HER PAIN, HER STRENGTH

2. The 'warm' welcome.

Freya's POV

Miss Rose walks with me to room 102B, her jovial mood changes abruptly, she turns and looks at me pitifully, suggesting that there is something wrong.

The problem is that I don’t know why she is this way. My b*tt can’t stop hurting because of the fall I just had, not forgetting the fleet of stairs we had to walk to get to 102B. Will I manage all this each and every day?

Oh! Goddess, I need your help because alone, I won’t be able to do this.

I am only doing this for my parents by the way, they came all the way here just for me, so I have to do something to pay them back, and what is more than having a good education and becoming someone important someday in the future. Plus, I will have money finally for my surgery. The thought of surgery, gives me a little hope.

“Hey Luke it’s the fatty.” a loud voice distracts me from my thoughts. I look at where it’s coming from, and I freeze, I now know why Miss Rose changed all of a sudden. It’s the blue-eyed boy, I guess his name is Luke, if I heard correct.

“Good luck, my dear.” She says to me before leaving me all alone in front of the class.

“Oh wow, it’s really her.” Luke says, walking to the front of class with a smirk on his face. I don’t know what to do, so I just face the ground. I am praying that if I have a guardian angel to protect me.

“Hey fatty, welcome to our class.” He says walking around me slowly. I can hear the sarcasm in his tone. My heart is beating so fast that I can hear it in my ears, and my throat has become so dry. I try to swallow, but I don’t even have saliva. It’s like my saliva well has dried up. “Introduce yourself fatty.” He commands.

I am biting my lips so hard to prevent myself from crying. Then a thought crosses my mind. why don’t I stand up for myself? I remember my mother telling me that, we are only bullied because we give the bully the power over us.

What if I stop it before it happens? I take a deep breath and raise my head to face him, I look him direct in his eyes.

“Just let me pass, Luke or whatever your name is.” I say in my most confident tone. The whole class exclaims. Luke’s eyes changes all of a sudden, veins start showing on his forehead. Oh, no, it was a bad idea.

“How dare you speak to me like that? How dare you speak my name in that filthy mouth of yours?” He asks, his mouth frothing in anger.

“I am sorry, Luke.” I find myself begging. I already am hurt, I don’t want to risk being hurt again.

“Don’t mention my name.” he warns. I just nod, shaking like hell.

“What do I do with you?” he asks rather to himself, tapping his chin using his index finger. All this is because I am fat, which is my only crime. “I will decide it later, for now, go find yourself a place to sit, okay.” He smiles wickedly, tapping my back.

“Eeew! I touched her. Sawyer, I need some wipes now.” he gets up hurriedly, bringing wet wipes to Luke. Who is he to treat me like a plague? Why do I have to face it like this always, why? He wipes his hands and throws the used wipes on my face.

“Pick it up!” he commands, as I am bending to pick it up, he shoves me to the ground and I fall head first, since I had my teeth on my lower lip, I bite it as well.

“Oops sorry.” He bursts out laughing and I hear shuffles as he walks away from me. What did I do to deserve all this?

I feel my blood in my mouth. I cry, my big body heaving up and down, I can neither turn nor get up, my whole body is swore. I regret coming here, why did I think that it would be different here? People are all the same in each place.

“What in the hell is going on here?” an angry tone says right above me, the entire class is now quiet, which only means that it’s the teacher who is speaking. I just remain in the same position, I feel so embarrassed to be seen struggling to get up. My belly is so big that it always gets in the way. In my previous pack, my parents had built a sit-on toilet because I couldn’t even squat.

“Get up miss and stop with the drama, I am already late for my class.” The teacher commands. “Are you deaf!” he asks impatiently when I don’t respond.

“What happened to her?” he asks the class.

“She just came and slept there, sir.” Luke says amidst laughter, and the class laughs in unison. I already know his voice now, I can tell it amidst a crowd. I hate him for doing this to me. It’s not that I wanted to be this way. I was born this way, it’s said that we are created in the image and likeness of the goddess, but I think she didn’t even look at me when she was creating me.

“Miss, can you get up please?” He says now in a lower tone.

“I am hurt, sir.” I finally speak amidst tears.

“If you are hurt then go to the infirmary or just take a sit please.” I collect myself, groaning from the pain, it takes me like three minutes to get up. I feel dizzy from the entire struggle. I don’t need to go to the infirmary, so I look around for where I can sit.

I see an empty seat at the end of the class, I walk slowly, I sigh when I finally sit. The person next to me vacates the moment I take my seat. I feel a painful lump in my throat, I try as hard as I can to blink the tears away, but I am incapable. It’s just my first day, but I have experienced all this.

What will the rest of my days be? Considering I have a year to complete my diploma.