Facing The Norm

Chapter 2 - She stares, I die

I had barely left the canteen when an arm coiled around my neck from one side, bicep pressed into my throat.

"Hey yo, Lexé! What was that all about, huh?" bellowed Benjie in my ear.

"Just drop it, Benj. Can't you see he's got other stuff on his mind?" protested Sabine shrilly from my other side.

What- What were they talking about? Had they seen-?

"Huh? What other stuff?" Benjie angled his head, seeking out my face. "Yo, Lexé, are you crying?"

"Don't be an idiot. 'The hell would I cry?" I shoved the evidence into my hair line, pushing past Sabine and hoping her girl eyes weren't as sharp today. "What are you guys on about?"

"We saw it," announced Benjie, earning a slap from Sabine as she hissed at him.

"I told you-!"

My shoes were suddenly glued to the corridor floor, feeling like gravity had abandoned my stomach and left it to float up towards my head.

"Saw what?" I forced an unconcerned laugh into my tone.

I could pretend I was on the phone. That I hadn't been talking to her. And that was why I had left so suddenly. I hadn't even seen that girl put her hand next to my things. My things ...

But wait ... I hadn't taken my phone out. They had bombarded me as soon as I left the canteen. They would know I hadn't been on the phone. Maybe a text message then. I had been repeating the words of a message under my breath. Had they been close enough to hear me? No, they couldn't have been. I would have definitely heard them.

"The competition results. On the board." Benjie sidled up behind me, leaning in to stage whisper behind his palm. "You were in the runner ups, dude."

Oh. It was about the lyric competition that I had entered two weeks ago. They hadn't seen my embarrassing conversation with that weirdo girl. My stomach began to settle until I really heard what he said.

"I what?" I wanted to turn and shake him until he admitted it was just a stupid joke.

I had only entered it for a laugh. I wasn't supposed to get any where with it. My name wasn't supposed to be any where near the notice board. Even messing around next to it in the corridor attracted the wrong sort of attention. The air in my lungs seemed to vibrate and once again my vision was swarmed by tears.

"Don't worry, Lex. You're only in the runner ups," said Sabine, coming up to rest a comforting hand on my back. "It's not like you came first or anything. That would've been worse, right?"

"But he'll still get an honourable mention in the awards ceremony tomorrow." I felt Benjie jerk to one side and kiss his teeth in pain as she slapped him, presumably upside his head.

An honourable mention. In front of the whole college. Now the teachers would pay special attention to my name. And all the other kids in my class would know that I had entered. What kind of idiot even signed up for a contest these days? What had I been trying to prove, submitting any kind of work before the competition deadline? It was like asking to be moved to the ranks of those serious students. Hell no ... They wouldn't do that to me, would they?

A groan echoed within the cage of my head. Why had I taken part? Whose idea had that been in the first place?

"This is all your fault-" I growled, whirling around to give Benjie the shaking that he deserved.

I heard him make a confused noise and saw the way Sabine's eyes grew big. Then I came face to face with the reason for both reactions. It was the girl from the canteen. And she was holding my bag in both hands.

Gravity released my heart so it could keep my stomach company. When you're heart stopped working, it meant you were dead ... Right?