Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

After Will had left the room, the class remained pretty silent. I continued working on my quiz, occasionally glancing up to look at Valerie. She was sitting at her desk biting her nails and reapplying chap stick every couple of minutes. I saw her glance towards Will’s seat a few times, but immediately look back towards her own quiz.

I answered the remaining questions and placed my pencil down on the desk, admiring what I had just completed. After the quiz, there was only a few minutes left of class, so Mr. Morrison just played us a video clip about the anatomy of mammals. Most people zoned out, but I found it rather interesting. Although my interest was paused for another day as the bell rang signifying the end of first period. Many of the students rushed out of class as I sorted through my backpack, putting my biology book inside. I stood up and headed towards the door, but Mr. Morrison’s voice sent me to a halt.

“Sadie,” I heard him say softly just as I was about to leave the classroom.

“Yes, Mr. Morrison?” He cleared his throat and waited until the last of the students filed out of the classroom before speaking again.

“I’m really proud of what you did back there,” he said referring to the incident with Will. I stared into his eyes as he stared back into mine, placing his hand on my shoulder. It made me shiver slightly, but I nodded.

“Thank you,” I said softly, my voice cracking slightly.

“That’s a hard thing to do,” he said, beginning to rub my shoulder in the palm of his hand. It was slow in clockwise circles, and I couldn’t stop thinking about his touch. I’d never been touched like that before. I nodded again, taking a step back towards the door.

“I have to go to my next class,” I said, attempting to escape this situation. He held my shoulder tight for a moment and then let go, watching me as I stepped away again.

“Let me know if you ever need anything,” he said in a sly voice as though he meant more than just a teacher to talk to. I nodded quickly before turning and walking out of that door. That was the first time Mr. Morrison had ever really spoken to me on a personal level, and I wasn’t a fan of it. I wasn’t sure how things would be from now on, but I certainly wasn’t looking forward to seeing him in class tomorrow.

I headed out the door towards the left as thoughts of Mr. Morrison’s hand on my shoulder flooded my brain. Immediately, I tried to change the subject of my thoughts. Instead of Mr. Morrison, I thought of Zander. I thought of him sitting with all of his friends in daycare and showing them his trains. I thought of him racing his cheerios around in his both like he had done this morning. I thought of the gorgeous smile he always wore. Such an innocent little kid with not a care in the world. All of his thoughts surrounded me, and I felt warm again. I couldn’t help but smile.

Although that smile was short lived, until I saw Will standing outside of the classroom. I quickly glanced away wondering if he had seen me. That’s when I heard his voice. “Hey you,” he said, but I kept walking as though I didn’t hear him. I knew he was talking to me by the tone of his voice. It was low but in a condescending manner as though he was talking down to someone completely inferior to him. And I guess I was, wasn’t I? Standing 5’2 at most, and weighing significantly less than him. He could crush me with as minimal effort as possible.

“I’m talking to you b***h,” I heard him say. I wasn’t going to stop, but at the sound of the word b***h, I cringed, hoping someone else around had heard and could save me. But by the looks of my peers, no one had heard him or no one had cared. “Where do you think you’re going?” I heard him say. The next thing I knew his hands were placed on my shoulders rubbing them. In little circles the same way Mr. Morrison had done just a few moments ago. Just thinking about it made me shivered, and he noticed. “What you don’t like that, baby?” he asked. I didn’t answer. He started walking around towards me, so I shifted my eyes to the ground. I didn’t want to look at him. Will scared me more than he should have, and I didn’t want him to see me. I pretended that if I couldn’t see him, then he couldn’t see me, but it was no use. I could still feel his eyes on me. Watching me. “Look at me,” he said, his voice angered. As much as I didn’t want to, I feared what would happen if I didn’t. His eyes were blue and they reminded me of my mother’s. But as quickly as that thought came, I shut it down. He said something, but I didn’t hear him over my thoughts. He grabbed at my hand, but I pulled away. I didn’t want him touching me. He smiled, and said, “Come on baby. I didn’t grab you that hard.” I scowled at him. He had grabbed it hard. I could feel his fingernails digging into my skin. I bet there were still marks on my hand.

