Chapter Eight

Who would bring light must endure burning-David Zindell

Chapter Eight

 

 

Kaylie slung her backpack loosely over one shoulder as she walked into the school following a crowd of giggling fifth graders. They all had beauI will chew it up and leave,
I will work to elevate you,
just enough to bring you down.tifully set hairstyles, glamorous mascara and cute shoes. She became very self conscious of her own attire... Maybe self aware was a better term. Baggy jeans with a large tear in the knee from when she had tried to make her own skateboard and ended up skidding across unsympathetic asphalt. Her shirt was a plain grey tank top underneath a ratty red cardigan. She glanced down at her shoes; a gift from her Aunt. They were simple running shoes, grey body adorned with white laces, they were scuffed, the laces were frayed and they were now too small for her feet but she had loved them when they were first given to her and she planned on wearing them until they fell apart off of her.

 

She didn’t mind looking plain in comparison to the other girls at school; she had no desire to befriend them anyway. She found all the other fourth grade girls were, for a lack of a better word, b*****s. Snobby, stuck up b*****s. The boys on the other hand were much more laid back; they didn’t criticize her on her looks. She was aware she was pretty, not beautiful by any means but not ugly either. Her style merely covered up any evidence of herself that one may have found appealing. 

 

The older girls continued straight down the hall, Kaylie stopped in front of her class and grasped the doorknob. The door was locked... great. The girls’ voices drifted off down the hall as Kaylie knocked softly on her classroom door. In an instant it opened and she stood looking at Mrs. Rishard’s disproving face.

 

The teacher was in her fifties, short blonde hair cut into a crop at her jaw line capped her large head. She was overweight by at least fifty pounds, an aspect the majority of students liked to discretely bring to attention at every opportunity. Many students didn’t take her seriously and took advantage of her sweet nature. Kaylie wasn’t one of them. She like Mrs. Rishard, she might even go as far as to call her her favourite.

 

“Miss. Nhile. And why are you late?” she asked as she ushered her into the classroom.

“My-uh... power was out.” She glanced shyly at the snickering students. “I didn’t have an alarm.”

“Mrs. Rishard’s grey eyes softened, “Alright, go to your seat and take out your cursive.’

Kaylie did as she was told, making her way through the rows of desks to her spot near the back of the classroom.

 

“Poor!” She heard a voice bark out in a fake cough. She snapped her head around to look for the source, narrowing her eyes. Her classmates snickered some more and Kaylie bit her tongue, finding her seat and plopping down into it. She set her olive green pack beside her and pulled out her cursive book.

 

“As I was saying,” Mrs. Rishard began, “those of you who do not complete the necessary work before the week’s end will not be allowed to participate in the science fair.”

A unanimous groan arose from the students around her.

“No, no. Don’t give me that, I gave you guys two weeks to finish those books, that’s more than enough time. The other class only had one so consider yourselves lucky.”

 

Kaylie flipped open her book, she only had one page of cursive left to practice. She picked up her pencil and twirled between her thumb and index while she listened.

 

“Kaylie?”

Her heart began to race, “Yes?”

“Since you were late, you can go around and collect all the field trip money.” She picked up and envelop with the class list glued to the front.

 

“Miss Rishard?” a slender hand shot up two rows over from Kaylie. “I don’t feel comfortable with Kaylie handling my money; she obviously has trouble keeping it.” Kaylie shot the girl- Angela Rolst- a sharp glare as students broke out in laughter.

“That will be enough Angela.” Mirs. Rishard warned.

“Awe making the poor one collect money seems unfair; it’s like teasing a dog with treats they can never have.” This came from the other venomous b***h of the class- Steph Prouter.

“You’ll shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you.” Kaylie hissed.

 

“Girls! That is quite enough!” The class went silent; a few students exchanged smug grins. “I won’t tolerate any kind of harassment do you understand?” No one said a word. “Now. How many of you have their money and permission forms today?” about half the class shot up their hands. Kaylie made her way to the front of the room to retrieve the envelope. She hated being picked to collect or hand out, it left her as an open target.

 

Mrs. Rishard continued, scribbling something on the chalk board while Kaylie reluctantly filled the envelop and marked off each student’s name on the list as she did so. The white chalk spelt out a time; fifteen minutes. Underneath Rishard had written instructions in cursive; everyone was to sit quietly and work on their books for the allotted time. Kaylie groaned, hers would be finished in five tops, then she would be left to sit and stare at the clock for the remainder.

 

She had one last permission form and payment to accept, from Angela... that witch. She tossed the envelop down on the girls desk and sighed, `put the money in the envelop, scratch off your name.” She said flatly.

Angela, with her dewy blue eyes and fine blond hair smiled up at her, “Your power was out eh,” she glanced around at her little posse, making sure they could all hear. “Did mommy forget to pay the bill?” She pretended to pout and Kaylie rolled her eyes bored.

