It all started when an autistic girl transferred to our class. She wasn’t bothering anyone. Used to seat in the corner, won’t look anyone in the eye and barely spoke. Personally, I didn’t mind her at all, but she had this habit, every time she got annoyed, angry or sad about something, she used to take out a little tin can and shake it next to her year. It had a very sharp sound that annoyed everyone else, but only those sounds made her crying stop.
“Look at her getting special treatment.”
Jenny murmured to me once again when she kept on shaking the tin can and teacher didn’t tell her anything.
“Totally, if it were one of us making noise teacher would’ve screamed at us by now, so unfair.”
As always Lola was there to agree with Jenny. Jenny was the popular girl, while me and Lola were her friends, so I guess we always played along with whatever she said. Even right now Jenny was looking at me, as if demanding to agree with her.
“She is a bit annoying.”
I agreed out of habit at this point, I didn’t have the energy to argue with her. In her mind she was always right and everyone else was wrong.
“I know right?” All of a sudden Jenny smiled sharply. “I’m gonna teach her a lesson, stay behind after class.”
This is where I should’ve known that things would go south. This was Jenny, always bulling others and Lola always following her lead. I never gained any satisfaction from this kind of sessions, I was just afraid of Jenny to be honest. She could get violent at times, I just didn’t want to be on her bad side.
The class ended.
The girl was always the last one to leave the class, it took her slightly longer to pack up her things. Jenny and Lola were taking their time as well, looking at each other with strange spark in their eyes.
The teacher asked the girl if she wanted any help, but as always she declined. she HATED when anyone touched her things. Classroom was almost empty except for us four.
“Hey there!”
The moment Jenny said those words, the girl took out her tin can and started shaking it next to her ear.
“Hey can you talk?” Jenny approached the girl. She wasn’t looking at her and was just shaking her can rapidly.
“Hey Jenny I think she’s mute?” Laughed out Lola. “Come on talk to us! we just want to be your friends!”
Lola was standing already next to the girl, putting her arm around her. The girl tried to push Lola away.
“Oh my did you just hit my friend?” Jenny closed the distance between them. “You better say you’re sorry!”
The girl stepped back, she kept on shaking the tin can rapidly.
“Hm, if you’re not going to apologize, at least tell me what’s in that box!”
“I don’t know…” Her voice was very faint, I could bearly hear it.
“Ohh there we go, so you can talk after all! Go on now, tell me why do you not know?” Jenny pressed her on, looking at her sharply.
“Mom told me not to open it, she said that there is something special inside, she told me not to open it, so that whenever I am sad I can think about nice things that are in the box and feel better.”
“OH my and why are you shaking it now? do you not like hanging out with us? You hear that Lola?”
“Ohh, she doesn’t seem to like us.”
The girl was shaking more and more, she could bearly catch her breath.
“Guys let’s leave her be, what if she gets actually sick or something.”
Jenny just looked at me sharply and shifted her gaze back to the girl. “ I’m so sick of people like you getting special treatment, like why? what’s the big deal anyway? What’s so special about you? And what’s so special about that tin can anyway. I’m just going to showyou how real world works.”
With this Jenny yanked the tin can out of the girl’s hand and opened it, a dozen tiny rocks fell out of the can and fell on the floor. Jenny’s face shifted and slowly turned into a hysterical grin.
“Oh my goodness, there is literally trash in here! I can’t even! A,ll this time you were holding on to a trash can, what a joke!”
The girl looked even worse than before, she started to hyperventiliet, she was looking around like some cornered animal.
“no..no..there are nice things inside…no…why would Mom lie…no…”
“Yes yes it’s just trash, all this time you thought it was treasure, but your mom put bounch of trash into the box, welcome to the real world.”
At this point Lola was also looking a bit concerned at Jenny. She looked almost mad, as she laughed hysterically she threw the tin can right at the girl and fell to the floor with a loud click.
I wanted to say something, but at that point I could feel a disgusting smell coming out of the can, it smelled like nothing I had smelled before. The can was closest to Lola, I saw her gag and vomit on the floor.
“What the fuck is there shit in there too?” Jenny still wouldn’t stop laughing.
And that;s when all of us heard a click and everything went dark. Jenny stopped laughing.
“What happened to the..” I couldn’t finish the words when the light switch went back on.
And there she was, the girl, but she looked completely different, her eyes were completely white and she had a long grin stretched across her face.
“Why aren’t you laughing now? Are you mute? let me check.” With this she took her long fingers and yanked them directly into Jenny’s mouth. Jenny started to scream with pain, blood started to come out of her mouth.
At that moment it was as if my body moved on it’s own, I turned around and ran as fast as I could.
“Oh now you don’t”
I heard behind me and the lights went out. I was running, I was sure that the door was supposed to be there by now, but still, I was running, I did not feel a door, nor a wall. I could still hear Jenny’s screams.
“No, get away from me!” This was already Lola’s voice. “No, not my eyes, please not my eyes.”
And the light’s went back on. There she was, standing right in front of me, it’s as if I did not move at all.
“I hate people like you too.” She murmured, looking at me with those white eyes. “You’re even worse than them, they atleast have the guts to do what they want, but you! You’re a total loser.”
I couldn’t get myself to move, the smell, the blood on her face, her eyes.
“If you ever see someone get bullied, defend them, or else I’m going to take your eyes, tongue, leggs, arms and whatever else you find valuable.”
Then she just walked out. Lola and Jenny were sitting there, both had tin cans in their hands, and they were shaking them violently.
None of them ever spoke a word again, after that day I also intervene if someone is getting bullied. Every time I see her eyes, it’s as if she is there standing next to every kid who is getting bullied.