Will dragged me quickly down the corridor, searching through the expressions on everyone’s faces. Some were watching, but most didn’t want to get involved. Will had a reputation around school for being a hot head, and it wasn’t too often that someone tried to pick a fight with him.

He stopped once we reached one of the stairwells and stared at me, looking down towards my breasts. I hadn’t done so until now, but I mustered up the courage to speak. “What do you want,” I asked, my voice coming out softer than I had wished.

He said, “What’s your name, princess?” and I did everything in my power not to pounce on him. He had to add princess in there, didn’t he? I thought to myself. I wanted so desperately to hit him, scratch him, kick him. Anything really to get him away from me. But I remembered hearing about what he did to Marissa, and I feared that I would be next.

He took a step towards me, and placed his hands around my hips. I hated the feeling of him touching me, and it made me shiver again. He pulled me in close whispering, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” I couldn’t look at him. Tears were starting to form in the back of my eyes, but I refused to let him see me cry. He didn’t deserve the satisfaction.

Before I could formulate a thought, my head was yanked back, his hand clenching my hair in his left hand. I didn’t mean to, but a soft whimper escaped him lips. I could feel his hand on my scalp, pulling on my hair hard. “Now tell me sweetheart,” he said into my ear. “What’s your name?” His breathed smelled like weed, and I bit my lip. I didn’t want to tell him, but his grip was so strong, and there was nothing I could do.

“Sadie,” I whispered, almost inaudible. His hand loosened around my hair slightly as he took a step back.

“Sadie!” he screamed, louder than I wished to hear. His voice saying my name was like tires screeching. It was hideous, and I did everything in my power not to cover my ears. He was pacing back and forth and I took a step back wondering what his next move was. I looked around to see if there was anyone there, but there wasn’t. No one who could help. No one who could save me. I thought about Mr. Morrison, and for the first time in my life, I wished he was here. “Sadie, Sadie, Sadie,” he yelled, making my eardrums pound within my head. “What a pretty name,” he said softer, taking a step towards me. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.”

I looked away. I didn’t like him calling me pretty. I wasn’t pretty. I was the farthest thing from pretty, and his mocking words hurt more than if he had told me I was ugly. “So tell me, Sadie,” he started, his body only inches from mine. “Have you ever been touched, you know, by a guy before?” I bit my lip and stared at the ground. I thought of Mr. Morrison touching my shoulder. That was the extent of male contact I had received unless you count my baby brother Zander. But he didn’t count. Will meant something different than just a brush of the shoulder or a touch on the cheek. He meant something sacred. “I bet you haven’t,” he continued. I was rubbing my arm in my hand, hoping he wouldn’t touch me again, but he came closer to me, our bodies practically touching one another. He began rubbing my shoulder again, and I wanted to badly to run. Run away from him. This place. “What is it baby?” he asked, but I didn’t say anything. “Is someone shy?” I wanted so desperately to block out his touch, but I couldn’t get the feeling out of my head. His hand shifted slightly and began running down my body and up my shirt. I bit my lip, but that didn’t stop a gasp from escaping my lips as his hand cupped my breast. I wasn’t wearing a bra, so I could feel his fingers squeezing at my skin. I closed my eyes trying to block this out, but his hand was still there. Holding me, tight.

“Come on baby,” he said, squeezing me harder. “Tell me you like it.” I bit my lip, trying to refrain another whimper from fleeing my lips. He shoved me back hard with one hand and groped my breast harder. “Tell me,” he commanded, his voice deep. I had never been shoved like that before, and I had almost fallen down. If he had done that, I feared what else he might do. I swallowed and obeyed his orders.

“I like it,” I said softly, a tear escaping my eye. He smiled at the sight of it.

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” As soon as he said those words a door opened, and I heard someone walking into the stairwell. Now’s my chance, I thought, preparing myself for whoever walked up those stairs. I was just about to scream out when I caught Will’s eyes in my own. He gave me a stare that practically ensured my death if I screamed out. I thought of Zander and decided it was best if I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t risk anything happening for his sake.

