Too Small To Be Afraid

Chapter 9

To say sharing English, History, and Algebra classes with a perthean was difficult would be a severe understatement. All that occupied my mind during class was whether or not my deskmate was staring at me. The thought sent shivers down my spine, and I couldn't help but glance behind me every few minutes just to make sure his attention was fixed on the teacher and not me. I doubt I retained any information from the first half of the school day.

Brown paper lunch bag in hand, I close my locker and start towards the cafeteria. I thank my lucky stars that the PE and lunch periods at this school separate humans and pertheans. I have no idea what I'd do otherwise. The very thought of watching a perthean eat... I'd pass out for sure!

As I make my way down the hall my gaze meets a pair of wide, sparkly brown eyes belonging to a girl with frizzy black hair. Is she staring at me? Is something the matter? Did I put my shirt on backwards after getting out of the shower? My face turns red and I quickly shift my focus to the floor. When I look back up again, I see the girl's curly hair bounce as she walks down the hall past me. Then, she looks back at me and stops. What's with this girl? Maybe my shirt really is on backwards? I inspect my uniform, but everything is as it should be. I try not to focus on the girl and keep walking past her towards the cafeteria.

"Excuse me," someone pipes up from behind.

I turn around. It's her. Blood rushes to my face again. What could possibly be the matter?! Why in the world would someone randomly talk to me of all people?!

"Y-yes?" I answer.

"Did we... go to stage 2 together?" she asks, cocking her head.

I look her up and down. I mean, she does look familiar... but what are the chances of someone I went to stage 2 with in Maedri showing up at a school in Chancelor?

"Not unless you're from Maedri," I say.

Her face lights up immediately.

"Kaylin?"

No way.

"It's me, Brittney!"

"I-I know...! I'm just..." I look her up and down again, at a loss for words.

"Surprised?" she says, jumping with excitement.

"Yes! What in the world are you doing here?!"

"I've been going to this school since I started stage 4! What are you doing here?!"

I ponder for a moment. What am I doing here?

"I'm kinda new here. It's a long story," I say, rubbing my arm.

"Come on! We were both going to the cafeteria, right?" Brittney says, grabbing hold of my hand as she starts running off. "I'll show you the way there! We have so much catching up to do!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After sitting down at an empty table with Brittney, I reach into my lunch bag and feel around before pulling out a small piece of paper. Yep, he's done it again. Although I've never asked him to, for as long as I can remember, Dad's made my school lunches for me. And every time, he includes some kind of note. It's usually a corny joke. This one reads:

What's a dresser's favorite type of instrument?

A 'socks'-ophone!

I chuckle. Not because it's a good joke, but because it's a terrible one. At least Dad's trying.

"What's that?" Brittney asks.

"Just a corny joke my dad wrote," I say, passing her the note.

She reads it over and laughs. "That's a good one!" she says, handing the note back to me. I guess we have different tastes when it comes to jokes.