The girl from New York

18| Ignored

I walked into the school, already exhausted from staying up until 2am, because of all the scolding from dad and my brothers, not to mention, how my brain didn't want to stop over thinking every little thing that happened yesterday. God, that was all in one day? It felt like it was a whole week.

I walked slowly towards Hallway C, so I could be early to class. The main corridor, that I was on was practically empty, only a few people around, both staff and students, walking up or down. I closed my eyes and sighed, taking in the silent peace, but it didn't last very long.

I opened my eyes quickly, after I ran into a wall-like structure. Crap! Alex looked down at me coldly and stopped out of the way, his group of friends behind him following suit.
"Watch it." Alex said darkly, before walking off towards the cafeteria, where almost all the other students gathered in the morning. No nicknames, no jokes, nothing. Gee, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

As much as I hate him and want to fight back against his harsh words, I don't. I don't know why, but I just left him behind and continued to walk to class. It's not like I can't get him back, in first period anyways.

I walked into Room 214 to be greeted by Mr. Rivers scribbling some kind of instruction onto the board, while Nate and another girl name Charlotte, who apparently was his project partner, debated over what citation format to use for the credits. It seemed like Charlotte was voting for APA while Nathaniel wanted to use MLA. I sighed and tossed my backpack onto the desk in the middle of the classroom, not intending to stay there.

I sat down and laid my head down on my desk to doze off for a little, before class started. But, now the fatigue I've dragged around all morning vanished, replaced by anticipation. How was I even going to get Alex back? Kick the back of his seat? Not shutting up the entire class? The options were almost endless, yet I couldn't of any.

The bell rang and slowly the classroom filled. Alex took a seat in the back, far away from me. After the tardy bell rang and roll call was taken, everybody was seated and silent, waited for Mr. Rivers to tell us what our assignment was for today.

"Okay, guys, get with your partners and I'll explain what we'll be doing today." Mr. Rivers told us. Alex didn't budge, so I sighed and reluctantly walked over to him. He looked over at me and rolled his blue eyes visibly, before turning his attention back to Mr. Rivers.

"I have decided to allow you all to work on researching today in class, as long as you actually work. I have the Chromebooks that one person per team can use. Those I find goofing off, will be rewarded with having to write a short argumentative essay that follows the instructions on the board. You may get started." He told us, before clapping his hands together and returning to his desk to grade papers. I looked at Alex and let out a long sigh.

"I'll get a Chromebook." I said flatly, before standing up and walking towards the counter to get a Chromebook. I unplugged one and gingerly lifted it, walking back over to Alex as carefully as I could be.

"What do we have so far?" I asked as politely as I could, though venom still laced my words. He looked over at me and gave me our paper. Why can't he just talk to me?

Annoyed, I said "What? Am I too ugly to look at? Or maybe you don't want to catch my stupidity by talking to me?" Nobody seemed to hear me, including Alex. He just continued writing down the citations. I gave up and began my research, not wanting to cause a huge scene.

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I sighed and exited the school to walk to Aiden's waiting car. Alex ignored me all day, only speaking to me harshly and briefly. What did I do wrong? Did I offended him in some way? Hurt him when I threw a fit about him having my phone last night? But that was reasonable—who would want a boy who's practically still a stranger knowing your family secrets.

I could hear giggling and hushed whispers coming from behind the squared pillar near me, but I decided to ignore it and walked on. A tightly squeezing hand on my forearm stopped me and spun me around to face Blair, her eyes sparkling with maliciousness. Her nails dug into my elbow, before she flung me to the ground. I was immediately surrounded.

"I told you, she hadn't left yet." A girl with half her purple dyed hair said triumphantly to a black haired boy with glasses. The boy rolled his eyes and kicked me hard in the back.

I tried to escape the circle, but to no avail. If I stood up, I was pushed right down again. If I curled up, the kicks and punches were even more forceful. So I just stood still, giving up on fighting them. I received a kick to the gut, causing me to double over, then a slap and punch in the face simultaneously.

Despite my cries for them to stop and my pleads for help, nobody came. Nobody saw. Just like any other time this happened back in New York, I was ignored.

I watched as Alex passed and locked eyes with me. I thought for a split second that he was going to come and help me, but he just adverted his gaze and walked on.

A first connecting with my nose caused a waterfall of blood, and I stumbled backwards to regain my composer. But I was pushed forwards again, and fell to the ground. They all left me there and ran off, probably to avoid getting caught. I stayed where I was, the full pain kicking in and replacing the adrenaline that I had while they were surrounding me.

After laying still for a long time, I felt the familiar arms of dad picking me up, and although I heard his voice, the words were muffled. I couldn't bother to try and open my eyes. I just wanted to go to sleep and get rid of the pain

I heard a car door open and felt myself being sat down on dad's leather seat and breathed in the familiarity of the warm car. Somebody gave me a towel for my nose, and another person helped buckle my seatbelt. The car doors all closed and the car started.

As much as I hate the over protectiveness of my dad and my brothers, I have to admit that they're amazing all the same.

"I love you all, you dumb ferrets." I sighed in a raspy voice.
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Btw: sorry for the late update!

"How the hell did you get the tomato soup to explode all over the stove?"

-Alex