Imagine There's No Heaven

  A Flower in the Rough

  The school bell echoed throughout the hallway. Doors flung open and a stream of students flowed out like a tide, instantly filling the hall with noise. It was like a mini city. There were the academic rich, with iPods and laptops in hand; the emos, checking themselves in mirrors, oblivious to their surroundings; the geeks, shy and stumbling nervously; the jocks, the poor kids, the posh, an entire society of students. Then there was Yasmin. She was a bit of everything: confident but compassionate, intelligent but fun loving and less than wealthy in reality but with more than enough style to cover for it. That was why she was so popular; that and her good looks. She was petite, with long brown hair and a pretty face, and always wore an enrapturing smile. Put simply, it was hard not to like her, a factor which unfortunately brought with it a great deal of attention from boys, whom she generally tried to politely ignore; her popularity allowed her to be picky. She must have said ‘Hi’ to a dozen passersby within a few minutes of entering the corridor. All smiled in return. She knew she was lucky. Her popularity granted her a great sense of security that many students would kill for.

  ‘Whoa,’ she suddenly screeched. A football flew past her face, kicked by one of two jocks running down the hall. She nearly dropped her books in fright.

  ‘Sorry, babe,’ the boy called.

  ‘No problem, babe,’ she jokingly called back. Her voice was firm but light and melodic, like a flute. It was yet another of her charms. She brushed her hair back behind her face, straightened her top back to perfection and proceeded to the end of the hall.

  The door at the far end of the hall led to the school library. Yasmin entered.

  It was a very humble library; only a few isles of books to cover all the school’s subjects, and its decor was less than impressive, just wooden shelves, a childish light blue wallpaper and the help desk off to one side, manned by Tina, a young woman in her early twenties whom Yasmin knew personally and who had recently graduated with a degree in English.

  Yasmin dashed out of sight when she heard the gruff voices of the very muscular, arrogant and aggressive Naz and his sidekick, the heavily overweight and obnoxious Mikey, coming down the hall. They were regarded as two of the school’s absolute worst bullies; a title they wore with pride. Much to Yasmin’s displeasure, she had gained a great deal of Naz’s attention after nursing wounds he had suffered in one of his very frequent fights. She darted over to the help desk to keep out of sight and handed her books to the librarian. She soon felt guilty though, for a weak, pleading voice confirmed that the attention Naz could have been giving her was instead being focussed on terrifying the hell out of a boy, probably one of the younger, nerdy kids. Knowing Naz, the boy would be frightened out of his wits for weeks.