The silence in the classroom after Mr. Harrison announced my score wasn't the good kind. It was heavy and thick, like the air right before a summer thunderstorm breaks.
I walked back to my desk, my fingers trembling slightly against the crisp edge of my exam paper. I didn't look at anyone. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, counting the black scuff marks on the linoleum. One, two, thre... Just as I reached my row, a foot slid out from under a desk. It was a deliberate, jagged movement. I saw the bright white lace of Chloe's expensive sneakers and managed to hop over it just in time.
"Careful, Ghost Girl," Chloe hissed, her voice sounding like a piece of broken glass. "Don't trip on your own damn ego."
I didn't answer. I couldn't. My throat felt like it was full of dry sand. I sank into my seat and tried to make myself invisible, pressing my back against the hard, cold plastic of the chair. I tucked my 100% score face-down on the desk. To me, that paper was a ticket out of this hell; to everyone else in this room, it was just a reason to hate me.
"Sarah, see me for a moment before your next class," Mr. Harrison said as the bell finally rang, its shrill ring echoing off the lockers.
The rest of the students scrambled for their bags, the room suddenly filling with the loud, chaotic energy of teenagers desperate to be anywhere else. Chloe lingered by the door for a second, her eyes fixed on my wrist. I quickly tugged my cardigan sleeve down, but I knew the bitch had seen it—the frayed pink ribbon I had untied from my childhood bear—the only thing I had left of my mother."
Once the room was empty and smelled only of chalk and floor wax, I walked up to the teacher's desk.
"You have a gift, Sarah," Mr. Harrison said, his voice much softter now. "I know things aren't... easy at home. But keep this focus. The world needs doctors who actually know what it's like to struggle."
"Thank you, sir," I managed to say. He didn't know about Uncle Levi's drunken shouting or the way the kitchen always smelled like disappointment, but he knew enough.
I stepped out into the hallway, expecting the usual rush of students. Instead, the corridor was strangely quiet. Chloe was leaning against the lockers right in my path, tossing a small, silver lighter up and down. The metallic clink-clink of the lighter was the only sound in the hall. Her friends, Emily and Sophie, stood behind her like shadows.
"That ribbon," Chloe said, her eyes narrowing as she stepped into my personal space. "It's pathetic. It looks like some piece of crap you pulled out of a gutter."
I instinctively covered my wrist with my other hand, my nails digging into my own skin. "It's my mother's."
"It's a piece of trash, just like your 'perfect' score,' she snapped. She reached out, her fingers catching the rough wool of my sleeve. "Let's see how much of a genius you are when your lucky charm is gone, you little freak."
My breath hitched, and for a second, the hallway went blurry. The 100% on my test didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was the jasmine-scented memory tied around my wrist, and it was about to be torn away.
"ATTENTION PLEASE" ^-^
This is just a fictional story. Don't forget to add the story to your library. Next chapter is coming soon!