The hallways were obscenely quiet today. I never knew so many people could be so silent. I watched them as they went to class, and as I went to my own. I was not called on when I raised my hand in English. Also, everyone kept looking at me, at my desk. What? I thought as I stared back; their eyes looked away as if they saw nothing. After a couple of attempts, I put my hand down after being ignored and rested my cheek on my palm. The girl next to me was sitting somewhere else, maybe because we talked too much. There I sat, alone and ignored. The bell rang and I gathered my belongings and began to walk out.
The hallways were still hushed as I headed to government. When settling into my desk, just as the class before, nobody acknowledged my existence. Usually most of the girls’ would complement my outfit or my hair by now. I looked down, not remembering what I put on this morning. To my surprise it was the same thing as the day before. Taken a back, I looked up at the screen for notes. Checking my backpack I realized I did not have this set. I raised my hand high while stating I needed a packet. Nothing. No one moved. No one turned. Nothing.
“What the hell,” I finally said.
Again, no reaction.
Another bell, next class, drama. Even though I did not enjoy the class as much as I did before I knew no one would ignore me; number one reason why I stayed in the class, acceptance. When I arrived silence; no one was talking. Unlike the usual, everyone was sitting to themselves in a chair. Normally it would take a couple minutes for us to settle down and finally start the class; that was not the case today. I sat down in a chair like the others and waited for Spearman to start class. I looked around at everyone; they kept to themselves trying not to bother the other. Spearman came into the room; his movements were stiffer, like the silence. He looked at the class, a weary, poignant expression on his face.
“In recent events, today just work on what you need to work on. Please keep the noise level down. Respect those who need their space.” He did not make eye contact with anyone and then retreated to his office, shutting the door.
No one moved from their seats for a while, some chatter began but not much. People’s chairs shifted to others and I began listening in.
“It happened last night,” someone stated, “it was just so instant. No one saw it coming.”
“Saw what coming? What happened?” I asked as my curiosity grew. Again, no one answered or even looked.
After that, not many details were said, mostly buffer information. I lost interest. I decided it would be best to maybe work on homework. I had nothing else to do and no one was talking to me. I grabbed my stuff off the ground and headed to the back room. Upon sitting I opened my notebook. Pages were burned. There were drops of a substance I didn’t know, blood maybe? I flipped through the pages; the bottom right corner seemed to be consistently burned on every one. I put it down and just stared at the wall. What the hell happened? The curiosity was killing me. I pulled out a piece of paper and began to doodle. My imagination and hand working together to create a scene: snowy night, trees glistening with white, a road leading somewhere unknown. It was probably one of the best drawings I had ever done. I’ll put it on the fridge when I get home.
I continued to doodle through lunch and sent Ava a text apologizing for leaving her alone; it didn’t deliver. I rolled my eyes and dropped my phone in my purse, then stuffed my hands in my coat pocket, suddenly realizing how cold they were. I made my way down the hall to my favorite class of the day, creative writing. When I came in the desks had been rearranged and a new seating chart lay upon the front desk. I scanned the paper multiple times but never came across my name; I stood in the back to address Mr. Spencer when he came in. After the final bell he walked in and, as every day, sat by his computer; completely ignoring the fact that I was standing up in the back of the room. He gave the 10 minute prompt. It read, Write what life would look like if you were looking down. They began to write
“Um, Mr. Spencer, I don’t have a seat.” I said after a while, looking at him, his eyes scanning the room.
No answer.
Okay, that’s it.
“What is everyone’s problem today? No one is answering my questions! HELLO? Anyone want to listen to me?!” I yelled, slamming my belongings on the ground. Tears swelled in my eyes. I watched as they all stayed stationary.
I felt my inside crumble and like a ship I sank to the ground crying. My hands covering my eyes. I didn’t care if my make-up was going to be messed up or if people could actually see me. My crying turned into sobbing; I felt a pain in my head and rubbed it gently with my fingers. Though my eyes were consumed by tears I found my fingers covered in blood. I looked up and found myself no longer in my classroom but outside. It was cold. Snow lay beneath me. A car flipped and dismantled lay across the street from me.
In the darkness, an ambulance shinned its headlights onto the car and the paramedics, who were swarmed around something beside it. I stood up slowly, trying to make sense of what was happening. I looked around and came upon the paramedics who were surrounding me. Me. But I’m me. And that’s me. On the ground. Dying.
“What’s happening?” I panicked taking a few steps back.
A car pulled up to the scene. It was my mom’s. I watched as she and my dad bolted out and ran towards me on the ground. A man held them back explaining they had it under control.
“Mom! Dad!” I yelled while running toward them.
And all at once, everything stopped. Like the snow, everything was white.