brothers.

23~ Movie Night

I left the office, going out into the hallway. As expected, it was crowded. I kept my head and sleeves down as I joined the flow of students. My eyes focused on the front door when I turned into the main hall. Just a few more steps, and I was free.

"You know what I learned in Psychology today?" a girl declared loudly behind me.

"What?" The other girl sounded confused.

"We talked about a bunch of disorders, like bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia..."

"You don't take Psychology-"

"Yeah, I do. Anyways, we learned about the symptoms, and there's this girl I know that shows a lot of signs of being... you know."

I clenched my jaw, resisting the urge to turn around. I'd kept a good streak of not confronting anyone in school so far. I wouldn't break that now.

"Oh, yeah. I think I know this girl. She's kind of weird. She has these crazy... episodes in class, right?"

"Uh-huh. She really needs some professional help."

The patronizing tone nearly made me burst. I was just at the door. Just there.

"Maybe she should go to the school shrink."

"Nah, she needs her own. He'd take forever with her."

I went down the steps.

"True. Poor thing probably can't even function in society."

I whirled around, glaring at the two.

It was Ivy and Lisa.

They stopped, staring at me. Ivy's jaw trembled while Lisa raised a brow. "Problem?"

I glared at her. "No."

"Have we met?" Her head cocked innocently.

My teeth ground together. "No, I don't think so."

"I think we have." She smiled. "Yeah, you're in Ivy's class. She told us." She stuck out her hand. "Lisa Preston."

"Hi," I said flatly without taking it.

She lowered it, her smile irritating me. "And you are?"

I inhaled deeply. "Diana."

"Nice name." She smiled sweetly. "You seemed a little... upset just now. Anything wrong?"

"Well, I couldn't help overhearing your... conversation," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah... we were a little loud, weren't we?" She giggled and smiled at Ivy, who only smirked slightly. She kept her eyes lowered and her mouth shut. "Did you have an opinion of your own about our discussion?" Lisa asked, raising her brows.

Oh, come on, just punch her in the face already.

No, just stand your ground. Show that you'll defend yourself.

"Well, yes. I honestly don't think you should judge... this girl without actually knowing the cause of her... 'episodes'. You don't know what she's actually going through." I imitated quotation marks with my fingers.

She shrugged. "Of course. But sometimes it's obvious." Her fake, sweet tone made me nauseous. "Some people are a bit... problematic. At least... that's what we discussed in Psychology. They like the attention, you know? They make up stuff so people can feel sorry for them. If it's actually real, well... they really need help if they want to function in normal society."

Oh, my God, just slap her. She deserves it, doesn't she?

You're doing great. Don't do anything unnecessary, please.