"Snow. Snow. " Someone called in her sleep.
"Papa. Five more minutes. " Snow pleaded and fell back to sleep. She scurried deeper into her blanket. A young teen of fifteen dozed off quickly,with her mouth slightly opened.
"You are going to be late for school. Your principal called and i don't want to attend any PTA meeting because of you, so better get-up before I come into your room. " Her father yelled from downstairs. Snow hissed from her sleep and tossed around severally before she stood up. Her eyelid dropped when she remembered that her test starts today. Her messy brown hair made her look horrible. Snow groaned in frustration after her father called again and this time, he seemed to be heading upstairs. Snow bolted out quickly from her bed and locked herself in her closet.
Her father,a tall and well built man wearing blue jeans and a black shirt, entered her room. He saw that her bed was empty and her bathroom silent. He knew that she was hiding. He furrowed his brows and sighed exasperating. He had no time for her tantrums.
"Snow, better come out. I don't have the whole day. I need to be a mechanic and I have to drop you at school too. This is exhausting for me as a single father. " Her father, Derrick, complained and searched her room. He got no reply from her and proceeded to check her closet but surprisingly she wasn't there. He exhaled sharply and locked the door. He knew that there was one thing that would make her come out of her hiding.
"well… It's your choice because I was planning on doing some barbecue later at the back and I needed your opinion about the choice of meat we are going to use. " Derrick said stylishly and pretended he stepped out of her room by opening and reclosing the door.
Just as he knew her,Snow stepped out hurriedly from the closet which made him puzzled how well she could hide herself. Snow was shocked to see her father standing by the door, smiling confidently that he got her.
"papa!!" Snow lamented when he saw how he grinned widely and opened the door.
"Be downstairs in ten minutes or else you will walk to school by yourself. " Derrick mentioned and walked out, Snow slammed the door in anger because she was tricked. She hated going to school because she was being bullied by her classmate. Her father doesn't know about this because she knew he would surely bring the school down. Her father was a forest ranger but quit due to some reasons, he can't disclose to her.
Snow begrudgingly stormed into her bathroom and came downstairs with her school bag. Her father was already fixing her breakfast. Normally, her breakfast would be the usual food, kids normally eat before going to school but somehow, she prefers meat. Her favourite were Ribeyes and Loin
"Woow. This looks delicious!" Snow squealed and hurriedly sat on the chair. She loved eating good food. Her appetite grew stronger to the extent that she was drooling.
"Hey, stop drooling!" Derrick cautioned and shook his head in disappointment. He had tried his best to teach her good eating manners.
"Sorry Papa, I can't help myself. I love eating meat. It makes me full. " Snow replied sadly and threw a big chunk into her mouth. Munching it ravishingly.
"That is why I am treating you to a special treat. Today starts your mid week test and I know that you have been preparing hard for it. So take this as a booze up." Derrick smiled and pushed the side dish to her. He knows that she detested eating her veggies . Urging her to take some bite. Snow frowned but had to comply lest her meat will be taken far from her.
"That's my girl. " Derrick commented and gave a lovely pat on her hair as she gave her a fake smile in return, munching her salads in an annoying way. Her blue eyes glimmered softly in return. Derrick smiled and continued getting his breakfast ready. A simple bread, egg and a cup of tea. Paired with some bacon.
A few minutes later, he dropped her off at her school. Snow swallowed down the lump in her throat. She knew what was waiting for her behind the school walls. Her father noticed her nervousness, and thought she was scared about her test.
"Hey, Snow. Relax, it's just a test and besides this is not a big deal for you. You are going to ace it. Just be in control. Remember. You are brighter in there. " Derrick encouraged her with a big smile. Snow smiled in return but wasn't genuine. There was a difference between the inside the school walls and outside the school walls. His pep talks weren't going to get her out of the mess she was about to face.
"I will be fine, just go and do your stuff. Don't get Mr Brown angry again. I hate it when he shouts at you. " Snow said to him and opened the door.
