Community Service was our second Core rotation. Before this, I had Food Safety Sciences, which I liked, because we got to cook. After this, I will either have Health or Coding and Programming. (Please, not Health!) Today is my last CS class. The day I present.

I've been researching really hard for this. We each had to select a local charity-like foundation, research it, and then, today, do a presentation about it. This is worth sixty percent of our grade, according to Mr. Welshar. And it's filmed, with that huge, old video camera, which is Mr. Welshar's prized possesion. He films almost everything.

My project is on the Radlee Garogan Zoology Fund. It's not really a zoo, though. It's devoted to researching animals and spreading information on how to treat them and protect them in a humane way. Kaitlyn and I used to go to their shelter all the time, but since I'm not allowed to get pets and Kaitlyn already has three guinea pigs and an iguana, we couldn't adopt any of the animals. Still, I love those little guys at the shelter. Ever since I started tutoring, I haven't really seen Kaitlyn. Like, at all. So we don't volunteer there anymore. I figured this was the least I could do.

Before entering the CS Room, I silently make a vow to find a time to visit the RGZ Fund again. And again. Hopefully, more often than I've been. I grin and tap the nose of the little dog photo I used on my folder, thinking of Bella, an adorable Black Labrador puppy, who is my favorite animal at the shelter. Not just in the shelter. In all of Arwick. In all the world! My smile grows, and I enter the room, finding most of the people already there.

Mr. Welshar is about my height and has a voice that sounds like Mickey Mouse. As I walk in, he smiles so wide it looks too big for his face. But when I see his glee, I can't help but feel excited about today. While a serpent of fear slithers in my stomach, I drop my folder onto the desk and plop into my chair. 

My desk is right between Julio, who's in my class, and Francis O., who is in Mr. Ovelanchi's homeroom. It's a little crazy that we have two boys with the name Francis in our grade. Francis isn't that common a name. I'm relived that there is no other Brooke in 7th grade. It would be embarrasing to be callled "Brooke E." My Aunt Yasmine already calls me "Brooky." I'm not sure I could stand the humiliation.

"Brooke! Great! Now all we need is Maia and Rosa, and we can start our presentation!" He squeals. His enthusiam is contagious. I grin right back, before sorting out the final papers in my bulging folder. A bead of sweat trails a path down the side of my forehead. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Julio looking at me strangely. My smile suddenly feels forced.

I've seen Maia Yen in the hallways, and she's alright. Fairly shy, though she has had a crush on Francis A-W since as long as I can remember. Rosa...I really don't need to talk about Rosa right now.

Rosa glides in just two minutes after class has started, wearing a loose red blouse and white leggings tight enough to make up for her flowing top. For once, she's not wearing any make-up, but her expression looks as though she's supressing a smirk.

"Oh, Rosa, how nice of you to join us!" Mr. Welshar laughs, and the rest of the class joins in. Rosa flashes a sheepish smile before carrying her surprisingly thin folder over to her desk. Mr. Welshar quickly catches her up, before announcing that we'll be going through these presentations in alphabetical order, by our last names. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tory rolling her eyes, and I can't help but snicker. We started hanging out a few months ago, so I don't feel bad about laughing whenever she expresses her hatred of alphabetical order. With a name like Aarons, I can't blame her!

Mr. Welshar goes on a bit as I begin to zone out. Then Tory's beginning, standing up and flipping through her folder as Mr.Welshar projects. She keeps her straw-blonde hair swept over one eye, and talks a bit too quietly. I wince as her voice pitches upward at the end of her sentences, but I try my best to pay attention because I really like Tory, and she's the first to go- I shouldn't lose focus. Her presentation on the Books and Baskets Library is actually really well-written and she seems very passionate about it. By the end, Mr. Welshar and the class are all giving her a polite but sincere applause. So am I.

"Great job, Tory, great job! Hold on, let me just finish that shot..." Tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, Mr. Welshar fiddles with his camera then grins back up at the class. His eyes land on Rosa.

