A Dark Cloud

• Caitlyn Adamson, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2017

Casey’s mind was a clouded pit of endless hate. It consumed her mind, body and soul in a way that was unhealthy and harsh. Casey didn’t speak, nor did she utter a sound. She walked with a limp in her step, watching as the students around her ignored her presence. The students will begin to talk one day. They will talk about the girl with the limp in her step. The girl who always wore a black hoodie that reached her knees and refused to speak. It is just a matter of time.
Casey walked quietly, avoiding contact with each student as she met with her brother. He slipped an arm around her shoulders as she uttered a weak smile to him. He returned a wide, happy one back before continuing his conversation with his friends. Casey didn’t listen like she usually would she merely looked at her feet the entire time, ignoring the students who gave her looks. They wondered why she stood beside him. They didn’t know of their relation. No one did.
When Casey walked into the canteen area she was greeted with a bowl of Spaghetti tipped down her dark brown hair. Her gasps brought the students to a halt as they watched for her reaction. The girl who stood before her wore a smirk as she tipped her platinum blonde hair behind her shoulder. The insults that followed brought Casey to a halt.
Ugly. Fat. Waste of space. Unwanted. Useless. Stupid. Foul. Disposable. Replaceable.
The truth behind those words sent Casey running. The Spaghetti dripping down the inside of her hoodie only fueled the hate that she felt for herself. She dodged laughing students as they pointed at her running figure, mimicking the girl’s insults toward her. Their faces began to blur as Casey fought back the tears, shoving past them and entering the girls’ bathroom.
She sat in the final cubical allowing her tears run down her face as she pulled at the Spaghetti that was knotted in her curly mess of brown hair. She tugged and pulled at her hair, forcing it to come out in clumps. She didn’t care. Not anymore. She buried her head in her knees, covering the back of her head with her arms as she shook violently. Her breathing becoming vehement as she rocked back and forth, attempting to comfort herself in this time of need.
Yelling began from the front of the bathrooms. It grew louder as the voice snapped at a small voice from the outside. Casey couldn’t make out the words, neither the voice, yet she kept quiet hoping they would leave her alone.
“Case?” her brother’s voice asked as he knocked on the cubical door, watching as it opened slowly. She greeted him with a sad smile as the tears kept running.
“It’s going to be okay Case. It will get better. Just give it time,” his arms curled around his sister as he held her.