007 - broadcast mind
[Nobody really likes Mondays, the end of the weekend and back to school. The weekend could have been less to be desired, again. Too weak to even get out of bed, alone - locked in a bedroom. She tries, oh, how she tries. As soon as she reaches school, she’ll force on a pleasant smile; it’s the only defense she has.
She’ll pass by classmates that whisper to each other, saying how weird she was or how creepy she could be. The poor little meek girl who wanted to run and hide at the drop of a hat? Really? Yet, with that, school bag in hand, she’s at the doorway of her class room. It’s not strange, yet at the same time, it is, to see them all gather around a desk. She doesn’t even have to see their faces, the morning she steps her foot in the door, she can feel the tension. What happened, she wonders.
She’s friendly, her voice is tentative, but never harboring any malicious intent.]
Good morning.
[They don’t respond. She tilts her head, as if that would get a better look, calmly she approaches and she finally sees him.
That really shy boy - she’s not too good at names - the one she barely talked to about a homework assignment from the week before. Arm in a sling, badly bruised head with a bandage. She’s a girl of a big heart, sympathy automatically besets her. Her hand tentatively reaches out - she can fix it, if she lets him.]
What happened? I can-
[Without word or warning, he bolts up, the kids around him pull away as if she’s a monster herself. Wide eyes with fear he stares at her. ]
What are you doing? You did this! Your hurt him.
[It’s where she bolts out of the room, away from them, and out of the classroom. She can still their whispers of how “scary” and “weird” she is. Almost every time she talks to someone, they end up getting hurt. Long at last when she’s home, she can sob on her father’s lap.
Between her sobs, she says-]
I’m a bad person! I hurt people without realizing it? How can I ever have friends? I have no friends!
[She loves her father, even if all he can do is rub her head and assure her that he’s there. ]
You’re not bad at all.