I Am Death (completed)

Chapter 3: The Jocks

"Psst" Lizzie and I sit next to each other in classes now, we're in most of them together and it's nice being able to look next to me and not see someone drooling on their desk, however she can be a bit of a distraction "Raven!"

As I roll my eyes and look at her she beckons for me to lean in closer "what?"

"Seb is totally staring at you again" it's only my fourth day at school, and I've noticed that Sebastian is in most of my classes too, he spends most of them listening to music, drawing or spitting spit balls at people with a straw, but he also spends them staring at me.

By now I expected him to barge up to me and confront me, but the school week is nearly over and he still hasn't said anything. Maybe I was wrong, maybe he doesn't remember, maybe he just 'wants to do me' as Lizzie so eloquently put it. My eyes look up at Sebastian's desk for a second before looking back at Lizzie, his stare was intense and I swear that I might have two holes in the side of my head now "so? He stares like, everyday"

I've picked up some of the lingo here, for instance the girls like to say 'like' for every other word, I've also learned that saying 'lingo' isn't cool "he totally wants to screw you girl" and 'totally' is apparently another favourite.

"I don't..."

"Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us, girls?" Oops, Lizzie also has the tendency of getting me into trouble, it's been four days and half the staff here don't like me.

Lizzie sits back in her chair, as cool as a cucumber with a soft smile on her face "we're just discussing menstrual cycles, care to comment, sir?" She's very outgoing and has no filter, she's had more detentions in four days than most of these kids have in a month.

The teacher sighs loudly and turns back to the blackboard "detention Miss Parker"

Lizzie salutes him as a way of mocking him and holds a stiff expression on her face "yes sir, thank you sir, Doris and I are gonna swap lunches" Doris is the woman who monitors detention, her and Lizzie have become good friends and every time Lizzie leaves detention she always says 'I'm gonna change my ways D, you'll never see me again!' And of course it's a lie because she's always back the next day or if she's been really bad, the next break.

The bell rings loud and clear throughout the school and always comes as a blessing, we pack up our stuff and rush out like a stampede, it's amazing no one gets trampled on. Next lesson Lizzie and I are in different rooms, so as we part ways I notice Sebastian leaning against the lockers, his eyes fixed on me. This is gonna get really old, really fast.

~

It's been a month now, school has become tolerable, Lizzie's becoming more curious about my life outside of school, and Sebastian hasn't stopped staring at me. Between the two of them I think I might go insane. Classes are easier, but I have to keep up pretences, the first time Liz and I had gym class together we were doing track, and since I don't run out of breath I was able to run for the whole lesson without stopping for breaks, which I didn't realise was suspicious until Liz pointed it out. So now I have to pretend to pant and heave when it's been 'long enough', however the teachers say I'm the best in the class, which is good I guess.

I've also lost what Liz calls my 'new girl smell', so the whole class doesn't stare at me anymore if I walk in late, which happens more often than not, especially if I have to help someone pass over. Sometimes it happens in the middle of the class, the voices tell me that someone is waiting for me and I have to make up an excuse to leave, I can never miss out on delivering someone to peace, they can't exist in Limbo for very long. I'm sure my teachers think I have some kind of bladder problem, they're trying to get me to go to the nurse about it, but if I do she might figure out that I'm not alive, having no pulse is a hard thing to explain.

Liz and I are walking out of class now and it feels like it's been a very long day, we part ways for different classes like usual and like every other day, there's Sebastian, staring at me. A few people tease him about it, they tell him that he fancies me and that he's a perv for staring. My eyes travel down to his notebook where he's drawn something, he's quite the artist and if he weren't creeping on me I'd think he was talented.

The drawing is hard to make out from here but it looks like... oh my god, he does remember! He's drawn Death, or at least a popular depiction anyway, the skeletal figure with a black hood and a scythe. Liz has an interest in death (however morbid that may be) but she doesn't go around drawing it on her notebook! That's it! I've had enough! If he knows about me then he should just say so and stop torturing me like this!

Before I can confront him the jocks beat me to it, the jocks seem to like me because I'm good at sports, and are very protective of all the girls in the school, but not of course if they're the ones mocking them or picking on them "what'ya starin' at freak?" One of the bigger one says, stepping close to Sebastian who doesn't acknowledge them "hey!" He shouts, poking his shoulder.

"Fuck off dickwad" is all that Sebastian has to say, but as soon as he said it I knew that the jock wouldn't take kindly to him.

His face screws up into a snarl "what did you say?! Perv!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I knew your tiny brains couldn't understand big words, but I didn't realise that little ones were a problem too" he mocks as if speaking to a child.

Oh that's it. He's toast. The jock grabs the collar of his shirt and balls it up in one fist, while the other fist reaches up and smacks him hard in the face "oh yeah?! Understand this, creep!" He punches him again and then throws him down on the floor. Sebastian looses his grip on his books and they go flying into the air, loose bits of paper fall around them and the jock picks one up, it obviously caught his eye "you really are a little creep" he screws it up and throws it at my feet, I wonder if he's even noticed I'm watching, after all he is doing this in my 'honour'.

A staff member comes too late when the jock kicks Sebastian in the stomach, this isn't right! "Stop!" I yell at them "he's had enough!" I crouch down next to Sebastian as to shield him, a teacher finally arrives and tells the growing crowd to go back to class and that the jocks will have detention today and tomorrow. I'd ask Sebastian if he's okay, but I just frown and start collecting up his books and the loose bits of paper as the teacher helps him up.

At first I don't really look at the sketches, but then when my eyes gloss over a few I notice that the face looks familiar, of course it's familiar I think as I pick one up and stare at it, it's me. He's drawn my face over and over again, if I weren't so disgusted and creeped out I'd say they're beautiful. I come to the one that was screwed up and thrown at my feet, it obviously creeped out the jock so I'm curious as to what it is.

When I unscrew it my stomach falls, if I had a beating heart I'm sure it would be going a mile a minute at the moment. He's drawn my face again, but half of it is only just mine, the other half is still my face but with a skull drawn on it. It's horrible to look at because I never thought of myself as this depiction of Death, it never occurred to me that this is how people see us.

When I look up Sebastian and the teacher are at the end of the hall, the battered boy looks back at me with sad eyes before they disappear. If they're going to the nurses office then I'm going too, I have some books to return.