After I struggled climbing the school's steps, I breathed a big sigh of relief. I got here early, to avoid them, hopefully today will a good day.

"Hey! Beth!" I was sure my face paled a little. Great. All this trouble for nothing. Nobody is allowed to call me Beth, because I hated it, even more than Elizabeth. Without turning around, I knew it was Monica. I tried to ignore her, and go into the school, but my crutches stopped me from doing so. She and her minions crowded around me. "Let's go shoot some baskets. " I looked up, and rolled my eyes. She knows that I love playing Basketball- I am the team captain after all. Part of the reason she hated me. "Oh come on! Don't you want to see who's better?" I knew that this was just another complicated little scheme that she wanted me to be a pawn of, so I did not want to let her. "Though I doubt you could beat me. You are on crutches after all. And those shoes... could they get any uglier?" Her minions laughed. "And I bet that, that sweatshirt came from a thrift store. Beth here, probably can't afford to buy any decent clothes!" Monica said with mock sympathy.

"Why do you have to be so rude?" I asked. "Is it because you had an... um, what do you call it? Accident? Is it because I beat you fair and square for team captain?"

"Oh. THAT little incident. Nobody cares about that anymore." She said.

"Oh really." I said sarcastically. I pulled out my phone. "Let's see. Hmm" I said looking in my phone. "Ten thousand views in two days. Wowzers! You know..." I said. I couldn't wait to get out of there. On my first day of school several months ago, Nikki wasn't the only one who noticed me. Monica noticed me too, and since that day, Monica always bullied me. Since it was my first time watching the video, it surprised me on what had happened. I started laughing uncontrollably, causing and even bigger scene than before. "Yeah...Yeah.. Nobody cares anymore..." I said in between giggles. Once I calmed down, I fanned my face. Monica's cheeks produced a small tint of pink on her cheeks.

"I just really want to see who's better. Coach makes mistakes you know..." She looked me up and down disgustedly. "Besides, Brandon plays the B-ball." I scrunch up my nose as she said that. "Anyways, I always win. You know how good I am." It was like a magical wand just woke me up. No way, she would beat me. Even with my sprained ankle. Besides, if I refused, she would just think that I was afraid of her. Even if I was. But she didn't need to know that.

"Fine" I muttered. "But I bet I'll still win. Takes guts to challenge an injured player, one on one.

"Ok Barf. I mean Beth... Let's play first one to 5 wins. Loser has to do what winner decides. Bet goes on for the end of the month, and the winner can tell the loser anything to do until all that time." Monica said. I fake gagged and rolled my eyes to cover my fear.

"Sounds good enough." I said. I had no idea why she was pushing this bet so much. I am a far much better player that her. Even with crutches.

So we played her stupid basketball game. I should have known! On my way there, her minions tripped me, pushed me, so by the time I got to the hoops, I was scratched up, with gravel on my palms, and jeans. When I got there, I put my crutches on the grass beside, and tried to put weight on my foot. I cringed. I took a step and nearly fell over. When I tried to steady my balance, I felt two arms grab my shoulders, steadying me. I breathed a sigh of relief.