Page 236 of As the Rain Falls
“I told you guys,” she chuckles a little. “It’s nothing to brag about.”
The bell rings.
I hear the other students start to come out of class, all at the same time. My stomach tightens uncomfortably, watching them walk by. The surprise showing on their faces when they first notice who I am is something I’ll have nightmares about.
Pull yourself together.
Pull yourself together.
Pull yourself—
Whispers. The voices grow louder. I shrink and start sobbing, bringing my hair to my chest.
“Jesus, Rivera. Go put on some clothes!”
I can’t make myself stop. I can’t pull myself back together, can’t fix this mess I made out of wanting a bit of attention for once. I’m ruining things just like that, torn pieces falling apart.
It’s all justme.
Cassandra Rivera and her broken, sullen parts.
“Stop laughing at me!”
My mind is full of blurry visions of people watching, people asking why I’m half-naked, and people pointing at me.
Get me out of here.
More pictures.
More flashes.
Laura’s laughter when I knock hard into someone, trying to run away. I fall forward, landing on the ground harshly.
I don’t get back up.
They’re all around me.
Surrounding me.
I might throw up.
I might pass out.
I don’t.
I still survive.
I stay awake through it all.
“Cassandra?”
It’s Antony Silva. He looks sickly still; the skin around his nose is slightly red.
Antony’s warm brown eyes.
Antony pulls me up, takes off his shirt, and puts it on me. I can’t stop crying, not even as he forces me to get dressed.
“Hey, no! Stop taking pictures of her!”
