crushed.

Suddenly it’s like the girl across the room is looking at me. I curse under my breath. I look a mess today, I’m starting to realize, suddenly seeing my messy hair and unwashed face like she must be.

Then she starts walking in my direction. So, I bury my face in my book, not really reading the words in front of me.

“Hey, girl in the hoodie? Why are you staring at me?” She asks. Before I get a chance to answer, I glance up at her, and all of my worst fears are confirmed. Yep. She saw me staring at her. She thinks I’m weird. She’s straight. I’m being creepy. She’s calling me out. The whole classroom is looking at me now.

“Uh....” I try to make some noise to answer her, but my tongue feels heavy all of a sudden.

“You zone out or something?” She starts to almost smile.

“Yeah!” I blurt, smiling with her. She rolls her eyes and walks back to her friends, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t watch her the whole way before turning and staring back at my book.

A sound as loud as a gunshot rings through my ears, almost like the sound of ripping paper. I immediately cover my ears and look around to see what’s going on, but no one else can hear it or even see me freaking out.

That’s when I began to float. Like, as in, I’m not touching the desk chair anymore and am floating towards the ceiling, but no one can see or hear me freaking out as I near the classroom ceiling tiles.

Yet somehow, I can see myself, still sitting in my desk? But I’m up here? Then, somehow, the roof glides around me as I float upwards, and I can’t feel myself touching it, until all that’s around me is open sky and the school buildings below.

I continue to rise, up, into the clouds, through the skies, away from my school and everyone I know, close to the sun. All the buildings and streets below begin to look smaller and smaller until they aren’t visible any longer. An airplane flies by in the distance, clouds continue to move around me, allowing me to float up and up.

At this point, I’ve stopped trying to make noise, or move around, or get any help. Whatever the heck is going on, it’s clearly out of my control. That being said, every cell in my body wants to be back on the ground, in my chair.

Then, the clouds begin to retreat, and something else begins to become visible above me, and the blue background becomes the only other thing I can see.

Above me, I veer closer to a navy-blue trapdoor that appears to be floating stationary midair. Yet it isn’t long before I can touch its handle and pull it open and climb my way through.