Head Over Heels Ch1: School

Isablelle Collins: English Assignment
I’m pretty sure nobody likes school. Okay, it’s a place where you make friends, set up your future and learn how to be human, but who actually enjoys it?

I’ve certainly never liked school. For me, friends, fun and a bright future have never been part of the equation. I have none of those. I study pretty much all the time, but no matter how hard I try, I will always be the class idiot. Except when it comes to music.

How do you describe music? It’s an escape from reality. Lyrics shape how you think, how you feel. The feel of a guitar string or a piano key underneath your fingertips feels magical. When you sing, and it feels like your voice is soaring higher than the birds-

“Look at this crap that Isasmell wrote!” Kelly squawked, sweeping my sheet off the desk and waving it in the air. I desperately tried to snatch it back, but she stood from her chair and danced away from my reaching hands.
“Blah blah blah, I have no friends, boo hoo, it sucks to be me!” she said loudly, pretending to read from the sheet. I pushed my glasses further up my nose, the way I always do when I get nervous. My hands were sweaty as I tried to grab the paper once more.

“Give it back, Kelly,” I squealed “That’s my classwork.”
“Everyone knows you can barely read and write, so why even bother, Smelly?”
“My name is not Smelly, or Isasmell. My name is Isabelle and you…” I planted my feet in front of her, drawing up to my full height, though I only came to her chest. Then I shoved her “Are a bitch!”

Trust the teacher to come back right at that moment. The whole class was already gawking at me, and I blushed beetroot. It wasn’t often I took a stand against bullies like Kelly, and I wasn’t sure I liked the feeling of being watched. It’s always safer to shrink in the shadows…

“Isabelle Collins! Please explain why you just pushed Kelly!” the teacher said. Kelly was a teacher’s pet, of course, and sniffed convincingly.
“I don’t understand, Miss. I was just admiring her work, because I know how hard she tries. Even if she isn’t as…gifted as others,” Kelly whimpered, but she had a gleam in her eye. The teacher gave Kelly a sympathetic look and glared into my eyes. I fidgeted uncomfortably. I knew what she was about to say.
“Go to the headmaster’s office, right now! You’d better hope Kelly doesn’t report you for bullying.”

I picked up my bag and my blazer with shaking hands and left the room. The corridors were silent as I took the walk of shame to the headmaster’s office. Not many people get sent to him, and that was my first time ever. I swallowed to stop my tears surfacing. It was so unfair. I could just see Kelly’s smug little face in my mind as I went to be punished. I should have slapped her. I was sick of the school, and everything about it. I plonked myself down into the plastic chair outside the office, waiting to be invited in. From inside my blazer pocket, I fished out my iPod and shoved the earplugs in moodily. I put a song on and turned up the volume to the highest level. I closed my eyes and allowed the music to engulf me. School didn’t exist anymore. I was somewhere outside reality, in a calm environment where nothing could-

“Oww!” I shouted, startled. Someone had just kicked my ankle. Opening my eyes and pulling out the earplugs, I looked up at my assailant. It was a girl. She was laughing, her spike heeled boots having made a good connection with my leg.
“That’s gonna bruise,” she grinned, running a hand through her short, spiky hair. A hair band sat on her skull, circling her head and sporting several black feathers. I frowned at her. She must be more of a social outcast than me I thought. But then again, there was something strangely attractive about her. If you like girls that look like scarecrows. She closed her eyes suddenly, revealing black eye shadow brushed along her lids, and put a very serious look on her face. I looked at her puzzled, but she opened her eyes again and laughed, a twinkly laugh that didn’t match her image.

“That’s what you looked like a minute ago! Why so serious, hmm?” she asked, impersonating the joker out of Batman “Let me guess. In trouble with the head? Let me tell ya. He’s not in a good mood.”
I physically wasn’t able to say a word. She raised an eyebrow, and picked at a frayed edge of her tie dye t-shirt.
“So. I’m Ray. Not that you seem interested…”
“Sorry,” I mumbled “I’m not having a good day.”
“I can tell! I guess I just made it worse, huh? Giving you a hefty good kick on the leg? Sorry about that. What’s your name?”
“Isabelle,” I managed to croak.
“Well, Izzy Izzy Isabelle. I think I’m gonna like you. Ciao!”

With that, she skipped off down the corridor. Weird.
The headmaster poked his head around the door of his office. It was rare to see the headmaster, as he often hid in his office to concentrate on his work. He looked surprised to see me sat on the little plastic chair. My school jumper, the one piece of uniform we had to wear, was immaculate, my hair combed neatly back into a ponytail. I wore no makeup or jewellery, and I looked like a model student. I could see the thought running through his mind: What is she doing here?
“Step inside, please,” he said. I scurried past him and sat in the chair in front of his desk, drying my damp hands on my skirt.

“Your name?” the headmaster asked, drifting over to a filing cabinet.
“Isabelle. Isabelle Collins,” I whispered. He spent a minute or so sifting through files, before selecting mine and sitting down with a sigh. He scanned over my file.
“And what is it you have been sent here for?”
“I…pushed a girl.”
He frowned, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.
“You’ve never had any complaints from teachers before. I understand that you are a little behind in your classwork, however?”
“It’s not that I don’t try, sir. I do. I’m just not good at anything.”
“You suffer from dyslexia too, I am aware?”
“Yes, sir.”

He leaned back, and looked at me in a puzzled manner. Like he was trying to figure out whether to punish me or have sympathy.
“Miss Collins. You don’t look like the type to get in trouble. You don’t seem like the type to get in trouble. Were you provoked? Have there been other incidents? If so, are your friends doing anything to help you?”

I wanted to tell him. Open up. Ask him, how can my friends support me, when I haven’t got any? I thought of the satisfaction on Kelly’s face as she kicked me to the ground once more. But she wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t worth it. I sighed.

“No, sir. I wasn’t provoked. I just felt a little angry, is all. We all get that sometimes, don’t we sir?”
He sighed. He was obviously expecting me to tell him something else. He shook his head.
“Alright, if you say so. I’m afraid we’ll have to give you a detention for this. Come back here after school today and I’ll sort it out.”

I nodded, standing up abruptly and stalking back to class. I made the decision that day that things were going to change. I just didn’t expect things to change so soon…