Troubled

FOUR

CORA PHILLIPS

Soon the stranger with black hair was long forgotten as I was hit with serious hunger pangs. I wondered why I was hungry. I had eaten the toast that dad made earlier. Good thing it was almost lunch. I was grateful. I sat in front of the class with a boy that looked like he wanted to bolt out of the seat. I rolled my eyes at him. I didn't know much about the rumours they had been spreading about me. Honestly, I didn't care, but the fact that these people didn't try to get to know me, just gulping down the rumours someone obviously very jobless was spreading about me, made me worry about their mental health, they even try to confirm they just went ahead to avoid me by all means necessary. As I jotted down what the teacher in front was going on about, I noticed the boy winced at every slight movement I made, wanting to confirm my suspicions. I raised my pencil slightly away from my book, my eyes on him. He winced, I moved the pencil left, he winced, I moved it to his direction, he had the guts to whimper. It took all the will power in me not to scream at his face.

"Do you know me?" I asked him harshly.

He gulped, looking startled that I talked to him. One of the rumors I heard about myself was that I didn't speak, because I didn't speak to anyone.

"I asked you a question!" I hissed.

I saw beads of sweat forming on his forehead. I scoffed, I was not even being scary.

"N..no..I..I don't know..you" he stuttered.

"Then why are you scared of me??"

"I.. I'm not.. I'm not sc...scared" he whispered.

I scoffed, "you just stuttered while talking to me, you are wincing at my words, you look like you would rather be under a train than be right here with me..so why are you scared??"

"I..I heard..some things.." he stuttered some more. I knew it, I rubbed my forehead.

"And you decided to believe it? Without knowing me??"

He looked surprised, "it's just..I heard..I heard it from numerous people, so I believed it."

At that point, I just wanted to go home and have a warm bath, a nice meal with my family and go to bed after reading a book. Yeah the family part is never going to happen, but still wanted to do it.

"You don't know s**t about me, stop believing rumours, or I might spread a weird rumor about you and have people run away from you." I threatened.

"You can't do that, no one would believe you." He said, frowning.

"That's why there are social media platforms. Have you ever heard of fake accounts?" I asked, smirking.

His eyes widened, he looked like he was about to s**t himself. I laughed a soundless laugh, to avoid the teacher's attention.

"So, stop believing rumours, they are obviously made by someone who was jobless enough to spread false things about someone else who did nothing to them." I said with a serious face. Just then the bell rang, without casting any glance at him, I packed books and walked away.

The distance to the cafeteria seemed even further, the sound of my grumbling stomach was the fuel for my marathon. I was almost running to the cafeteria, I could already taste the tater tots. I got a plate of food and walked towards a table I preferred to sit on. It faced the sports field, and backed the rest of the school population, and made me seem like less of a loner. As I ate a spoonful of the meal in front of me, I stared into the sports field. I had always wanted to play a sport, at least one, but I could never try. I avoided everything that would make me violent. I knew the consequences.

Suddenly, someone sat with me. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I was beyond shocked, no one, no single person in all my three years of attending this school, no one had ever sat down with me.

"I believe we haven't formally met."

I raised my head, it was the guy from the class, he didn't stutter anymore. I guess he was confident now.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would want to formally meet me, I thought you already knew everything there is to know about me." I said shrugging lightly. He chuckled.

"Touchè, but I promise you, I'm actually different from the guy you met earlier in class. I apologise for believing what was repeated to me by everyone. Can I sit?" He asked, smiling.

I nodded at one of the chairs. Someday in my mind, hope bloomed in my chest that I would finally have a friend here. He sat happily, sliding his plate of food in front of him. I could see half the student body staring at us. That made me uneasy.

"Aren't your friends going to notice your absence?"

"I don't think they want to hang out with me anymore.. I asked them about the authenticity of the stories and they said some things about you.. something that should not be said about any one." He said, smiling sadly. I felt really moved, he hadn't known me before, yet he defended me before his friends. I didn't know what to say. No one had done that for me before.

"Glad to see you don't stutter anymore."

He laughed, "it only happens when I'm in a life or death situation."

"Or you think this isn't?" I asked with a raised brow.

"I'm definitely not stuttering, so I don't think it is," He quipped. I decided I liked the guy, he was not a bad person, just influenced by what he had heard.

"So I guess I'm stuck with you now." I joked.

"I would say you are lucky to be in the presence of royalty." He answered, smiling.

"Does this royalty have a name?" I asked, smirking.

"Alexander Cane, but I'd prefer if you called me Alex."

I nodded, "well Xander, my name is Cora Phillips, but I'm guessing you already knew that, from all your years of gossiping." I said.

He laughed, like really laughed, "I already repented how long are you going to taunt me? And my friends call me Alex, so call me Alex."

"I might taunt you till forever, and you literally don't have any friends right now. I'm your only chance at having a friend. I call you Xander and you take it." I said, shrugging.

"So you already consider us friends," he said with a smirk.

"I said there was only a chance at having a friend. Don't ruin it."

He laughed, " Okay okay, I won't."

I laughed, it felt so good to laugh with a friend..it felt new and refreshing.