(Maëva's POV)
I'm late but… I don't understand
– What is this joke?
Shall I murmur to myself?
The field was in front of me, well sealed at this hour, but it wasn't my class that was running inside.
– (what's happening)
Looking around for an explanation.
I stepped off the path and moved slightly towards the field, still searching for explanations, turning my gaze towards our old complex, the one for the primary schools.
More than half of my class was waiting standing in the outside courtyard,
I hurried over to them, somewhat relieved that I wasn't the only one who was late.
Odd
From a distance they seemed calm, but the atmosphere... heavy.
"Hey you," Winnie called out to me directly to greet me, in a very aggressive tone.
And demeaning
"What's her problem now?" I wondered, giving her a disparaging look.
What's with this atmosphere? I got the impression that almost everyone was on their side and even satisfied with the situation.
"What?" I finally replied, stepping completely into the courtyard.
I was almost instantly surrounded.
"So you enjoy sending us all to the slaughterhouse and showing up on time yourself, huh!" she shouted, almost as if she were about to jump at my throat.
Her twin sister threw herself onto my arm.
"Why are you like this?" she reproached me, Imelda.
Goosebumps invade me
"Don't touch me," I replied, pushing her away violently.
She was narrowly caught by the crowd but
The circle began to close around me and hands dared to push and pinch me, turning me around in circles, ridiculously.
And when I had time to turn my gaze towards Parfait, our leader, he ignored us, and the only one who devoured us with her eyes was content to give me a smile that reached her neck.
"I'll punch the next guy in the face!" I yelled.
Consuming me with anger
"What's your problem?" I continued.
By advancing on them, forcing some of them back.
"I'll ask you the same question," Winnie whispered.
"You're willing to go to such lengths just for a few chocolates that... that were just a gift," she continued, her eyes filled with disgust.
I frowned, lost in this logic
"I still don't know what you're talking about, my poor girl," I snarled from the depths of my throat.
But things only got worse; everyone felt like a judge, criticizing me from every angle, even going so far as to criticize my life.
– rich, so what?
"You have a bad heart," he murmured, nudging me with his fingertip.
– What did they do to you?
He pulled at my clothes as if they were scraps of cloth.
– I'm ashamed of you
– Shame on you
- shame
– you're exaggerating
– a demon
Tic !
Those words, yes, those words, made my head explode; my veins ripped open all the way down my neck to my jaw.
This is getting ridiculous.
– A DEMON!WHAT DO I GIVE A DAMN
I screamedI, at full volume
Silence
They all take a step back, putting themselves on the defensive.
They looked at me with eyes of fear but mostly of disgust, as if I were cholera or some kind of alien.
Do you really believe everything that flowerpot tells you?
"I'm going to do something bad ", I murmured.
This feeling of suffocation was increasing in my chest.
– HHO!, interrupts a voice.
The entire crowd dissipated like a popping candy, but their expressions remained the same.
Iréné entered calmly, hands clasped, appearing out of nowhere in his not-so-sporty jogging suit, still wearing his glasses, sandals, and his relaxed demeanor.
"Maëva, is that it?" he said, as if amnesiac.
He came closer and stopped beside me, almost whispering in my ear
– Follow me
Calm
I felt more tense, but still, I wanted to know the end of this story.
So, with a grim face and a broken heart, I accompanied him to the furthest point of the courtyard.
One step
Two steps
He stopped at a distance from the house, facing the field
"Explain to me what went through your mind," he murmured calmly.
"But I don't even know what you're talking about," I blurted out eagerly.
Silence
"Our courtyard," he murmured first
Note a brief pause
– Maëva, our class was at 4pm, you know the rules, don't you?
I felt my head go blurry
– 4… 4 p.m., what do you mean 4 p.m.,… they have… I stammered
I couldn't find the words anymore, and my anger, my anger, was fading as I gradually understood.
"He told me it was at 3 p.m.," I breathed so slowly.
– Alex?, demands Iréné
"No, no, not that idiot," I murmured.
"Maëva,... You even managed to lose the few people you had left, he's the one who sold you out," he murmured, moving closer.
– No,... No-oooooooo, it's that orange head, I said, lowering my head
"You're really letting yourself go," he breathed unemotionally and took a step
– since when do you trust just anyone, especially the one you hate the most?
gets closer
– you have everyone against you, all our efforts are for nothing,
"You were so easily betrayed by your 'allies,'" he concluded before leaving.
He stroked my shoulder and left without a word.
– (the bastard… the bastard… the bastard
(the bastard)
I clenched my teeth even tighter
I felt so heavy, so heavy! That shameful feeling again, that embarrassment that forces me to stay put and stare at the ground like an idiot.
It's like being ignored and belittled by those who truly matter to you, and realizing that you were the only one who thought you mattered the way they did to me.
So I never learn, even though they've proven it to me.
So you've stayed the same fat cow
I bring my hands to my face and
Hahaha
An uncontrollable fit of laughter tore at my lips.
– Damn it, it's starting again