The following morning, Dawn woke up and after getting dressed, she had plenty of time to get to school and be in the class first.
She was glad that at her school; they sat in the same class and it was the teachers that rotated and so she could be at the back corner and not be noticed.
She did blend in, but at times if one had to refer to her, she was the freak or weirdo of the class. At first, when it happened, it did bother her, but now after some time, she was used to it.
She walked in and sat by her spot, Dawn took out her phone and plugged in her earphones as she stared out into the distance.
The leaves fell, and she wanted some freedom, but what freedom? Some students started to file in and no one noticed her at all.
They all spoke to one another and some were unnecessarily loud, but maybe she was the one that was too quiet.
The teacher came in and she removed her earphones and opened her books, the door burst open and it was Grayson and Keagen.
Their uniforms were ruffled and if not for the uniforms they had on scruffily, she wouldn't put it past them that they had gotten out of bed like that.
They had eye bags, their ties were loose, their hair tussled, and they walked to the back where they also sat so that they did not have to learn and could talk freely.
Even though the teachers had tried their best to move them, they simply refused. Grayson's eyes met hers for a brief second, and she had turned away from his gaze.
He had warned her to not talk or look at him. They sat at the back but this was the first time that Grayson had even spared her a glance.
She hoped that he would not be upset with her for that eye contact, it was not her fault that he too had looked at her.
She just did what everyone else did and what she always did but this time it was different as he had noticed her.
The class finished and started to remove her books for the next class,
"You two are really something."
Dawn could see that it was a bunch of pretty girls in their class who often spoke to them, and could hear the flirtatious tones in their voices.
"What the fuck do you want now? Don't nag us."
"I didn't mean it that way, Grayson."
Dawn could tell that she was embarrassed, and she would be too, but not that could happen to her as they ignored her and she didn't exist to them.
She plugged in her earphones and stared outside. Dawn got a fright when a bird hit a window next to hers and fell on the ground.
She unplugged her earphones and dashed outside. When she got there, she could tell that the bird could not fly as it had injured its wing.
As she inched closer, the bird was trying to scurry away, not that she blamed it, if she too was in a situation like this, she would be scared.
She inched slowly and when the bird had eased; she lifted it and took it, then dashed to the school nurse.
"How brave of you." Said the school nurse as she placed the bird gently on the desk.
"Do you think it will be okay, miss?"
"It should be, don't worry, I will take care of it."
"Thank you miss."
"Run along now. You're late for class."
"Okay, thank you again miss."
"If you want to come back some days later, to check as to how the bird is doing, you can do so."
That made her happy. "Thank you so much."
"Wait, here."
Dawn turned and took the piece of paper. It was a late slip, and she took it gladly. Dawn knocked, and the teacher answered for her to come in.
She hated the attention and could hear the other students snicker about her,
"This is wonderful of you Dawn. Will the bird be okay?"
She nodded.
The rest of the students laughed at her.
"I told you she was a freak of nature."
"She has no friends, so she has to turn to the animals."
"She gives me the creeps."
"More like the chills."
"Enough all of you, she did something good. You may sit down."
She scurried to her seat and opened her books and also began catching up to what she had missed.
"Dawn, I see everyone has already been in pairs, so one group would have to be the three of you."
Everyone was avoiding eye contact, and she did not mind doing it alone if no one was willing to work with her.
"She can be with me and Keagan."
Dawn was shocked when she heard Grayson's voice and turned to him, but he wasn't looking at her.
"I second that." Said Keagan.
Was Grayson warming up to her and that meant a lot to her that he picked her. He had removed her from the same humiliation she got.
At least now she wouldn't have to be forced onto a group and being tossed around until the groups would be put formally down.
The class finished and Grayson came up to her, he threw the assignment on her table, "Don't think I picked you because I wanted to. You can do this on your own, right?"
"Yes, I can."
She was not going to argue with them as she was afraid and it would be better for her to work alone as she would be way too nervous sitting with them.
Dawn knew that she would not be able to barely say a word. This would be quicker too this way as she doubted that they knew much.
She wasn't judging them but their track record never lied and the way that they acted at school, Dawn had no hope that they would try.
"Here are our full names and if we do have time, we can pitch in," said Keagan.
And she knew that they were being sarcastic and did not mind doing it all alone. She nodded, acting as if she believed them.
"Sure, thanks."