Beauty & Her Bruises

Chapter Ten

"I'm sorry Zara but you have to have a partner," the English teacher explained to me. He looked down at his paper and then up at me again. "The only person you are able to work with is Ashton." I looked back at him as he smirked and leaned on the back of his chair. He didn't even seem fazed with the idea of working with me.

"Can I work with someone in another period?" I questioned. I knew that mostly everyone had a partner - including Dustin - but that didn't mean I couldn't find a willing person. I have really good grades and a lot of people know this. I'm not popular but if I got out of my comfort zone and asked someone, I'm sure they wouldn't all deny me. The teacher nodded his head and looked at Ashton again before writing our names down together. Getting the idea, I nodded my head and walked towards my own table. Everyone was already talking about what they wanted their projects to be on but I wasn't sure what I wanted it to be.

This project was the final for our English grade. It was huge and if I had to, I would do the whole project by myself and just let Ashton take credit. Although it would be really easy to tell if he didn't do anything, I would take what came to me. I just needed a good grade so I didn't have to repeat this class. Although I loved school and English, I didn't want to be held back because I am afraid of failure. If I'm a failure, I'll end up like father. And that must never happen.

Feeling a presence sit beside me, I looked longer at the desk in front of me and lifted my hands from the table. I quickly placed them back on the wooden table and bit my lip. Sweat stains were always something I was worried about people making fun of me. My hands were always unusually sweating and whenever I needed them dry, they were soaking wet. It wasn't just in my hands either, my armpits were a huge deal too. I couldn't wear anything that resembled gray, pink, orange, or any light blues because if I raised my hand - which I rarely do - a sweat stain would be visible.

"We at least have to look like we're planning our project," Ashton whispered beside me. I shrugged my shoulders a bit and didn't dare look him in the face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. You're my best shot at actually passing this class." I nodded my head and pulled my tablet. Ashton thought for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "And besides, Serenity had spies everywhere. Not only will she give you a hard time, but I'm another candidate for her to be evil to."

"So break up with her," I whispered. Instantly hearing multiple intakes of breath, I knew that she would eventually hear what I said. Although she seemed extra stunned to see that I those bruises on my back, I have no doubt she would still be mean to me. She might be less violent, but her mental violence would be even more brutal than what it usually is.

Ashton nodded his head and just took the tablet away from me. He closed it and gave it back to me. He had a hard expression on his face and I knew that he didn't want me to talk about his girlfriend like that. If the teacher wasn't looking at us, I'm sure Ashton would try to slap my face or pinch me hard.

"I'll come up with the idea, okay?" He asked. Without waiting for me to answer, he left the seat and stood near the doorway with the other students. As the announcements were starting, people packed up and the students talked louder so that they could hear their own conversations rather than something that might've come up. As they continued, more people snuck out without the English teacher caring too much about it.

When the bell rang, I hurried out the doors and started casually walking towards the library. Thankfully I didn't have any work for the rest of the week so I could spend it reading books and finding interesting topics for other groups.

As soon as I walked through the air conditioned rooms, I sniffed the air and loved the mixed smell of the old and new books. I quickly rushed to the break room and signed myself in. Before even saying hi to Ruth, I grabbed one of the book carts and began putting books back. Since nobody knew what the English project was going to be about, they grabbed random books. Most of them had nothing to do with the final so most of them were sent back. I was relieved because I knew that most of the books wouldn't be in good shape if they needed them until the end of finals were due.

"Are you going to put all of these books back on your own?" Ruth questioned. I looked up at her as I placed a book on the bottom shelf and nodded my head. "I'm sorry about what I said to you. It was none of my business to even mention Dustin and-"

"We talked about it," I whispered. Ruth seemed surprised and by her expression, I knew she wasn't going to leave me alone until she knew exactly what happened between us. "He came to my work and tried to discuss it with me. I've been avoiding him the past couple of days in school so." I shrugged my shoulders before moving the cart to the Young Adult section. "I didn't actually want to talk to him when he came to my work but my coworker managed to talk me into it."

"How?" she asked.

"He made a remark about us dating," I whispered. Ruth tried to hide her smile but I knew she couldn't do it. In the future, I was going to hit myself when she used that against me to make me talk to someone I didn't want to. "He just told me he didn't know how he feels about me. He said that you got the random accusation because I was his only good friend, apparently. But you should see him at school." Ruth raised her eyebrows and I chuckled a bit. "All of the girls flock around him." Ruth chuckled too and placed a book back on the shelf. "He said to not believe you anyway, you were always trying to play matchmaker for him."

Ruth blushed a deep pink before scurrying away to 'help' a customer.

"Hey, Zara?" Dustin asked coming in. Behind him, I saw Ruth raise her eyebrows and I just nodded my head and rolled my eyes at her. "Do you know if there are any books on the Dodo bird?" I raised my eyebrows and Dustin just bit his cheek. "My partner wants to do a stupid project on that bird."

"There's one or two but there's not a lot of information on them anyways. She does know they are extinct right?"

"It's a he."

"Oh." I stood still for a moment and turned towards him in a questioning matter. "Who is this he?"

"Some gay kid named Liam."