The next day, James arrived at school and saw Serenia waiting for him. He debated on just ignoring her, but it didn't work out that way. For some reason, he could not resist her.
She confronted him. She touched his back, and he yelled in surprise, "What the hell?"
"Your dad beats you." it was not a question, but a statement.
James thought about denying the accusation against his dad, but knew that it was no use. She knew. He sighed as he sat down on a bench right outside the school, and Serenia sat next to him. At first, he refused to meet her eyes, "How did you know."
"Never mind that." Serenia said simply. She sat there awhile, waiting for him to talk.
He wasn't sure if he should say anything, but the silence was unsettling, "He beats me on a weekly basis for the little things."
"Like you having a friend." Serenia finished for him quickly.
James looked at her in shock, "How do you know all this? Come on, you have to tell me. Have you been spying on me."
"No," now it was Serenia's turn to refuse looking into his eyes at first, "I had your experience last night."
James was confused, "What?"
"I had a dream-about you. Your dad was whipping you-hard." Serenia rolled back the bottom of her shirt to show the scratches that were slowly becoming ugly scars.
James looked at Serenia's back, not knowing what to say. Finally, he touched one of them, and Serenia hissed in pain. James looked at her, "These are in the same exact location as mine." He didn't let on, but he had even felt the pain when he touched Serenia's scars.
Neither one of them knew what to say now. They just kept staring at one another. Neither one wanted to say what was on their mind-a connection...a connection not explained.
Serenia's eyes drifted away from James, "We should probably go to class now. We are running late."
James looked at her, "How can you be thinking about school at a time like this?"
"Because...we can't just ditch school. Your dad will beat you again."
James knew that she had a valid point, but still, he knew that he would not be able to concentrate in class, so what was the point in going? He found himself following Serenia anyway.
Serenia entered the classroom, and everyone looked at them. It seemed like everyone was sneering, but Serenia no longer cared. She was more worried about the striped on her back that there were not supposed to be there.
"Oh, how cute! Look at the lovely outcast couple!" someone yelled.
The whole class started laughing. The teacher tried to make them be quiet to no avail.
Serenia hardly heard the commotion, but James heard it all, and his face flushed a deep red. He knew he shouldn't have come to class, but something about Serenia drew him.
He sat down next to her. He noticed that Serenia was staring towards the front of the room, but her mind was elsewhere.
James put his head on his desk, trying to ignore the jeers. Serenia suddenly looked up and around, noticing what was going on for the first time. But instead of being embarrassed, she started to make fun of them one by one, as if she knew all the students.
The classroom was quieted, as they realized that she knew each of their dark pasts, but no one knew how. They had only met her a few days ago. The classroom started to be in an uproar as they surrounded her desk and called her a freak.
The teacher was really at a loss of what to do now, because the kids were beyond controllable. She tried calling the principal, who yelled in the speaker system for the kids to shut up and asked Serenia to come to the office.
Finally, things were settling down and kids were returning to their desks, satisfied, believing that justice was to be served.
Serenia slowly stood up and walked out of the door to the classroom. James was stunned. He had known all the embarrassing details of his classmates, but had always been too afraid to bring them up. How did Serenia know about them?