Branded By A Stranger
Alex
Ya wanna know what’s fun? Finding your soulmate through a freaking pen. Yup. That’s what’s up. Of course like any love story there’s gotta be ups and downs, a considerable amount of downs, more than usual…. Anyways, let’s go back to the beginning where it all started, the place that every normal kid hates, school.
I fell asleep in class AGAIN. It’s DEFINITELY not fun getting blindsided by your teacher, but what can ya do?
“Alex, would you care to answer the question?” Mr. Summers said, smirking.
My mind raced, what was the question? Aw, crap. “Sorry what was the question again?” I asked while wiping the drool off of my chin, yeah I know, I drool when I sleep. Sue me. Laugh too, I honestly don’t care, heck, go ahead and sue me WHILE laughing. My teacher smiled smugly, knowing I lost this fight. “Alex, if you were listening, then you would know the answer, but instead you decided to take a nap. The question was: how fast does light travel?” Well the old man got me beat. I had no idea. Thankfully, my sarcastic and witty mind hadn’t given up just yet, I smiled ruefully and responded, “Hella fast.” Mr. Summers didn’t know what to say, but I get that a lot, I leave countless people like that; speechless. A kid in front of me snorted, and a girl choked on her water, laughing. I smiled devilishly and said, “Any other questions, mate?” Mr. Summers rolled his eyes and handed me a detention slip. He’s going to miss busting me next year, he knows he will, I’m irresistible. As Mr. Summers opened his mouth to enter into another long and drawn out lecture, the bell rang. He clamped his jaw shut and sighed inwardly, all the while looking like a fish gasping for air. “Class dismissed.” He said, stating the obvious. “Saved by the bell,” I muttered under my breath. I stood up shaking my shaggy brown hair out of my eyes. Noah, my best friend, looked at me wryly and said, “Get any sleep last night?”
“You know the answer to that, man.” I grinned brightly, hoping he didn’t see the slumping of my shoulders and the pain in my eyes. He shrugged and swaggered off to his next class. I sighed inwardly made my way to my next class. Ah, the routine of school, it kills me.
I stared at the clock in my last class and FINALLY the bell rang. Every teen raced out of the school and I made my way slowly to detention. The regulars there nodded at me to pay their respects to the king [which is me, by the way.] I sauntered in and sat on my desk, looking for a new way to pass the time. We couldn’t do homework OR sleep, so that was out. I sat staring at the scars on my hands, and my eyes closed, remembering the pain. I shook my head from those scorching thoughts and tried to think of anything other than those scars or else I would relive it all. I sat in boredom examining every other person, most of them bored to death like me. Some were trying to covertly sleep and others were attempting to play on their phone. I gasped as I felt a tingling on my arm, like needlepoints were stabbing my arm. I pulled up my sweatshirt sleeve and choked as writing appeared on my arm. It slowly appeared out of nowhere and I stared as the letters began to form on my arm, it revealed the words, “Take out Lily.” Who was Lily and what was this writing on my arm? Alright, who was pulling this prank on me? I’m the master of pranks but I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. I choked again as more writing appeared and it spelled out the name Anika in a gorgeous cursive. The writing was feminine and neat without trying, but had a slight tilt to it and lots of little loops. I stared it down thinking it was a trick of the light. No one was gonna get me THAT easily, but it stayed there, the name sitting on my forearm.
I looked and up and all of the kids in detention were staring at me curiously wondering why I was gasping like a woman who had just gotten proposed to, but seriously, they could be just a teensy tiny bit more stealthy, they all just stared at me like owls with a dozen questions in their eyes. I looked up and grinned my troublemaker grin that immediately got me moved to the front by the teacher. All I had to do was smile and they’d yell, “Alex, don’t even think about it!” I was their worst nightmare. I plopped onto my seat and closed my eyes thinking, “You’re just tired, the writings not there, when you open your eyes you won’t be able to even see it. Yep, that’s it, you’re just tired. I reluctantly opened my eyes. The words were still on my arm in the thick black ink. Ink, it can wash off. I raised my hand and the teacher called on me saying, “Yes, Alex?”
“Um, I have to go to the bathroom really bad, can I go?” I lied. She looked exasperated as she ran a hand through her hair. “Fine. Quickly though.” She stared me down fiercely and raised her eyebrows. “No funny business, Woodrell,” She chided. I nodded and paced out of the room, trying not to run. The bathroom was just around the corner and this would all be over. No one would be able to prank me ever again. I pushed into the door almost slipping on the wet floors. I raced to the sink and twisted the knob. As I thrust my hands into the shockingly cold water, goosebumps rolled up my arm. I scrubbed at the words on my forearm. After a while, I realized they weren’t going anywhere, I splashed my face and stared at myself in the mirror, they were wide and scared and unsure. What was I even worrying about? It was just marker. Get a grip, Woodrell. I smiled a confident and easy smile and slipped into the classroom.
