| *** March 1993 *** “EW LOOK, THERE GOES THE TUB!” “GOT SOME TUNA FISH FOR THE WHALE AGAIN?!” “IS THE GROUND SHAKING? WHOOPS, I’M SORRY, IT’S JUST MARNIE WALKING IN THE ROOM! HA HA HA!” This was the usual scene Marnie had to face in the cafeteria. Usually, she would spend her lunch periods in the library, helping Mrs. Stouffer in her classroom washing the blackboards, or even hiding out in the bathroom until the bell rang. But today the library was closed, Mrs. Stouffer had a meeting, and the security guards were hovering around the restroom. She had gotten her lunch, and was looking around the cafeteria, trying to block out every nasty word. Every table she came across, people would snicker and laugh at the comments slapping her in her mind. Finally, she came across one table at the far end that seemed safe. She quickly went to the corner of the table, put her books by her side, and her tray in front of her. She looked down at her food, trying to avoid the abusing crowd who was still gawking at her. She thought high school would be different, that people had some semblance of maturity. Junior high school was bad enough, where she would practically cry herself to sleep every night, praying that someone would have some heart to avoid the daily insults. But she was wrong about high school. The same student body had transferred with her, and the torturing with it. Her mother tried everything: meeting with the principal, teachers, but nothing seemed to work. Kids were cruel, and Marnie’s mother couldn’t afford to send her to a private school. She tried to finish her lunch as quickly as possible, because it was when she was eating that the kids really bothered her. Marnie was overweight, that was a given, and people couldn’t see past that. Once she wolfed down her last bite, she grabbed a book from her bag and began reading. She was so engulfed in the book that she didn’t even notice a figure come up to her. “Is this seat taken?” Marnie jumped and looked up at the voice. “Didn’t mean to scare ya or anything,” he flashed a broad smile. She didn’t know how to react to him. Trust was something that wasn’t in her vocabulary. Especially one that was willing to sit even a distance near her. “Uh… sure, go ahead.” He took a seat across from her, put his tray down along with his backpack. “Thanks. Seems like there isn’t a seat left in the place.” Marnie nodded. She still was leery of this boy. “Yeah, I guess so.” The boy looked at the book in Marnie’s hand. “Romeo and Juliet. I just love Shakespeare.” Marnie looked up at him. “He’s one of my favorites too.” “I just love the passion between them. Like, even though they love each other, they have so many things keeping them apart.” “Yeah…” Marnie smiled a little. “Oh, by the way, my name’s Alex.” “I’m Marnie.” “Yeah, I’ve seen you around.” Alex noticed the boys making comments her way. “Those guys are such a-hole’s” Marnie sighed. “I know.” “They do the same thing to me. Just because I do acting and stuff, they think I’m gay or something.” “Really?” Now Marnie was interested. “You act?” “Uh huh. In fact, we’re doing Romeo and Juliet at the Academy for Junior Performing Arts School. I’m trying for the lead.” “I never heard of it.” “It’s this school for young actors and stuff. They have classes and perform plays. I like it. Beats the crap they have here.” Now it was Marnie’s turn to laugh. “You mean their lovely rendition of Bye, Bye, Birdie?” “Oh man, that was a classic,” Alex shook his head. “Oh, looks like the bell’s about to ring. You gonna be down here tomorrow?” “Um, I don’t know,” Marnie gathered her books. “I usually down eat lunch down here.” “Come on, we could discuss Shakespeare some more,” Alex stood up. “Uh, OK, sure.” “Same table?” Marnie nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye!” Alex got his book bag and ran out of the cafeteria. Part II Contents |