If These Walls Could Talk
Chapter 11/?
A 7th Heaven Fan Fic by Lucky Star and Jordan
I stare into my locker, trying to block the image of Gene Blackwood
from my mind. Tall and slim, he'd walked straight towards me down the hall, and
all I could do was stand there, frozen like a wax dummy. But it was some other
boy, one I'd never even spoke to. My own reaction shocks me, for when I turned
to my locker and opened it I began to shake uncontrollably.
"Tory?"
My hand jerks, rattling the locker door. "Oh, hi Simon."
I can't hide anything from him anymore. Right away his eyes soften with concern, and he steps closer to me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just...I thought I saw him."
"Who?"
The name sticks in my throat for a moment. "Gene Blackwood."
Dismay blooms on his face. "I'm sorry, Tory, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."
"It wasn't him. I just thought...."
I don't expect it, but suddenly his arms are around me. "It's okay," he whispers. "I'm here."
I long to sink into his embrace, to press my face against the warmth of his neck, to be somewhere just the two of us, a place we never have to leave but can just stay safe and together. Instead I pull away. "I'm all right. I need to go to class."
"I'll walk with you."
"You need to get to class too."
"It's okay. I want to walk with you."
There's no dissuading him, and maybe it's best that he's with me. As we pass the door to the girls' room I imagine going in there, locking myself in a stall, and taking the X-acto knife from my purse. I always bring it with me, and today it was just from habit, though I know I shouldn't have. But I'm still shaking, only now it's on the inside, and I wish...no, I promised Simon. I promised.
* * *
One of the last things I feel like doing is running around the track in gym. It's still warm enough outside that people are comfortable in their shorts and T-shirts, the required gym uniform, and I am the only one wearing a sweater.
I hate this class because Kellian Foster and her friends are in it. She'd never paid attention to me before but today I see her watching me, looking at me as she whispers to her friends, and I remember that she was friends with Gene. Has she talked to him lately? Has he told her anything? The very idea makes me sick to my stomach, and again I hear the whisper of the X-acto knife. I wish my parents had let me stay home longer. I wish we could move and I could go to a completely different school. But then, of course, I wouldn't have Simon.
Later, I change my clothes in one of the stalls so none of the other girls will see the band-aids on my arms. My bag is there with me, the knife tucked deep inside. I could just...no, I can't. I won't. I open the door and gasp because Kellian is standing right in front of me, waiting, perfectly made up as usual, as if she hasn't just spent the last 40 minutes jogging around outside. Her auburn hair is highlighted with gold, sprayed and curled, her makeup precise.
"He's too good for you, you know."
My mind goes blank with shock. He told her. Gene told her.
"What?" I stammer.
"Simon. Camden. He's too good for you." She bites off each word, her brown eyes boring into mine.
I'm too confused, too relieved to think clearly, and try to step around her, but she's there, blocking me, pushing me back up against the stall door. "He's mine, okay? So you just back off. Tell him you're not interested."
Looking at her, somehow I know. She came onto Simon and he refused her, and boy, is she pissed. No one ever refuses Kellian Foster. I can't stop the eruption of triumph that bursts in my chest.
"What do you care?"
I know she doesn't expect this from me by the way she blinks and draws back a little. "Just back off if you know what's good for you."
"I'm not afraid of you. Simon doesn't want you anyway."
Her nostrils flare. I've hit my mark, but when she speaks her voice is smooth as oil. "Of course he does. It's you he doesn't want. Mousey little Victoria. You're so not his type. He needs a girl that can really make him a man, Tory." Simon's nickname for me is trash on her lips.
"You're a slut, Kellian."
Her slap against my cheek reverberates in the empty bathroom. "Stay away from Simon," she hisses. Before I can react, she whirls away.
"And what if I don't?"
She turns and throws a glare at me over her shoulder. "You don't want to know." And she's gone.
I can't help it; I'm shaking again and I want to cry. But I don't. Instead I bite the inside of my lip until the blood gushes into my mouth.
