Chapter 35

Wednesday started out on a completely normal note. I took Dawn for an early morning run, showered, had breakfast and got ready for school as normal. When we got there, the girls came with me to my locker and hung around when I went to Tricia’s locker to see her before class. She showed up and grinned at the bunch of us, kissing me as deeply as the school policy on public displays of affection would allow.

We all chatted for a few minutes while she grabbed her books and then we split up, Beck and I going to our first class of the day together.

“It’s not necessary for you guys to escort me to class,” I pointed out, feeling relaxed and cared about, but also feeling a little guilty that they were going out of their way because I had a tantrum the day before.

She looked at me funny and shook her head. “Tell me with a straight face that you didn’t secretly wish you could be with each of us last term to take us to and from every class. Think about the day Vance came back to school and tell me that wasn’t something you wished you could do.”

“Point taken,” I said, suitably chastised. “Lunch time yesterday was the first time I really felt like you girls were safe here,” I admitted. “I know it’s stupid, but I knew I’d fight like Hell to keep you safe. I didn’t trust anyone else to do the job right.”

“Well, there’s sixty-two of us and only one of you,” she pointed out. “We can watch out for you a lot easier than you could keep track of all of us.”

“So do I get to know who’s on the watch-list?” I asked as I hung out at her desk, waiting for class to start.

She shrugged. “We’re still putting the list together,” she admitted. “We’re all going to have a meeting to figure out who did what to you sometime this weekend.”

“Include Tricia in that?” I requested. “Assuming she’s interested in going. She’s kind of juggling life with me and life with Cheryl at the moment.”

Beck looked around and put her head close to mine. “You know that’s a disaster, right?” she asked. “As fucked in the head as Cheryl is, she’s not gonna stop running her mouth about you.”

“We all know what happened,” I told her. “Even Cheryl knows deep down. If she keeps kicking up a fuss, we’ll have it out in public and let the chips fall.”

She nodded. “I think you’ll have to put her in her place before you have to go back to classes at Harvard,” she told me. “Just make sure you do it as harshly as you did with the baseball team.”

“I will,” I promised. “Speaking of the team, the guy they used to replace me must have really sucked for them to try to get me back yesterday.”

“He was okay,” she said casually, “but his parents moved to Woburn at the start of the school year, so he’ll be on a different team next summer.”

I nodded and then had to go to my desk since class was starting. I got some work done on my family portrait and kept enough attention on the class that I noticed a couple of the students paying more attention to me than normal. I ignored it for the most part and returned to my drawing with colored pencils, trying to capture some of the people that were central to our family.

When the bell rang, Beck waited for me and walked me partway to my next class. She chewed her lip and I leaned in to kiss her. “Go to class,” I told her. “I’ll be fine and if someone annoys me, I’ll handle it. Promise. I’ll see you at lunch.”

She nodded finally and then took off for her class and I went to mine without incident, but again, there were a couple of people looking at me off and on during the lecture. At the end of class, I stopped one of the people that had been looking at me oddly. “Pete,” I called his name. “What’s going on? People have been giving me weird looks all morning.”

He looked at me for a second, surprised before he recovered. “You don’t know?” he asked. “Roger got beat up after school. He won’t say who did it, but they roughed him up pretty good. Everybody thinks it was you.”

I shook my head. “I was with doctors from right after school until dinner,” I said. “This is the first that I’ve heard of it.”

The topic came up during lunch and no one seemed to be able to figure out who had attacked Roger or if it had been more than one person. I ignored the conversation and ate, noticing that I was again the focus of attention and wished it was for something as pleasant as a call from Scarlett or even a new challenge from Chris Evans.

“So who’s on guard detail for the late lunch?” I asked lightly, hoping to change the topic from Roger’s beating which had been earned in my opinion. He generally treated everyone like he was in charge and had a right to be giving orders.

“Elizabeth Cameron and Janice Link promised to keep your table filled today,” Gina said. They were the only two of the cheerleaders that had late lunch and that filled me with a relief that must have been visible because Lana reached over to take my hand.

“You’ll be fine,” she told me and I nodded, trying to be nonchalant about it.

“I had no doubt you girls would take care of me,” I told them all. “You’re too good for me.”

“I personally had more to do with making you hate this place than anyone,” she reminded me. “You’re not too good for us. You used yourself up to keep us safe and protected last term. We’ll stand guard with sticks to keep the assholes away if we have to.” Her voice was fierce, reminding me that she’d die to protect me. I was humbled all over again at the outpouring of support from all of them.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “Thank you all. I’m deeply grateful for your help and support. You were all there for me when I got hurt and you’re keeping me safe from my anxieties here.”

Jessie leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’re worth it,” she said. “You’re the only person who made us feel like we were worth a damn thing after September. We all agree that if you need it, we’re doing it.”

The rest of their lunch was pleasant and I watched them go, wishing we had more time together while all the students filed out of the cafeteria. I was waiting for the second lunch period to start when Roger burst into the room. He must have run from his class to be the first one here.

