The Music's Torture in my Ears…
In the morning, I realized that my middle finger was throbbing. It was sort of hard to ignore. Wondering if my heart had relocated to my finger, I looked towards my left hand and saw the paper cut.
It sure didn't look like a paper cut.
It looked as if I had tried to butcher myself.
I swore once again, and grimaced at the pulse I could feel so strongly in the digit.
Grumbling, I yanked on a sweater and grabbed my bag, complete with books and all.
A couple of streets later, with my throbbing finger still throbbing, I arrived at the high school.
I spotted a few people I recognized.
"Hey! Kel!" I winced at the nickname as Richard, the sunshine wonder, called out in my direction. Personal reasons, you understand. Or maybe you don't. After all, I haven't really told you the whole story.
I apologize for that, of course.
Raising a hand in acknowledgement towards the three closely grouped teenagers, I forced a small smile.
Their grins were about fifteen times the size of mine. Except maybe William's. I had the strong suspicion that he didn't like me.
That was a good thing. Very beneficial for his survival, I admitted.
Walking over to the trio, I mumbled, "Good morning." I saw the way they paid attention to how my words came out, hoping to understand a bit more of my accent, eager to figure out where I had come from.
I shook my head; they would never figure that one out.
Lucky them.
"Good morning sweetheart!" Richard was considerably louder than he was supposed to be, and the endearment made me raise an eyebrow.
"Don't mind him; Will fed him sugar for breakfast." Laura rolled her eyes towards me, as if to say, 'what can we do?'
I couldn't help but to turn to William and ask wryly, "Now why ever would you do that?"
"I suppose I haven't learned my lesson yet." He grinned halfway towards me.
It made me uneasy. The smile was a sign of familiarity, friendship.
I wasn't supposed to make friends. It would be much, much safer to just ignore these humans.
But no, that would be rude. And sadly, being rude would draw attention to myself.
And oddly enough, having friends, or seeming to, would make me seem… normal.
I know- it was a scary thought.
As soon as I approached the trio, William made a sort of and gesture, and they all immediately headed for the door together.
I wondered if they were specifically waiting for me.
Instantly, guilt washed over me. Here were these innocent, welcoming, and overall pleasant humans who I could do nothing but curse silently.
Cassie would be fully ashamed of me.
I'll be nicer, maybe even humane. I muttered it in my mind, fully intending to fulfill it.
I caught William staring at my glasses, which were suddenly a blue color. Smiling softly at him, I said, "They change color in the light."
"Oh." He looked away quickly.
They were fairly normal, my glasses. Of course, it would raise a few questions to why I couldn't take them off…
Richard, however, was singing. And Laura along with him. I almost laughed. "The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round… the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round…"
Of course, with the noise my ears hurt like hell, but it had been a long, long, time since I'd have had the urge to laugh.
While Laura and Richard ran off somewhere, for some reason I didn't want to know, I was left to walk alone with William.
We ended up sneaking secret side glances at each other for the next few minutes, thinking the other didn't notice.
Right when I'd decided to just run myself into a nearby locker, the boy spoke up.
"I'm Will."
I smiled wryly. "That's nice."
We walked to our first-period classes, which happened to be on the opposite ends of the same hall.
"See ya." The boy grinned at me softly, seeming out of place.
"Yeah."
The first period went by quickly, mostly because I didn't pay attention.
Instead, I worried silently for Cassie, Leo, and Ashley. If anything happened to them, I'd go crazy.
As if I wasn't already.
The period ended, and with a shock I realized I had music class next.
I cursed Ashley, for he had been the one to plan my schedule.
Damn my twisted best friend's sense of humor.
Walking to my second-period class, I took a seat, in the back, and with a start, I noticed that William sat beside me.
I almost jumped.
He turned to me, and smiled softly. "Hey."
I nodded, looking away.
Soon, I realized that the teacher's version of teaching music involved turning on the radio to classical music and reading the newspaper.
Mrs. Renege, the hired jailer, didn't look up once.
William turned to me, twisting in his seat, watching me.
My posture was horrible, stiff. My fists were closed tightly as the soft music of the violins and flutes washed over me.
The notes called to me, dancing in my mind.
The music mocked me.
My head was down, with my eyes forcefully screwed shut.
Once again, I cursed Ashley.
Somewhere, faintly, I heard William ask; "Are you okay?" his voice seemed far, far away.
I felt sorry for the poor human. My oddness must've frightened him. I managed a faint nod in his direction.
I felt his stare on me, even with my eyes closed and my mind shut.
It was one of those involuntary feelings.
I lost track of time. The music danced in my head, making fun of me, laughing at me.
I wanted to scream, yell, and maybe ask for Cassie, or Ashley, or Leo. Only they knew how to calm me.
But my senses had been ripped away from my body, instead dancing with the music, laughing along.
It seemed as if I were gritting my teeth and wincing for forever, until the music stopped, and I heard a click of a button.
Someone shook me, saying, "Hey, Kelsey, are you alright?"
The voice was concerned. But it was the wrong voice.
William shouldn't have cared. He shouldn't have.
"I'm. Fine." I managed to grit the two words out.
I felt is gaze again. Penetrating. Searching.
Looking for something wrong with me.
I almost laughed.
Finally his gaze found my finger.
By now, my senses had almost completely come back to normal, and we were walking in the hallway, to our next class.
"Hey, what's up with your finger?"
I rolled my eyes. "I tried to butcher it."
"Well, nice to know you're back to normal." I suppose he got that I wasn't going to tell him anything.
I turned away from him, and started for a door.
"Hey, where're you going?"
I looked back to William, amused. "Class." I didn't need to add the 'duh.'
"Oh."
The boy turned away from me without another word.
Humans.
A/N: I am so sorry this came out so late. Forgive me?
And- Kel and Will must have their bitchy moments. You'll see.
Don't forget to review to make this insane girl happy!!
R. A. Faith.