Her Heroes

Chapter Eighteen

The class ended all too soon and the three of us filed out the door.

The three stuck together as we navigated the crowded halls. Brigitte peeled away from us quickly, heading to her class. Fortunately, I had Audrey in my next class, so she knew exactly where we were going.

Audrey guided us through the ocean of kids and to an open door. We entered hurriedly and I let the breath I was holding out. One thing was for sure, I would never get used to the number of students this place had.

We took seats close to the front and began to take out notebooks and pens for the class. I wasn't sure exactly what this course was about. It was a history class but that was all I knew.

The bell rang and a final throng of students entered the room, one of them being the brown-haired girl from earlier.

The teacher didn't even glance my way as he began the lecture. He spoke quickly and his beady eyes darted to and fro.

***

I was staring at the clock. One minute left. The second hand slowly ticked over and the bell rang. Everyone spurred into motion to leave however I just sat there, letting the other girls leave before me. Four classes had passed since I had started school and I was starving. Usually, I wouldn't be this hungry but thanks to my brothers forcing me to eat, I had grown used to eating at regular intervals.

Eventually, the class cleared enough and I stood and left. Audrey and Brigitte joined me and together we walked towards the lunchroom. Brigitte was chatting animatedly about something as the three of us entered the lunchroom.

"I'm going to get food, do either of you want to come with me?" Audrey looked at me and Brigitte.

Shrugging I moved to walk with her, "I'll find a table." Brigitte's voice interrupted us and we nodded before turning to go and enter the lunch line. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. She was pretty, it was unmistakable. Her eyes caught mine and she smiled before stepping up to pick out her food. I followed her lead slowly but surely.

When we got back to the table I saw the brown-haired girl from advisory picking at Brigitte. The girl was taking Brigitte's food and shoving it back at her.

"So little girl, why aren't you at a school for the dumb?" One of the girl's friends dragged a hand across Brigitte's hair as she lilted on. My poor friend sat there with tears in her eyes. Her back was straight as an iron rod and I grimaced. She shouldn't be treated like this. Just because she was born deaf didn't make her lesser than anyone else; she had nothing to do with how she was born.

"Where are those friends of yours when you need them? Oh wait, you don't have any Brigy!" The brown-haired girl's laughter was audible across the room as all the other students tried not to pay attention.

Why was no one moving to help her? Audrey and I stood still in the center of the room, watching as the girls taunted our friend.

My last fuse was blown when they dumped Brigitte's food on her, causing a huge mess. She looked at it all and the tears finally fell. That was it. My legs were working quickly as I set my tray down on a nearby table and marched over to the squad of girls.

Tapping on the brown-haired girl's shoulder, I gained her attention. She barely even had a chance to blink before my fist was flying. Her head snapped to the side and blood spurted from her nose. Nobody would mess with my friends, and I mean nobody. I hadn't had friends before, and I barely knew these girls for four hours, but we were soulmates, or as close to soulmates as friends could get. I could just tell.

The brown-haired girl turned her head back to me and squared her shoulders before rubbing her arm under her bloody nose. The liquid successfully spread as her eyes darkened.