I was in the bathroom, applying a new
coat of lip-gloss when Heather and Sara thundered in, livid at some tidbit of
gossip they had acquired. Typically, when gossip disturbed them—before they
called for a shopping day—they came to the girl’s restroom to scream at each
other about the incredulity of it all until they felt better. Then they morphed
back into smiling snakes with perfect hair and made the appropriate phone calls
for hooky.
Just as I had put everything back
into my purse, Heather smacked it off the counter, sending the mascara, blush,
and other contents skittering across the white tiled floor. My gaze rose to
meet theirs and it was apparent this was not the typical tidbit of upsetting
gossip.
“What have you heard?” I asked
coolly, not wanting to suffer more of a verbal thrashing than needed.
Sara shoved me backwards, a sink
jabbing me hard in the side as I stumbled. “Everything!” she screeched, her
features transforming into a distorted form of spite.
I grabbed the sink and used it to
steady myself as I looked back to her; I was thoroughly befuddled as I had no
idea what “everything” meant. Violence wasn’t in her usual modus operandi,
though, so whatever the gossip was, it was personal.
“How you plan to steal my boyfriend,”
she vociferated, slapping me across the face. Her new manicure broke the skin
of my cheek. “How you’ve already been fucking him!” She landed another cruel
blow, her nails feeling like an animal claw on my cheek. “How you’ve been
fucking him since this summer…and it explains why you never gave names!”
A hailstorm of blows poured upon me,
knocking my from my feet; I was too stunned to think of some definitive action
to take other than to shield my face and make myself as small a target as
possible. I knew I couldn’t continue accepting this torment as that would
possibly result in the eventual bludgeoning of my skull, but my mind seemed
frozen when it came to offering solutions. It didn’t help that her acrid voice
continued to echo in my thoughts, chasing away the few frail attempts my mind
tried to make at thinking. She would have to tire eventually, or someone would
come into the bathroom. As she took up kicking at my arms and shins, I tried
distancing myself from it all, numbing my body to the blows and blocking out
her voice.
It wasn’t until she proclaimed me
numerous, colorful names of increasing insult that my mind made itself up
without my knowing it.
“Stop!” I yelled, a gust of air
forcing her away from me. My voice sounded cold and distant; it wasn’t mine,
though I knew the words came from me. Inside, it felt as though some part of me
had awoken and taken control. I no longer dominated my body. Some other entity,
who had seen enough of Sara’s petty battle, did. It stood taller, straighter,
and radiated with a divine anger that sent Sara and Heather whimpering into the
hallway.
Slowly, my body followed.
The two had already gathered a crowd
that imprisoned them. My body's gait stopped some distance from them. When
their terrified faces met my gaze, my lips spoke, a slow, deep sound erupting
from my throat.
“What right have you to judge based
on rumor?” the unfamiliar voice thundered. “What right have you to blame your
faults on another?”
Sara seemed to pluck courage from the
curious onlookers. She stood and moved towards me, wobbly on her feet, but
determined.
“Bitch! You think you’re hot stuff
screwing around and lying to everyone!” she screeched, lunging to recommence
her attack. I sent her slamming into the lockers where she slumped to the
floor, cradling her head in her arms.
“Leave me alone,” the voice said
slowly, articulating every syllable so she’d be sure to understand through her concussion.
With that, whatever had been inside
me disappeared, leaving me with a strange sensation of having too much room in
myself. Realizing everyone was staring at me, I walked away as calmly as I
could manage, the crowd parting to let me through. Shocked, horrified, and
curious faces looked on. No one said anything, though. They were all terrified...of me. This fact didn’t hit me until much later as I sat at home listening to
music.
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