“Look at those jeans!” Steph, who happened to be Angela’s little right hand devil, decided to point out. “What brand are those, Walmart?”

Kaylie stayed her ground, unamused. “No. Actually they’re from Goodwill.”

“Oh my God.” The girls began to giggle. Kaylie turned her head to find Mrs. Rishard sitting at her desk looking over past assignments, obviously unable to hear their pleasant conversation.

“Look.” Kaylie began, “I don’t give a crap about your stupid name brand everything. I don’t care that your daddy owns a Lexus or your mom plays tennis. I may not have money or fancy clothes but at the end of the day I go home to a great family while your mom pops pain pills and your dad sleeps with his twenty four year old coworker.” She smiled sweetly as Angela’s face dropped, “Put your money in the envelop and scratch off your name please.”

 

They were silent, Angela scoffed appalled, “How dare you-“

“Oh save it.” Kaylie snatched the money off of Angela’s desk and brought her envelop over to Mrs. Rishard who smiled and thanked her for helping.

 

                                     

 

 

                                                ***

 

 

At lunch the girls bombarded Kaylie while she sat outside on a picnic table with her three best friends. This was a regular occurrence. Colton sat across from her, he was the youngest of the bunch and the most traditionally handsome. He had creamy, hazel eyes and a head of soft sandy hair. He had fair skin but was not pale and was the only one of them to possess designer products. His clothes may not have been popular designer clothes- he wore skate brands mostly- but he had some nonetheless. Colton was tall for his age, towering over most of the schools population, even giving the sixth graders a run for their money in that department.

 

Beside him sat Parker; a scrawny kid with milky skin and dark features, freckles misted the tops of his arms and along the spine of his almost too small nose. One’s initial impression of the kid upon first glance was nerdy. He wore an attractive pair of stylish glasses which made his eyes stand out wonderfully. He wasn’t gifted with a tall stature to make up for his lack of brawn but he was the most hilarious person you would ever meet and always the life of their group. Parker was a daredevil living in a geek’s frail body.

 

Then finally, beside Kaylie herself was her very best friend, Tyler. She had met Ty when she was only a six year old risk taker. They had met coincidentally... actually they had gotten in an argument when they both had run for the last swing at the park not far from where Kaylie now lived. Needless to say, no one got the swing. Ty had a nice complexion, a slightly lighter shade than her own olive tone and shaggy strawberry blond hair which was always a mess. His eyes were a soft, mossy green, very gentle yet very mischievous at the same time. Ty had one crooked canine that showed itself when he flashed his goofy grin, the imperfection, although seen as a negative to a lot of people only seemed to add to his looks in her opinion. He was a little taller than herself and maybe five pounds overweight but no more.

 

The girls; Angela, Steph and a third- Zoey Raimore- approached their table with those infuriating haughty grins of theirs.

Kaylie looked up at them flatly, “Can I help you?”

The ring leader ignored her, “Hello boys.” Angela sang in her most flirtatious tone, it wasn’t a secret that she had an eye for Colton.

“Go away.” Parker said unamused. He took a bite out of his bologna sandwich.

Angela glared, “I wasn’t talking to you four eyes.”

“Don’t call him that.” Kaylie warned, setting her own half eaten lunch down on the paper bag she had used to carry it.

“And what the hell are you going to do about it?”

 

“Give it a rest Angela.” It was Colton’s turn.

Her large ego was bruised and she winced momentarily before recovering, “I just came over to tell you Kaylie, that what you said in class today is so off base it’s not even funny.”

Kaylie raised an eyebrow, “And you had to come all the way over here to tell me?”

 

Angela blushed, “and to tell you if you ever talk back to me like that again you’ll be sorry.”

“Yeah! No one talks to any of us like that got it?” Steph piped in, the trusty companion she was.

“Whatever.” Kaylie turned to Tyler, “So I was thinking about going to the junk yard after school today, I want to-“

 

“Um, excuse me but I wasn’t done.”

Kaylie turned back to the blonde bimbo and spread her hands, “Well? What do you want; you’re wasting my lunch hour.”

Anger was rising up through Angela’s blood, they could all see it. She didn’t take to humiliation very well; she narrowed her eyes to slits. “I could have you destroyed in a second Kaylie Nhile. I own this school, I am the queen and you’re nothing but a filthy, poor peasant.” She spat the words like they disgusted her.

          Kaylie was unaffected; in fact, she allowed herself a light chuckle, “You think people actually like you?” She shook her head, “you’re warped.”

          Angela thrust her hands to her bony hips, “More people like me than they do you.”

Kaylie shrugged, “you’re probably right.”

She looked to her friends for support; Steph was busy gushing over Tyler, Zoey trying to discretely steal glances at her ring leader’s man without being spotted. Angela elbowed them both and their focus returned.

