AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even now, as she turned her head slightly, she could hear the snickers, and the whispers. She could also note the harsh stares and the scrutiny.
In the best cases, they called her a witch. In the worst, they said she was the devil's minion—though Noelle doubted they knew the meaning of it. They just repeated what they heard.
So was the case when Susie, a girl from that group stood up and approached her. She had a pleasant enough smile on her face, but Noelle had come to distrust even the most benign intentions.
"Hi," she said as she stopped by her desk.
Noelle had chosen the desk in the back of the classroom, all to avoid being too close with other kids. Yet even that didn't seem that far away as she slowly lifted her head to watch Susie through narrowed eyes.
The other girls were staring at them, no doubt anticipating the interaction.
Noelle wondered if this was a dare, or if they'd made a bet.
"Go away," she said gruffly before she returned her attention to her notebook.
"Yeah, Susie, go away. You'll catch the nasty from her," a boy hollered.
Noelle ignored the extra noise, bringing the tip of her pencil to the white sheet of paper, trailing it around and drawing a random shape—anything to look busy enough so she would be left alone.
Her mother had intuited well that this would be the worst punishment for Noelle. What she hated more than school, and more than her hateful teachers, was to be surrounded by other people—other kids. It was even worse that these kids knew her—or at least, knewofher—and would likely use that to yap incessantly and bother her for hours on end.
The girl didn't move though. She fidgeted with her hands for a bit before she spoke again.
"Why are you so weird?"
Noelle's hand froze mid-drawing.
Why are you so weird?
Why indeed. How many times had she heard the exact thing, and not only from her classmates?
Gritting her teeth, she continued to ignore her. Nothing good would come out from her answering the question.
But just as Noelle started moving the pencil again, it was taken from her hand.
"Why?" Susie repeated, blinking curiously at her.
"Define weird," Noelle mumbled, snatching the pencil back.
Why couldn't they just leave her alone? The clock on the wall was moving with unprecedented slowness, and Noelle still had at least a couple hours until she could go home.
"You're being weird again," Susie continued and Noelle rolled her eyes.
"Leave her alone, Susie. Told you she's a witch," another said, causing everyone to erupt in giggles.
"Yes, go away, Susie. Before I put a spell on you," Noelle muttered drily, lifting her head enough to meet the girl's eyes. Letting her mouth tip in a menacing smile she used her pencil as a wand and waved it towards Susie. Susie's eyes widened in shock before she gave a cry of alarm, running from her side and joining the other girls.
More murmurs resounded as she undoubtedly confirmed Noelle was indeed a witch. And they wondered why she didn't like talking to people.
It had all started when she was on her first day of school.
Since Noelle had always preferred to dress in dark colored clothes, she'd stuck out from the beginning. But it had been her demeanor that had separated from the rest.
Simply put, she had no filter.
If she liked something, she said so. If she didn't, she mentioned why. It didn't matter if the recipient was another kid or an adult. She always spoke her mind as if it was the most normal thing. Her mother had tried to curb her habit since she'd been a baby, but Noelle hadn't changed regardless of the punishments doled out. For her, speaking out was equal to breathing—it was simply who she was.
She might have been perceived as precocious and somewhat of a troublemaker before she'd started school, but Noelle had never seen herself as anything but normal. She couldn't understand why she was always berated for speaking the truth, or for making honest observations.