"Alright, Rosa, just a sec...got it! You ready?" He asks. Rosa nods eagerly and practically skips to the front of the room, carrying her folder in one hand and her laptop in the other. She places it on Mr. Welshar's desk and quickly types up the projection command. On the large screen resting on the wall just to the right of Rosa, the familiar silhouette of a dog with the letters RGZ on it's stomach glimmers into visibility. 

The pace of my heart begins to quicken, and I swallow, my throat feeling tight. She wouldn't....

"My presentation is about the Radlee Garogan Zoology Fund, a shelter and foundation for animals in need of assistance," Rosa says, perfectly calm and confident. Nervous, I check the notes in my folder. Sure enough, those identical words are printed. 

"But before I begin, I would like to shout out to this great foundation for helping me with all my research and, of course, just helping all those animals that could be yours," She smiles, her voice warm and silky I blink, cursing myself for not piecing it together. The way Rosa seemed so smug today. How she's been avoiding me lately. The innocence of the outfit and her charismatic voice...as her eyes skim the crowd, she sees what I already know. Everyone's captivated.

                                                                              Our eyes meet.

A sudden hatred fills my blood, circulating through my veins. My eyes narrow into a fierce glare. I have to keep my fists wrapped around the desk just so I don't lash out at Rosa. Of course.

But the sight of my anger just makes brings a syrupy smile onto her lying lips. Clear as day, I can see them mouthing two words that only infuriate me more. "Thanks, Brooke."

                                                                          My heart stops.

The world begins to blur, and I can't hear the words I've already memorized. Already spent night after night composing, editing, and rehearsing. The words and the work that were all snatched away from me by one single person.

And then I realize that it's two! Not just Rosa. Ivory! Ivory, who has spent nearly all her time with Rosa. Sharing secret grins with her whenever I passed them in the hall. Spending plenty of time on the computer, or studying with Rosa in the library. Ivory, who I had actually begun to like! She was so nice to me! She would wave in the halls when Rosa wasn't around, and was my partner in gym. We won that game! Was Ivory really just faking it all? Plotting this deception?

Before I know it, Rosa's presentation has ended. I'm paralyzed. Glued to my seat. Somewhere in the middle of Violet DeLayon's presentation about the Feathers and Audubon Act, I feel my legs shivering to life. Pushing me out of the chair. Heads turn in my direction, and through a haze, I hear Mr. Welshar whispering furiously at me to sit down. But I can't. I can't do this anymore. 

It feels so good to run. I don't even know what I'm doing, but doors are swinging and my feet are a storm, loud as thunder, fast as lightning. Teachers chase after me, wondering where should I be right now and shouting that running in the halls is prohibited. I don't care! My legs are in control, my eyes blind with tears whisking across my face. Somewhere in the midst, I stop running, and begin to fly. Away from Rosa and Ivory, who won this battle with my hard work and their lies. Away from this stupid school that has always stopped me from running. Stopped me from joining its team, from racing through the halls, even from continuing with the Milky Raptors. Away from the world that has stopped me from everything! 

I'm in a park when I come to a stop. The Larkingwood State Park, where the Springer's Race will soon be held. I won't participate. I've decided that now. That dream is locked up behind a fence, not free to run as I just have. I know I haven't gone far, but I'm more tired then I have ever been. The only energy I have now is fury. Pure fury at everything. My gut clenches and I feel my stomach churning.

And then I'm heaving, heaving every last bit out onto the floor. Not keeping anything in. Everything is spilling out, but I don't care. I don't care about the burning,  the nausea. I haven't thrown up for almost two years. And yet I can't hold anything in. 

As my throat begins to feel the sting of acid, I have to put my hand on a tree to keep myself from falling over. The sudden weariness of running and the sickness I have just suffered comes crashing over me like a tidal wave. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to push enough air into my lungs. The world begins to tilt in disorienting ways. My hand slips from the bark I'm desperately clutching to, and the ground melts under my feet. Everything is spinning. Everything...

Then I fall to the paved stone road and the painful world goes black.