Wheelchair Accessible

Part Three

A/N: Hey guys! I feel like people are really picking up what I'm throwin down... so here's part three! Thank you all for your support :)

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On my way out of school, I accidentally bumped into a freshman and caused her to drop the books she was carrying. They made a loud enough noise when they hit the floor that it drew attention from the entire hallway. People stopped mid-conversation to see what happened. 

Immediately, the girl got to her knees and started gathering her things, a blush growing rapidly on her cheeks as she tried to ignore the stares she was getting.

As much as I hated the itching feeling of people watching me, I paused and bent down to help, until she practically gasped, "No! It's uh—it's okay. I don't need help."

"It was my fault," I muttered, grabbing her pencil case.

"Please," she said quietly, her voice trembling, "it's fine. I've got it."

I glanced at her face and the moisture in her eyes shocked me. And then angered me. So I couldn't even try to be a nice person without having people be terrified of me?

I dropped the pencil case onto her stack of books with a clatter and then I stood and strode out of the school, pushing the door open so hard it slammed against the wall on my way out. 

Had my reputation been so tarnished that people were that scared of me? People who didn't know the first thing about me, people that I'd never even seen before, had already made their judgement.

It was disgusting.

Before I realized it, I was on my usual path home, but I hardly recognized it, my vision blurred by my anger.

Was there no chance of redemption? Was this it? This was who I was stuck being now? 

Was this who I really was? Is this all I'd ever be? 

Because if so, I was done. How was I supposed to survive the next eight months like this? I couldn't. I really couldn't. 

Maybe today's the day I--

"Well, looky here."

 I stopped dead in my tracks, the voice jarring me out of my thoughts. Coming the opposite way down the path towards me was Shawna pushing her chair with her little arms.

This was just great.

"Marky boy, how're ya doing?" she grinned, arriving in front of me. I realized then just how much I towered over her in her chair.

"Not great," I answered truthfully through gritted teeth. "So if you knew what's best for you, you'd leave." I started walking down the path again, but the gravel crunched behind me and I knew I had a shadow.

"I guess it's good that I don't always know what's best for me then," she replied cheerfully, catching up. "Remember just a little while ago, when I rolled down the hill thanks to my bad judgment?"

"I'm giving you a warning," I grumbled lowly, feeling the pressure building up under my skin, pushing against my chest, my skull.

"I'm not one to follow rules," she replied, sounding a little out of breath. I glanced down at her from the corner of my eye and realized that she was struggling to push herself fast enough to keep up with my long strides. 

"Fine," I huffed, coming to an abrupt stop. "What do you want?"

Shawna didn't break as fast as I did and had to backtrack a bit. "Let's hang out," she said.