YTZ#13:
The Fear Grips Again
Back at it.
My ongoing writings cited for future use as a graphic novel. Enjoy.
Start from the beginning.
What follows is a fictional account.
The Fear Grid, Part 2
“
The feeling of fear had gripped Purity so strongly that she lurched from her seat in the middle of her history exam…
And was met with uproarious laughter.
The entire class was cracking up at Purity’s expense. She felt mortified.
“Are you ready to return to us, Purity?” scolded Mrs. Astaby sternly. “If you are done with that test, I will take it from you.” She held out her hand and grimaced at Purity.
“Um, oh,” Purity tried shyly. “Yea, here.” She handed the test to the teacher.
“You want to finish that bonus question?” the teacher asked. “The 7th deadly sin?”
“Fear,” said Purity aloud. The class giggled and scurried to add the answer to their own test. Mrs. Astaby scowled at her.
“Next time write it,” muttered the teacher and swiped the test from Purity. “Now sit down and find something quiet to do. And no more interruptions.”
After class, Purity tried her best to sneak out without any more negative attention. It didn’t work.
“Did you see Purity today in class? What a freak. Uh!” said one mean girl to her group of friends, just within earshot of Purity as she passed. Purity hurried down the hall to her locker and covered herself behind the door. She fiddled with her stuff for a moment, just to buy time until her classmates left.
She sighed and let her guard down, slumping against her belongings momentarily. At last, with the storm passed, she closed her locker again.
Then she saw Gavin. He was across the hall with two of his friends, who were joking and punching each other’s shoulders to see who could hit the hardest. Purity thought guys were brutes sometimes, but she did find strength attractive. And Gavin really knocked his friends quite hard a couple of times.
Uh, thought Purity. I wanted to do this today, but not now. Not after what just happened in class. Don’t be afraid. Don’t go to that place again. It’s too awful. Oh, here it comes. No, never mind, just worried it might. Ok, just think happy thoughts. Positive thoughts. I am excited about this, remember? I want to ask him out. Ok, happy, positive, excited… here I go.
“Gavin,” called Purity as she approached him down the hall.
“Hey, Purity, what’s up?” Gavin said.
He was so charming, thought Purity. I mean, he knew her name!
“Hey, so how about that dance this weekend? You know, the Heavenly Ball or whatever…”
“Yea,” said Gavin, at one with the words.
“Well,” continued Purity. “You ask anyone?”
“No.”
“Ok,” Purity twitched her back pack a bit. “Well, you going to ask me or what?”
“Um, are you asking me to ask you?”
Purity remained quiet.
“I mean, doesn’t that mean you’re basically asking me out?” Gavin continued.
“Well don’t go all Sherlock on me. I just wanted to know if you’d want to ask me.”
Gavin played nonchalant, “Well, I did have a couple girls in mind.”
Purity’s heart dropped to the floor and her jaw almost did, too, but she kept her cool.
“But, sure. Since you asked,” Gavin said, posturing like a macho man.
“Well, ok,” squeaked Purity, punching him in the shoulder like his friends had. He was surprised and actually seemed to take quite a hit, but tried to act cool.
“Uh, yea,” Gavin droled. He turned back to his friends and acted like Purity was not even there anymore.
Purity, not sure what else to do, began to walk away.
Then she heard Gavin call after her, “Hey, lay off the slugger arm, huh? Guys don’t like tough girls.”
Oh, Purity thought, what a joker. Right? He was joking, right?
Gavin’s two friends laughed in a way that made Purity think maybe he wasn’t. But she decided to ignore their laughs and see the best of it. His friends seemed like jerks anyways.
Purity revelled in her feelings of accomplishment. Complete joy. It was so nice to commit to something and just do it. And actually succeed! It felt so good. She was so excited!
Flying on her high disk the rest of the day, she met her friend Grace in the lunch line.
“What do you think’s for lunch today? Goblin soup or Mermaid’s poop?” Grace chuckled.
“Please, Grace, don’t say such childish nonsense. What do you think this is, second grade?” They had known each other as long.
“Come on Purity,” Grace cajoled. “Since when did a little poop joke make you feel embarrassed?”
“Grace, we’re not kids anymore,” Purity commented.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Grace gasped. “You asked out Gavin! And he said yes, didn’t he?”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“To me, yes,” said Grace. Then she shouted suddenly, “But hey, that’s amazing!”
That got the attention of the entire lunch line. The two girls held their heads a little lower.
Grace continued, “How do you feel? Was it easy? Was he nice? Were you afraid?”
“Don’t say that,” Purity said with such seriousness it startled Grace. “It was fine. He was nice. He said yes. We joked a little.”
“You joked,” Grace just about dropped her lunch tray in excitement. “See, you guys have a natural chemistry. I’m super jealous.”
“Yea, well enough about me,” Purity stopped her. “What about you, did you ask out your crush yet? Did you ask Leo?”
“Uh, yea,” Grace answered meekly. “No. I’m still working up to it…”
“Grace!” Purity scolded. “You said you’d ask if I asked.”
“Ok, and now I know that you’ve asked,” Grace returned. “Now I guess it’s my turn…”
“Well you’d better,” said Purity with some finality.
The girls were served, it seemed, exactly what Grace had suggested was on the menu: Goblin soup and Mermaid poop.
“So what happened in history?” Grace asked her friend.
“What do you mean? I took a test. I think I did pretty well,” Purity blushed a little in anticipation.
“No, you know what I mean. Everyone’s talking about it.”
Great, thought Purity. Then I’m sure Gavin has heard by now. Probably thinks I’m a freak, too. Maybe he’ll change his mind about the dance…
“I heard you spazzed out or something,” tried Grace again. “So what happened?”
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Grace began to explain. “I don’t really know what happened. I was answering the bonus question, about the seven deadly sins… then suddenly I don’t know, I just felt awful or something.”
“Like what? People say you looked like you saw a ghost or something. Turned pale blue and jumped out of your seat.”
“Yea,” Purity didn’t love hearing the retelling, but she could still remember how it felt. “I don’t know Gracie, something weird has been happening to me today. At home this morning and…”
Just then the cafeteria erupted with a commotion that caught everyone’s attention.
Bobby Finn burst through the double door at the back of the cafeteria. He came running through the middle of the room screaming and waving his arms in the air.
Talk about totally freaking out, Purity thought.
“They’re coming!” Bobby shouted. “They’re coming!”
The hairs on the back of Purity’s neck raised high. Her spine shivered.
“They’re coming,” screamed Bobby again.
Bobby Finn stopped his running and flailing just in front of Purity and Grace. He paused for a moment, almost composed. He looked directly at Purity. Then he came close to her and stared. To her surprise he clutched her by the shoulders.
“Help me,” Bobby said to Purity.
Then he let go, paused another moment, face in terror, and ran off again through the opposite side of the cafeteria.
“
Please comment and share.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings to you,
Matthew