The Eye That Listened

"Ginny is saying, 'Why should I apologize to that disgusting fat pig? In her dreams! Who do they all think they are–the moral police? They're just spineless dimwits! As long as I don't admit to it, they can't do anything about it.'"

This infuriated the entire class.

"Ginny, how could you! We're just trying to stand up for Eva! Why did you insult all of us?"

Everyone glared at me.

"I didn't say any of that!" I tried to explain. "Snowie made it all up!"

No one bought what I said, so I turned to look at Mandy and said, "Mandy, don't you know what type of person I am? I really didn't say anything."

Mandy was just about to stand up for me when Snowie said, "Ginny just said, 'As long as that idiot Mandy believes me, no one else will suspect me.'"

Mandy's eyes reddened. "How could you say such horrible things? I know your family's situation isn't ideal. I always share my snacks and fruits with you. How could you think this of me?

"Consider me done with this friendship! Return all my snacks and fruits!"

I mumbled anxiously, "Mandy, please, you have to believe me."

Snowie said once more, "Now she's saying, 'Damn it! If Mandy doesn't believe me, where else am I going to find someone else to blame?'"

I boiled with rage, yelling, "Shut up! I've never thought that! You're just trying to stir stuff up!"

Snowie said with a sigh, "Since you don't believe me, let's do another experiment. I'll turn around. You can write whatever, and I'll know what you wrote."

I agreed, but also asked the entire class to turn their backs to me.

I wrote on a piece of paper and crumbled it in my fist. With her back still facing me, Snowie said, "You wrote, 'Man plans, and God Laughs.'"

I was secretly delighted by her mistake, but Snowie added, "But you deliberately wrote Nan instead of Man. If I hadn't heard your thoughts, I would've been duped."

I froze.

Snowie was right on point.

Eva walked over to me with reddened eyes and slapped my face. "Apologize to me at once!"

I bit my lip, saying nothing. Eva was about to hit me again when Snowie stopped her. "We're classmates. Let's just drop this. Now we know what kind of person she is, let's just stay away from her."

This firmly confirmed that I had insulted Eva.

Eva reluctantly lowered her hand and left. The others followed her, leaving me alone in the classroom.

I slumped to the floor, stumped and baffled. Why was Snowie doing this to me?

From that day onward, I was the most hated person in the entire class. Mandy had demanded that I return the things that she had given me. Then, she put in a request to move to a different dorm.

Soon, it was Ms. Honey's class. Halfway through, she brought up her husband and child.

Right at this moment, Snowie suddenly stood up. "Ginny, why did you say that Ms. Honey's class is pointless? You even called her husband and child a troll! Show some respect!"

Before I could say anything, the entire class told Ms. Honey how Snowie could hear my thoughts.

Ms. Honey's gaze darkened. "Ginny, how could you say that about me?"

I calmly said, "Ms. Honey, you're an educated person. Do you think there is such a thing as hearing someone else's thoughts?"

Ms. Honey said icily, "Why don't we do an experiment?" She flipped to a random page and got me to write down the first sentence.

[He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick.]

Hoping this time it might be different, I picked up my pen and wrote on a piece of paper.

Still, Snowie easily said what I wrote.

Ms. Honey slammed the table angrily. "I never pegged you to be this type of person, Ginny! I even nominated you as our star student!"

I froze. My face was as pale as a sheet. "I didn't do it, Ms. Honey."

Snowie interjected, "I can hear her thoughts again.

"Ginny said, 'If it weren't for that stupid scholarship, I can't be bothered with this old hag. Only she thinks her troll of a husband is handsome. How pathetic.'"