We looked at each other across the cafeteria and I calmly put my phone in my backpack since I figured he was going to charge me. I stood up and stepped away from the table, giving him a clear path to me if he was willing to take it. Personally, I didn’t think he looked like he’d really been roughed up.

“I know it was you!” he spat at me. “You attacked me after school yesterday.”

“Roger, if I attacked you, you’d be dead right now,” I told him coldly. “Don’t tempt me.”

“You think you can take me without my back being turned?” he demanded, flexing his hands.

“I know I can take you, Roger. Vance Waterman had a gun. He’s dead. Marlene Garrett attacked me from behind. She’s gonna have to learn to walk again. You wanna go for a ride in the ambulance? That’s fine, but it’s on you if you attack me.”

It was about that time that people started showing up for lunch. They stayed clear of the two of us, figuring that this was gonna turn into entertainment.

“I have no idea who beat you up yesterday,” I said in a clear, loud voice. “I was with doctors from right after classes until I had a late dinner. I have witnesses. I think we can say that whoever took you to the woodshed had a good reason. Anyone who knows you, knows that you’re an asshole to everyone around you. So why don’t you start by trying to figure out who you’ve been an asshole to lately and see if you can’t narrow down the suspect pool.”

“SHUT UP!” he yelled. Today it was him getting angry. I shrugged and turned to sit back down in my seat. “If you didn’t do it, you put someone up to it! So you’re gonna get yours!”

I froze, half crouched to sit down and then deliberately stood up straight and turned toward him. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t change my expression. I just walked across the cafeteria to him. “Say that again,” I challenged him.

He looked uncomfortable, but he repeated it, his voice trembling a little. “So what does that even MEAN?” I asked him. “Are you threatening to pour crap into my locker again? Yeah, I know that was you. That and the vomit and the piss and the animal blood. Are you threatening to attack me? I take martial arts and I’ve either killed or hospitalized everyone who’s physically menaced me. You think you can do better? I’m urging you not to try. Back down, walk away, eat your words, tuck tail, lower your eyes, abandon whatever plans for revenge you have. If you come after me, it’s gonna end badly for you. I know you want to be a professional player some day. I’ll break so many bones you won’t be able to play chess. Your pitching arm? I’d pull it out of the socket, hyper-extend the elbow and break it in two places just because I’m a thorough sort of guy. If I’d laid a beating into you, you’d still be in surgery.”

“You think you’re really that tough?” he sneered and I sighed.

“Would you like to see what Marlene Garrett got when she attacked me on Monday?” I asked him and turned around to go get my phone. I brought up the video and showed him the vicious attack and the brutal beating I’d delivered in response.

He watched it, his face slowly turning from red, to white to slightly green. “That’s what a broken nose, shattered orbital socket, broken cheekbone, six knocked out teeth, jaw broken in three places, two broken wrists and a shattered pelvis look like,” I told him. Everyone else in the cafeteria could hear it too. You wanna see the video of Vance now? No? You’ve seen that one? Good. If I’d been the one throwing the knuckles yesterday, you wouldn’t be able to talk. I was a Hell of a lot more pissed off at you yesterday than I was at Marlene when I did that. I was mad enough to peel your skin off while you were still awake. If I was gonna give in to that urge, I wasn’t gonna leave you in any condition to come to school today and maybe not ever again. When you pray to God at night, remember to thank God that I’m better than that.”

I left him standing there and walked back to my seat. Elizabeth and Janice came to sit with me, carrying trays as they took up the seats beside me and across from me.

“That was intense!” Janice said, looking at where Roger had gone to sit with some of his friends. “I thought he was gonna hit you a couple of times. How’re you doing today?”

“I’m a little better than yesterday. I kind of had a meltdown and had to get out of here before I went nuclear.”

“Yeah, we know. We would have come to sit with you yesterday, but they were already here,” Elizabeth told me.

“I’ll be sure to save you seats from now on,” I told them lightly with a smile.

Janice was a beautiful African American girl with extremely dark skin and gorgeous features. She was one in a million, I’d often thought. I hadn’t really known her except through cheer and having her at the house for the meetings. Where she was dark, Elizabeth was so pale she seemed somehow less real than the rest of us. I didn’t think she was true albino, but I wasn’t sure. She had such pale white skin, almost white hair and her eyes were such a pale blue that from a distance, they seemed to be completely white. They were literally night and day, which was their nickname around school. It wasn’t surprising that they’d become close friends, since most of our community was white with a sprinkling of Italian and Hispanic ethnicity. They were the extreme opposite ends of the scale.

The three of us settled down to get to know each other a little better and had a quiet, enjoyable lunch without being bothered by anyone unpleasant. Tricia had chosen to sit with Cheryl again and that made me sad, but I couldn’t be the one to put pressure on her. I knew she was getting a subtle, constant sort of suggestion that I was bad in the form of Cheryl’s comments, so I kept mine neutral. I caught her eye before the end of lunch, but saw Cheryl give me a filthy look and immediately she drew Tricia back into conversation with her.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I left the cafeteria, knowing that we were going to have to talk about it again before too much longer. I wondered if I’d made a mistake in keeping the girls from slapping her around some. Not that I’d admit that to them. They’d take it as permission. Even if they each slapped her once, that would be a beating to remember.

