Decay

Bruises and Rumors

My classes that day were boring. Looking back now, I have to say the seniors were right when they said nothing happens sophomore year. The classes had to be the least interesting thing in the universe. And this is coming from someone who was forced to watch paint dry (I had to determine when was the best time to add glitter and paint the next layer, depending on the project.) Lucky for me, however, the day does pass fairly quickly, so it didn't take long until the final bell rang, and I had to go to rehearsal. My last class was band (I sat in the back and played whatever extra percussion stuff was needed), so I just had to put away the hammer I had been using and grab my bag. By the way, the hammer thing isn't a euphemism. There is literally something called a brake drum that you hit with a hammer to play it. It's gotta be the heaviest fucking thing in the world.

Of course, that was when the two most annoying people in the world decided to visit. I reached for my bag, and the bag behind it was suddenly yanked down, sending all of the books and instrument cases tumbling down onto me. I went down in the avalanche, hearing laughter. "Oh. Sorry, Cay. I didn't see you there. You have to be more careful, or one day, something really bad is going to happen, you know?" Fucking Marissa.

I pushed a few of the cases off of me and reached for my bag, but a foot came down onto it before I could move it. "Aren't you going to say sorry? You knocked everyone's stuff over." I glared up at Robert, desperately wanting to break his skinny body over my knee.

"Fuck off."

He made that fucking sound. The tsk tsk sound that people do when they're being an asshole but think they're doing something good. "Now, is that any way to talk to the lead of the play?"

I had to roll my eyes at that. "You aren't the lead. At best, you're a supporting role. Or did I understand Alice in Wonderland wrong?"

Marissa swung on her bag, making sure it slammed into my head. "C'mon, Robert. It's not worth our time. It's probably just another loser who's going to drop out before senior year." With that, she... was she trying to sashay or some shit? What the fuck was that? She looked like she was throwing out her hips with every step as she walked out. Was she doing that on purpose? It looked like it hurt... Should I be concerned for her safety? I glanced up at Robert, and even he looked a little embarrassed as he grabbed his own bag and followed her out. What the fuck?

I sighed, finally able to grab my bag and climb to my feet. Everything was sore, and I'm fairly certain my wrist had been sprained... I nudged the edge of my glove up just high enough to see my wrist and winced. It was already turning purple... Fuck, how was I going to carry the backdrops and sew costumes if I can't move my wrist? I rubbed it, walking through the halls as slowly as possible, trying to avoid running into the two dip-shits again. What was I going to do? I mean, yeah, Mrs. Dakins would be pissed if she found out that they were the reason behind my injury, but that would also mean finding replacements for their roles, and we do not have time for that.

"Cay!"

And here comes what could possibly be my fourth headache of the day... I turned, forcing a smile as Novak ran up to me, grinning. "Hey... How was class?"

He shrugged, falling into step beside me as we headed toward the auditorium. "Boring. It would be easier if we had any classes together."

I raised an eyebrow. "We met yesterday."

He shrugged, smiling at me. "So? I like your company. I'd seen you around school before, but we never really had classes together, and I never had the opportunity to approach you." He shrugged again, adjusting his bag. "No one in my classes really talk to me."

I kinda doubt that. He was attractive, funny, and kind enough. All of this and people weren't going to approach him? "Why wouldn't they?"

"I dunno. It was worse today. Especially with that group... you know Marissa and Morgan and so on?" I had to hold back a groan. Of course, Marissa had gotten her little group to start spreading rumors. But how had she gotten Morgan involved? Morgan was a tall, athletic girl who was known for being nice to literally everyone. She was even civil to me. And Marissa had gotten her to ostracize someone?