Chapter 8

"But how is that possible if they don't allow us to to interact with them?" Daylon queries and Mrs Brown smiles,

"Do you know what a second lifetime is?" She asks.

Everyone looks at each other as if trying to find the answer on others faces,

"No." Daylon answers,

"A second lifetime happens when a person is born again after death with no memories of their previous lifetime. It usually happens when the person's purpose was unfulfilled in the first life time so they come back again the second time to fulfill it." I explain,

"And if they don't remember anything then how do they know they were alive previously?" Daylon asks me,

"The person usually experiences feelings of déjà vu when a similar event in the previous life occurs in the present life. And memories come in form of flashbacks and dreams to the person until they remember." I answer his question,

"Very good Eris. I see you've been reading!" she praises me which makes me blush, "and whenever a person comes back they usually have the cause of death as a birth mark be it a stab or a burn."

"Like your scar?" Debbie whispers to me,

"Girl I did not die and come back again!" I whisper back with a sassy tone which makes her giggle,

"It's even possible that creatures that died thousands of years ago are being reborn as human." she beams,

"But there's no proof of all this. Could it really be real?" A kid doubts,

"We ourselves are proof but many are afraid to say so because of the quick judgment we put on ourselves." she says, "you might have seen or felt something but too afraid to say so out of fear of not being taken seriously." The bell rings and kids pack their things, "don't forget to read the next chapters kids, you'll love it."

"Yes Mrs Brown." we all chorus and more of us head out the door.

As I was about to head out the door I hear her sigh silently, I stop dead in my tracks and turn to her,

"Is everything alright Mrs Brown?" I ask and move closer to her,

"I don't know what to say Eris. It's always hard teaching this genre because of the judgement we tend to cast on ourselves." her eyes droop,

"I understand you Mrs Brown, the stares, the questions, the teaching itself makes you look and feel paranoid."

"Yes very." I slip my fingers in hers,

"But it's okay. Sometimes we have the proof buried deep down in us but it's out of reach. We feel it but can't grasp it. The day we hold it is the day we'll understand everything." I smile at her,

"Daniel calls me crazy sometimes whenever I try explaining it to him. Sure he doesn't mean it but it still makes me feel paranoid." She looks up to me with hope glittering in her eyes, "but you always seem to understand. You're an angel Eris, a real angel." she cups my cheeks and I melt at the affection.

"It's okay Mrs Brown, we're here for each other"

After a while I exit the classroom to head to another class that i wasn't late for yet,

"I wish you were my mother or a sister at least. I would've been so much happier." I whisper and wipe the tears that had fallen from my eyes and look back to the door. More tears flow and I don't resist, sometimes I just wish things would be better. Just wish I could find love. It is all I want.

I wipe off the tears with the back of my hand and walk to my next class which also had a separate classroom. Thoughts fill my head and heart and I try not to cry, it is really hard to be hated. It kills in so many ways unimaginable.

I pull up a fake smile and open the door to the classroom, Debbie waves at me patting an empty space beside her,

"You give me so much strength Debbie. Thank you" my heart speaks as I sit beside her and wait for the teacher.

I am home feeling rather drained. I collapse on my bed thinking about my life and all that had happened so far. It is pitiful but at least I have people who support me and I'll never let any harm come their way.

It's my promise.

Tears stream down my face as I hug my pillow, I sob uncontrollably until I eventually fall asleep.

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It's been two weeks and school is humming with activities everyday. Debbie and I recently signed up for dance and music class, so did a lot of other kids.

I've always had a special connection to music since little, I don't know why but it feels like it's in my soul print. And the strangest thing is that I have the ability to play well at first try.

It surprises a lot of people especially Mr Vincent, my music teacher. He calls it a true 'artistic talent'.

It's lunch time and I am devouring a burger with no regard to manners,

"This is really good!" I lick my fingers and take a big gulp out of my mountain dew,

"Yeah I wonder she always does it." Debbie nods in agreement. The lunch lady shouldn't be a lunch lady but a personal chef for some rich family. Guess life isn't always fair.

I glance over my shoulder to see some guys looking at our table talking and snickering to themselves. I shake my head in disappointment and I focus back on my lunch,

"So what do you think of the literature?" Debbie asks me taking off her glasses, "do you believe in what it and Mrs Brown says?"

