Vous Êtes Belle

Chapter Nine

        School is the safest place to be right now, despite Jesse’s bizarre phone call last nigh. Long story short, my dad loses his mind when the anniversary of my mom’s death comes up. Lucky for me, the anniversary is only days away. He always wants the anniversary day to be perfect and when he gets frustrated I get the first blow. I got a couple of bruises from him, but it’s covered up extremely well. I could be a make up artist because of how well I cover this shit up. Now that I think of it, that’s not something I should be very proud of.

        “Hey Ryley! How are you feeling today?” Skylar asked catching me off guard.

        “I’m doing a lot better actually. Thanks for asking,” I lied, but I can’t say, “Well, my arm’s on fire and the bruise on my chest is killing me. What about you?” That wouldn’t work. 

        “Are you sure? You seem a little ten-” She asked, but I immediately cut her off.

        “I’m fine!” I said loudly again that everyone looked at me. After a second I felt bad, but I hate being asked so many God damn questions.

        “Well, I just wanted to tell you that I talked to Jesse,” That’s when I stopped and immediately became nervous.

        “What did you two talk about?” I asked her with lightning speed. I’m surprised she understood what I said because of how fast I talked.

        “Whoa jumpy, settle down,”

        “I’m sorry. I’m just extremely curious about what you two talked about,”

        “I told him that whatever he heard was false,”

        “Oh, well what did he say?”

        “He said that it was a rumor that was going around and he wanted to warn me,”

        “Well at least you don’t believe the rumors,”

        “Like I told you before, I make my own opinions of people. I don’t make opinions by what other people perceive someone to be.”

        “I wish I was more like you. I care way too much about others opinions,”

        “I figured,”

        “I guess it’s pretty noticeable,”

        “I really don’t know why you care about others opinions. The only opinions that you should care about are your own. Other people's opinions don’t matter. I was taught that by someone who helped me, so I guess its time that I help you,”

        “I don’t think I need “help” persay. I think I’ve done well without it,” I said stubbornly. I know that I need help, but I don’t want to admit it! Who wants to admit they need help and sound like a psycho?

        “Vous êtes belle Ryley. That’s why you need help,” she said with a sense of disappointment in her eyes.

        “Are you ever going to tell me what the that even means? For all I know you could be saying I smell bad or something,”

        “I can definitely say that’s not what it means. But, I’m not going to tell you until the time is right,” Skylar said, but I was confused. What time would be the “right time”?

        “Can you at least tell me what language it is?” I asked, wondering if it was going to give me some kind of hint.

        “It’s French,”

        “French? How do you even know French?”

        “I took a French class last year at my old school.” Once she said school, the bell rang and that meant class was about to start.

        “I guess you should teach me French then, so I can learn what Yous tes bell means.” I said, more intrigued in three words than I should.

        “It’s Vous êtes belle, and I told you! I will tell you when the time is right, but right now is not that time since it’s time for class,” she said and started to walk away.

        “When will the time be right?” I asked her as she reached the end of the hallway.

        “We will both know.” And with that, she was out of sight and I knew that it was time to go to class.

        Weirdly, I felt better as I walked to class. It’s like all I wanted to do was keep on talking to her. I’ve never felt this way before, and I don’t know if it’s a good feeling to have or a bad feeling. All I know is that I don’t want this feeling to go away.