"She's awake." The kid said to the second kid.
"I'm in pain! You can hurt people really badly by doing that!" Elizabeth said with a slightly annoyed tone as she started to move her hands away from her ears. The kid came closer to the side of Elizabeth's face.
"You mean this!?" The kid yelled into Elizabeth's ear. Elizabeth moved her hands to her ear.
"Y-yes..." Elizabeth said softly as she looked away from the child. The teacher entered the room.
"Ah, okay." The kid said as he scrambled to his seat.
"Akiyama-Kun, be seated by the time I enter next time." The teacher said.
"R-right!" Akiyama said as a few people in the class giggled a little.
'My ear won't stop ringing... He was really loud!' Elizabeth thought to herself as the class began. After school Elizabeth got into her father's car.
"How was it today?" He asked.
"Worse..." Elizabeth said as she looked down. "One kid named Akiyama yelled in my ear and it is still ringing..." Elizabeth said as she buckled her seat. The drive home was silent the same as the drive to school. When Elizabeth got home she went straight to her room.
'I'll start a journal so I can keep a paper trail of what happened!' Elizabeth thought to herself as she opened a drawer filled with empty notebooks.
"Entry 1; May 20, 2011: The yelling got worse... My ears are still ringing, my classmates really don't understand what damage they can do..."
"Entry 2; May 23, 2011: They didn't yell in my ears today! Though they still threw things, it is still better than the yelling though..."
...
"Entry 12; June 8, 2011: My hearing has been getting worse so I was taken to the doctors and he said that repeated damage to the ears caused my hearing to worsen. He said that in order to allow my hearing to repair itself I have to stop loud sounds from entering my ears."
...
"Entry 14; June 10, 2011: Three kids came up to my ears and began yelling as if it was their favorite pass time... Not the worst pain I have felt, but it still hurts a lot, and I noticed my hearing is getting worse and worse every day... I am glad that mom is home though!"
"Entry 15; June 13: I let my ears rest over the weekend, my hearing is little better than it was on Friday, but all I can hope is that they don't yell into my ears..." As Elizabeth closed her notebook and placed it into the drawer of her nightstand Mark opened the door.
"If you need to you can bring your headphones to school." He said.
"I... I know, but if I do the teacher will just take them away..." Elizabeth said.
"I suppose that's true... Maybe we can get you some earplugs, they are smaller than the sound-canceling headphones and can be hidden easily as well." Mark said warmly.
"You'll have to get them on the way from or to work then." Lizbeth said as she stood behind Mark.
"I think that may work." Elizabeth said as she climbed into her bed.
"Goodnight." Lizbeth and Mark said to Elizabeth.
"Goodnight, mother, goodnight father." Elizabeth responded.
(July 19, 2011)
"Tomorrow is summer break, remember to complete your summer assignment!" The teacher said loudly as the children conversed.
Elizabeth got up immediately and left the room, walking towards the building's exit. After Elizabeth left the building she sat next to the exit and waited for her father. After a small while, her father came to pick her up
."Time to go home." Mark said softly. Elizabeth got up and entered the car.
"Today was a better than usual, the others were to busy talking to each other to throw things at me or yell in my ears." Elizabeth said as she buckled her seatbelt.
"Well, at least it is an extra day of recovery." Mark said as he started driving. Elizabeth nodded. "I was notified that your teacher will change at the end of the school year and not at the beginning of the next semester, so hold out a little longer, okay?" Mark said warmly.
"Okay." Elizabeth said lightly as she looked out the window. Elizabeth grabbed her headphones from her bag and put them on. The rest of the car ride was silent. When they got home Elizabeth went straight to her room to journal.
"Did you hear about that new medical machine?" Mark asked Lizbeth.
"The one made by Mathew Lockwin?" Lizbeth asked back. Mark nodded.
"Apparently it can allow a deaf person's hearing to come back or a blind person's sight! Could be useful in the future." Mark said.
"Yeah, apparently he made a factory line for them, but he is just giving them to hospitals around the world for free, so the doctors don't even know what price to set the usage of the machine at." Lizbeth said. A knock could be heard at the door.
Mark walked over to the door and opened it. "Hello, I am a temporary clone sent to anyone with a 50% match soul to Mathew Lockwin that he has met." Mathew said. "I am here to answer any questions you may have." Mathew said.
"Lizbeth, come here!" Mark said with a slight amount of confusion in his voice. Lizbeth got up from her desk.
"What's wrong?" Lizbeth asked as she walked to the door.
"Hello, I am a temporary clone of Mathew Lockwin, I am here to answer questions." Mathew said.
"R-right..." Lizbeth said as she pulled mark to the side. "Is he pretending to be a clone, or is he actually a clone?" Lizbeth whispered to Mark.
"I have no idea, but this is good timing, now we can ask him about that machine." Mark whispered back.
"Which machine would you like to know about? One of the new ones? Perhaps an older model. Ask me and I will answer, to a certain extent at least." Mathew said as he walked into the house.