Maple

Ch1

Maple

"Hey look, there's Maple from 11c"

"She's alone again"

"Obviously, she has no friends"

"Plus, I heard she's super poor"

"Yeah, she's practically living on the streets!"

I tried to ignore the three girls' whispers. It was easy; I was already used to it. High school students have nothing better to do than to make other people feel miserable. I wouldn't give them the pleasure of knowing that it was working. I finally saw my homeroom class up ahead, but I didn't relax, who knows what forms of torture they have set up for me inside.

I slid the door open. Most of the class was already here since the bell was about to ring. I always make sure to come at the last moment so I could face the other students for as little amount of time as possible. I made my way to my seat, the fourth row back near the window. As I pass by a group of students, their conversation toned down, as if they were talking about me, which they probably were. As soon as I got to my desk, they start up again, laughing and talking over one another. I almost couldn't hide my scowl at their childish behavior.

Before I sat down, I made sure the seat was safe. It has become routine for me to do so since this one guy thought it would be funny to loosen all the bolts in my chair. When I had sat down it had broken apart and I had tumbled to the ground. It wasn't funny at all. In fact, I had sprained my right wrist and had a horrible headache for the rest of the day. So, better safe than sorry. When I was sure it was not tampered with I set my bag down and took a seat.

The bell rang and students took their seats, though they didn't stop talking. As I waited for Ms Wilson to arrive I checked to see if there were any new remarks on my desk. Next to the scratched in 'Gloomy Girl' and above the white correction fluid reading 'Get Lost Loser' was an insult that was not here yesterday. It read 'Die'. It was written in a thick board marker and all the letters were capital. Seriously, these guys never run out of ideas. My favorite one was 'Don't pollute us with your pessimism' that ran along the edge of the desk. Though both p words were spelled wrong, I had to hand it to them for their creativity. 

I didn't let it get to me, the whole bullying thing. I was here to learn and graduate so I can find a good job. I needed money, not friends, especially not with shallow idiots like them. Ms Wilson finally arrived and apologized for being late, before reading out the names on the register. I sighed and looked out the window into the school yard. The trees looked like they were having a contest to see which one could reach the sky first and their leaves were a dazzling array of autumn colors. I broke out of my trance when someone flicked a crumpled up paper at my head while Ms Wilson wasn't looking. 

This was going to be another long day.

David

It was break and I decided I would lie down beneath a tree and sleep till the end of the school day, skipping the rest of my classes. I just needed a tree that would hide me from the teachers' view and provide shade. Easy, the school grounds were huge and seemed to include enough trees to be considered a forest. I bet I could find a tree that suited my description among them.

"Yo, David" I turned at the sound of my name and saw Chris walking towards me. Ugh, just what I needed.

"What you up to?" He asked

"Nothin' much" I lied. I have to lose him if I want to have my nap. We walked together in silence for a while, me trying to devise a plan to get rid of him and him humming merrily.

"How are you liking St George academy so far?" he asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, it's cool." I stated simply. I transferred to St George a month ago at the beginning of grade 11. It's my first time at a private school and my mother worked night and day to get me in, so it's kind of mandatory that I like it.

"Oh, hey, check it out" Chris said, nudging me. I looked to where he was pointing. There was a lone girl with short brown hair a few meters away. She wore her school skirt down to her knees and carried a large stack of papers and files under one arm and her bag in the other. I didn't recognize her from my homeroom.

"Come" he whispered and pulled me along behind him. I was slightly confused but followed anyway, anything to get this guy out of my hair. He sits beside me in history and thinks that makes us automatically friends. Finally, he deemed us close enough to her and let me go. Then, to my utter surprise, he ran into her, hard. I watched as she fell in slow motion, her papers flying everywhere.

"What the hell?" I asked, feeling anger boil up inside.

"Hey I'm sorry, geez." He said to her sarcastically, putting his hands up in mock surrender. She didn't say anything, didn't even look up at him. She just gathered up her scattered belongings from the dust, stood up and patted the sand out of her skirt. I noticed that her knees were scratched, one of her hands were bleeding. Without a word, not even a single glare in our direction, she walked away.

"I said I was sorry!" He shrugged. He then turned to me, his lips twitching up in a mischievous grin. I felt the anger bubble up inside me again.

"That's Maple Owens from class 11c. Apparently she's some sort of genius here on scholarship, but no one ever hears her say anything unless she's answering a teacher." I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth, trying to keep my anger in check. "I heard she's dirt poor, too. Kind of unfair, if you ask me, we pay huge bucks to get in here and she gets in for fr-"

That's as far as he got because by then my fist was in his face. He fell to the floor and made a grab for his nose, which was already bleeding.

"What the hell, dude?" he screamed. I stopped trying to control my anger and grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him up to his feet.

"If I see you pull something like that again, you're as good as dead, you hear me?" My eyes glinted dangerously and Chris gulped and nodded. I threw him to the floor and glared down at him.

"Don't talk to me again" I threatened unnecessarily, I doubt he'd talk to me again regardless of whether I said that or not. I turned and walked in the direction the Maple girl had left in. Someone has to apologize to her and, my guess is, it's not going to be Chris.

Well, there goes my peaceful afternoon.