brothers.

14~ Eye for an Eye

Diana

The hallways were crowded beyond belief when school was over. I squeezed my way through the numerous students, constantly repeating 'excuse me'.

I was desperate to leave. The rest of the day wound up the same, and I had another panic attack in Geometry. Not even my Literature class was enough to keep me optimistic.

But I didn't want to leave until I knew the reason behind the gossip.

In elementary school, I was basically singled out because I was 'weird'. The other kids didn't understand why I was so quiet, or why I had dirty clothes on all the time, or why I did so bad in class. I couldn't control my 'moments' as well as I could now. And my control now was still very slippery, let alone back then.

But I could act normal. I came in 'normal'. I slapped a smile on my face and tried to be polite. That still didn't stop the gossip. And the only reason I even had panic attacks today was because of all the looks. I didn't like having so many eyes on me.

There was a reason. And the boys knew for sure. Not everyone looked at me that way. Mildred, Tony, Thelma, Kate... they treated me like a normal person. And all of them had one thing in common: they were new students.

As I neared the main entrance, my foot was suddenly caught on someone's ankle, sending me flying forward. I grunted as I hit the tile floor with my legs thrown up in the air. Some of the people around me stopped to look. A few giggled while others seemed hesitant on whether to help me or not.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you," someone said.

"You're good." I took the offered hand and stood, looking up. My eyes met hazel.

He went pallid as he stared at me, his hand slackening. He let go of my fingers and stared at me with bewilderment, as if I'd grown two heads.

I sighed in annoyance. "Is there something wrong with my face?" I snapped.

He blinked. "Um..." He shook his head. "No. No, I'm sorry. You're, uh... sorry." He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. "Sorry for tripping you."

"Yeah, it's fine." I crossed my arms, looking away.

He half-smiled and turned to leave.

"Wait."

He stopped, keeping his eyes averted.

"Why did you look at me like that?" I demanded.

"Like what?"

"Like... that." I waggled my finger towards his face. "Like this." I imitated his expression. "Why?"

He stiffened, swallowing. I walked around him so I could be facing him, but he kept his eyes on his shoes.

"It's not my place to say," he finally said. He headed out. I stared after him in confusion.

Not his place to say? What did that mean?

I trudged up the steps to my bus and looked for my seat. A bit of relief flooded me when I saw Mildred waiting. "Hi." I sat down.

She glanced at me and half-smiled. "Hey." She took off her earbuds. "How was your first day?"

I hesitated, noticing her sudden demeanor, but answered her anyway. "It was... it was pretty good," I said. "At lunch, I found my old friend from preschool."

"Really? Small world."

Tommy and Harry got on the bus. Harry smiled and waved to me as he passed by. Confused, I blinked, unsure how to respond. He seemed a bit disappointed and went to sit down.