When good girls go bad
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"Hang on guys, wait up!", Milica shouted in a classroom full of energetic children. As usual, there was no response: all of the other kids had already packed up their lunch and gone to play outside. The girl never understood why this happened to her. Her classmates had a fixed ritual which consisted of eating lunch, and once everybody was done eating, spending the rest of lunch break playing outside. Though for some reason, they never waited for her to finish up. She always tried to compensate by eating less, eating quicker, in the hopes that she wouldn't finish last and silently be able to join the others. One day she'd go hungry, the other day she'd get sick from rushing the food into her stomach. No matter what she would do, it could never fix the true root of the issue. She was totally ignored.
This time was no different. At the sight of everyone leaving the classroom, Milica decided to follow. She walked towards the trash bin and dumped the rest of her food in there, all under the strict scrutinising gaze of her teacher, Mrs. Witch. This wasn't really her name, but to her, this woman was a witch. She was always watching the children, snickering whenever they would exclude Milica in activities. The girl didn't even remember ever speaking to Mrs. Witch personally, apart for the times when the witch made up some stupid reason to punish her. This time, she was spared the angry looks and so the girl nervously made her way over to the outside area with all the other kids.
As soon as she entered the playground, she noticed everyone looking at her with the same disdainful look they usually wore whenever she entered the space. She could've sworn she even heard some girls in the corner whisper to one another before walking towards another area of the playground. One thing that did catch her eye was a boy she knows as James. He had never given her any attention: not positive, nor negative. He and some other boys were playing football across from her and they didn't seem to have spotted her yet. Looking at this scene, she hoped that perhaps today was the day she could finally make some friends. Mustering up all the confidence she could, she walked over. "Eh - hi there", Milica spoke shyly, with a soft voice. "Can I join you guys?"
To her surprise, the ball was passed to her immediately. ‘This is it’, she realised. Her one and possibly only chance to prove herself worthy. She has always been quite the athletic girl, so she had that going for her. Deciding to go for it, she took off with the ball, making it all the way over to the goal on the opposite end of the field. She then gave it one last kick towards the goal. The girl didn't dare look: if she made it, she would surely have made some friends. If she didn't, they would probably hate her, just like all the other kids at this school. Whilst the girl was having her own mental battle, around her, cheering erupted. Did she score? She opened her eyes fearfully before realising what she did. She scored!
It felt amazing to hear all the guys cheer her on. Not only did she feel like she belonged, but she felt like her presence was actually wanted. Riding on this feeling, she managed to score twice again during the match, guaranteeing a win for her team. Everybody was smiling, clapping and shouting. Even James complimented her, resulting in some red cheeks on Milica's side. After the game, the group talked amongst themselves for a bit, Milica being there physically but too nervous to say anything. Still, she was having fun. Even when school bell rang, signalling the children to go back inside, she still felt a warmth inside.
When the schoolday was over, Milica tried to look for the boys again. They were in a different class than she was, so it wasn't easy to find them. She thought they might want to hang out with her after school, maybe play some more football. Outside, she actually saw James again with his parents. Upon seeing her come over, his parents had disturbing looks on their faces. "James!", she said passionately. "Would you.. I mean.. would you like to hang out with me now - I mean - after school?" Before James had the time to respond, his parents decided to chime in. "He can't.. stop bothering him", his father said distantly, his mother nodding along. Confused, she looked over to James again, but he stayed quiet. "Oh - okay..", she responded before making her way home.
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Once she made it home, her mother was waiting for her. Her mother usually provided her with extra lessons after school, like fighting and literature. "How was your day, Milica?", the female vampire asked her elegantly as usual. "It was good, mom! I actually made a friend: James!", she said excitedly. "A friend huh.. how did you two become friends?", her mother responded tentatively. "We were playing football! I really like football. I wanted to play some more, but unfortunately James wasn't free after school." Milica explained. "I see.. well perhaps your father will play some football with you this evening. Now, get in the right stance, we have work to do." her mother ordered before the two started sparring.
The extra lessons finished around the time her father got home. He would usually cook for himself and Milica, her mother not being able to digest the food. Milica, starving as usual, was excited. Not only because of her father being home or by the thought of the food she craved, but also due to the new friend she made. She told her parents all about her day at the dinner table and they nodded along, smiling. It's also a first for them, hearing positive news from Milica. She usually came home feeling down and confused. Not that she ever told her parents about that - if they knew, they would surely start meddling. More negative attention was the last thing Milica wanted. No, whenever they asked how her day was, she would just mumble 'fine'.
