Changes

Chapter 1 - Special Treatment

Overhead lighting, bleak and uncompromising. shone down into the small room like a dim torchlight, picking out any fleck of dust, every smudged fingerprint on the shut double glazed window. The smell of fresh paint travelled through the air. It made Giselle feel ill.

"Giselle? Giselle, are you listening to me? What college courses are you really interested in?". Giselle broke out of her daydream. "I'm sorry Mrs. Flack; what were you saying?", she could sense the irritation in Mrs. Flack's voice, she was scared of upsetting her, she didn't want to get into her bad books, anyone's bad books. Giselle leaned into the padded wheel-y chair in the office and attempted to listen attentively.

For Giselle, the visits to Mrs. Flack's office were routine. Ever since her father passed away her school has been giving her special treatment. She got to skip classes whenever she felt like it, eat lunch in the principals office, extra help with school work and reduced homework and assignments. Unlike many other teenagers her age, Giselle hated this treatment. she did not want to be known as the girl who's dad died, she did not want anyone to look at her with pitiful eyes, she wanted to be invisible again, when nobody knew she existed. Unfortunately, Giselle had to learn to adapt to a new reality, which she hated. Even her "crush" suddenly acknowledged Giselle's existence.

Adam was a tall dark beauty, 6'4, an athlete and basketball player, he had the deepest African Irish accent Giselle had ever heard. He dressed like a classic "roadman" (grey Nike Tech) and there were rumours that he took part in fraud. Giselle didn't care, she didn't know him personally to judge him. Besides, whenever she saw his face break out in a pearly white smile, she couldn't fantom how someone who was carved so beautifully in the hands of God could partake in any illegal activities. "They must just be rumours"; she thought to herself.

As Giselle was clearing out her locker for spring break she heard a familiar voice, she turned around and did not see anyone there, so she carried on stacking thick textbooks into the cardboard box she found in the school's storeroom.

"Gee!", she heard it again. This time Giselle ignored it, but she soon felt a light tap on her shoulder and her soul almost escaped her body. "Damn b, you okay? Looks like you've just seen a ghost", Adam said through a smirk. "I'm okay, thanks. What's up?", she replied. "I actually wanted to know if you were doing okay" he said, "I'm fine, what do you really need?", Giselle sighed; the box of books was getting heavier and heavier each second they remained in her arms. "Gee, can't I talk to my friend without needing something?", "Yes you can but we've never been friends. You only ever talk to me when you need to check in on me or need homework, you didn't even know I existed until last month". Adam looked defeated, "Yes I do need help with the English assignment, but I am genuinely asking how you are because I care", "Wow big words coming from you", Giselle said through a small grin. "I can give you my essay but you can't copy it directly, there's a PowerPoint presentation that we have to do as well. It's due tomorrow morning at 10am. It has to be emailed to Ms. Glynn by then. I'll email my essay to you by tonight". Adam gasped, "Aight thanks b, lemme take them books from you innit"

Before she could decline, the tremendously huge box of books that were slipping out of Giselle's arms were sitting effortlessly in the arms of Adam. They both walked in silence to Giselle's car. Giselle couldn't help but feel anxious as they walked. Thoughts began rushing through her head "What if he's trying to make fun of me?", "He probably thinks I'm pathetic", "He's using me", "I shouldn't have let him take the box. Now he thinks I'm weak", "I'm so weak".

The sight of her car brought Giselle back to reality. It was a second hand, blue Toyota Prius. It wasn't anything close to her dream car but she loved it. She saved up for it even though her mom could've gotten her the Tesla that Giselle had always wanted. Giselle and her mother were not in good terms. Only a week had passed since her father passed away, and her mother already introduced Giselle to Spencer, a twenty-nine year old business man with olive skin and dark hair. Giselle was disgusted that her mom would date a racist, homophobic young man who reeked of white privilege when Giselle's father was a black man. What was the woman thinking bringing someone like that into their home, when Giselle is part black?

"This is my car", Giselle said while trying to get out her keys. "Hmm not bad", Adam remarked while handing the box of books to her, "Thank you for this", she smiled softly. "No, thank you" and he was off. Giselle couldn't help but watch him jog away gracefully. She got into the driver's seat of the car, put the key in the ignition, started the engine and began driving home. She was thinking about how much her life had changed in just a month. In that moment, 'Be Alright', started playing on the radio, this caused Giselle to burst into uncontrollable tears. When she arrived home, Giselle noticed an unfamiliar SUV in her usually parking spot. This could only mean one thing, her mother had guests over. She checked how she looked in the rear view mirror and rolled her eyes. It's safe to say that, she was not looking like the natural beauty she was. Her hazel brown eyes were bloodshot and her silky curly hair was far from neat. "And you'd think she'd tell me if she was going to have guests, no she wouldn't because she only cares about herself". She sat in the car contemplating if she wanted to go in and embarrass herself or continue sitting in the car until whoever was there left. There was knock on her car window and she felt a wave of panic flow through every inch of her body. "Open the door" a deep voice bellowed.