Valeria Horror Story Part Three

   When the inevitable group activities occurred it felt like a dark dreary day of doom had fallen on me. Separated from Clem who had been recently kicked in the back of the leg on several occasions . Although she never saw Valeria she knew it was her. Clemency was ready for a showdown but I was still torn between thinking Valeria something horrible and hoping it was our imagination.

Everyone was tense. Group activities could really bring out the worst in people.They seemed  meant to induce high drama although I didn’t` know it back then I just knew to expect tears,tantrums,unfairness. My sense of doom tinged with black humour as I found myself being sat down next  to Valeria. “Well she will have to speak to me now “I thought. Which of course she didn’t.
 “We have to get on! We have to mix! “I told myself and took it upon myself to make it happen. It did not happen until Valeria was absolutely assured of my politeness and civility and when she was her sense of frustration only grew and grew. She felt I still did not like her and i knew she  wanted to call me  a liar for being so polite.
In frustration Valeria mocked something slight Clemency had done wrong in her group at the far side side of the classroom.Clem looked enraged but kept silent on my behalf.
I was never going to stoop so low as to fall for a bit of goading but Valeria seemed as fixated on impressing her followers with my humiliation as they were on seeing her succeed.

I still hoped to find that one thing I could like about her.

As we took a tally of the eye colour of everyone sat around our table I noticed none of Valeria`s group had been split up. I had one friend sat to the left of me, a girl called Paula “Her eyes are black “I said to be noted down on the tally “Your eyes are black too “I said to Valeria as cheerfully as I could. Valeria fixed me a delighted look “People’s eyes are either blue, green or brown” she said and waited for everyone to laugh at me but no one was yet sure who was right. Valeria stared at them expectantly. I looked over to Paula and she rolled her eyes. Valeria was still trying to sound righter than me so I cut her off saying

“Her eyes are as black a dark brown as human eyes are supposed to get”

That cracked the tension like a body following a foot through a frozen lake. Valeria refused to look at or acknowledge me but she also didn`t know where to take the argument. She appeared to be appealing to her followers; someone shouted “She is human!” but it was a humiliating defence. I heard her sigh and her friends then lept in with the two arms two legs, eyes and nose argument. Valeria looked sad. I realised then that there was something I liked about Valeria; her sadness. Everyone wanting her to be something on her behalf, it was a revelation I thought but at that point MS Halisted`s presence made a rare appearance and was felt. It was hometime.We packed up in silence. Everyone around Clemecy`s table had been packed up any ready to leave the whole time attention was on me and Valeria.Clemency flew from the room with the parting shot

“You’re dead and you better get used to it!”

In the awkward silence that followed Valeria made a quiet comment to her friends about it not being a very nice thing to say but the mass crush was on to get out.

There was much shouting about Valeria as everyone piled down the long hallway toward the doors; “Whose she?” “what`s it all about” and the occasional “who!?”There was a lot of explaining in general and defence specifically from her friends. As we jostled and shoved closer to the doors someone yelled “What about them she friends with!?” amidst all the confusion I knew what this meant and shouted back “They think she`s foreign!” To some laughter. Her friends tried to get in a defence but it was too late the doors swung open and the bright winter light freed us.

We peeled out and the tone changed, arguments past and some awful thought almost lost just caught me.Every voice but hers. Could it be she was not`t leaving? No one was there waiting for her…?
There was a creamy brown coloured rabbit sat on a high wall,nibbling on weeds growing in the brickwork. As parents pulled on coats and took schoolbags they looked at us and then back at the rabbit in bemusement. Befuddled that no one at all was making a fuss .It was a strangely underwhelming sight. It was just a rabbit. They were everywhere apparently.

I did not really want to believe Valeria was not leaving with everyone.Anyone.I imagined she trotted off smugly with a mother or brother later than everyone else.I wanted to turn up tomorrow and have everything explained...

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriaa-horror-story-part-one

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriahorror-story-part-two

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriahorror-story-part-four

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeria-horror-story-part-five