Broken Glasses [Ongoing]

Chapter Eight: You're Going to Poison Them

"I've been staring at the edge of the water. Long as I can remember, never really knowing why

I wish I could be the perfect daughter. But I come back to the water, no matter how hard I try"

[Song: "How Far I'll Go"  - Auli'i Cravalho from Moana]

RECAP:

Operation That Was a Mistake ended as elegantly as someone ice skating for the first time.

Raymond being the type to hold a grudge tries to pick a fight with Declan in school. But after setting up a fight in the parking lot afterschool, Adrian punched Declan starting a group fight. The fight ended with Naomi spraying water from a fire extinguisher at them before the principal found the mess.

Also, Bennett and Naomi are not exactly on speaking terms after Bennett created an entire report without telling Naomi. But things will get better, right?

Right?

~

Roll call.

Marco scratched his head, shaking the excess water off his hair. Doing that, the ice pack fell off his lap and onto the ground. After a muttered curse, he picked it back up and placed it on his right side. He slumped in his seat, holding another pack for the bruise under his left eye.

Bennett sat forward with his elbows on his lap. His head leaned against his propped up left hand that held an ice pack for the bruise at the corner of his eye. Absentmindedly, his fingers traced the right of his face and he flinched when it hit the scrape at the corner of his bottom lip.

Raul winced and slightly lifted the ice pack for the bruise at the corner of his right eye. After pulling out the tissue used to plug up his bloody nose, he lifted the collar of his damp shirt and wiped the dried remnants off. He hesitantly poked his side and tsked at the pain before moving the ice pack there.

Jordan leaned back in his chair with his legs stretched in an attempt to dry out his clothes. Donning a small tissue plugging up his right nostril, he held up an ice pack for the bruise that was forming under his left eye and the grazes at the side of his cheek. After a moment, he balanced the ice pack on top of his eyes like a sleep eye mask and let out a tired sigh.

Aiden- I thought I had it. Adrian, I mean, let out a sneeze. He sniffled, looking back down at his wet clothes in dismay. After a sigh, he moved the ice pack from the left corner of his mouth to the other side of his face for the bruise and scrape under his eye.

With a curse under his breath, Raymond took the melted ice pack off the bruises on his face and placed it on top of his varsity jacket on his lap, too wet to still be wearing. He scowled as he looked down at the grazes on his knuckles then decided to use the ice pack for them.

Despite the bruises under his right eye and the bandages that hid the scrapes at the corner of his mouth to cheek, Declan ignored nursing them with an ice pack. Instead, his shirt, wet and clinging to his chest, was slightly lifted as he held an ice pack against his right side.

With a tissue plugged up for a bloody nose, Samuel flipped the ice pack in an attempt to have a colder side nurse the bruise at the corner of his right eye. He shuffled in his seat, repositioning the ice pack on his crotch after someone had kicked him there.

Then there was me.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, revealing the absence of any injuries on my face as well as my glasses given someone broke them. Even though I participated in the fight, the only pain I felt was from the yanks of my hair and the lingering sting on my side that I decided to not use an ice pack. I knew that because of the school's underfunding, we didn't have a lot of ice packs in stock. Aside from that, I was in the complete opposite state of the others: clean, dry, and unscathed. It was as if I was the answer to the game "one of these things is not like the other".