Chapter 4

We quickly forgot the near-pregnancy experience. There was so much else to think about. The first preliminary test before the final exam came in the beginning of March, and we had to spend more time studying. It was judgment day for Mark in particular. I had a fair idea about how his father had persuaded the headmaster to let Mark stay after he “copied” Annie’s English paper, but I had no idea about how Mark managed to convince his father that he was doing well in school. But he couldn’t hide the results of the test, and I guess his father got pretty upset.

It became the end of social life for Mark, at least until after the final exams. His father hired a teacher to try and put some of the missing knowledge into Mark’s thick head before final exams. Every afternoon, Mark studied with his tutor, and in the evening it was homework, closely followed by his father. Mark was furious, and somehow he felt it was Annie’s fault. He hated her guts, but he couldn’t do much about it. The few times he tried to ridicule Annie, she crucified him with her wits. So, of course, he still hated her.

Annie and I didn’t have a social life the same way Mark had, with friends and such. But kissing and cuddling in the afternoon had to make way for homework and extra studying. Sometimes, it was hard to concentrate on the Napoleonic Wars or trigonometry when Annie was sitting at the same table. Her fragrance tried to lure me away from the books, tried to distract me. Too often, it succeeded, but Annie was very determined to do well on the final exams and she blankly refused to do anything but study together until we went to bed in the evening. But then she was as loving and wonderful as ever.

Even though caution had become very important, when we had real sex, it was close a few times. We both badly wanted to let go. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to any form of contraceptives and neither of us dared to ask our parents. The fantasy about using Annie’s other hole was still there and excited us both, but so far, Annie hadn’t been up to it and I didn’t want to push her, no matter how much I wished she would do it.

Spring was early and very warm that year. Late April was sunny with summer temperatures. Sometimes, we could sit in the garden and study in the afternoon. It made the studying feel less tedious and that was much needed.

Only one of our teachers had some kind of understanding about how stressful it was to prepare for the exam. He was relatively young, at least compared to the rest of the staff, who could best be described as museum pieces. Maybe they weren’t that old, but they had been at the school since dinosaurs walked the surface of the earth. A lot of them had been pupils at the school and after they had finished their education, they had returned as teachers. I guess it maintained the “spirit” of the school, keeping it as old-fashioned as it had always been. We had reached an age where we suddenly realised how ridiculous many of the rules and traditions of the school were. One more year and we would probably have rebelled against it too.

But there was one young teacher, who hadn’t been a pupil in our school and hadn’t been there long enough to assimilate the special “spirit” of the school. He was very, very popular amongst the pupils, and I assume he was equally unpopular amongst his colleagues.

Anyway, this teacher seemed to understand the pressure. Maybe he was young enough to remember. One day, at the beginning of May, just before the exams began, he came into the classroom, looking very serious.

‘Class! We are approaching the final exam, and you are all studying hard. This lesson will be one of the most important lessons you will ever receive from this school, and I want you to pay special attention. I know how your brains are close to overload, but I think it will be possible to cram in another important piece of information.’

He sounded just like all the old teachers. It was typical of the way they all started, when they wanted to give us the lecture on why it was their particular subject that was the most important subject of all. However, it wasn’t like him, and, sure enough, he had something up his sleeve.

Throughout all your life, you will be facing situations where pressure and stress will prevent you from thinking straight and prevent you from doing the best you can. There is one and only one cure for this. Pay attention, ladies and gents, this is important stuff. You have to learn to relax, disconnect the brain, give it a rest. You need to learn to unwind completely for a few minutes, for an hour, for as long as needed to let your brain clear. This doesn’t mean sleeping. In your sleep, your brain is still busy, dreaming and working on the same problems that you had before you went asleep. No, you have to be awake and occupy yourself with something that doesn’t require too much of your brain, but preferably something of your body. That way, your brain can concentrate on your body mechanics and nothing else. So…’ he opened a large basket and took out a football, ‘we are going to spend this lesson learning that. I suggest a game of soccer.’

A loud roar rose in the classroom. Everybody cheered, even those girls who normally didn’t do any kind of physical exercise. The teacher hushed us.

‘Quiet now. We don’t want to attract too much attention. I’m not sure my colleagues approve of my theory of education. Now, let’s all walk quietly to the sports field.’

We calmed down as much as possible. I mean, it was a little like taking the cap off a bottle of soda that you have shaken intensively and then trying to stop the flow. But we managed to get to the field without causing too much commotion.

The game was chaotic but fun. None of the girls were used to playing soccer, and just kicking the ball yielded very unpredictable results. Still, the game served its purpose up to the point where Mark’s team got a free kick.

Mark was to take the free kick. He was a brilliant player with fantastic control over the ball. He would usually score on a free kick at that distance. It was fairly close to the goal, and some of the players on our team formed a wall, but it would probably be useless, considering how good Mark was.

Annie was standing a little bit away from the others, not in any way in a spot where it would be expected that the ball would come. Mark stood for a second before he started his run. With the greatest precision and force he could master, he sent the ball directly into Annie’s stomach. Considering where Annie was and where the goal was, it was obvious that he had done it on purpose.

The force of the ball knocked Annie over, and she crumpled up in pain. I ran to her; everybody did.

“Got you, bitch!” I heard Mark say triumphantly. While a couple of the girls tried to get Annie up and make her stretch out to ease the pain, I turned towards Mark. I was furious, and even though I had never engaged in fighting, I was ready to smack him good. I was strong enough to beat the hell out of him. He was a few feet away, and I looked at him. He was grinning, but suddenly, his face changed. He looked like he had seen a ghost, pale and frightened. He was looking at the scene behind me, and I turned to see what was wrong.

Annie was standing between two of the girls. Small streams of blood were running down her thighs. I think I heard somebody say they were going to get an ambulance. If I was mad before, I was totally enraged now. I turned towards Mark with the full intention of hurting him bad, but he was gone. Then I looked down, and there he was, unconscious on the ground.

Since I was too late to beat him up, I turned my attention to Annie. She was crying, obviously in pain, and it looked like she was seriously hurt. It took ages for the ambulance to arrive. In all the confusion, nobody noticed that Mark had passed out, and when it was all over, he was gone.

Our teacher thought it best if it was one of the girls that went with her in the ambulance. I was to contact my mother and then go to the hospital. When I got there, Mom was already there, sitting by Annie’s bed. My entrance in the room seemed to be the cue she had waited for. She got up and said something about getting back to work and that she would come around in the evening.

I took a chair and sat down next to Annie. She didn’t look that bad.

‘So, are you OK?’ I asked.

‘Yes ... I guess. Kind of. It still hurts a little, but they say it will pass quickly,’ Annie replied.

‘When will you be sent home?’

‘They’ll keep me here tonight, just in case.’

‘In case of what? What was the blood? What had happened?’ I asked, trying not to sound too worried.

‘I ... was pregnant. The ball ... I had a miscarriage,’ Annie said and took a deep breath. ‘Don’t worry, it’s okay now. It was just ... a bit of a shock.’

‘You mean ... but we haven’t ... I mean, we have been so careful. What’s Mom going to say? Did you tell her? What... ‘

A million thoughts flew through my head. I was terrified but also relieved in a strange way. What on earth would have happened if Mark hadn’t kicked the ball, if Annie hadn’t aborted?

‘She was more concerned about why we were playing soccer, when we were supposed to be studying for the final exams. All she said was that she thought I’d better get on the pill. She didn’t even ask who the father was,’ Annie replied, sarcastically.