A teacher I had never seen before walked up the stairs and stood before us once she reached the top. She looked over at me, a dried tear still on my cheek. “What’s going on here?” she asked suspiciously.

“We’re working on a skit for our French class,” Will lied. I looked over at him seeing the calm complexion on his face wondering how he did it. How could he lie straight to her face like that and feel nothing?

“French is such a beautiful language,” the teacher said, looking at the two of us. “Let’s hear something,” she asked expectantly. Now was my chance, I thought. I had taken French all throughout high school, so I was familiar with the language. I assumed the teacher was too, so I said, “Aidez-moi s’il vous plait.” Will looked over at me, and I could feel my cheeks getting red. Did he know what I said? I stared at the teacher, but she just looked back at me with a confused, yet satisfied look on her face.

“Wonderful,” she said cheerfully. “Carry on.” My head dropped in disappointment as I realized she had no clue what I had just pleaded. I watched her walk through the doors wondering what would happen if I ran after her and screamed for help, but just as that thought crossed my mind, Will grabbed my arm tighter than he had before.

Reviews

[Christopher Miller]

I'm just going to get these out of the way... " that smile was short lived, until I saw Will" would mean once she saw him, the smile was no longer short lived. It 'only lasted' until she saw Will (or something similar).
"a soft whimper escaped him lips", "His breathed smelled like weed". Things like that give the impression that the story is being rushed. Take some time, proof it quickly to see how it reads. Maybe even sleep on it, improvements may come to you. I look forward to your new chapters, but wouldn't mind a bit of a wait for a more polished product. Then I can get right to reviewing the actual writing without feeling compelled to point out the glaring stuff.
As you go forward in the his/her point of view, bear in mind that repeating every spoken word could get boring to the reader. It isn't at that point yet, not at all, but going forward, try to imagine some workarounds. Maybe one character 'hears' something differently. An example comes from your last story; I loved not knowing whether Noah actually told Caleb 'I bet she wouldn't put out like that', or if he lied about what he said, or if that's just what Caleb heard, or if Caleb lied trying to 'get the truth' from Charlotte.
Another way could be to have one person just not hear something, or pick up at a different point rather than re-relate an entire scene.
It is interesting getting the two perspectives on the same thing, the best example being learning what kept her in the classroom for so long. Actually, it seemed long from his perspective, not as long from hers. There's room to expand the teacher's creepiness, maybe she has to make more than once attempt to escape, have her discomfort slowly grow from slight awareness to consuming, etc. Then again, the discrepancy could just be due to Will's distorted sense of time caused by his being high.
The mechanics of some statements made me pause. He's standing with his arm grabbing her hair, and takes a step back. But if his hand is grabbing her hair, that doesn't leave much room for a step back. Similarly, he's got one hand up her shirt and shoves her back; if she moves back, that would extend his arm to a strange angle for a breast grab, as well as lift her shirt when his arm straightens. The description created a weird push/pull image in my mind, as he keeps his hold of her. Does he follow her backward? Wouldn't he just use his bulk to slam her into the wall?
If that was a teacher, why wasn't she in class at the time? She must be painfully oblivious, if she can't sense that something's odd about a male and female student in a stairwell by themselves, or Sadie's fear. Not implausible at all, just worth further comment/incredulity on Sadie's part. Maybe she's a sub who looks like she's 100. Maybe she does sense something's wrong but Will makes her uncomfortable as well.
I love the line "he meant something sacred", it's probably your best illustration of how different their perspectives are. What's a pleasant diversion for Will, and in the case of what's coming, nothing more than a way to make a statement, is something unknown and holy to her; reserved for the future.
I hope you get a chance to keep it up, I'm curious to see where the story takes you.

[Sarah]

Thanks for the review. You're right that it was rushed, and I was curious as to whether the same lines would feel tedious in the reader's mind. I'll keep your comments in my head as I go back to edit this.

[Rebecca]

I want her to kick him. A flying sidekick,or punch him in the nose. show him she's not weak. keep writing. I want to see less of Will and more of Sadie and her brother.