The ringing of her alarm, loud and annoying, interrupted what was a rather pleasant dream. She hadn't had those in a while.
Maria sat up in her bed, and rubbed her eyes, stretched, and yawned, grabbing her phone and stopping the alarm.
Another day in hell.
During her whole ride to school, she was trying to not think about Timothy. Over the five years she'd been at that damned place, she learned to not trust people who acted nice towards her. It wasn't the first time someone approached her, feigning compassion and kindness. And then, they'd stab her in the back and make her feel even more miserable. She got cautious over the years, she knew better than to trust a random stranger.
The bus stopped and she got out, walking in the school and to her locker. As she opened the door, she looked at her schedule, which she had taped on the inside. And her heart sank as she saw her first class of the day.
PE.
But not just PE. No. If it had been just that it wouldn't have been so bad. No, no.
Today, they were doing swimming classes.
Maria swore in her head, cursing her bad luck.
She hated those classes. She hated swimming. She hated water.
At least the teacher, Mr. Johnson, was kind enough this year to let her sit the class out, and simply watch. It has taken a lot of effort for Maria's parents to convince him that she shouldn't participate, and, as luck would have it, rare as it was, the teacher listened.
Maybe this year it wouldn't be so bad. At the very least, she should be able to stand near it without fainting.
Reluctantly grabbing her PE bag, she motioned towards the gym place, and went to the bathroom, choosing a stall, and quickly changing into a t-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers. As she walked out, she heard laughter coming from the door next to her, probably from her female classmates who were changing there. Of course, she never went to the changing lockers. She wouldn't dare.
If they ever saw her body… it would only give them one more reason to bully her.
With that, she walked to the pool area, sat on the bench, and waited.
As Mr. Johnson arrived and saw her, he walked up to her, a gentle smile on his face.
"Hey, Maria!" He said calmly. He sat down next to her, taking a pen from his pocket and scribbling a few things on his notepad.
"You okay? I put the bench as far away from the pool as possible, I hope that's alright."
Maria stayed silent, but nodded.
"If you need anything, or you feel panicked or stressed, you can tell me, alright?" He got up, noticing some other students had started to arrive.
"I'll talk to you after class, I need to go over some things with you for this semester."
"O-okay…"
And with that he left, going to talk to some students.
After a while, once they were all there, Mr. Johnson started taking roll call. As he was, Maria noticed Timothy was there.
While she definitely shouldn't have been thinking this, she had to be honest, he looked pretty hot, especially like that, in his swimwear.
He shot her a quick look, and, immediately, she looked away, blushing a bit. Oh, if he noticed, he definitely thought she was being creepy…
Then, they were finished, and the students all went in the pool.
Well, all except her.
Not knowing what to do, she decided to place her attention back on Timothy.
Now, yes, maybe that was a bit creepy, but well, it's not like she had much to lose in that area. And well, she was being rather discreet.
He was a good swimmer, definitely. He was faster than a lot of his classmates, and moved smoothly and with ease.
After the laps were finished, an hour or so in, they took a short break, stretching, and relaxing a bit, before they eventually started up again.
During that break, Maria noticed that Timothy was talking to a small group of girls. Oh, well, here goes any small chance she had that maybe he actually cared.
But really, what would it matter, she could still listen in on the conversation.
It was hard to pick up what they were saying at first, but then, she realized they were talking about her. Then she saw Timothy look at her, and quickly, again, she looked away, down at the floor, although keeping an ear open.
"...Oh my god, you don't know? That's hilarious!"
"...She's, like, scared of water. It's so weird, like she's allergic or something..."
"...Maybe her parents tried drowning her as a baby, because she was too ugly, and now she's traumatized!..."
Then, muffled laughter, just as quiet as the conversation. They probably knew the teacher wouldn't let that slide if he heard it.
Maria looked up again. She wanted to see his face as he learned that. Timothy looked back at her, and kept eye contact for a solid second or two, before he looked away, at the wall, as if he were thinking. Then the teacher stood up, ordering them to do more laps, and that was the end of that conversation.
Whatever he thought of her before, it sure got worst now.
The class ended quickly, and that left Maria alone again. Before she left, she'd talked to Mr. Johnson, who told her since she couldn't do any physical work, she'd be tested on comprehension. She'd have to stay every class to look at the students swim, and at the end, give an analysis of what she learned.
Not as bad as she expected. At least there was that.
She ate alone, again, but, lost in her thoughts, it took longer than usual to finish her meal. As soon as she was done, she got up, and went to her locker, taking her bag to prepare for the next class.
But, as she arrived there, she heard some people in the distance. A group. Probably five.
Better to ignore them.
She opened her locker, and started packing her things.
But as she just finished, she felt something hit her head.
"Hey beanpole! I got this yogurt for you."
Maria pat the back of her head, and found it to be sticky and wet.
"Lick it up, maybe you'll stop looking like a corpse!"
"It's got proteins. You know what that is right?"
Laughter then followed, and then she saw an apple hit the locker next to her, as the group left.
Maria sighed softly, waiting until they were fully out of her sight to pat around her head and back. There was yogurt all over her hair and the back of her shirt. She could feel the disgusting cold of it permeate through it and touch her back.
Why. Why her..?
Trying her best to hold back the tears, she looked around her bag for tissues, and wiped as much of it as she could. It was hard to see much of it with her small locker mirror, but she hoped it was enough to at least not be too obvious.
They'd just use that to laugh at her even more. What kind of nicknames would they come up with this time?
With that dark thought in mind, Maria decided to go outside, so at least maybe the fresh air could dry her up a little.
It didn't take long before the bell rang, and Maria had to go.
French class.
Not that she disliked that class, on the contrary she actually quite liked it. But it was rather that her teacher loved to have them do teamwork. And she always ended up alone.
As soon as she opened up the classroom door, she realized today's class wouldn't be great.
All eyes were on her, as some people were whispering, or giggling, or simply staring, necks arched to be able to look at the back of her head.
Of course, everyone already knew. Rumors spread rather fast here.
Without a single word, and doing her best to ignore the gossiping, Maria sat at her desk, and let her head fall in between her crossed arms.
The teacher arrived, apologizing for being late, and started the class.
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