10th Short Story

“Why are you talking to me, geek?” Dustin asked viciously.

Taken aback, Anya stared into his spiteful eyes. What had she done wrong?

“I - I just came to say Happy Birthday,” she explained, feeling hurt and confused.

“Oh. Thanks,” Dustin replied. It didn’t sound like he meant it at all.

“Did I say something wrong?” Anya asked timidly.

In response, Dustin swiped his palm across her face. Smack. Anya gasped in shock and pain. Tears immediately springing to her eyes, she looked up at Dustin’s merciless face, expecting an explanation, or perhaps another unkind comment. Instead, he was watching her face expectantly.

“You look confused,” he commented. Indeed, she was. Her cheek still smarting, Anya gave him an offended look and walked away. She was already late for class as it was and now her mood had plunged.

At recess, Anya sat on the ground next to her best friend Toni. Their group was large and they usually sat in one giant ring on the ground. No one was ever excluded. Recently, however, there had been unrest and some relationships had become tense. Dustin sat apart from the main bulk of the group with Christine and Emily. Together, the three would talk quietly among themselves, occasionally glancing over at the others after a presumably nasty comment had been made. Due to this segregation, relationships that Dustin, Christine and Emily had with others in the group were suffering; especially the already fragile relationship between Anya and Dustin.

By nature, Anya was a quiet, shy girl whose confidence ebbed and flowed like tides. She always sought the approval of others and often let others take advantage of her, because it when her when others were pleased. As a result of this, her loyalty and kindness was frequently taken for granted and hardly ever won her affection or commitment. Over time, this abuse, though unintentional, slowly ate away Anya’s soul. As she started to develop self esteem and confidence when she achieved high results in school, she began to realise that she wanted more. More acceptance; more appreciation; more attention. Most of all, she wanted someone to trust.

Dustin, an arrogant, opinionated, yet knowledgeable boy, had always intimidated Anya. When she spoke to him, she had to summon all the confidence she could find and speak up. She had only recently started to exercise her opinion more. It had taken more confidence than ever to approach Dustin alone and wish him happy Birthday. Now she wished she hadn’t.

As she recounted the incident to Toni, Anya watched her friend’s face. When Anya described the way she had felt when Dustin slapped her, Toni’s eyes widened in horror.

“He slapped you? That is so mean! How could he?” she exclaimed. “You didn’t even do anything!”

“He has always acted like I don’t deserve his respect,” Anya answered. “It’s as though he thinks of me as below him.”

“I think you should say something to him. Let him know that what he did was wrong,” Toni said, giving her friend a meaningful look. “It’s time you stood up to him.” Anya thought about this for a moment. That option hadn’t occurred to her.

“You know what?” she said. “I think you’re right.”

When Anya saw Dustin draw near the group and start to steer towards his two ‘minions’ – as Christine and Emily were called by the others – she stood up, oni by her side and strode towards him. Noticing her approach, Dustin stopped and his face became hard. This secretly hurt Anya. Why wouldn’t he just give her a chance?

“Dustin,” Anya started. “Can I talk to you, please?”

“What do you want?” he replied haughtily, obviously not comfortable with the situation. His unfriendly tone attacked Anya’s confidence and it ebbed a little.

‘No, no! Come back!’ she thought to herself. It was too late.

With a nudge from Toni, Anya tentatively asked, “Why did you hit me before?”

Dustin frowned. “Why do you think?”

What warning, he slapped her again and again, Anya gasped in shock and pain. For the second time today, tears leaked from her eyes. This was not going to go unchallenged.

“Why won’t you just let me be your friend?” She cried. In answer, Dustin thrust her against a near wall and held his hand over her heart. Bewildered, Anya sobbed, desperately calling for Toni to help with her thoughts. Where was Toni?

A piercing pain shot through her mind, emanating from her heart, which as quailing under the pressure Dustin’s hand was subjecting it to.

‘Stop! Please just stop!’ Anya begged silently, unable to voice her pleas because of the throbbing in her head that made it hurt to think. Anya’s eyes were squeezed shut, tying to shut out those malicious eyes that never met hers. Abruptly, the pressure was released and Anya could breathe again. Opening her eyes, she realised that Dustin had walked away and was returning to Christine and Emily. He was acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Are you alright?” Toni’s voice came from somewhere beside her. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it. He just doesn’t know how to say what he really means.”

Turning toward the sound, Anya gazed into her friend’s brown eyes. “Did you not just see what he did to me?”

“Yeah,” Toni replied. “He just said he doesn’t ant to talk to you. He means that he doesn’t was to talk right now – not he doesn’t want to talk to you. Don’t take it personally.”

Absolutely muddled, Anya mumbled, “I need to go to the bathroom.” Shrugging, Toni rejoined the group. Recess would be over soon, but Anya could feel bruises forming where Dustin had slapped her and the ribs over her heart ached – or maybe it was her heart that ached.

Turning her head this way and that in the mirror, Anya tried to assess the damage - except there was none. He face was as smooth and unblemished as ever and her shirt wasn’t even crumpled in the place where Dustin had gripped it. Panicking, Anya ran over the events of that morning. Dustin had definitely slapped her. Twice. Both times had hurt a lot. There had to be bruises. The worst pain, however, was in her heart. He had pressed her chest quite hard. A thought suddenly occurred to her. Anya’s mental health had been spirally for a long time. Perhaps she had finally tipped over the edge...into insanity. Maybe her mind was turning every comment that usually hurt her into a literal attack. Every offence was an injury. Understanding dawned on her.