Scars - Speculative Fiction Authors (black authors fiction TXT) 📗

Marks

 

When the bell rang for the lunch hour, Debra 's stomach ached. This was the worst part of her school day. It wasn't because of the pop quiz her teacher would sprout on her students, but because she had no friends around and she was practically ignored by all of the other students in her class.

  

She had never been one of the "popular" ones, but it seemed that this year, she was more of an outcast than ever.

 

She was different, but not in a bad way. The other kids just did not think she was worth their time and that made her sad. It wasn't that they said anything out of the way to her, they just acted like she didn't even exist. If only they knew who she really was perhaps then they'd flock to her and shower her with affection.

 

 If she was a superhero, her  special ability would be  invisibility, seeing that was how she felt. In a sense, she was; but in reality she knew that every moment there was a nagging feeling that someone was staring at the burns on her neck.

 

Somehow, though the burns didn't hurt nearly as much as fact that no one cared. She knew that if she told them where her burns came from, those students would look at her in a different light... maybe even like her.

 

People are so fickle; one minute, they look at you as if you're a leper, the next, they are bowing at your feet, like ants before their queen.

 

In the back of her mind, she felt a growing thought, slowly creeping like a fire, blazing out her inhibitions: she could control them. No; she WOULD control them.

Debra actually considered telling them that it was from abuse just to get their sympathy, but that would be untruthful... a terrible lie.

 

"Debra," one of the other kids called, slowly approaching her for the first time.

 

She moved on, not noticing that the person who had spoken was speaking to her and not to someone else. Could it really be, could someone really care or is it too much to hope for, she thought but didn’t look back.

 

“Hey Debra the person called again.

 

This time she did turn and saw a pair of sky blue eyes staring at her with genuine interest.

 

 "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out after school today because you seem like you could use a friend?"

It was Jarrod Barnes. He was a member of  the football team. Why was he asking to hang out with her? “Uh…me?”

 

“Yeah, you want to hang? We’re going to the coffee shop after school.”

 

She was too stunned to answer.

 

He cocked his head to one side when she didn’t respond. “Well, you want to or not?”

 

She knew her face had turned red. “Yeah?”

 

“Good see you there.” He was off before she could gain her composure.  All day long all she could think about was meeting up with Jarrod and all the other popular kids.

 

                                                                               ~~~~~

 

She was nervous when she entered the coffee shop, but Jarrod smiled at her and waved her over.  She felt a little at ease seating next to him in the booth.  But she waited for the shoe to fall, it usually did.

"Why do you have burn marks?" the Jarrod asked, interested but trying not to sound rude or mocking toward Debra Debra. Jarrod was walking her home after the lovely time their shared at the coffee shop.

 

“You probably don’t want to know.” She murmured, looking at him disappointed that as always, that her burns had been the focus point of someone curious. Jarrod  didn’t like her, he just wanted to know about those marks.  God, she hated  this so much.

 

Debra looked him squarely in the eye, and with as straight of a face as she could muster, she said, "It's nothing I'm just having some trouble training my dragon."

 

Jarrod  shook his head. He sighed, "You know, you don't have to joke and pretend things away. I know you're not part of the royal family."

  

"Forget it," she said. She shook her head and began to walk away from Jarrod.

  

It seemed that no matter what she said she was always being told that she was lying or being untruthful. All she wanted was for someone to care about her for her. Maybe a prince from a far away land come to her palace to rescue her from all of her troubles.

 

"Don't go" Jarrod said, "I didn't mean to pry, but you didn't expect me to ignore it did you?"

 

She continued to walk away, ignoring him as he begged her to stay

 

Jarrod chased after Debra to show her that he wasn't going to lose the chance to get to know her. Besides, he wanted to apologize for sounding like a jerk if he had.

 

"I have scars on my back where my mom's X boyfriend used to beat me with a whip. Do you want to see them?" Jarrod volunteered.

 

"Wait, what?" Debra asked intrigued.

 

“What to see,” Jarrod said, pulling up his shirt.

 

Debra put her hand on his arm, stopping  him. “ No.”

 

 "I know how it feels to have marks on your body, but I don’t think you should feel ashamed them. In fact, I find them interesting," he told her.

 

She glanced at him and saw a hint of a nervous smirk. She had seen that before, it was the typical sign of a person playing a prank on her or was dared to talk to her. "Yeah, sure." She walked away fast.

 

“Listen, I thought the reason why you are always alone is because you were just shy, but it’s not because of that.” Jarrod called after her. “ I see that it's  you that rejects  every one, not the other way around.  Even when they want to be nice to you, you throw up a wall. Well, fine, I’ll go now bye,” He said angrily.

 

She sighed, was he actually doing this on his own because he liked her? She turned around and saw him storm back down the street.

 

"Wait, Jarrod," she yelled, stopping him in his tracks.

 

She saw him look over his shoulder at her, but just barely.

 

He stopped. She approached him looking down feeling embarrassed for some reason. “You’re right,” she confessed to his  surprise. "I just never thought that there was even a possibility that someone would be nice to me..."

  

"I do reject everyone. But it’s not because I want to," she admitted.

 

"Why do you keep other people out then?"

  

"I don't know. I guess it's because I’m  not like the other kids here," she said looking down at her feet.

  

"You feel like an outcast?" he asked, softly.

  

“You think I’ve never tried to be normal?” she yelped. “ I have, but I just got tired of people ignoring me, or every time they talk to me is because of this stupid scar.  I thought you were just like the rest of them,” she explained.

  

"Oh, I'm sorry I made you feel that way, but I didn't mean anything by it," he replied.

 

"Yeah, well, I should go because I don't feel good," she said and walked away from him.

 

She smiled when she felt  him walking beside her.  “ I said I would walk you home.”

 

 

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Publication Date: 01-22-2014

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