Chapter 11/?
A 7th Heaven Fan Fic by Lucky Star and Jordan
I stare into my locker, trying to block the image of Gene Blackwood
from my mind. Tall and slim, he'd walked straight towards me down the hall, and
all I could do was stand there, frozen like a wax dummy. But it was some other
boy, one I'd never even spoke to. My own reaction shocks me, for when I turned
to my locker and opened it I began to shake uncontrollably.
"Tory?"
My hand jerks, rattling the locker door. "Oh, hi Simon."
I can't hide anything from him anymore. Right away his eyes soften with concern, and he steps closer to me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just...I thought I saw him."
"Who?"
The name sticks in my throat for a moment. "Gene Blackwood."
Dismay blooms on his face. "I'm sorry, Tory, I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."
"It wasn't him. I just thought...."
I don't expect it, but suddenly his arms are around me. "It's okay," he whispers. "I'm here."
I long to sink into his embrace, to press my face against the warmth of his neck, to be somewhere just the two of us, a place we never have to leave but can just stay safe and together. Instead I pull away. "I'm all right. I need to go to class."
"I'll walk with you."
"You need to get to class too."
"It's okay. I want to walk with you."
There's no dissuading him, and maybe it's best that he's with me. As we pass the door to the girls' room I imagine going in there, locking myself in a stall, and taking the X-acto knife from my purse. I always bring it with me, and today it was just from habit, though I know I shouldn't have. But I'm still shaking, only now it's on the inside, and I wish...no, I promised Simon. I promised.
* * *
One of the last things I feel like doing is running around the track in gym. It's still warm enough outside that people are comfortable in their shorts and T-shirts, the required gym uniform, and I am the only one wearing a sweater.
I hate this class because Kellian Foster and her friends are in it. She'd never paid attention to me before but today I see her watching me, looking at me as she whispers to her friends, and I remember that she was friends with Gene. Has she talked to him lately? Has he told her anything? The very idea makes me sick to my stomach, and again I hear the whisper of the X-acto knife. I wish my parents had let me stay home longer. I wish we could move and I could go to a completely different school. But then, of course, I wouldn't have Simon.
Later, I change my clothes in one of the stalls so none of the other girls will see the band-aids on my arms. My bag is there with me, the knife tucked deep inside. I could just...no, I can't. I won't. I open the door and gasp because Kellian is standing right in front of me, waiting, perfectly made up as usual, as if she hasn't just spent the last 40 minutes jogging around outside. Her auburn hair is highlighted with gold, sprayed and curled, her makeup precise.
"He's too good for you, you know."
My mind goes blank with shock. He told her. Gene told her.
"What?" I stammer.
"Simon. Camden. He's too good for you." She bites off each word, her brown eyes boring into mine.
I'm too confused, too relieved to think clearly, and try to step around her, but she's there, blocking me, pushing me back up against the stall door. "He's mine, okay? So you just back off. Tell him you're not interested."
Looking at her, somehow I know. She came onto Simon and he refused her, and boy, is she pissed. No one ever refuses Kellian Foster. I can't stop the eruption of triumph that bursts in my chest.
"What do you care?"
I know she doesn't expect this from me by the way she blinks and draws back a little. "Just back off if you know what's good for you."
"I'm not afraid of you. Simon doesn't want you anyway."
Her nostrils flare. I've hit my mark, but when she speaks her voice is smooth as oil. "Of course he does. It's you he doesn't want. Mousey little Victoria. You're so not his type. He needs a girl that can really make him a man, Tory." Simon's nickname for me is trash on her lips.
"You're a slut, Kellian."
Her slap against my cheek reverberates in the empty bathroom. "Stay away from Simon," she hisses. Before I can react, she whirls away.
"And what if I don't?"
She turns and throws a glare at me over her shoulder. "You don't want to know." And she's gone.
I can't help it; I'm shaking again and I want to cry. But I don't. Instead I bite the inside of my lip until the blood gushes into my mouth.