A Picture of You

Chapter 2: Concussion Combustion

*DANIELLA POV*

We get inside to find the hallway packed with hot bodies and loud voices. It’s already 7:40 am and reeks of B.O. so I am not impressed. Suddenly, a solid body slams into me and Alicia causing me to lose my footing. The ground begins to push towards my face and like a damsel in distress, I watch it in slow motion and feel the full impact on my right arm. What. The. FLAPJACK!

Instead of getting up and showing people how quickly I bounce back, I just laid there in shock. “Oops, I didn’t even see you there. Must be your outfit, blends in with the janitors mop head,” says a nasally voice. I know this haggatha did not just knock me down! I continued to lay there and decided to do what I do best: I pretended that I had fainted.

I felt Alicia drop down to her knees and shake me gently “Danie Ellie, you good, sis? Should I break her nose?,” she asked. I squinted my left eye at her as she rolled me over and winked. She gave me a small smile in return and got into character. “OH MY GOD!! Somebody call help!! She’s not breathing or moving!! HELP! HELP!,” she cried out. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. “What do you mean she’s not breathing??,” that nasally voice says again.

By this time, I can hear other voices around me asking if I’m okay and hear people running around but I keep my eyes closed and my body limp so stay in my role. “Get back!! GET BACK!,” I hear a teacher yell. Alicia has lifted my head and placed it into her lap by this point and is fanning me. “That broad slammed her into the ground and did not even offer her assistance! She’s not getting up, Principal Shipper!,” Alicia states. “I DID NOT SLAM HER! I just pu- I almost fell and she broke my fall!,” says the wicked witch. Then I feel Alicia tap me on my shoulder, a cue to start becoming responsive.

“Santa isn’t real because 2+2=5.” I say in a slurred fashion. Alicia leans in “What’d you say, Danie Ellie?”

“I forgot my tooth in the trunk. I’m fine. I’ll get it,” I say a bit louder. I can feel Alicia try to stifle a laugh now.

“It seems like she has a concussion and should go to the hospital. I’ll call an ambulance, Principal Shipper,” says a deep voice.

What? “I think I just hit my head a bit. I can try sitting up. Alicia, will you help me up?,” I say while trying to push myself up slowly.

“My sister is calling an ambulance. I can help you get your friend up, Alicia,” says that deep voice again.

No, you can mind your business. I push myself up fully and open my eyes to see a grown a** man with a huge bulky figure, dark brown hair and chiseled face staring back at me with the darkest eyes I have ever seen. “Who are you?,” I ask.

I could have sworn he smirks at me but then again, I did “hit” my head because it is gone quickly. “You can call me, your highness, Daniella.”

Not happening, buddy.

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I continue to stare at the child predator and he stares back at me, this time with a visible smirk. Alicia pulls me back into her and whispers “That’s who I was telling you about! Isn’t he hot?”

To my amazement, the predator’s smirk became a full blown smile. It was almost as though he heard her too. Irving. I nod at her with my eyes still on his until I see a flurry of commotion behind him. Looking beyond his broad shoulders, I see two EMT with a stretcher hustling my way. This has gotten out of hand.

I tap Alicia discreetly and look back at her with widened eyes. “Help me” I mouth to her but to no avail. Her eyes are fixed on someone other than me, the “injured” victim.

I look around to see the crowd had not only dispersed but that Principal Shipper, the grown man Irving, the Abuser with a nasal voice, a tall lithe grown woman and Alicia are all that is left with me. The grown man put his hand on my chin and turned my face towards his.

“You look like you’re getting your color back. Are you feeling okay, Daniella?,” he asked politely. Too politely.

“I’m black. I did not lose any color. I just have an increasing headache that seems to become exacerbated the more I hear..people talk,” I snap. Where is this annoyance coming from?

He chuckles and it sends warm tingles and not chills down my spine. It should have been chills. That is a grown man. How are these people not able to see it? I continue to glare at him until the EMT pulls up to me finally, asking questions.

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I answer a series of questions and it is decided that I will be able to remain at school. The principal contacted my parents and they too, decide school would be okay. “If you need a break or anything at all, please come to me.” says the nurse. I nod and begin making my way to my second period since I have clearly missed first.

As I walk in, I hand my teacher the note and she smiles understandingly and points out a seat in the back next to the grown man. I stand at her desk for a moment, deeply considering whether I should book it back to the nurse or just stay in class. I chose the latter. I walked over to my seat and he immediately pulls it out. “For you, my dear. How are you feeling?,” he asks, again too politely.

I just nod at him and mumble thanks then quickly turn my attention to the teacher. He stares at me. My attention remains on the teacher but he stares at me. Class ends. I move to my next class and we sit together again. My attention on the teacher and his attention on me.

“When are you going to introduce yourself to me, my dear,” he finally says during third period. He reaches out to drag my chair closer to his.

I pull my chair against his efforts unsuccessfully and say to him “As soon as you tell me why a grown man is in this class?,”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise and I find myself looking around the room due to its sudden quietness. I was too loud. The students around us frown but quickly return to listening to the teacher or doing whatever it is that they do.

“You should be mindful of what you speak, how you speak it and at the volume you speak it,” he says to me quietly with a frown. Great, I’ve already irritated him. Just as I start to apologize, the bell rings, he’s out of his seat and heading out of the room.