There was no time for gossip when their teacher arrived in the classroom.
Gratefully, Cathryn ducked into class and tried to blend in with her desk. Mrs. Rossi noticed her hunching over her area and asked if she was okay, and then ignored her completely as soon as she answered that she was feeling fine.
Now, she had put her in an unnecessary spotlight.
Great.
Every one of her classmates was looking in her direction, checking her out.
Cathryn sat in Ceramics Class along with Edward and Justin sitting down next to her.
Cathryn guessed correctly that Edward had been threatened by Justin to stop asking questions about the nasty rumors, but he kept trying to stop himself from glancing over at her in class.
Cathryn knew he was still really worried but curious.
"Today is all about experimentation. You aren't being graded on this but this supplementary subject will serve as extra points for your other Art subjects." Mrs. Rossi instructed calmly as classical music played softly in the background, increasing their concentration. "Feel the clay. Free your mind. Dig deep. Feel your way to your soul."
Cathryn flipped on the potter's wheel and stared at the clay as it started to spin in front of her. She sighed, regretting that she had missed the first class in the afternoon. That would surely leave a bad impression on her teachers.
Hoping against hope that her teacher's first impression would not affect her grades in the first semester, she focused on the hum of the potter's wheels to drown out the chatter of the back rows.
As the room quieted, Cathryn stared at the spinning clay in front of her, the lump became a blur. The harder she focused on it, the more the room dissolved around it, until the clay seemed to be spinning the classroom, the table, my chair along with it.
The room was disappearing around her as he head spun.
Cathryn accidentally pressed a hand on the clay and got a hold of herself, regaining her composure.
"Cathryn, what are you doing?" Justin sounded concerned.
She opened her eyes and tried to focus to bring herself back. Cathryn stared at her gray, muddy hand, caked with drying clay. The clay on the potter's wheel held the perfect imprint of her hand, mauling whatever she was working on.
She looked under her nails, where she could see the clay she had mauled.
"Cathryn, you could at least try to make something." Mrs. Rossi put her hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. She looked over her shoulder, not noticing that their teacher was behind her at all.
Cathryn was roo distracted. The two cans of beer must have worked effectively through her system.
"Mrs. Rossi, I think my friend here isn't feeling well," Edward muttered, leaning over to get a good look. "She was so pale I could see her soul coming out of her body."
"You should take your friend to the clinic instead of her getting clay manicure in the class if she isn't feeling well." Mrs. Rossi waved her hand dismissively as she continued, ��Are you that girl involved with that band, Mild Savagery, this morning, girl? Polyamorous relationships must have messed your head so badly."
Her classmates started to laugh except for Edward and Justin. Cathryn mashed the handprint with her fist in frustration, turning it back into a lump of gray nothing.
She stood up without giving a fuck, wiping her hands on her jeans as she grabbed her backpack and sprinted out of the room.
Every time someone's eyes landed on her and widened with the recognition she got closer and closer to a panic attack.
Was she going to have to suffer through the rest of the school year like this?
She slipped in her wet high-tops, almost tripping over her untied laces as she turned around a corner.
She ran down the two flights of stairs to get to the school gates quickly.
Cathryn just wanted to go home and spare herself the humiliation.
"I don't think I can do this," Cathryn muttered to herself and she felt someone placing a hand behind her back. She turned her head and saw Edward and Justin catching up to her.
Damn, they were fast.
"Thank God, both of you are here," Cathryn said as she tried to melt into Edward and Justin's tall shadow for cover, grateful that she had big friends.
"Quit stepping on the backs of my feet!" Edward scolded and made a disgusted sound. "Bitch, stop hiding! You are going to give yourself a headache from all your insecurities. Hold your head up high and stop acting all shy and embarrassed. You are giving yourself scoliosis."
Cathryn caught his eye and forced a warm smile, and after that, he seemed a little less preoccupied. "Okay fine, whatever. Maybe, I think I just had sudden vertigo from all the attention on me because of those ridiculous articles."
"You're not the Hunchback of Notre Dame, baby." Justin snaked an arm on her elbow, dragging her as the three of them walked together. "You're the shit for trending on Twitter. Don't forget it."