Back to School

Lena opened the door in front of her. Mrs. White’s classroom hadn’t changed at all since the last time she was there. It still had the same books on the display, the same whiteboard, the same ancient chairs and desks. Blinds covered the windows just like they always did ever since Mary had the same class. Even the smell of old person sweat and cheap air freshener was the same. She walked in.

“It’s nice to see you again Lena. I hope your studies haven’t fallen too far behind.” Mrs. White said in a scolding manner while pointing to a chair. She was a pale woman with even paler hair. Lena never liked her and Mary was a better teacher anyway so she never bothered to show up to her classes.

Lena forced a smile and put her hands on her hips. “My amazing sister taught me a bunch of stuff so I’m probably ahead.”

“You mean your dead sister? She can’t have been that amazing if she died.” A tall blonde boy spoke up. His name was Blaine. Lena recognized him from back when she still went to school. He’d gotten taller and cockier than before though he was still barely taller than Lena.

She glared at him, then took a deep breath. His clothes looked unwashed. He had bags over his eyes. His shoes were untied. Even his hair was dirty. “She just made a mistake.” Lena held back her tears while forcing a smile. “One mistake.” She held up a finger. “She’s still the best ever.”

“She can’t be the best because my parents are the best.” Blaine slammed his hands against the table and shot out of his seat.

“What do your parents even do all day Blaine?” Another kid named James said while laughing.

“All they seem to do is get people ki… ki…” Stories about his parents flooded into her mind in vivid detail as tears started pouring down her face. She wiped them away with her coat sleeve and composed herself. “All your parents seem to do is cause problems for everyone!”

“That’s enough!” Mrs White shouted. “This class isn’t about Mary, nor is it about Blaine’s parents.” She gave Lena a frustrated look. “If your sister taught you so well then you shouldn’t mind teaching the class.” She walked over to Lena and scowled at her.

A smile beamed through the tears on Lena’s face as she stared down Mrs. White. She taught mom, dad, and Mary as well. She never liked any of them and never bothered to hide how much she hates us from anyone. They all defeated her and now it's my turn. “You really mean it? Thanks Mrs. White.”

“Hmph.” Mrs. White scoffed then sat in a chair seated in the back corner of her classroom.

Lena walked behind her desk. She never let anyone else do this; she must reeeeaaaalllly think I’m dumb. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a lesson plan placed on the center of Mrs. White’s desk. Each of the day's topics she intended to discuss was organized in a bulleted list, alongside topics she would get to if she had the time. At the bottom of the list were the words ‘figure out what Lena knows’ circled in red marker. Or maybe she thinks I know something. Lena grabbed a marker then moved a chair over to the whiteboard and stood on top of it.

She cleared her throat. It wasn’t loud enough to really get anyone’s attention or stop them from talking to each other. She sighed. “Hello everyone.” She hopped on the chair, causing it to create a harsh, grating noise as it slid against the vinyl when she landed.

They all looked in her direction as she balanced on a single foot. She swung her other foot down on the chair, scooching into its original position with the same grating noise in case she didn’t have everyone’s attention yet.

“Today we will be discussing the lead-up to the second world war.” She started writing notes on the whiteboard.

———————————————————————————————————————

After proving to her classmates and homeroom teacher how well Mary taught her, there were three more classes. Each of them felt the same to Lena. Not a single one of them taught her anything Mary didn’t already. After what felt like ages of staring off into space, lunch time arrived.

Lena chose to sit outside the building on her own. The sky was clear. There was a chill in the air. A flock of birds made their way south. Mary would have liked today. She took a homemade meal out of her backpack. It was a simple salad with leftover chicken from the night before thrown on top of it. 

A group of other kids made their way to the field in front of her. She ignored them and stared at the sky in thought while pecking away at her food.

“Hey James, you thinking about takin’ back what you said about Blaine earlier.” A boy named Mat spoke too loudly for her to ignore.

“Why would I? I was right, wasn’t I?” James tried to defend himself.

His arms were being held back by Mat and another boy named Tim. Both of them were fairly unremarkable in every way. Blaine stood across from where James was being held.

“Nuh uh.” Tim Said

“You need to learn to shut up more.” Mat added in.

Lena finished her salad, packed it away, then walked over.

Blaine punched James in the gut. “Why did you make fun of my parents!?”

“It seemed funny at the time.” James said through tears. “Just let me go, I won’t do it again.”

“That’s what you said last time.” Mat replied.

“Uh huh.” Tim made sure to chime in.

