Page 126 of Releasing 10
Ididknow the pattern, or at least I wassupposedto know, but right now I couldn’t remember. Everything was blurry in my head.
“Backwards, forwards, clap right, clap left, clap, clap,” Cadence chanted, clapping her hands against mine. “Come on, Lizzie, you’re not even trying.”
“Sorry, I need to use the bathroom,” I mumbled, hurrying away from the yard.
I didn’t.
I just needed somequiet.
The louder the noise grew, the more disorientated I became.
I already knew that.
I’d learned it a long time ago.
Find Shannon, the kind voice in my mind instructed,she makes it go quiet for you.
She didn’t want to play in the yard at lunch today, so I thought she might be still in class, but when I checked our classroom, it was empty.
Returning to the schoolyard, I searched the playground for my friend before heading down to the big field, a.k.a. the pitch.
As usual, the fifth and sixth class boys were on the pitch, kicking the living daylights out of each other under the pretense of hurling.
I didn’t care about them.
My whole focus was on the small girl crying on the sidelines.
Shannon.
She was holding her school jumper in her hands and sobbing inconsolably, while her big brother comforted her.
I felt something then, a lurching sensation in my chest, as I took in the sight of her torn jumper.
Anger. That’s what I was feeling, and it was bubbling inside of my stomach, growing hotter with every tear that spilled from her eyes.
When Joey whipped his own jumper off and placed it over her head, I felt another wave of emotion hit me.
Sadness.
Because his jumper wasn’t in much better condition than hers. But at least it hadn’t been torn to ribbons by bullies. The move left my friend swamped in an oversized jumper that fell to her knees, while her brother perished in his creased, white school shirt that had seen better days.
In fact, the cuffs seemed so old, they were practically worn off and barely reached his forearms. Oblivious to the fact that his shirt was about three sizes too small for him, Joey Lynch rolled what was left of the sleeves up to his elbows before ruffling his sister’s hair and offering her a warm smile.
It wasn’t raining today, but the cold October breeze was skinning, and I knew he had to be freezing.
So why did he do it?
Why did he give her something he didn’t have to spare?
I didn’t have the answer, but his selfless gesture sparked something inside of me, and I made a mental note to sneak my spare jumper into school for Shannon tomorrow.
At least that way, her brother wouldn’t be cold.
When I got to school on Friday, I waited for the perfect opportunity to catch Joey Lynch on his own.
It wasn’t easy because, unlike Shannon, everyone seemed to flock to him. It didn’t matter that they feared him. They still wanted to be around him.
I understood that he had something mysterious about him that made people want to get closer, but I thought his sister was even more mysterious.
