#111 Undetectable

by Tina Mortimer

Fat cow. Slut. Whore.

These were the words scribbled in red marker on the front cover of her science book. Where she had written her name neatly on the inside flap it now read: Emily McClain SKANK!

Emily felt chicken salad churn in her stomach. She needed to get out. Tears streaming, she ran clumsily from the classroom down the long corridor, colliding head-on with the enemy.

“Watch where you’re going, slut,” Amy hissed.

Emily didn’t apologize. She didn’t slow down. She ran out the door and into the afternoon sun. It was a two-mile walk home, but she wouldn’t be calling her mom to pick her up, not today.

Tyler had claimed he loved her, wanted to be with her, not Amy. Emily had wanted so much to believe, she let him take her virginity. But he didn’t love her; he didn’t even like her. She knew this now.

At the Walgreens across the street from Jefferson High, Emily purchased a pill crusher and an orange Gatorade. At home, she locked herself in the bathroom, and as the warm steam from the bath filled the room, she pulverized Xanax, Vicodin and other assorted pills into a fine powder, which she scraped from the vanity into the drink.

Emily raised the bottle to her lips. The new ingredients were almost undetectable. As she settled into the bath, she closed her eyes, imagining Tyler reaching for the bottle he always kept on the bleachers during football practice, and smiled.