“My parents aren’t some joke.” Blaine punched him again, once in the gut and another time in the chest.

“Stop hurting him.” Lena shouted.

“Oh. We were just looking for you, why don’t you sit there and watch what happens to people who insult Blaine’s parents. So you can see what’s gonna happen to you next.”

“Yeah.” Tim stuck his tongue out at her.

“No, she isn’t next. Now that she’s here I’m going to fight her. Make sure James doesn’t go anywhere. I’m not done with him.” Blaine marched over to Lena. “You should’ve died with your sister.”

Lena started crying.

“Do you… hear what he’s saying?” James asked Tim and Mat between breaths.

“Duh.” Tim replied matter-of-factly.

Mat looked away.

“You wanted to but in so say something. Anything!” Blaine pushed Lena to the ground.

She saw Blaine standing over her and rolled to the side then jumped to her feet before he could pin her to the ground. A dirty coat sleeve wiped the tears from her face. “Let him go already!”

“You should stop worrying about him and start worrying about yourself.” He threw a sloppy overhand right at Lena.

Lena dodged the punch and used his momentum to trip him. “Why? You’re sooooo bad at fighting.” For whatever reason she was smiling now, even as tears poured down her face.

His face planted itself on the ground.

“Ouch.” Mat scrunched his face up.

“Mary never let me actually fight anyone, she only ever let me do sparring matches and those were sooooo booooring.” Lena hung her arms down dramatically.

Blaine stood up. “Enough about your dead sister already. We’re all tired of hearing about her and how great she was.”

Lena’s pained smile faltered. “Just leave and let him go. Nobody needs to hurt anybody else.” She stretched and wound up her left arm.

“You say I’m bad at fighting then do something like that, what a joke.” He held up his right hand and threw another heavy punch with his left.

Lena sidestepped the punch as her right hand slammed into his throat. She then kicked the back of his knee and pushed him causing Blaine to fall over a second time.

Mat shook his head.

“I’m sure we can all make up and be friends at some point so please, leave us alone and let James go.” She offered a hand to Blaine with a radiant smile.

“I can—” He choked a bit. “stand up on my own!” Blaine slapped Lena’s hand away. “I’ll have them let him go, just let me get up.” He rested his right hand on his knee. His left arm dangled next to him.

Lena could see the muscles in his legs and his left arm tensing. She ducked beneath the wide swing of his left arm. “Did you reeaally think that would work.”

She struck Blaine in the jaw, then backhanded him with the same fist.

He staggered.

“If you do ever get in a fight, you need to hit hard and fast. Do not give your opponent time to recover, they will use that against you…” Mary’s words echoed in Lena’s mind.

Her knee drove itself into his side, then her left fist slammed into his face, followed by two more jabs with the same hand. A heavy, overhand right knocked him to the ground before he had any hope of recovering.

“…and lastly, do not stop until they do,…”

Lena knelt on top of Blaine. He blinked and rolled his head back and forth. Blood flew off her left fist as it slammed into his head.

He tried to move his legs.

Another punch connected with his face. His nose crunched. Both of Lena’s fists were now bloody.

“Please stop.” He begged.

“…even if they beg..."

Lena held her hands in an x shape.  "You’re already out, you don’t get a fourth strike. Just be lucky you didn’t fight my sister, she wouldn’t have given you annny.”

Blaine weakly grasped at her neck but his hands failed to even reach it.

"...You can’t take risks like that in a real fight.”

She lifted him up by his shirt then drove her fist into his head.

His head struck the ground. He was no longer moving.

Tim and Mat ran off.

Lena checked Blaine’s pulse and his breathing. Both were stable so she moved on to wiping his own blood off of him using his shirt so she could check his wounds. 

Nothing too serious, he’ll probably need stitches though… and something to fix his nose. 

She wiped the blood and dirt off her own hands using his shirt then placed his backpack beneath his head to keep it elevated.

She looked at James.

“H-h-hey I-I didn’t do anything.”

Lena blinked, confused. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She shrugged.

“Nevermind.” He shook his head. “Thanks for helping me out.” James looked at her, waved, then walked off.

Lena waved back and looked at her hands, then at Blaine’s unconscious body. Tears streamed down her face. “I… I guess someone needs to stay here with him to make sure he’s okay.” She curled herself up into a ball and laid on the ground, rocking back and forth. “I know I made sure not to hurt him too much and already checked his vitals, but pleeease be okay, please be okay, please be okay…”