[Hatred is heat, unfurling like a trellis underneath their skin. It's poisonous and hissing, prickling at the backs of their lids and the beds of their nails. It tightens the skin around their eyes and sets their jaw, and - and - ]
[Be good. Be good. Be good. You're supposed to be trying. Even if she's talking to them like they're stupid, like they're a little kid, but they are, they're just a little kid and she's older than them and the urge to duck out from under the table and plunge into the thicket of dancing bodies, risking every danger that entails, is overwhelming.]
[They swallow it down and look at her with all the scornful self-assurance they possess.]
I know that. You must think I'm pretty stupid, don't you?
no subject
[Be good. Be good. Be good. You're supposed to be trying. Even if she's talking to them like they're stupid, like they're a little kid, but they are, they're just a little kid and she's older than them and the urge to duck out from under the table and plunge into the thicket of dancing bodies, risking every danger that entails, is overwhelming.]
[They swallow it down and look at her with all the scornful self-assurance they possess.]
I know that. You must think I'm pretty stupid, don't you?