"Don't worry, I will handle that. Just be focused on your test. " Derrick reassures her with a smile. The smile that made her frown. Snow knew that he was having a hard time at the mechanic shop which made her wonder why he had to quit his former job to work in a lousy mechanic workshop where the pay is meagre and their boss insults and looks down on his workers. She hated him to the maximum.
Snow stepped down and locked the door, before walking into the school building. Her heart pounded heavily when she stepped inside the school. As usual, the hallway was busy with students trooping in and out of their classes. Their loud chattering made her ears ring loudly and this hurt her badly. Most times, her ears were very sensitive to sounds even to the tiniest sounds emitting from an earpiece or the flies buzzing around. And today was not just her day. The ringing in her ear made her dizzy and she closed her eyes trying to bear the pain. Snow had to run through the crowd lest her eardrums burst out when she collided with her bully, Stacy West. A big fat bully and Snow, a lean and vulnerable girl, was her victim. Her big body pushed Snow to the floor. The whole students gasped in fear when they saw what happened and they knew that Snow was done for.
Snow raised her head to see angry Stacy fuming hard at her. Snow yelped and stuttered, trying to explain but Stacy wasn't having it, picked her up and flung her mid air, colliding with the old lockers. Snow winced in pain. Her head spinned and she couldn't stand up.
Stacy ran to her and hit her on her stomach. Snow coughed out in pain and tried to crawl her way out. The whole student scurried away because they knew that Stacy was in bad trouble and being the daughter of their principal gave her full access to misbehave.
"please.." Snow begged, trying to withstand the constant hitting from Stacy and her friends. There was nothing she could do. Only to lay there as they continued beating her until one of the teachers ran to them,blewing his whistle. The rest of the students dispatched into their classes and when he saw Stacy, he retreated afar in fear of losing his job as they moved away after hitting her the last time. There was nothing he could do but help her stand up. Snow was very angry and pushed him away. He knew that Snow wasn't going to respect him anymore. Snow staggered and faced the direction of the restroom.
Anger was written all over her face. She couldn't bear this abuse. Her patience was running out. She looked at the mirror to see her bruised eye and swollen lip. Her father would know firsthand and that would cause her another transfer. This was her third transfer and couldn't risk losing her education. She had to conceal her bruises but how?
Since she was used to the constant bullying,her bags were filled with emergency medicines and first aid kit as she tended to her wounds. When the bell rang in commencement for the beginning of class. Snow hurried away before she missed her first test.
Derrick drove into the mechanic workshop and parked his car somewhere. He came out and saw his boss, glaring hard at him. He knew he was going to get an earful because his car broke down on his way to work and he had to fix it. His big belly couldn't contain his shirt. He was looking rather rough and the engine oil on his hand showed that he was just done with one of the bikes.
"Mr. Brooks, I can't tolerate your late coming anymore. You had a lot of work to do and you can't expect your colleagues to do them for you. " Mr Brown spluttered immediately when he sighted him.
"Sorry boss, my car broke down on my way to work. I am sorry for the late coming. " Derrick apologised with a smile that made his boss boil with anger.
"I will do a double shift. If that will make you happy. " Derrick replied in an amusing way that made his boss wonder if nothing ever got to him. He was known for his pleasing nature, He doesn't get angry easily or takes things to heart. Sometimes, his boss gets scared of him especially when he has this brooding expression when he comes to his daughter, Snow. There was one thing they all know is that Derrick might be a loser to everyone but when it comes to his daughter, he was a raging beast ready to pounce and devour.
"Hmmm… suit yourself. Mr. Brown muttered and walked away. Derrick went to the changing room and wore his work clothes. As he was about to leave the room, one of his colleagues approached him.
"Looking kinky in that!" His colleague Ajah, mentioned excitedly seeing a new transformation in his uniform.
"Urm… yeah. Snow made this for me yesterday. " He responded proudly seeing the knitted snowflake design on the back of his shirt with her name on it.
"She must really love you, who would know that Derrick would be a father one day. Most times, I am fascinated by just thinking about it. " Ajah explained and leaned beside the door .
