Bullies deserve to be thrown over a bridge into cold water filled with some underwater version of poison ivy. They deserve to have the feeling of falling from a great height with no control, breaking water so cold it makes their thoughts freeze, and getting tangled in plants that wouldn't let them forget so easily why they were pushed off a bridge.
This was the perfect punishment that Iza Smith could put together for the especially cruel bullies.
It was such a shame that there weren't any deep rivers nearby... Then again there wasn't much in the way of bridges or poisonous plants either.
Part of the misgivings of living in Las Vegas was that there really wasn't a fitting punishment zone for would-be bullies.
Iza thought this was such a shame in consideration with her current situation, which involved fishing her notebooks from the school's fountain.
How they ended up there, Iza didn't quite know.. But she wasn't so dumb to not see it as an intentional ploy by someone else.
She scowled at anyone who sniggered at her situation, and glared at those who gossiped about her openly.
If looks could kill, Iza was sure that hers might be capable of doing so.
A lot of this confidence comes from the peculiarity of her stare. Well, rather, her eyes.
Deep amber irises with a metallic copper shimmer, that seemed a bit pure, glowed brightly.
Yes, Iza's eyes could glow since she was born.
She was told it was an especially rare condition called Photoroptic Luminescence Syndrome. Iza got tired of explaining it that she just called it glowing eyes syndrome. Not that many people asked her about her eyes without much criticism or mockery.
Iza learned early on that folks didn't like those that were different. Born in the outskirts of New Orleans, folks cried that her eyes were the cause of voodoo, evil spirits or her favorite superstition, a curse from the great prince of darkness.
In truth, these Nevada middle school students were far less superstitious or cruel than the ones from Louisiana. Iza was actually grateful that the furthest that these Vegas students would go was desecrating desks, gossiping and mild obstructions like her current rifling of the waters for the class notes.
It was better than beatings. It was better than having dear pets butchered in front of her eyes. It was better than... A wave of emotions surged terribly through her body as she recalled some of the more cruel 'bullying' that she had struggled through.
She suppressed this emotional surge though.
She couldn't let it show.
A weakness shown is an invitation for harsher harassment.
Grumbling numbly, Iza crawled out of the fountain with her sopping wet notebooks and hurried to take advantage of what was left of lunch period.
This large school district held a great many students within the many classes. It was part of being in a very overcrowded city that Iza could respect. There was so many people that it was hard to be the sole target of gossip and attention. If not for the shine of her eyes that lit up the shadow of her face, she could have easily slipped into the background.
As Iza slipped into the large cafeteria... "You took your time getting here." A voice came from the wall she just passed, making her jump in surprise. "Wait... Why are you drenched!? Who messed with you!?"
Iza gazed at her diminutive goth friend with a soft smile. Her only real friend in her 12 years of life, to her parent's great satisfaction. Suzy Boneridge had such a pale complexion that she stood out like a ghost, an image that was even better exaggerated by her dark matte lip gloss, dark eye shadow and long silky black hair, and her painted black nails. All of which was complimented by fashionable dark black clothing that would definitely be the trendiest clothing of most of the school's fashionista's, if not for Suzy's greatest peculiarity.
Suzy was often ignored, and surprised students, teachers and even her family by her speaking. Most people just couldn't quite keep an eye on her, or notice when she'd be right next to them. She gained the affluent reputation of a ghost, and akin to Iza, was an outcast.
That Suzy immediately pulled out a towel she obviously kept for the later PE class that recently transitioned to the swimming section, and patted Iza down attentively.
"Well.. Are you going to confess? Who did this?" Suzy's protective gaze showed no sign of submitting before getting just enough information to plan for a vindictive justice against whoever dared to drench her friend in cold water.
'So this is friendship...'
Her attitude was a breath of fresh air to Iza, so she chuckled without much of a thought. This action caused Suzy to pout, and Iza couldn't say no to that face. "Some of my classmates threw my notes in the fountain. I didn't see it happen... but Ashley McKona seemed smug. Maybe one of her cohorts."
Suzy frowned at that, "They're so unfair... Anywho, I stashed a cupcake for you." She procured a chocolate cupcake with a vanilla spice icing and placed it immediately in my hands. My favorite. "Eat it quickly. The period is almost over."
Iza didn't ask twice, and immediately started devouring the cupcake fast. There was not much time to get in line for the prepaid lunch anywho, so this would have to do. Suzy flashed an amused and comforted smile as she watched Iza eat. By now Iza was used to Suzy's attitudes, and her presence was much a comforting sight.
In many ways, their friendship of two outcasts seemed stereotypical and fitting. Suzy's protectiveness gave Iza the feeling that she was her older sister, despite her being a half a foot shorter than her. Not that Iza was very tall, standing barely above 5'5" herself. It was just that Suzy wasn't very tall for even the most generous of estimates.
The bell rang sharply, announcing the end of the period.
The rest of the school period went with little more strange events.
There might have been some gossip about Iza scrounging through a fountain for garbage, with many different variations of the story depicting Iza from all things from being a needless clean freak to being similar to a garbage diver. There was some pity and curious about if she was being harassed.
But most of the gossip was about the upcoming field trip to the Shark Reef Aquarium, which was apparently an attractive enough field trip to start coordinating ahead of time.
Iza for the most part didn't care too much. She grew up in New Orleans which was a pretty large coastal city. Sharks and aquatic life were well known to Iza for the most part, and marine science facts weren't too interesting from Iza's point of view.
However, Iza did keep a surprise for Suzy in her pack. Suzy was playing it cool, but Iza remembered that today was her birthday.
Iza didn't know why Suzy in particular didn't like to announce her birthday, as they have come to know each other for over a year now. But she did have a theory that perhaps the lack of presence that has been a hit gossip story surrounding Suzy extended to perhaps people's perception of her birthday or what was happening to or around her.
Even if it wasn't true, the thought that people just wouldn't realize it was her birthday made Iza feel sad. As Iza's first and only real friend, she wasn't going to let her down.
Smiling, she thought of the book she had bought with three months of allowance that was in her pack.
She had the foresight to double wrap it, once with the wrapping paper, and then another with a plastic wrap. And then she tucked it into the secret compartment she had made at the bottom of her backpack.
Iza had had too many precious items stolen, or destroyed by would-be bullies to not have planned this out. She even planned where would probably be a good spot to give the gift to Suzy, wanting it to be so memorable that her dear friend would be happy and expectant when her birthday comes around.
"Iza.." A dull voice entered and exited her mind for a second.
To Iza, this was a small token for all the comfort and happiness that a friend had granted her this past year, and this wasn't something that she wanted to act nonchalantly about. She wanted Suzy to know that not only had she not forgotten her birthday, but that she actively prepared for it.
'What expression will she make..?' Iza thought with a smile. She didn't know if this would be enough to be a good friend to Suzy, but thinking about Suzy with a big smile definitely was quite motivating to keep going through with it.
"IZA!"
"H-Huh!? What?" The loud voice of the impatient teacher interrupted Iza's thoughts, and contributed to a few sparse giggling around the room.
"Come to the board and answer this question." The math teacher explained with exasperation, gesturing to the equation on the board, left painfully incomplete.
Iza nodded bashfully before coming to the front of the classroom, her glowing eyes doing little to cover up her embarrassment.