 

“No one likes you because you’re poor, poor and ugly.” Zoey said, sticking up her nose.

“Why do you guys have to be such b*****s huh?” It was Ty who came to her rescue first, not surprising.

Steph retreated into her shell, not wanting Tyler on her bad side.

“We’re not the ones who started it, you should have heard what she said about my-“

“And you probably deserved it.” Parker.

 

Angela realised she was losing the battle, her trusty friends were pretty much useless and she was taking on four people who despised her. “Colton,” She decided to change her motives. “If you want more sociable friends than...’”She waved a dismissing hand at Kaylie. “her. Then we’ll let you sit with us... we don’t let many people, only the best.”

Colton didn’t even look up from the juice box he was digging a plastic straw into, “I’m good.”

Once again Angela’s ego took a beating. She scowled at Kaylie who just smiled extra sweetly.

“Fine.” She turned to her friend’s, “Girls. Let’s leave these losers.” They began walking back to the large grouping of students standing by the red slide, the ‘a*****e’ group, which unfortunately consisted of almost everyone except the four of them.

          “Anyway, as I was saying. I want to go to the scrap yard, see if I can find a bike-“

         

They all heard the comment that traveled through the wind back to them from the girls who were now halfway between the safety of their group and Kaylie. Whatever, her mom’s a w***e anyway.

 

Parker glanced uneasily at Kaylie, “Don’t.”

Kaylie shook her head, “No, screw that.” She jumped to her feet and sprinted toward the girls who continued to walk on unsuspecting. The boys scrambled from the bench frantically, trailing a foot behind.

Kaylie grabbed Angela by the shoulder and spun her around, “What did you say?”

Angela smiled smugly, “Your mom is-“

Kaylie’s fist made contact with that perfect nose, blood instantly gushed and Angela’s eyes widened in disbelief.

 

“She hit me!” She shrieked loud and shrill. Her group of friends heard and immediately sprinted over to her aid.

“And I’m going to do it again.” She pulled back her arm but someone grabbed it from behind, clutching at her left as well just to be safe. Before she knew it she was being shoved into the dirt face first. Polluted soil plastered to her teeth and tongue and drifted up her nostrils as she struggled on the ground. There were hands, so many hands that clawed and raked and hit and pinched at her from above. She kicked her legs wildly, managing to break free long enough to roll onto her back. She squinted up in to the sky; the sun was glaring mercilessly around the dozen or so heads that surrounded her field of vision.

 

A hard kick landed square in her ribs and she coughed as the wind was briskly knocked out of her.

“Get off of her!” She head Colton shouting from somewhere in the distance, his voice was faded, drowned out by the hollering and jeering.

A foot found her skull and a warm fuzzy sensation filled her mind instantly. She was numb. A body, bleeding profusely, appeared in front of her, straddling her. Angela cocked back her fist and brought it down hard on Kaylie’s cheek, blood dripped from the blonde girl’s nose and splattered the top of Kaylie’s tank. She realised then that her sweater had been torn halfway off, clinging onto one arm like she was its life line from getting trampled.

 

“Hey!” It was Parker’s voice that shouted over the fuzzy haze, “hey Mr. Rhoper! Mr. Rhoper0!”

Kaylie thrust her arms out in front of her face for protection as a second fist came flying at her. She grabbed a fist full of silky blonde hair with her left while keeping her forearm across her face like a shield.

 

In an instant the blurred head’s above her rapidly dispersed and two hairy arms came down and scooped Angela off of her, her hair slipping from Kaylie’s fingertips.

“You okay Kay?” She heard Tyler ask from somewhere off to the side. Mr. Rhoper grabbed kaylie’s arms and hoisted her off of the ground in one single movement. Her head swam.

 

“All of you stay right where you are!” He barked as he helped Kaylie over to the four inch wooden retaining wall that surrounded the playground. She sat down and wiped the dirt from her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, staring into her eyes, uncomfortably close to her face.

“I’m fine.” She didn’t mean the words to come out bitterly but they had.

Mr. Rhoper went to Angela next who was screaming bloody murder, “She attacked me!” She shrieked, “She’s psychotic!” Kaylie couldn’t help but smile.

“Tell me what happened.” The principal asked unamused with the events.

“I don’t know, she just attacked me like a crazy person, I had to defend myself!”

“It’s true sir.” It was one of her doting minions that spoke up, “We were all just hanging out over here when we saw Kaylie come running up and hit Ang. She’s lucky she didn’t break her nose.”

 

“Is this true Kaylie?”

“She called my mom a-“

“I don’t care, did you hit her?”

Kaylie groaned, “Well yeah but-“

“Mr. Rhoper Angela started it, she came up to us over there and-“

“Parker, I’ll speak to you three later.” He crouched in front of Kaylie again who dusted the dirt from her arms.

 “She deserved it.” Kaylie grumbled.

“You best come with me.”