"Life can happen to anyone and I am grateful that I let it happen to me and it gave me the best gift ever. " Derrick replied to him and locked his locker. He was looking smart and handsome in his uniform. He headed for the door when Ajah called him back.
"Hey, someone left this for you. " Ajah told him and gave him an envelope. The envelope was light and Derrick reluctantly collected it wondering who might have left it for him.
"Who left it behind?" He asked in a quizzical tone and Ajah gave out a shrug.
"I don't know him. I have never seen him before. He wore a black leather jacket and a ripped Jean. He has this dangerous look. I don't know but just check the content. Maybe you might know him." Ajah suggested and walked out of the room.
Derrick stared at the envelope for a moment wondering if he should open it and when he decided to open it.He heard his boss screaming his name like he had stolen something. Derrick hesitated and decided to check it out later and shove it inside his locker. Then he stepped out after doing some breathing therapy.
Snow could swear that she knew the answer to the question on her paper. She couldn't concentrate properly due to her head banging and the ringing in her ears. Everything was so loud, even the tiniest sound. From the heavy thudding of their teacher walking round the classroom to the scribbling of their pens on the paper. Everything felt stuffy for her.
Snow held onto her ears but it couldn't stop the ringing. The teacher noticed and called out to her to get her attention. Snow jolted up and to her surprise, everything became calm and quiet, just the calming song playing from the speaker. Her eyes flickered in shock to see the worried face of her teacher and the gawking looks from her classmate.
"Are you okay?You seem disoriented and why is your mouth swollen?" Her teacher asked, lowering herself to the height of Snow's table.
"I am fine. I fell down ." Snow lied. The teacher couldn't believe her lie and stood up. She looked at Stacy who was obviously not attempting her question. She gave her an ugly snickers and continued picking her nails. Their teacher, Mrs Rose shuddered in disgust and spoke to Snow to see her after the test was over . Snow responded with a shaking yes when her eyes met with Stacy who hissed angrily at her.
Miss Rose, a fine and brilliant woman who loves teaching and inculcating morals to the children. She believes that everyone has an equal right to education and she hated injustice and partially. She had tried to have this fight with the principal once but was demoted. This didn't make her give up until she was threatened by the principal, to report her to the Boards of Education. Miss Rose slowly withdrew but didn't back down. She has been gathering evidence against the principal and her atrocities.
Maybe, Snow's case might be a turning point to get them to face justice. She had known that Snow had been undergoing this torment since she was transferred here. This was her way of helping her.
The bell rang and every student closed their booklet as their teacher took everything. The tension was over that day as they all went for recess. Snow wasn't feeling too good to go for recess and this was the only way to be safe from Stacy.
Miss Rose noticed that Snow was the only one inside the classroom. She laid her head down, sighing sadly. Miss Rose stood up from her desk and walked up to her, then tapped gently on her table which made her jerked up from the startle. Snow held her ears in return. A curse was being suppressed when she saw that the unfortunate person was her teacher.
"Miss Rose?" Snow dropped her hands from her ears.
"Snow Brooks. " Miss Rose replied in return and sat in front of her. Her face plastered into a concerned face .
"How can I help you ma'am?" Snow asked nervously.
"I will ask you that question too. How can I help you Snow?" Miss Rose asked her.
"Urm… I don't know the answer to that question. " she replied, avoiding her intense stare.
"Oh.. I see. Wouldn't you go out for lunch? I could hear your stomach growling from my desk. " Miss Rose stated and this made Snow puzzled and wondered if she was also experiencing the tingling in her ears too.
Miss Rose saw her surprised face. She laughed softly and gently tapped at her table to get her attention again.
"Why the face?You looked surprised. " Miss Rose, curious to know why.
"You said you could hear my stomach growling in hunger from your desk. I was wondering if you could hear far like me. " Snow explained with all seriousness ,a part of her was feeling excited that she wasn't the only one having those strange conditions.
"Woah… really?" Miss Rose laughed at her, she tried to stifle the laughter from coming out. Snow let out a frown immediately, rendering an apology from her teacher who seemed to misunderstand her.
