Chapter 4
At lunch I sat with Luna and her friends, again. They were all hyped up about the upcoming bonfire party. Truthfully, I wasn’t paying attention to anything they were saying. Instead, I was lost in the crowded lunchroom hoping that I might see William. I even turned sideways in my seat to get a better view of the kids behind me, but I sensed William wasn’t there even before I looked.
I must have looked like a little lost puppy, because Luna put her arm around my shoulders and nudged me.
“Who are you looking for?” She asked, but her smile lead me to believe she already knew the answer.
“No one.” I sighed. “Just looking.” When I glanced to my left, I spotted the cheerleader from earlier. “Hey, Luna. Who’s that girl right there?” I whispered, but I’m not sure why. With the dome-like roof, and the metal walls, it was like one giant echo that never stopped.
Luna’s normally open face closed up a bit. “That’s Elise Decker. Super cheer whore,” she said through gritted teeth while glaring at the girl, and I realized Elise must be the same girl she had told me about.
“Is she…the one?” I asked reluctantly. Luna’s eyes started to fill with tears, which told me she was. “I had trouble with her this morning after we left English class.”
“Yeah. She’s the one. Why…what did she do?” Luna asked, but kept her eyes trained on Elise. I glanced down after Luna had moved her arm and her hands were balled in tight fists. I thought Luna might jump up from the table any minute and punch her.
“Oh, it was nothing. I’ll tell you later.” I didn’t want to add to the already volatile situation, instead I tried changing the subject. “So…tell me, what goes on at the ‘bonfire’?” I did air quotes for bonfire. “I mean, why does everybody get so psyched about going?”
Luna opened her mouth to answer until Elise decided to grace us with her presence. That was her first…and last mistake.
“Wuz up, Goonie Lunie? Who’s your pasty friend?” Elise asked sarcastically, while twirling a piece of her over processed hair. Luna turned her head away from Elise, and I got the feeling she was scared of her for some reason. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. You talk a big game when I’m not around, but I don’t see you talking now.”
I gave Luna a sidelong glance and saw a tear dripping onto her cheek. “Leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything to you.” I said looking up at her from my chair.
Elise turned her attention to me by reaching out and flicking one of my curls.“What? You think I’m scared of you?” She asked, and let out a fake giggle.
Adrenaline raced through my veins and my hands began to shake. I had no patience for stuck up girls, especially those who thought they were better than everyone else.
I promptly stood and my chair flipped backwards. I don’t exactly remember what happened, except the next thing I knew Elise and I were being lead out of the lunchroom by two teachers and Elise’s face was bleeding. I heard the crowd in the lunchroom screaming, “Go Gen”.
While I waited inside the counselor’s office, I overheard a teacher saying that I’d had a wild look about me when they pulled us apart. Pulled us apart? I don’t remember touching her. Suddenly, the back of my neck started itching again, and when I rubbed across it, I could feel a raised line. I promptly pulled my compact out of my back and used the mirror over the tiny hand sink in her office to get a look at it. Although it was red and irritated, nothing was there. I quickly sat back down when I heard voices drawing near.
Miss Baylor, the counselor, came in and closed the door behind her. She quietly walked around her desk and sat down across from me. She was a young woman, probably mid twenties. I noticed her jet black hair wrapped up in a knot with two pencils holding it in place. She had on a Haven High School sweatshirt, and like so many of the teachers, she wore blue jeans.
She placed her elbows on her desk and folded her hands. “Well, Genevieve, this is not the way I had intended for us to meet.” She pulled off her glasses and looked at me severely. “Would you mind telling me what happened?”
I didn’t know what to say. She was expecting an explanation, and I couldn’t give her one. “I-I-I don’t exactly know.”
A puzzled expression flitted across her face, and then she smiled. How do you like it here at H-H-S?”
“It’s okay, I guess. I mean, it’s hard to know for sure after only a week. But I guess as far as school goes, it’s fine.” I sat with my hands tucked under my legs, swinging my feet back and forth nervously. If she called my aunt, it would be reason enough for her to take me out of school and then I’d be a prisoner at home again. “Miss Baylor, please don’t tell my aunt. After my mom died, she wanted me to home school. I guess that’s her idea of protecting me. I had to beg her to let me come to school in the first place.
“I swear Luna and I were minding our own business when Elise came over and started picking on Luna. At first, I wasn’t going to say anything, but she put her hands on me. I swear I was only defending myself.”
Miss Baylor picked up her phone and pressed a button. “Mr. Long, I won’t be calling Genevieve’s aunt after all.” She promptly glanced in my direction and winked, said something else to the principal, and hung up the phone.
“You’re not?” I asked earnestly. She smiled and shook her head. I was stoked. “Thanks, Miss Baylor. I really appreciate it.”
“We’ve all made mistakes.” She paused for a minute and stared off somewhere. “I see so much of myself in you.”
“How?” I furrowed my brow.
“It’s not important right now.” She halfway grinned. “I want you to promise me that you will do everything in your power to conduct yourself as a young lady.”
“Yeah…I promise.” I said, dropping my head down. As soon as she finished talking, I thanked her again for not calling my aunt, and quickly left her office.
Luna was waiting for me down the hall by the girls bathroom. “Gen! Oh-my-Gah!” She hugged my neck. “You slapped Elise like, so hard, she turned a complete circle and I swear her eyes rolled back in her head.”
“It should have never happened. I lost control. I just feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Did Mr. Long call your aunt?”
“No. For some reason Miss Baylor told him not to call.” I couldn’t help but grin when Luna’s jaw dropped.