Chapter 9
The next day, I got to sleep until 8:30, which was perfect since I didn't turn in until two. At 8:30, I hopped out of bed, took a quick shower, dressed, and headed down to breakfast. The girls were oddly silent, like they were angry or something.
"Good morning, Liz, feeling well?" Auzzie asked stiffly.
"Yeah, hey, you guys missed quite a time last night, but it wouldn't of been fair to take only some, and we're certainly not all going to fit in Dane's car." I laughed. Eleven fuming faces met mine.
"We would have found other means, Liz. Nice to know you're one of us." FBI said bitterly.
"We would've gotten caught, that many of us." I replied.
"You still got caught, Liz! And now we have to do bed clothes, windows, and bathrooms!" Cara retorted. "You could've at least taken us with you so the extra chores we're doing would be our fault. You got in trouble and we got work. See the difference?"
"Aww, come on you guys, I'll take you next time, I swear." I pleaded.
"There won't be a next time, Liz. You don't get it, do you? You got a warning. That means if you sneak out again, you're expelled! We can go, you can't." Shadow spit angrily. "And since it's your boyfriend doing the driving, we can get out of the building, but not to town."
The girls promptly got up, bussed their trays, and disappeared into the school. I followed a few moments later when the bell rang, and I prepared myself for a long day. First class of the day was Arts and Crafts. I sat down at my table and sourly watched Ms. Virtuoso come in and drop her bag next to her desk as she did everyday. Today, we made paper, and I prayed Choir would be more interesting.
When the bell rang, I made my way to Mrs. Samson's room. She spent the hour ranting and screaming until I wanted a bullet to my brain just to end it. LA, FBI, D, T, and Cara spent the hour seeing if spitballs would stick in my hair. And the winning answer is yes, spit balls stick to hair. I spent ten minutes of lunch picking them out. I endured a lunch with company as cold as at breakfast.
Coach Jones never gets angry. A quality I was quite thankful for when, accidentally, I ended up the only person on my team, ten on the other, and suddenly I had no more balls, in dodge ball. We swam a few laps in the pool before he blew the whistle for us to get our stuff together. Coach patted me on the shoulder as I walked past, sympathy in his eyes. Poor thing, I wonder if the whole school is mad at her, though I can't imagine what she did.
On my way out, it seemed that several of my classmates had gathered in a small circle beside the pool. I pushed my way to the center through whispers to see what they were looking at, and a big hand came down and tightly grasped my shoulder, spinning me to face them. "Hi Rebecca, how's it going?" I stuttered, looking up into her very angry eyes.
"You got me three weeks detention and kitchen duty for a month!" She spat. "And you're going to pay for it!" With that, Rebecca knocked the wind out of me with a fist to the gut. I doubled over and groaned. She grabbed me by the hair and wrenched me up to face her. The last thing I saw was her smirk, and her fist, speeding forward to meet my mouth.
I tasted blood and landed with a splash. The next thing I knew, Coach Jones was staring down at me, a strange look on his face. Oh God, thank you God, she's okay, I really didn't want a kid to die on my clock, but she's okay. I rolled over and coughed until my stomach held no more water. I tried to sit up but Coach held me down and gently, ever so gently, dabbed my mouth with a wet cloth. Finally, he let me sit up, but not without bracing me, just in case.
My head spun a little, but I shook it away. "You gave me quite a scare, Ms. Parker. You were near the bottom of the pool when I found you. Are you feeling okay now?" Coach asked. I nodded weakly.
"Now, tell me what happened? When I last saw you, you were swimming like a fish, so I know you didn't get tired and slip under. And I sure know you didn't give yourself a bloody lip and a knockout. So, lay it on me, Elizabeth. How did you end up at the bottom of the pool, fully clothed, with a fat lip?" Coach asked, giving me a stern look.
"Rebecca Morgan." I whispered.
"I oughta tan her hide for this." He said indignant.
"No Coach, don't get her in trouble, that's how this all started." I begged, gingerly prodding my sore lip. "You see, she tore up my book, I got her in trouble for it, and then she came to take her punishment out on me. If you yell at her, she'll just knock my teeth in." I explained.
"You sure about that? I mean, she might just keep raggin' on you if you don't do something about it, but I don't mean violence." Coach asked, concerned.
"I'm sure, Coach. Just give me a minute to breathe and I'll be fine." I sighed decidedly.
"Okay then, put yourself together, and for God's sake, don't let her see you take it so hard on the chin. Hurry on to your room before anyone sees you wet and bleeding." Coach sighed, giving me a nudge. I nodded and turned to go, but Coach caught me real quick. He handed me my books, which I had safely left on the bleachers, and smiled weakly. I silently took them, careful not to press them against my wet body, and ran off at a sprint. I miraculously made it to my room without seeing any teachers, Ms. Harper, Elsa, or Rebecca. I did, however, run into Cara.
"Sorry Cara, didn't see you there." I blurted out.
"Gee, thanks, Liz. Not only am I not good enough for the club, I'm not good enough to be seen." Cara spat. "And I thought you were different, what a joke!" I stared at the ground; I couldn't look at her when she was that angry. She was silent a moment, then said, "Jesus, Liz, what happened, did you have a fight with the shower?" Water dripped off the tip of my nose and landed on the thick wine colored carpet covering the hall floor.
"More like Rebecca Morgan." I confessed softly.
"Jeez, what happened this time, what did you do?" Cara asked.
"She got in trouble for tearing up my book, so she took it out on my lip." I explained. I gently prodded my lip again. "A jab to the stomach, then one to the face was enough to knock me out and into the pool."
"Oh Liz, that's got to be enough to get her suspended at least." She rejoiced.
"I'm not going to tell, Cara, she'll just come back and do her worst to me, and I'm tired of it. No more, I'm done trying to make myself known to this school. From now on, I'm just going to sit down, shut up, and disappear." I said firmly.
"Liz, how long were you in the pool?" Cara asked curiously.
"I don't know, I blacked out, but I had the strangest feeling of peace, like everything was fine. I swear, I saw myself floating down there from above, like it was someone else at the bottom of the pool." I stated, a small, strangled idea forming in my mottled mind.
"Liz," Cara drawled, "are you okay?" She stared at me queerly. I did my best to shake away the cloud in my head and nodded. Cara seemed to relax, smiled at me, and said, "Liz, I'm sorry we all got so mad at you, we were just upset you went without us. Finding out what's happening to you is more important than some stupid club." Just like that, the tiff was over, and we walked down the hall to my room.
"Um, about that Cara, boy have I got some news for you!" I laughed, closing my bedroom door. I told her the whole story of what happened after Rebecca destroyed my book, the thoughts not my own in my head, and my own thoughts on it. She listened intently, jotting something down every now and then as I paced the room drying my hair with a towel. When I'd finished, Cara gave me a minute to put on dry clothes, then promised to research the phenomenons. She left silently, gently squeezing my hand before she did, and I collapsed on the bed.