"It was just a figure of speech, I can't hear your stomach growling, all the way there. It's quite far. I was just trying to get you to go have lunch. " Miss Rose explained. Snow stood up immediately.
"Where are you going?" Miss Rose asked suddenly.
"To go have lunch. " Snow replied dryly and walked out of the classroom. It's better to spend her entire lunch break at the restroom than spend it with her teacher who seems bad at her jokes.
Snow strolled through the less busy hallway and entered into the restroom but unknowingly to her, one of Stacy's goons saw her and ran to inform her leader.
The rest room was empty and she was relieved that no one was there. She entered the last toilet and sat there, reminiscing on what to do when she got home, remembering that it was going to be barbecue night. She hadn't gone far in her thoughts when the restroom door was dashed open by Stacy and her goons.
Snow picked up her familiar scent of her harsh cologne and her thick sweat and she knew that Stacy was here. Fear gripped her. Stacy pushed open every door with her leg, revealing an empty toilet until they got to the last door.
Stacy spoke in a loud and demeaning voice that spook cold shivers to her spine. She continued hitting the door with her foot as Snow held onto the door knob with her life. She knows for sure that if Stacy opens this door, she will be done for.
The constant hitting and their evil shrieking made her ears tingling again and this time, it was intense. Snow tried to hold unto the door with one hand and covered her ears with the other. It was difficult but she had no choice. The tingling intensified and Snow had no choice but to hold her ears tighter. This made the door open to her predators, gawking hard at her.
Snow felt heavy and felt like collapsing but unknowingly to her, they pulled her out of the toilet and dragged her to the sink where one of them turned on the tap. The water gushed out instantly filling up the basin.
Stacy dragged her hair and Snow winced in pain,struggling to break free but Stacy's grip was much stronger and firmer on her hair. Snow hated water and tried to fight back. The other girls joined hands with her leader to push her forward.
A random girl entered the restroom to see them bullying her. She was frightened and one look from them made her flee, running for her life when she bumped into Miss Rose who was startled by her running tears.
"What happened? Why are you crying?" She asked her worryingly. The girl panted heavily and was unable to speak. Miss Rose looked at the direction she was running from and it was the girl's restroom. She knew that there was bullying going on. She left the girl and ran to the restroom.
Her muffled scream echoed through the water basin as bubbles of her stifled breath filled the entire water. Snow struggled to breath but ended up taking up water down her throat. The constant torture made her angry . She could feel something strange within her. Like cold surging energies moving all over her body.
She tried to fight it but it was overpowering her. Trying to take hold of her. To control her. The feeling was overwhelming and before, she knew the rage building up within her burst her like a balloon spiked down by a needle. Her eyes glowed orange. She pulled herself with ease, sending Stacy and her goon to the door of the toilet .
The heavy thud made them destabilised for some moment. Snow was fueled with anger and picked them up and threw them with one fling to the door which let go immediately from the impact sending them outside the room. Miss Rose froze in shock when she saw the collision. Her heart stopped for a millisecond when she saw Stacy and her goons on the floor wincing in great pain. What could have happened here? Who pushed them out of the restroom even to the door moving out with them? Miss Rose wondered hard and slowly walked to check it out.
She peered through to see who she wasn't even expecting. Miss Rose let out a deep gasp when she saw Snow, soaked up and literally growling in anger, her eyes glowed for a second. The sight made her tremble and she lost her balance and fell on top of the bruised girls.
"Snow.." Miss Rose muttered in fear when she walked closer to her like a possessed being. The rage emitting from her body made her grow cold instantly.
Snow was as white as snow. Her body went pale white. The girls screamed loudly when they recovered from the shock, they took up to their heels and ran away, leaving Miss Rose behind.
Snow woke up from her trance to see her teacher, surprisingly on the floor. She was looking worn out and writhing in fear. The whole place spinned in front of her and her body went light. Before she could utter a word, Snow blanked out and fell to the ground. Giving another startle shock to Miss Rose who sat there almost lifeless.