Feeling incredibly satisfied, the girl went to bed early. It was difficult to fall asleep: all the adrenaline of making her first friend was coursing through her body. Once asleep however, she dreamt of the days to come. Her and her friend James, playing football, while the rude girls watch jealously. For the first time since she entered school, she couldn't wait for the next morning to come.
September 2019, Wednesday
When good girls go bad
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It's finally Friday, the last day of school before the weekend would start. This day was usually quite lax, the kids being provided with lots of playing time. As soon as her father woke her up, Milica jumped out of bed out of excitement. She would get to spend the whole afternoon with James! Yesterday had been a lonely day for her: for some reason, her new friend wasn't at school that Thursday. The other boys she played football with were nowhere to be seen either. Still, she had hopes that James would be there today. Why would he not be?
This morning was no different from other mornings: as usual, she was having breakfast with her father. Today, he made them some eggs with toast. Simple but yummy. "So, Milly, excited to go to school?" he asked her, which was not an unusual question for him. "Yes! I can't wait to see James again!", she responded happily. Her father gave her a smile before getting up to clean up their plates. "Be careful on your way to school, won't you?", he finally asked before leaving for work. "Yes daadd."
The little raven-haired girl hopped to school, singing a song to herself on her way there. "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" "If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're happy and you know it clap your hands!". Between each sentence, she physically clapped along with the song. The day was truly turning out to be a good day, and it only just started.
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Lunch break came around and Milica couldn't wait to finish all of her food. She ate and ate until she was one of the first people with an empty plate. Instead of waiting for all the other kids to finish eating however, she decided to break the tradition and leave immediately. After all, the earlier she was outside, the quicker she could see James again. Unfortunately, before she could make it out of the door, Mrs. Witch raised her voice at her. "Are you really leaving before everyone has finished eating? Insolent child, sit down!" Safe to say, the girl was in shock. She knew that this woman was evil. She knew that this woman would use any excuse to get angry at her. However, to call her names for leaving before everyone was finished, which her classmates did to her all the time? This was truly unexpected. The girl got a lump in her throat, looked at her teacher with surprise and silently walked back to her chair, shaking. Everybody was looking at her. One of the mean girls even started laughing. Soon, everybody was laughing. Milica felt miserable. All she knew to do was to hide behind her dark hair, hiding the aching feeling in her chest. 'At least I'll see James soon', she thought to herself, desperately trying to keep her hopes up.
When the last girl finally finished her juice, all the kids ran outside to play. Milica would've done the same, but the earlier situation had taken all of the excitement out of her body. Now, she was the last one to walk outside, moving her feet one at a time in a slow but steady pace. She refused to spare a glance at Mrs. Witch, who was probably glaring daggers at her.
Once outside, Milica saw James playing football with his friends. 'Finally!', she thought, running over to him. "Hi James! Can I join?", she shouted excitedly, big smile on her face. She wasn't entirely sure what she expected. Actually, that's a lie. She likes to tell herself she wasn't sure what to expect. In fact, she expected him to smile happily, run over to her and allow her to join the game. However, this is not what really happened. Rather, he snidely remarked "Ew, Milica Bilica wants to join us", before laughing at her with his friends. For the second time that day, she felt her heart drop to her stomach. "This is a joke, right? Very funny." the girl asked innocently, tears gathering in her eyes. There came no response: all she heard was laughing. The tears threatened to spill out, and just before she walked away, the situation got a little cherry on top. James, the boy she was so excited to be friends with, kicked the football right into her stomach. She wasn't able to hold it anymore. Not only did tears spill out, but the girl actually got sick right there and then. The fact that she excitedly finished all her food so rapidly definitely didn't help her case.
Dirty, sick and humiliated, it felt like a switch in Milica had finally flipped. Suddenly, she didn't feel the pain anymore. She felt anger. Without looking back, she stormed back inside, gathered her stuff and walked home. No one stopped her: not even the witch in the classroom. Good riddance, they all must have thought. As did Milica.
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Milica tried to come home silently, but her mother was already awake. She is usually more of a night owl, hence why she hoped she was asleep. Her mother seemed expectedly surprised upon seeing her. "Milica, why are you home so early? And what's that.. smell?", she asked the girl kindly. "I'm done, mother!", Milica responded angrily. "I'm never going to school again. I hate them! I hate them! I hate them!".
Most parents would have listened, cheered up their child, called the school and sent the child back the next day. Her mother didn't. She actually stayed calm. "It was about time I started homeschooling you. Those people will never understand you, never understand us. I will discuss this with your father once he gets home but for now, please take a shower." Milica had to admit, she did smell. "Alright mother. Thank you." For now, she would be alright, but she would never be the same again.
September 2019, Friday