They said I shouldn't worry. It wasn't anything to be afraid of. It was just me. Others didn't really feel the same way, though. They thought because I was different, I couldn't be accepted. I couldn't be like them. I couldn't exist.
"Hurry up, or you'll be late, Faline," my mother said gingerly.
I nodded as I said, "I know, I know."
"Well you don't seem to know," she said with a slight laugh, "The bus has been waiting outside for five minutes."
"What!" I yelled. I quickly grabbed an apple off of the kitchen table and ran out the door and onto the bus.
This is where the real trouble started. I tried to hide my ears with my hair, but the other students had seen them before. They thought I was some kind of mutant for having big, animal-like ears. That was the only thing that seperated us from being the same, but they didn't see it. I was different and that was all that mattered to them.
I tucked my hair behind one of my ears to keep it from falling over my eyes. One of the students rolled their eyes and moved their leg to take up more of the seat. I continued to make my way to the back of the bus when the driver yelled, "Somebody scoot over and let the girl sit down!"
One of the tuffer-looking girls at the back of the bus snapped her fingers and pointed a the seat. I quickly sat down in it, keeping my thoughts to myself as I started out the window.
More students piled on at different stops, each struggling to find a seat. I got stuck sitting with an older student, much taller and stronger-looking than me. He sat so far inside the seat, I was pressed up against the wall of the bus.
We arrived at school with just enough time to shuffle through the hallways and get to our classes before the bell rang.
Ihad arithmetic the first period. I usually enjoyed it, until the student sitting behind me would pull on my ears and say something like, 'Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to look over your mutant ears.' Its made me so mad. Just once, I'd like to sit through a class where I wasnt abused or ignored or made fun of. Surprisingly, no one sat behind me for arithmetic. For once, I actually smiled in school. I was able to actually focus without thinking that they were just coming up with new ways to insult me.
The bell rang and I fought my way through the halls to get into my next class. Someone tripped me and I dropped all of my books onto the floor. They laughed and walked away. I dusted myself off and started to pick up my books. Someone came over and started to help me. I brushed the hair from my eyes and saw a student that I hadn't seen here before. He had ears like me, but also something else. They were horn-like and had spikes coming out of them. He caught me staring and I looked back down. He handed me the books and walked away. Who was he?
I made it to my next class, but wasn't able to focus at all. For one thing, the student behind me had written something about me and was passing it around to the other students. Some of them Luther and others turned and stared at me. One of them dropped it and I put my foot over it. I lifted my foot and grabbed the note. I read it, my ears getting hotter with every word.
The deer girl is ugly,
And has no life,
We should show her,
The blade of a knife.
I wanted to run out of the classroom and show this note to my mother and never come back. I was scared for my life. I tucked the note into my pocket and tried to listen.
I was distracted, not only by the note, but wondering about who that boy was. Why did he have erase like me, and those horn-things? Was he a deer, too?
The bell rang, shaking my thoughts. I clumsily grabbed my things and stumbled out of the room. Some of the students laughed at me and one of them flipped the blade of their pocket knife. My heart leapt in my throat and I quickly walked away to the library.
I grabbed a book called Deer Through The Ages. I started to flip through the pages until I landed on a page that had the anatomy of a deer. I looked at the male. It matched the way the boy looked. I started to read about how the horn-like things, called antlers, were used to show that they were strong and healthy. I shut the book and walked to the cafeteria.
I grabbed the apple from earlier and munched on it as I worked on homework. One of the students Tried to trip me. I dropped my apple on the floor and then sat down. The boy came and sat across from me, saying nothing. I broke the silence.
"Hello."
"Hey," he said as he swirled his spoon through his soup.
"Thanks for helping me today. I'm Faline."
"Bambi."
"It's nice to meet you."
"And you too."
"Just one thing. I need your help with something."
I pulled out the note and handed it to him. He read it and then pushed it back over the table to me.
"I'm sorry, but my mom said I wasn't supposed to mess with people like this. I really can't. I gotta go now."
He got up from the table and left the cafeteria. I huffed and tucked the note back into my pocket. I was even more scared now, but had a feeling of condolence because I knew that Bambi had at least known about people like this.
I got up from the table and left to go to my next class, chemistry. It was at the other end of the school and I got there just before the bell rang.
All of the students were watching me. This was my last class of the day, and then I would be able to go to the library until the final bell rang. They just sat there and stared at me.
The bell rang and I went as fast as I could to the library. A few of the students followed me to the library. I grabbed a couple books and locked myself into one of the stalls of the girl's bathroom. All of the students were boys, so I figured they wouldn't come in. I sat there for awhile until I heard the last bell ring.
I rushed out of the bathroom and tried to get through the halls. When I got outside the entrance, the bus was already gone.
"Great," I murmured, "Now I have to walk home."
It was a long walk home, because I lived on the outskirts of town near the forest. I started to walk along the worn path that weaved through the building. A saw shadows following me, which made me go faster. I met a dead end and panicked. I turned around and saw the students from earlier, each holding a knife. I started to pant and fell down and landed on my butt.
One of the students held up his knife and said, "Hey, deer girl. Let's get rid of those ears for ya. Then maybe you can be like us."
He flipped up the blade and dived at me. All of a sudden, Bambi jumped out and wrestled him to the round. The students ran away and Bambi brushed the dust off of his clothes.
"Are you okay?" Bambi asked reaching out his hand.
I took my hand in his and he pulled me up. I felt blood stream down the side of my face and felt my ear. The boy had cut it badly. "Well, my ear got cut, but other than that I'm fine."
He put his arm around me as he said, "Come on, I'll take you home."