I shrugged and immersed myself in the afternoon classes, working slowly on my sketch and listening to the lectures a little more than I normally would. I really kind of missed German. There was a class participation part that had us talking to each other. I wasn’t doing any of the things that I’d tested out of it to do. No one needed my protection except Cheryl and I hadn’t even seen a hint that people were talking to her other than Tricia.

After school, I got to Dr. Spencer’s just in time to see Stephanie as she was leaving. “Hi, Stephanie!” I said brightly, giving her my best smile.

She smiled shyly in return. “Hi,” she said quietly, but a little more easily than she had when we first met.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

She glanced at Victoria and then back at me. “Dr. Spencer says I’m making progress,” she told me. “She said I should be proud of myself.”

“You should,” I agreed happily. “You’re a lot more comfortable talking to me than you were when you first met me and that’s only a couple of weeks ago. You SHOULD be really proud of that.”

“Did she say why I’m seeing her?” she asked me uncertainly.

I shook my head. “She would never tell your secrets to anyone,” I assured her. “She only told me that you normally don’t talk to strangers. I did tell her it was okay for her to tell you a little about me if you asked her questions though.”

“You did?” her eye widened. “You won’t mind? I can really ask?”

I nodded. “If you’re curious about something, you can ask her or talk to me when you see me on Wednesdays. I don’t mind at all.”

She bit her lip and looked at me shyly. “Are you really gonna marry the girl in your video from when you got hurt?” she asked.

I grinned. “Yeah, that’s the plan,” I told her. “It’s what we both want.”

She seemed satisfied with that answer, but it was hard to tell with Stephanie since she was so shy and reserved.

Again, Victoria came to my rescue and reminded her that her mother would be waiting for her. She nodded and took off running, seeming a little more relaxed than usual. She stopped and waved from the corner and I waved back before following Victoria into the office.

“How was your day today?” she asked when we were settled.

“It was better,” I admitted. “I had a confrontation with one of the baseball team. Apparently someone beat him up yesterday while I was with Carl. I have no idea who, but I owe them a thank you note.”

“Was that the worst that happened to you?” she asked lightly. “You usually tell me the least troubling things first.”

I shrugged. “Cheryl’s trying to come between Tricia and I. She’s stopped seeing Alice and refuses to see a different counselor. I’m worried that her mind is going to be more and more warped as time goes on.”

“And naturally, you’re concerned with Tricia being close to her, but you don’t want to be the one that makes her choose,” she supplied. She knew me too well.

I nodded. “I’ve had this experience before. I trust Tricia. I really do. I’m more worried that it’s going to turn ugly and she’ll have to cut Cheryl out of her life. I don’t want to cost her friendships.”

“But you don’t think that Cheryl shares your philosophy?” she asked gently.

“I think she’d tell everyone I straight-out raped her if she thought that anyone would listen to her,” I said sourly. “She invests every look she gives me with a passionate disgust that says more than words could.”

She nodded in understanding. “You’re not going to be loved by everyone. Some of those people that dislike or even hate you will have petty, foolish or even false reasons for disliking you. It’s not always even going to be a reason you understand. I’ve heard patients expressing extreme revulsion for someone based on one eye being slightly higher than the other.”

“That’s a little extreme,” I admitted. “Her disliking me is something I can handle,” I assured her. “I can even handle her refusing to get treatment for her problems. My real fear is that she’s going to use her friendship as a crowbar to try to tear Tricia and I apart. Regardless of how that turns out, Tricia gets hurt.”

“You’re sure that’s the only outcome?” she asked. “It’s possible that Tricia can bring her out of her current state, you know.”

I nodded. “If anyone can, it’s Tricia,” I said slowly.

“You’re not optimistic though.”

“Fully trained doctors lose patients. She’s not fully trained and Cheryl is deeply disturbed right now. I fear very much for her well-being and when she breaks with reality completely, Tricia’s gonna be at ground zero for the explosion.”

She nodded. “That’s a very real possibility,” she admitted. “There’s nothing you can personally do to avoid that though. Better to prepare her for the situation in case it comes up.”

We talked about it a little more and she warned me that we’d be delving into the traumas of last semester in the coming weeks.

I nodded. “The girls have developed a plan to keep me insulated from people they know were rotten to me last term, so that’s helping. They’re just making sure that there are trustworthy people nearby most of the day.”

She nodded and we wrapped up our session. “We haven’t done anything to flirt with Samantha,” she pointed out.

“I have that handled,” I reminded her. “I’ll be able to ask her a lot of questions about how much vacation time she’ll have accumulated by then.”

“I see,” she said with a dismissive shrug. “I doubt she’ll agree to go with you, but then, she was my first choice when you asked me about someone for your father.”

“Speaking of which, I need to get hold of Jill to make the arrangements for her to meet him,” I said, remembering suddenly.