Unlike the the close encounter with Ria this morning, the rest of the day played out like any other day in the week for me; a hopeless trudge through the worst that students and even teachers can dish out on me.
It was one thing for students to dislike me, but having to come to the fact that even Lockhart's teaching staff disliked me as well was a hard pill to swallow. It wasn't as though I was a bad student, I had always made sure to at least maintain a B- average for all of my classes. But because I wasn't considered to be Lockhart material, I was made out to be a target by the faculty to set an example for the purebreds.
"Good afternoon class, please raise your hand once I call your name," Mr. Oxden, our English teacher, had begun his roll call.
As he began to call out students' names and watched as silent hands flew up, he paused at one specific name on the list; I already knew what was coming.
"Hm, is LOSER here today?" He accentuated, making sure to pronounce it as 'loser' and not like 'low-zer' which I had many times corrected him for; privately of course.
He looked around, but I hadn't raised my hand yet.
"Is LOSER here? Counting once, twice,..." He ignored where I obviously was as he continued on this charade.
Some of the students began to snicker as they shot glances over to me, I could feel my cheeks grow hot from the attention.
"It looks like LOSER isn't here today, I'll be marking him tardy for that." He concluded, but before he continued on to the next student; I raised my hand.
"Oh my, is that LOSER raising his hand?" He asked as he adjusted his glasses at me.
"Class, could you please help? Is that Mr. Loser?" He asked, more than half of the class nodded in unison.
"Is that so, well, Mr. Loser, can you explain why you hadn't raised your hand earlier during your turn?" He asked as he relished watching me squirm in my chair.
"It's Lozer, not Loser." I half-heartedly tried to explain.
"What was that? It's Lozer? That's odd, strange even," He wrinkled his brow, feigning confusion.
"To think you hadn't taken time out of your oh-so-busy life to not let your own teacher know how to pronounce your name. My, my, my." He trailed off as he cleared his throat.
"But I did-"
"Jaque?" He spoke, ignoring my comment as he continued his roll call.
"I think, I think I have to use the restroom." I choked out, as I excused myself from the classroom; trying my best not to let the hot tears from coming out.
If there was one benefit from being disliked by them, it's that you're invisible once they're done with you.
---
Due to the prestige of the school, students were hardly found skipping class time in the halls; even for students like Eric Graves.
It was during this time that I felt safest when no one could see me as I meandered through the halls.
I used this time to go where I usually couldn't go, as the popular kids often times hogged it during lunchtime; the roof.
As I made my way up to the rooftop, I held my breath as I hovered my hand at the knob that led out into it; I heard something come from the other side.
"Why are you picking on him?" A girl's voice spoke, it sounded familiar.
"Why not? If he has a problem with it, he should just speak up for himself," A boy's voice spoke, I immediately recognized it; it was Eric's.
Crap, out of all people to catch during my sacred time, it was Eric having what was likely a tiff with one of the many girls he's got wrapped around his finger in the school. This comes with the territory as the star of the soccer team; something I would never relate to in a million lifetimes.
I should probably head back, whatever they were talking about wasn't worth the potential beating I'd catch if Eric would see me.
But just as I was about to leave, the familiar girl's voice spoke once more; this time, I had recognized it.
"I think you're being an asshole to Lee, if you don't stop I'll have to reconsider this," It was Ria, hearing her say my name is what made me know it was her.
My heart was pumping fast, why in the world was Ria talking about me and to Eric no less?
Gathering what little courage I had, I willed myself to stay at the door; I had to know more.
"Asshole? You think I'm an asshole? Why're you defending that fat pig so much?" Eric angrily raised his voice.
"Don't call him that!" Ria angrily shouted back.
"Kyaaa!"
Before I knew it, before my brain could beg my body to not do it, I turned the knob and raced out into the rooftop having overheard Ria scream.
But, I couldn't believe my eyes over what I saw.
It was Ria and Eric both passionately kissing. Eric was the first to notice my presence.
"What the fuck, what're you doing here Piggy?" He jeered at me as he let go of Ria's lips.
"L-Lee? Why're you here?" Ria having seen me hurried to let herself go of Eric as she brushed herself off; clearly embarrassed over having been caught.
"I-I-" I didn't know what to say, my heartbeat wasn't going any slower; rather it was reaching a record high as I felt lightheaded.
"I gotta go," I muttered aloud as I rushed to let myself back into the staircase, Eric had begun chasing me.
"Let him go, Eric! He doesn't know any better!" Ria cried, but Eric ignored her as he shouted at me.
"Run and you're dead, Piggy!" He shouted as he caught up in no time, grabbing me by the collar of my uniform.
I felt my windpipe constrict from the sudden pressure of Eric grabbing my collar. At this point, I didn't know whether or not he truly meant it, that he was really going to kill me. For people like him, killing nobodies like me was just bad press and a couple of hours of community service at the most. He had a future laid out for him, success at every turn as long as he played soccer; my death would only be a small hiccup for him in his journey.
"Can't oink now huh, Piggy!" He hissed at me as he tightened his pull on my collar, but I wasn't budging as I continued trying to escape.
They say, that when even the weakest animal is backed into a corner, they too can challenge the golden rule; that the strong shouldn't always rule over the weak.
And so, with the last of my strength and what little oxygen left in my brain, I shifted my weight and flew my head back into Eric's face. I felt his nose crunch under the weight of my head as I made contact.
But, that wasn't enough. It never was, who was I kidding?
"OW YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!" Eric screamed as instead of letting me go, he violently pushed me through the doorstep, letting my collar go as I stumbled over the edge of the staircase.
I can't believe I was going to die before graduating from this Eden of geniuses; or should I say, devils.