The morning had been a slow one, the only thing remotely quick about it was Clem’s erratic heartbeat upon waking up. Last night’s dream had only been a painful reminder of what happened yesterday, with a.. less favorable outcome for the young teen. The frantic rising and falling of her chest eventually calmed, and an unfamiliar wave of almost nauseating anger washed over her, and she swore loudly into the silence of her room.
Clementine Odell had been unlucky her entire life, and now she was going to freaking Outbridge.
It seemed that her brief outburst had awoken Dovah, who made a quiet, high-pitched rumbling sound, followed by a charming chirp of greeting. For a moment, Clementine was 100% jealous of a ferret.
Groggily, she let him out of the cage, the little creature scuttling up her arm and resting on her shoulder, occasionally rubbing his face against her neck as the girl went on with her routine.
About an hour later, Dovah was in his cage, and she was out the door.
It seemed that today was a lot colder than yesterday, or maybe that was just her frigid nerves. The walk to Outbrige was an even shorter one than Elks Grove, and no matter how slow she tried to walk, how much she tried to delay her demise, Clem arrived regardless.
Stepping into the proximity of the school, a familiar face caught her eye, and immediately a knot of worry formed in her stomach. Lacey Park, the girl from her homeroom. It wasn’t a shock to see her here, but really it just made it seem all the more real. This was really happening.
It seemed that Lacey had already gotten herself in a bit of a mess, being confronted by a gaggle of what she could only assume were athletes, and she seemed to handle it well, scaring them off effectively, defeat in their eyes.
But, it seemed the boys had no problem trying again, their eyes catching on their next attempt at prey, which was Clem herself. She couldn’t do much but deadpan at them, stifling a chuckle at the thought of their precious failure. It was almost impressive, really, how quickly she got snapped at. Almost as soon as she crossed onto the school grounds, the cocky voice of one of the boys called out to her.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”
He was crossing towards her, a sickeningly malicious grin on his face. Actually, what was funny was that it was the same boy who targeted Lacey- meaning they weren’t too keen on sharing their bullying targets, and perhaps this one was the leader, for a lack of better words. An alpha in a pride of damaged egos and insecurities.
“Um. Class?” She replied dully. He sneered in her face.
“Oh, you think you’re smart, don’t you?”
“I’d hope I am, if I’m not then that means I’m going to this hellhole of a school just to deal with people like you,” She replied coldly, glaring at him through dark lashes. He clenched his jaw, seething, grabbing her by her shirt (a lesson Clem was positive he had learned moments before from Lacey) and shoving her onto the ground.
He seemed pretty pleased with himself, earning high-fives from his buddies for throwing someone almost a foot shorter and almost 100lbs lighter than him to the ground, like it was some huge accomplishment. The girl cringed softly as they swaggered away, taking her weight off her hand to find it scuffed and bleeding slightly. She sighed quietly and got to her feet, dusting herself off, and acknowledging the bruise forming on her hip.
Clem, you are never, ever, to start a fight. The moment you do, you are just as bad as them.
As if this wasn’t the perfect time for some Disney-type magic memory. Her mom’s voice seemed to echo in her brain as the girl walked, crossing over to none other than Lacey.
“Seems like you handled that better than I did, huh?” She mused softly, cracking a weak smile.