Odd Duck at School:

School is a strange place. So much happens to a kid when they go there for years and years. I never really did fit in at my school. My parents were the sole reason for that. Every time I entered the schoolyard, everyone looked at me funny. Today was one of those days. Usually, I try to ignore them. I looked over at Ashleen.

“Is that project in Ms. Caroline’s class due today?” I whispered. She shrugged without even looking at me.

“I don’t know,” she whispered back. “You see the Henderson boy anywhere?” I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “Why? He never comes to school.”

“Ah,” she said. “I forgot.”

“Hey!” someone yelled to us. We looked up and saw Logan Casey running towards us. Ashleen quickly sprang to life.

“Hi Logan!” she yelled as she waved at him. The two began talking. I kind of stood off to the side.

“Okay…” I mumbled. “I’ll just stand over here… I guess…” Logan and Ashleen talk on, not noticing me at all. Over time, I just wander off in the schoolyard. That’s how it always was. Ashleen was more popular than I was. All of the boys noticed her. All of the girls wanted to hang around her. Me? I’m just in the background. Everyone just ignores me. I don’t really mind it. I live in the middle of the woods. That itself says so much. So… yeah.

The bell rang and we all walked into the building. I managed to disappear into the crowd of students. Ashleen and Logan were too far up ahead in the flood of children. I walked through the halls in silence. It always looks the same to me. The walls all look so grey. It makes me feel so depressed. I tried to wash those feelings out of my head. I couldn’t think about that. Must think about something else. I began to think about the trees in the forest. They all looked strong and healthy. I wish I can be a tree sometimes. Of at least vanish from my hometown. But for now, I just take comfort in my invisibility at my school.

I sit in the back of my class. Most of the time, nobody notices me. Most of the time. Mrs. Christian, our teacher, likes to call on me for some reason. I think she’s trying to humiliate me and make me look stupid. I always let her down. I was just that smart. Today would be no different.

“Faye!” Mrs. Christian called me this morning. I looked up from my Twin Star notebook. All of the students and teacher all stared at me. I blinked for one moment.

“Yes ma’am?” I asked. The teacher turned to the board.

“Answer this problem for us, if you will,” she ordered. I looked at her, then over at the board, and then back at her.

“Now?” I asked her.

“Yes, now!” Mrs. Christian answered, as she nodded her head. Her black, wavy curls swayed and bounced with her nod. I sat there for a short moment. Of course, I resisted asking if she wanted me to come up to the board. The last time I did that, I found myself in the principal’s office for being disrespectful. (I still don’t understand why. If was only a question.) I shrugged at her.

“Yes ma’am,” I said. I got up from my desk and walked over to the big black board. I could feel everyone staring at me. I didn’t look at my classmates. That would have just made things more awkward for me. I made it up to the board and looked at the math problem written before me. Looks easy enough; we doing multiplication for the next five days. This is only day two. I picked up the chalk and wrote down the answer. I still felt many pairs of eyes on my back as I did so. I stepped back from the board when I was finished.

“Is this right?” I asked, trying not to sound like a know-it-all. Mrs. Christian squinted her big black-brown eyes at the broad. I tapped my foot as I waited to go sit down. My teacher sighed as if I had let her down once again.

“That’s correct,” she replied. “You can sit down now.” I gave her a little smile.

“Thank you ma’am,” I said. I walked back to my desk. Any kid in a normal case would walk back to their seat feeling like they had just discovered another planet. Trust me; that feeling died away from me after the last fifty-eight times. I just sat down at my desk and the lessons resumed.

“Good job, Faye,” Ashleen whispered in front of me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think it was that impressive. Class dragged on until lunch. Sometimes, Ashleen and I will sit outside and eat in silence. Today however, she’s eating with Logan. So, I eat alone in the classroom. That’s good too. I just eat and get lost in my thoughts. That’s how the rest of the day is. I take notes in class and Mrs. Christian repeatedly calls me up to the broad, hoping to trip me up. As usual, I manage to sail through the problems she gives the class. School isn’t over until she’s called me up at least four times. I do wish she would find someone else to pick on. I’m tired of this game that we play. It’s not fun anymore.

	The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Stone Free .mp3
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