Page 21 of Reviving Kendall

She must be waiting on my reply because she says,No way. How will we gossip? Pick u up right after school?

Squinting through my eyes that the smile has caused, I type back,Sounds good.

I stuff the phone in my pocket and someone bumps into me from the back. Shoves me from the back would be more accurate. I’ve been looking down the whole time, so I miss the open locker in front of me. It’s one of the top lockers and the push sends my face directly into the corner of the door.

The pain is blinding for a second. My shoulder slams into the lockers beside me and then my ass hits the floor.

“Holy shit. Are you ok?” a little brown-haired girl bends down and asks.

Something warm is running down my face and I put my hand up to catch it before it has a chance to hit my clothes. When I pull it away, I see that it’s blood.

A small crowd has gathered around us and I hear one of the teachers trying to cut her way through them. When she makes it to us I see that it’s Mrs. Carpenter, “What happened here?”

“I tripped,” I say with the thick liquid still running down my face. The girl in front of me looks at me as if I’m insane for not telling the truth. I know exactly who it was, but I refuse to give the fucker the satisfaction of knowing he got to me.

“Ok hun. Well let’s get you to the nurse,” she says helping me up off the floor.

I stand with her and it makes me a little dizzy, so I grab her arm in support and shift my bag on my shoulder. Derrik is standing two lockers down smirking at me. Yeah, there’s no question who did the shoving.

We make it to the nurse’s office and her eyes widen in surprise as she gets a full view of my face, “Here, sit down.”

I oblige, and she sets about getting bandages.

The late bell rings and Mrs. Carpenter says, “I’ve got to see to my class, but we need to talk Ms. Davis.”

“Yes ma’am,” I answer around the nurse’s hands in my face.

She leaves, and the nurse finally says, “It wasn’t too bad. Just a small nick on your nose. Anything on your head tends to bleed more than any other part of your body. You’re going to have somewhat of a black eye though I’m afraid. Are you feeling dizzy or having blurred vision?”

I nod a little, “I got dizzy when we stood up in the hall.”

“Ok,” she says, “Let me help you to the bathroom here so you can get cleaned up, then I want you to lay down and relax for just a bit.”

My first look into the mirror makes me want to throw up in the floor. There’s blood all over my face and running down the front of my neck. The wound itself is small, but it’s already bruised and swollen. I’m not going to have a black eye. I’ve already got one.

Don’t Destroy Them

Someone touches my shoulder softly, “Ms. Davis.”

My eyes pop open. I’m still sitting in the nurse’s office. I must have fallen asleep. The clock on the wall shows that there’s only five minutes until the last bell.

“Oh my god,” I say sitting up. “I can’t believe I slept that long. Am I going to be in trouble with my last classes?”

The nurse is nowhere to be found. It’s just Mrs. Carpenter, “No hun. You’re not going to be in trouble. Everything is taken care of. I’m going to need you to tell me what really happened, though.”

Raising my hand to the spot on my nose I say, “I already told you. I was texting then tripped and fell into that girl’s locker.”

Her lips pucker like she’s sucking on something sour, “Is that your final answer for me? You know that bullying isn’t tolerated in this school.”

Psh. Since when? “Yes ma’am. That’s my final answer because it’s the only answer,” I tell her.

She looks disappointed but nods her head and walks out leaving the door standing open. I hop down from the table that I’m sitting on just in time for the bell to ring. My face hurts like a motherfucker. I’m counting my lucky stars that I’m off today and can go home, take some Tylenol and pass the fuck out. I wait until the halls clear out before leaving the office. The less people I run into the better.

I’m still careful to keep my head down as I make my way out. I let out a sigh of relief that’s cut short when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn quickly expecting a fight. It’s even worse.

“Hey Kendall, what’s up?” Ryleigh starts then catches sight of my face, “Holy fucking hell. What happened to your face.” Her hand goes out to touch it then drops away.

“I tripped today and fell into a locker,” I lie.

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