Pass Time

The protagonist struggles to make it to her next class due to fear of another student. Inspired by real-life events.

The bell rang. Students stood up and gathered their belongings from around the desks. A few ran across the room, throwing their bags on their backs, towards their friends. Grouped up, they all rushed to the door.

             One girl sat back until everyone cleared out. She slowly placed her books in her worn down bag, one by one. Standing up, she put her bag on her shoulder and looked at the whiteboard; she took down the assignment written on the board. With a sigh, she walked over to the door.

            "You can do this," she told herself. "Just run around that corner and you will be fine. Who knows, maybe, he won't be there this time."

            She stuck her head out into the hall and looked in both directions. The hallway had already cleared out, and no one was around. She sighed and went back into the classroom. Once she tied her shoelaces and readjusted her bag, she sprinted out of the classroom. She ran as fast as she could down the hallway.

            So far, so good. Just turn this corner and cut through the gym and I should be safe, she thought.

            She turned the corner, and a breath of relief escaped her lungs. I made it.

            A hand reaches out and latches onto her arm. She yelps in surprise as she went backward.

            "Hey, Babe, you want me to walk you to class?" a tall, boney boy with greasy, Californian-blonde hair asked.

            The skin beneath his clutch burned and itched as if a rodent had just burrowed into her flesh and couldn't find its way out. Vomit slowly traveled up her esophagus. She gagged but hid it with a weak smile and laugh. Slowly, she removed his greasy hand from her arm and stepped away. 

            "Sorry, I think I left something back in my other class," she said, stepping backward. "Just go ahead without me. Okay?" 

            "Don't be silly. I'll wait for you, and we'll walk together," the boy said. 

            She smiled at him and turned back down the hall she had just left. She shivered. Her stomach felt like a washing machine on a rinse cycle.

            Now, what am I going to do? She thought.

 She stepped foot back into the classroom she had left and sighed. She peered again out into the hallway. The boy eagerly waited for her just down the hall.

            "Is anything the matter?" the teacher asked. He stood up from his desk and walked towards her with caution.

            "Huh?" She jumped back. "Oh. Ah-yeah. Fine. Everything is just fine. I just forgot to take down the assignment. Uh, it'll be really quick."

            The teacher stared at her for a moment.

            "Okay. Hurry up. The bell will ring for the next class in a minute," he said, walking back to his desk.

            She thanked him and took out a piece of paper. While she pretended to take down the assignment once again, her mind raced with ways to get past the boy. The bell was about to ring, and only a few students had class in that wing of the school, so hiding in a crowd was out. The boy didn't care about being late either, so waiting it out was also out.

             Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her heart felt like it was going to explode. She didn't even notice she wrote down the same words all over the page: each time with darker and thicker lines. 

            "The bell's about rang," the teacher told her. She dropped her pencil.

             "Oh. Silly me. I should get going. Thank you," she said, gathering her paper, stuffing it into her bag and rushing to the door. The teacher blocked the path to the hallway, holding a large pile of documents. 

             "Since you are leaving right now anyway, here." He handed the student a hand full of papers. "Help me take these to the office. I'll give you a tardy pass to your next class." 

             The girl nodded and accepted the pile. She followed close behind the teacher as they approached the upcoming hallway. She gulped, hiding behind the papers, begging for the boy not to be there. 

             "Hey!" The boy jumped out from behind the wall as the student and teacher turned the corner. "I thought you were never going to show." 

            "What are you doing?" the teacher asked.   

             "I was just waiting for her," the boy responded. 

            "Well, she's busy. Go off to class."

             "I can help Mr.-" the boy offered. 

             "I only need one assistant but thank you. Go now." 

              The boy grumbled and stormed off, leaving the teacher and the student alone. They quickly got the papers to the office, and she got her pass for her next class. 

            "Thank you," she said.

             "If you need to stay back, for any reason, just say something," the teacher told her. "It's my free period, and I could always use the help with this papers." 

            The girl smiled and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Reviews

[Autumn]

I really like how you described how the boy's hand felt when he touched the girl. The imagery had me imagining what it felt like, really putting me in the perspective of the main character. The pace was also good, not too slow nor too fast. The only issue that I have with it is that the solution was too believable. I could tell what it was going to be before I was halfway through it. It doesn't truly surprise the reader, but the story was engaging. I really did like it though.

[49k_jdys]

Overall I thought this was a good story. It seems a little bit more like a sketch than a short story. Something is missing. The ending should be a little more complicated and the story behind the boy should be built up a little more. Also, you could probably cut out most of the beginning. I'm in a writing class right now and my professor always nags me to remove the "unnecessary" stuff that keeps the story from flowing smoothly. I love the idea of this though. I'd love to see you develop it some more!