Ch. 7: Preview #5

Just about wrapped up this chapter, gonna post it within this upcoming week. Here's a last preview!

***

Maybe she was an ally.  Or at least … sympathetic.  Lord knows he needed more people like that in his life.

Self-conscious, he moved to a corner of the room, out of sight of the door.  The hulking girl trailed, but gingerly, squeezing somehow into one of the too-small chairs in the last row.  She looked even less terrifying now, sitting.  She waited and watched him with what seemed like genuine compassion.  So … god help him … he brought up the subject of Blaire; and then more and more details started pouring out of his mouth.  He just had no one else to tell this to.  He just couldn’t stop it.

Jen somehow kept her outward composure, but on the inside her anger roiled at hearing what Blaire had done to him.  Then switched to total shock at what he claimed the principal and dean had said in response.  No way.  He had to be lying, right?  But Jen found herself believing him, because who would ever make up an embarrassing story like that?

Jesus.  The whole purpose of her visit had completely and totally changed, for her.  She almost didn’t care anymore that it was too late to sneak out unseen.  The door handle wiggled once again, but she ignored it.  She felt a sense of duty, almost.  To stay and set things right.  Why?

Well, she knew why.  Parting ways with Blaire and those other mean bitches didn’t absolve her from guilt.  She’d run with them for long enough, and been shitty to enough people along the way, that she basically owed it to the school – or to karma, or to whatever – to make amends.  She’d done plenty of bad here, herself.  So it was on her now to do some good.

She looked at the clock, and he did too.  He’d been talking at her for minutes now, in the back corner of the classroom where no one could see them, airing his grievances in the same wavering tone.  But the imminency of the first bell seemed to hit home for him, and he looked real flustered.  “I … I can’t believe I said … a-all that.”  He cringed at the ever-ticking clock.  “Oh god!  I-I can’t run class like this!  I’m so screwed…”

“No,” Jen declared, loud and clear.  If there was one thing she was a pro at by now, it was embracing confidence even when times looked tough.  Especially when.  Her teacher was still trying to pull himself back together, but that was OK.  She’d gotten through way harder situations than this, lately.  She could – she would -- fix this too.

Mr. Walker dried his eyes. “’No’?”

“No.  You’re not screwed.  It’ll be fine.”  Jen bit her lip and thought fast.  OK, wait: “You said more and more students keep coming in tardy?”

“… Y-Yeah.”

“Is Blaire one of them?”

He nodded.  “Five minutes late, some days.  Her and, uh, Ella and Maggie.”

Those names only stoked Jen’s determination even more.  She thumped the desk with her palm.  “I think I’ve got an idea.”

***

Jen sat in the back row, knees rising above the desk on either side, arms folded, as Mr. Walker unlocked the door and the majority of the class entered in one continuous herd.  One by one, their loud conversations cut out when they noticed Jen.  One after another, they gaped, stared, looked at their friends, or did all three.  Only once most of them were seated did hushed conversations pick up again, and their frequent backward stares made it clear who they were still focused on.

Geez … it was hard, almost, to view herself as one of them.  So tempting to think they were beneath her now, and therefore not worth fussing about.  But that was exactly the sort of attitude that drove Blaire and company to do the things they did.  This would not be Jen.  She was different than her classmates, obviously; even the girls.  But that was just all the more reason to help them – the ones who needed help in particular, i.e. the boys.  Because she could.

The bell rang.  Jen caught Mr. Walker’s gaze and nodded, indicating she was ready and giving him the go-ahead to enact the plan.  Jen’s plan.  If it seemed weird for a teacher to follow a student’s lead like this, then … well, welcome to her life.  This sort of thing was quickly starting to feel like the norm for her.

“I, uh … I need to step out for a few minutes,” Mr. Walker called.  Between the attention on her, and the steady buzz of voices, Jen wondered if even half the class heard his fragile voice.  “I’ll be back.”  The class seemed to pretty thoroughly ignore him as he went to the door.

But surely he wouldn’t forget …?

“And please stay in your seats while I’m gone!” he said, straining to speak up louder.  “And do keep it down!”

Whew.  Good.  That bit was important.  She caught his gaze again before he left, and she risked a small, approving nod: Well done.  This would set her up perfect.

She heard a few snorts and snickers.  Two of the girls even stood up before the door had shut, not even pretending to follow his instructions.  There’d been some of this last time Jen had been to class, but it’d gotten so much worse.  Boy, they really were walking all over him …

Well, she could fix that.

It didn’t even take thirty seconds for the class to be basically shouting over each other.  As the last couple stragglers rose from their seat to mill around, Jen decided it was time.

Slowly, deliberately, she rose to her feet.  And took a deep breath.

“He said BE QUIET!”

The entire room fell silent as if put on mute.  Twenty gaping jaws and forty eyes tracked her as she walked down the middle aisle and stopped at the front of the class.

She swept her hard glare slowly, left to right, meeting every girl’s gaze in turn.  She saw it in a movie once, and felt like it’d make her seem more ominous.  By the looks in their eyes, it did.  But she left out the boys, on purpose, for reasons that were about to become clear.

“Cut the shit,” she declared, straight-out.  “You’re not afraid of him?  Alright.  Then be afraid of me.”

Girls looked at each other confusedly, uncertainly.  A blonde-haired girl near the front spoke up: “Uh, who the hell are you to—"

Jen was hoping for something like this.  She closed the distance fast, bringing herself right up to her, standing a full head and shoulders higher.  And she was one of the taller girls in the class…

“Shut up, Addalyn,” Jen said with disdain.  “I remember the crap you called me in the past.”  ‘Spider Girl’, among numerous other insults.  Addalyn had been one of the worst.  “I’ve decided to be nice and put that all behind me.  But there’s one thing I absolutely will NOT let slide.  Not anymore.”  She looked over Addalyn’s head, addressing the other girls.  “Spread the word: if I catch wind of anyone in this school messing with guys – taunting them, bullying them, putting them down – then they’re gonna have me to deal with.”