Waver✓

E L E V E N

<The meanest people are the ones who don't realize just how mean they are>

|11|

WHAT ON earth was Katharina talking about? Stained behind? Hygienic? Oh my God, realization finally dawned on me making my lips form an O.

Had my period started and I wasn't aware of that? But how? I usually got the signs that it was coming and none of those had appeared yet.

I twisted my neck and looked at the back of the skirt I wore, straining my neck muscles. Sure enough, a red stain glared boldly at me. Why, oh why had I worn a yellow coloured clothe today of all days?

My body was an oddity; I mean during my periods I had gut-wrenching cramps that made me feel like I was dying, no lying but periods are real bitches and now there wasn't any pain. Not even a teeny tiny one. So strange.

Frowning down at myself, I recalled Katharina's words: You escaped then, not now. I also remembered Maude telling me to go sit on that other seat. Could this be another prank? With the way she had been talking, it seemed like one.

I traced the path back to where I had sat and just like my gut feeling, it was a prank. Aha!

Another one! in Dj Khalid's voice played in my head.

Of course, I knew there was no way my body system could change abruptly and my period become so forgiving.

The chair, where a person was meant to sit on, was stained with something red, like a dye. I was pretty sure it wasn't real blood, no freaking way. It had to be something fake just like the people who had smeared it on there.

I had a sniff, wrinkling my nose. The stuff smeared on the seat smelled like tomato paste. Could this be ketchup? Probably.

Just like before with my locker, a pink paper that I hadn't noticed a minute ago, was attached to the back of the seat. Written in bold red letters was,

Hi, I'm Jamila. Period.

Jeez. They even had a lovely time playing with words. The fury I had earlier came back, this time in full force but I tamped it down.

Now, I fully understood why Katharina and her followers laughed at me when I stood up to answer the question Mr. Thomas had asked. Not just Katharina and her friends, the whole class too. No wonder, I had been getting odd and weird looks from my classmates when the lesson ended. And I was oblivious then. Bummer.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall, chagrin and mortification flooding through me.

Katharina's silly pranks were getting out of hand. Like seriously, how did she derive joy in making her fellow girl to be humiliated? Like what did I ever do to her? Only because of my skin colour right? Very stupid excuse. Why all this shitty shits from her? Just why? Sadly, I would never know the answer to that. Some people were just mean. This was racism and bullying combined.

Rap rap. A knock on the door jolted me up from the wall and away from my depressing thoughts. Mr. Thomas stared at me, a questioning look as to why I was still here.

I stood up straighter and tried to smile convincingly, despite the conflicting thoughts and emotions running in my mind.

"Sorry sir, I forgot my books here and came back to pick them," I stuttered, fumbling with my words like a fool. Did he know about my fake period too?

He shook his head full of gray hairs dismissively. "Okay. Get on to your next lesson or you'll be late." I didn't think he knew.

Nodding frantically, I grabbed my backpack and hightailed it out of the room. Some other students were trickling in already.