"Yes." I swallow, "sometimes you do not need proof to believe some things" I let out a burp, "excuse me." I blush,

"So cute yet so boyish." Debbie teases, "but science would disregard it because of the lack of evidence." she dabbles in thought,

"Science disregards anything that does not make sense to it but that doesn't mean it's not real or existing." I gulp down my drink, "it's just too lazy to find out what the unnatural is or what it means." I conclude,

"Yeah you're right. How I wish I could meet an angel!!" Debbie squeals,

"Why an angel?" I'm curious,

"Have you seen them?! Tall, strong and handsome!" she giggles like a love struck teenager, oh wait she is, "and their wings are just so cool!!! I wouldn't mind marrying one!" She drools at her fantasy,

"A light or dark angel?"

"Anyone works fine!" She drools even more and I shake my head, "let me go get dessert!" She skips to the lunch lady, she was really love struck.

She comes back with two cups filled with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, I reach over for the chocolate and my eyes devour it,

"Thank you" I'm just about to dive in, "wait, where are the sprinkles?" I examine my cup,

"Oops I forgot! I'll go get them." she gets up to fetch the finishings only to have someone's lunch spilled on her.

"Oh my God!! I'm so so sorry!!" The girl apologises, I turn back and notice it was one of the twins that followed Lilac around. She is a lot nicer without the queen of mean around her.

"It's okay." Debbie waves off and wipes some pieces of food off her clothes,

"You should go clean up." I say to her and she leaves for the bathroom. I help pick up the tray and pieces of food on the floor. I get a mop and clean up the mess before the cleaner notices, she thanks me for it later and I wave it off.

I go get our sprinkles and I decorate Debbie's ice cream with a heart of sprinkles, I smile to myself and wait for her to come back.

After a while of waiting I check the time,

"Where is she?" I wonder and look at our ice creams, I couldn't eat without her. I turn back and notice the boys who were snickering at us were gone, the cafeteria was almost empty.

"I wonder what's taking her so long?" I was really concerned,

"Eris!!! Eris help me!!!" I hear Debbie's voice in my head and run out of the cafeteria. Her pleas got louder as I ran down the hall, what could be wrong?

I kick down a door open and I see a boy dragging her closer to him as she struggles to free herself. I run up to them and slug the guy in face, the sudden release makes Debbie fall to the ground. She scurries back to her feet and stays behind me.

The boy gets up holding his face giving me death eyes but I am unmoved. Instead I am thinking of the one thousand ways to murder him.

"Debbie are you alright?" I glance over my shoulder to her fear filled eyes, her hair in disarray, she nods her head frantically still too paralysed with shock to say anything.

"Look who's trying to play hero." The boy I punched in the face glances over me. Two other boys are with him and they move closer. I instinctively move a step backwards protecting my sister, "you don't need to be afraid. We appreciate your beauty that's all." one of them tries to hold my hand.

My gaze unshakable from Debbie's molester, I could feel her fear, her pain. Who knows what would've happened if I didn't come just in time.

My blood boils and I deliver a sharp low blow to the guy closest to us, he falls to the ground groaning and clutching his manhood in pain. The second one charges for us, I push Debbie away from me and I dodge his raised fist, I give him and elbow to his mid region and a punch to his face.

I look back to see if Debbie is okay and i feel a hand connect to my face. I am thrown backwards and a hand is clamped around my neck choking me,

"Please don't hurt her!!" Debbie screams as she tries to remove his hand from my neck, the boy pushes her away and she lands on the floor,

"So much for hero" the boy smiles wickedly as I feel his free hand rummage round my body.

I hear Debbie's cries and it hits me, I sink my teeth into his wrist and he jerks back from the pain, I connect my feet with his face with a spinning back kick and he sent back. I grab his head and slam it repeatedly into a table, the anger in my eyes, the blood spilling from my mouth, I have to kill him. It felt right to me.

"Eris leave him!! Let's get out of here!!" She manages to drag me out of the classroom and locks the door leaving the boy with blood dripping down his forehead.

It was a minor cut. Debbie didn't let me make it the cause of his death.

When we are far away enough I pull her into an embrace,

"It's okay Eris, I'm fine now. We need to get you help" she pulls away cupping my cheeks, my eyes bleeding tears,

"I shouldn't have let you go alone" I sob, the tears mixing with my blood,

"Eris it's okay, we need to go to the clinic" she wipes away my tears,

"I'm fine" my emotions change,

"No you're not. Let's go" she drags me all the way to the clinic to clean up my cut. I hiss at the sting of the disinfectant, "come on, be strong"

"You know I don't like it" I narrow my eyes at the cotton balls and the disinfectant,

"But you need it" she smiles as she dabs the cut on my cheek which makes me hiss again,

"She should be fine" our school nurse Miss Ashley walks in, she strokes Debbie's hair, "it's unfortunate things like this still happen. How are you doing Debbie?"

"I'm fine now thank you" she gives a small smile.