Lily

Creative Writing Classroom

8:30AM } May 27

"Hey, man," Conrad decided to address the older boy standing next to me. "Bro to bro, how come you're tagging along with us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we don't see you on field trips very often," The man pointed out in a friendly manner. "I was just wondering if there's a reason why you're joining this one?" What's with the questions, Conrad?

Hearing this, poor Andrew stared at him in shock. "I, n-no, not reall—"

"Andrew, I think my brother means to say is that we're glad to see you here," Julia interrupted kindly, quickly shooting a glower in Conrad's direction. "And to be fair, you've picked a real beauty considering where we're going," I'm not sure if that's the right word for Salem, but fair enough.

"Exactly," Her brother agreed, flashing a brief apologetic grin. "By the way, no pressure intended,"

"Sure, sure," My best friend nodded politely, before making eye contact with me. It's all good, Andy. Don't worry.

Meanwhile, I realised that I had subconsciously allowed my own anxiety to flare up again. Fuuudge! This time, I think it was... I think it was because I knew that once everyone was in class, they would do their own thing and some of them would attempt to pick fights with one another - so much so that I wasn't sure I wanted to imagine how the trip would pan out. Andrew probably had a similar opinion because he likes his peace and quiet as well; that was one of the reasons why we weren't hugely close with our classmates and professor back then.

But oooh, how's that changed...!

"Hey everyone," A dark-haired and brown-eyed man in his early forties, clad in his usual brown suit, shortly entered the room with a pleased smile and ventured to sit at his desk. Oh, hey John! "I trust you all are doing well, this morning?"

"I, yes," Julia replied politely, whilst Andy and I both nodded. "We're all okay, relatively speaking,"

"Where's Dan and Bradical?" Conrad questioned, prompting a small grin to paint my face. I love that nickname for Brad!

"I saw those two in the cafeteria earlier," John answered just as a hazelnut-haired and blue-eyed woman in her late forties, who was clad in a closed button-down grey jacket, pink undershirt, blue pants and a pair of brown shoes, emerged with her usual cup of coffee in hand. Ooooh no.

"Okay, cheers," The younger man thanked our professor, deciding to leave us to it. And he's off. "I'll be back in a while,"

"Ah - before you go, Conrad...!" John spoke up a tad too late, before holding back an annoyed sigh. You alright there? Cue him deciding to address the rest of us. "Everyone, there's been a slight change of plans with our trip,"

"What's wrong, professor?" JJ asked in a concerned manner.

"Nothing's wrong," The 43 year-old was quick to reassure her. "I had a call from our bus driver and he told me that he's been delayed for a couple of hours, so I suggest that you all use your time here effectively,"

"O-Okay," I said with a confused frown. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but has the driver told you when he might show up?"

"Ah yes, he's going to arrive between 5:30 and 6,"

"W-What?!" Julia demanded, whilst Andrew and I both glowered at him with shock. Are you serious right now?!

"Look, I'm not pleased about it either," John sighed, understanding our frustration. He then changed the subject: "Perhaps, you could do some extra research on Salem? That might prove to be beneficial," Okay... Okay, that's a good point. Not the end of the world, either.

"Well, that's what you think," That came from an indignant Angela (or as I liked to call her, an Academy Award Winner for Best Drama Queen), who was sat at her desk with a spiteful glare. "I mean, why should we waste our time with that when we've already done all the work?!"

"He just told you why," I said politely, earning a grateful smile from the professor.

Hearing this, the older woman turned on me with a surprised but contemptuous sneer - which actually frightened me a little. Please don't... "I don't like you or your disrespectful attitude towards me, young lady!"

W-What?! I'm, I'm not trying be disrespectful!

"Angela," John warned icily, clearly losing patience whilst Andrew and Julia shot her a fierce scowl. "Lily was kindly reinforcing my point, there was no need to insult her like that!" A sigh to calm himself. "Look, if you don't want to join us today, go ahead and leave - because I don't want to lose any of my students over these petty fights, alright?"

To my disbelief, my elder classmate was staring at the professor with shock and honestly, it took everything in my power not to smirk. Hooooh, that shut you up - didn't it?!

"Apologies for that, Lily," He then turned to address me apologetically. "I know you don't like the thought of everyone picking fights with each other,"

"No, it's— it's fine," I responded in an appreciative manner, despite feeling stung by Angela's insult. What did I do to earn that? "It's okay,"

Following this, my anxiety slowly worsened when I saw her roll her eyes with an unimpressed smirk. Oh god...! "John, I honestly can't fathom as to why she's been studying this course in the first place - because we both know that she's a distraction, just admit it!"

You b*tch!

I found myself staring her down with a filthy glower, fully aware that my hands were curling into fists and trembling violently. That insult stung even more ... but there comes a time where you become used to being hurt. So, go ahead lady. You and those other bullies have done a great job with making me feel horrible over the past year, why stop now?! It also didn't help that tears were threatening to brim, hence why I fought them back as best I could.

I honestly don't know how I would have coped if I had accidently humiliated myself...

"Lily?" John's concerned voice snapped me out of my thoughts, prompting me to turn and face him. "If you'd like to work in the library again, you can. Break will be at eleven and I'm available on email if you need assistance with anything, okay?"

"Okay," I managed to answer, deeply upset. "I'll," An anxious gulp. "I'll see you this afternoon?"

"Of course,"

I gave him a nod and didn't hesitate to high-tail it out of the classroom, holding my head high as I desperately attempted to ignore Angela's satisfied smile. Once I was back in the main hallway, I stopped to lean against one of the walls with a relieved sigh. Thank god I'm out of there. Only... I didn't realise that my walls were crumbling in seconds. I found myself inhaling and exhaling to calm myself down and violently shaking. The final straw went to tears bubbling up again and my throat turning hoarse, thanks to my glitched breathing.

Then, I just...! Then, I just silently broke down...!

Why me, Angela? Seriously, why me?!