Page 32 of Petite Fleur

I've never seen him target anyone else, ever.

The man who sits in front of me drives a big, gas-guzzling car and eats steak every single day, yet he doesn't pester him about his impact on the earth.

I don't get it. I don't understand what I did wrong to piss this guy off, and it's getting to me more than it should.

This week, I don't even know how I became the target of his rage.

He asked about people driving cars, saying driving alone is worse for the environment than carpooling or taking public transportation.

So he asked who takes public transportation as their means of getting around. When I raised my hand, he immediately started yelling at me that it would be so much better for the environment if I walked and that walking is good for you and it's free.

He said I’m killing the planet by refusing to walk two miles to school every day.

To make matters worse, the students who weren't agreeing with him were laughing at me for not having a car.

I don't understand how I've been the laughingstock of this class since the first day! I didn't do anything wrong, and I'm nice to everyone.

I let someone borrow my last pen a few weeks ago!

I don't know what I did to earn all their hate.

I know their harsh words and laughter aren't that bad, but it's piling onto the weight that already feels like it's crushing me.

Between the stress of finals, the nightmare that I may have to go home for the summer, and my pathetic financial stability, I'm one bad day away from a nervous breakdown.

For now, I'm just the idiot crying as I sprint away from my class.

I hate crying in public; it's embarrassing, yet here we are, wiping tears from my eyes the entire way to the dining hall.

I'm not even hungry; I just want to skip the rest of my classes and sleep. I just want to curl up on my bed and not leave again for a week, but I have my last class in microbiology after lunch, and we're supposed to be getting a brief outline of what to study for the final.

I can't skip that. Microbiology is my most challenging class so far. I barely passed it my first year, and last year, I skated by with a B-.

I have to pass this class, it’s required for my degree.

Crap.

I just want to curl up in a ball and pity myself, but at least Shelby will be at lunch, and she always makes me feel better.

She's somehow slowly replacing Carlie as my best friend.

Shelby is sweet, funny, and outgoing, but she also cares.

She makes sure my meals aren't contaminated, she’s willing to yell at the servers if something isn't right, and she sometimes stays in with me when the rest of the group goes out to party.

Carlie has never done that; we haven't had a single Friday night alone in our apartment since college started; she always ditches me for the bar.

The longer I'm friends with Shelby, the more I realize how little Carlie actually contributed to our friendship. It breaks my heart to think my best friend cares so little about me, but at least I have Shelby.

Speaking of, Shelby is already in the dining hall when I walk in.

My beautiful best friend is arguing with someone who attempted to grab from the gluten-free section while having bread and other things on his tray.

She is yelling that she watched him pick up his bread with his bare hands before touching some of the food and the tongs in the gluten-free section.

I would've been too scared to say anything, but everything in that section is contaminated now, and I would've had to skip lunch if she wasn't there to yell at them.

I watch the workers rush around, grabbing everything and putting it on the other side of the dining hall while another worker scrubs every surface in my little safe corner.

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