“I guess that’s all,” Eva finished, silently begging for permission to sit back down.
“Freud!” her teacher exclaimed happily. “It’s so nice to see young people interested in his ideas, even though they are a little unorthodox. Thank you, my dear, you may sit down.”
Eva nodded in silent gratitude. Bella, sitting on her right, waved at her.
“That was good,” she whispered, giving her the thumbs up, and then it was time for everyone to take out their notebooks.
The class ended uneventfully and Eva welcomed the sound of the bell. The first class was always the toughest one. Every subsequent one would be easier and easier. She couldn’t wait for the end of the week, though, and the chance to talk to her grandparents again. She missed them so much it hurt.
She walked back to her locker with Bella, even though they didn’t have the same class after that.
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Bella asked, picking out the books she needed from her locker.
“It was okay, I guess,” Eva gave a half shrug, doing the same. Just a few more hours and she would be able to close the doors to her dorm room and hide in her bed with a book.
“Hold on to your horses,” Bella suddenly said, slamming her locker shut and looking somewhere behind Eva, “it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”
Eva couldn’t understand what she was referring to, until she smelled heavy perfume coming from behind. She heard the sound of rhythmical footsteps and then, three girls stepped in between her and Bella. They looked like a bad replica of some old, 60s girl group, with a little too much makeup and hair spray, not to mention the perfume. Even their scarves were arranged to color match. It was ridiculous.
She could immediately guess who the leader was. Katrina Hampton. The tall, overly skinny, overly tanned, self-proclaimed beauty. She was chewing gum in the worst way possible, loud and obnoxious, her mouth half open, making annoying sounds, which would make anyone cringe. To her left was a short, slightly chubby girl, who would have looked better in a size bigger clothing. This way, skin oozed from the sides of her hips, even though there wasn’t really that much of it. It just looked bad and disproportionate. The girl on the right was the most normal looking. She just had a tad bit too much make up, for Eva’s taste. But, all three together were a disaster.
Bella had told her before and she believed it: these three ruled the school. The reason for this was probably the right combination of enough money and putting out, but Eva was brought up better than to say such a thing out loud, no matter how annoying these girls were.
“So, tell me, new kid,” Katrina addressed Eva, as if they’d been friends for ages. “You probably know this one. Why did Sigmund Freud cross the street?”
“Why?” Eva asked, knowing what would follow was probably some stupid, overly chewed up joke.
As it turned out, she was right.
“To get to the mother side!” Katrina exclaimed, dramatically, and the two girls burst out laughing as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
Bella raised her eyebrow, and Eva knew exactly what she meant. It was too stupid to even comment on. Cheesy.
“I thought you’d know that one, new kid,” Katrina shook her head, pretending she felt sorry for her.
“No point in remembering a washed out joke,” Eva gave a dismissive half shrug.
The look in Katrina’s eyes was priceless. She didn’t expect any back talk, especially not from the new kid.
“You should watch yo
ur mouth, new kid, otherwise you’ll be washed out before you even start,” Katrina approached her menacingly, trying to show her who the boss was.
“I highly value my personal space, so I must warn you,” Eva spoke calmly, with total control of her voice and her piercing gaze, aimed at Katrina, “I have a black belt in karate and I occasionally train at boxing. I wouldn’t make idle threats, if I were you.”
Bella was on the verge of clapping. The girls at Katrina’s sides were waiting for Katrina’s next move. The tension in the air was palpable.
“Listen, new kid…”
“No, you listen,” Eva interrupted her, “this is my first day. I haven’t done anything to you. So, please, just move aside and let me get back to my day. Unless you want to see if I was telling the truth about that karate thing.”
Eva had a staggering look, and she knew she couldn’t look away first. This was all about establishing her identity, and she wasn’t going to let some push over bully make this even worse than it was. She had more than enough on her plate, and she wasn’t too eager to add a bully problem to it.
A few seconds passed, when Katrina finally released an annoyed puff.
“I don’t have time for this,” she rolled her eyes. “But, this isn’t over, new kid.”
“Yeah, this isn't over!” the one on the left repeated.