Sanctuary

Chapter Fourteen - Senna

Dejected and hurt in more ways than one, Senna dragged herself to bed.

-

Things kept going from bad to worse. The day started off late, when Senna woke to the buzz of the intercom instead of her alarm clock – which she had forgotten to set the night before. She had to rush to get ready in time, which left her struggling her gloves on over the thin bandage on her burn while her mother gave her the usual morning inspection. That led to a brief questioning, but thankfully not a scolding. Instead her mother was oddly... nice. It was the only good thing to happen all morning.

The shuttle was especially pungent, leaving her feeling like she was going to retch by the time she stumbled out onto the loading dock. So by the time she stumbled into her first class she was already miserable, sick, borderline late, and quite sure that things couldn't possibly get worse.

She was wrong.

The worst didn't happen until lunch, when she was scanning the cafeteria for an empty table. She kept her head low and her face mask tugged up high on the bridge of her nose, trying to hide as much of the skin on her face as possible. She wished she was invisible, so she could move through the crowd without the judgmental glances. It seemed like everyone was talking about her.

She spotted a far table that would do well enough for attempting to blend into the wall, but she stopped abruptly when someone appeared directly in front of her. Two others popped up on either side, blocking her path when she tried to maneuver around. She lifted her eyes to find a familiar shade of auburn red hair and gleefully sadistic eyes. Her heart sank, hiding in her stomach as if that would protect it.

"Hey dirtskin," she greeted with a certain joy that screamed of trouble. She was holding a glass of milk in her hand, as were her two flunkies. Senna took a step back, dread gripping her.

"You know, I read something interesting last night – something that made me think of you. I read that if you bathe in milk, it can lighten your skin." The other girls were moving before their leader had finished speaking, coming up on Senna's sides before she could turn to escape. The last word had hardly left the leader's lips before the duo dumped their glasses over Senna's head.

Senna let out a shout as the liquid ran over her scalp and streamed down her face. It leaked into her face mask around her nose and down her neck into her jacket. The leader waited until the first streams had slowed to splattering drips that hit the tray Senna was still clinging to. That was when she threw her cup directly into Senna's face, the arc of the splash landing on her plate and turning her food into soggy mush. The tray finally hit the ground, clattering into a mess of milk and slushy food at Senna's feet. There was an uproarious sound of laughter and shouting from the nearby tables.

Senna could only stand there, letting herself drip into a puddle as her breaths came in hiccupping sobs.

"Oh. I guess the book was wrong. You're as filthy as ever." The bully considered the mess down her upturned nose with a victorious gleam in her eyes.

"What in the name of Health is going on over here?" a teacher demanded as he arrived on the scene.

"Well, Mr. Franklyns – my friends and I were going to put our cups away when this girl here barreled into us! She had her head down over her tray and wasn't watching where she was going at all!" the auburn hair menace chimed in quickly.

"That's... that's not true," Senna spoke up with a sniff that succeeded only in sucking milk up her nose. "She dumped her milk on me..."

"Why would I do that?" She batted her pale lashes innocently and the teacher seemed to buy it, hook line and sinker.