Short chapter, but it's very important to the plot! As always, reviews are love!
Seussetta: Thank you so much for your review! I was so worried about that chapter… And I promise, I'm not mad at you. If you can't send or receive any PM's, your settings have probably just automatically turned Private Messaging off. It happens to me all the time. All you have to do is go to settings to fix it. Hope that helps!
Sadie bit her lip as she exited her 4th period class. So far… her day was going pretty well. There hadn't been any fights at home with mom (mostly because she had to leave early), and there wasn't much homework in any of her classes. Heck, she didn't even get in trouble for not paying attention in classes. Of course, the teachers expected this by now… as long as she got the answers right. Sadie was still wary though. There was still lunch, and 3 more periods to get through. As she reached her locker, and spun the combination, she hoped and prayed that Bullman wouldn't show up and ruin everything.
Alright… lunch, then Art, then History, then… ugh, test in English. Stupid gerunds, and participles and-
The locker door slammed shut, and Sadie just barely was able to move herself out of the way before it did. "What the hell?" Sadie cursed.
"Tut, tut, Sadie." A slimy and familiar voice whispered. "Such language from a… a lady such as yourself! What would your mother say?"
Sadie looked up to see Bullman looking down at her. She smirked. "You honestly think that I haven't heard worse come out of her mouth?" She spun the combination again, and forced the locker open, shoving Bullman's hand off of it. "You obviously don't know her as well as I do." She leaned against the door of the locker, so the door would catch itself on the wall, preventing Bullman from shutting it. She kept piling her books into her locker as Bullman spoke.
"Still… what would your little boyfriend think?"
Sadie rolled her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend, and he's not here." She said forcefully. "Would you just leave me alone?"
Bullman paused, and Sadie heard the rustling of papers. "He's not your boyfriend?" He repeated. Sadie shook her head, focusing on her books. "Oh, so you don't mind him being with another girl?"
Sadie froze. "W-What are you talking about?" She asked, trying to keep a calm even tone. "How would you know?"
Bullman smirked. "There's this wonderful new invention called the tabloids, Sadie. You might want to take a look at them." He shoved the paper into her face, and sure enough the headline read. "Anthony Blair Hall in Suspected Relationship With Costar Katie McGrath. More Details Inside!" Katie McGrath… who does she play again? Seeing the confused look on her face, Bullman smiled. "Yep, it's all over Hollywood. Apparently they were seen together a few weeks ago, and the press has been eating it up ever since." Sadie didn't say anything, still trying to think of where she had heard that name before. "And in an interview, he mentioned a mystery girl who he liked. That just went up yesterday. Isn't it amazing, how fast the press can work at these stories?"
Suddenly, something clicked in Sadie's brain. "Katie McGrath plays Cindy Lou Who, doesn't she? She's from Colorado, and the two are kinda friends, because they're both the same age. Therefore, they hang out together."
"But couldn't they be dating?" Bullman asked. "I mean, anything's possible, isn't it Sadie?" Sadie didn't respond. He'd tell me if they were. He wouldn't leave anything out. He never leaves anything out. Bullman smirked. "You know what? You're probably right. They're not dating. I mean, it's because he's gay. Hanging around with you so much, he'd have to be turned off from girls forever!"
There was no thought process, no reaction time, no nothing. Just pure reflex. Sadie's arm came up and punched Bullman in the stomach, hard. As he doubled over, she kicked him in the shin, and then pushed him away from her. "Don't you dare say that, Morris. You don't know him, or me! You have no right to-" She couldn't finish her sentence, as Bullman came at her, lunging for her to pay. She moved out of the way just in time, causing Bullman to slam into the wall. He turned, getting up quickly. It was then that he saw everyone that was around, who had drifted over as the first punch was thrown. He saw kids from his grade, kids from the basketball team (which he played on, because he was freakishly tall, standing at 6' 8"), and kids he looked up to, all staring at him. They saw him getting beat up by this little girl.
"Come on Bullman!" Sadie yelled. "If you want a fight, then fight me." Her foot came down on his, and as he reached for her, she moved away. As far as she was concerned, he couldn't touch her. The crowd started whispering, some cheering, and some frightened. None, however, tried to break it up. "Come on. You've got like 8 inches on me! Shouldn't this be easy?"
Bullman yelled an unintelligible interjection, and lunged at her again, ready to break her arms. Sadie moved out of the way, but miscalculated as she slammed herself into the lockers. Bullman laughed as Sadie rubbed the back of her head in pain. "That's gonna hurt tomorrow…" she muttered to herself.
Bullman ceased the opportunity as it presented itself. He stood, and rushed over to the lockers, blocking her in. "I've got you right where I want you." He said in a threatening tone. Sadie looked left, then right. Either way she went, he would catch her. He was stupid, sure, but he moved fast. So, she went with her instinct, and kicked up fast and hard, striking him where the sun don't shine.
A loud "Oohhhh" went through the crowd, and Bullman fell almost immediately. Sadie, a bit shaken up, closed her locker, and tried to move through the crowd. A familiar hand grabbed her arm, and started pulling her. She didn't resist. She didn't even have to look up to see that it was her mother.
Well, frick me.
"SADIE MARIE ZOICE, WHAT ON EARTH HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?"
Sadie said nothing, staring out of the open window in her mother's office. She simply shrugged, watching the leaves fall off the trees. Her mother quickly closed the blinds, causing Sadie to search for another place to divert her attention. "Young lady, I'm being serious! What were you doing fighting with that young man?" Sadie simply shrugged again, looking down at the wood patterns in her mother's desk. "Do you realize how badly you beat him up? He's on his way to the infirmary right now? What do you have to say for yourself?"
Sadie said nothing. She didn't need to. She knew nothing was going to help her case. The desk was quite interesting to her at the moment, mostly because it wasn't throwing it's voice out yelling at her.
Her mother realized that she wasn't going to say anything, and sat down at the desk again. "Sadie, I gave you another chance. You promised, and yet you broke it within 24 hours!" She sighed, looking straight at her daughter. "I have no choice but to suspend you for 2 weeks, for fighting with another student."
"How many will Bullman get?" Sadie whispered.
"What?"
"How many will Bullman get?" Sadie asked again, louder. She was pissed. Bullman had it coming, and had no right to say those things to her. Surely he had to get suspended for breaking the rules of conduct! After all, he fought back.
Her mother paused. "I… I haven't decided. But I think I'll give him 3 days, so-"
"THREE DAYS?" Sadie yelled, on her feet. "I get two weeks and he gets a lousy three days? What kind of system is this? He started the fight!"
"That's not what I saw, Sadie!" Her mother yelled back at her. "You clearly threw the first punch!"
"He DESERVED it!" Sadie countered. "This system is horrible!"
"This system is WORKING!" Her mother exclaimed. "Kids are kept out of trouble, and don't get hurt! That's the system we want. The system isn't working because you don't want it to work, Sadie! You're one of the main reasons for almost all of the problems at this school. Not Morris, YOU. Do you understand that Sadie?"
"They don't get hurt, Mom?" Sadie asked, with overwhelming amounts of sarcasm in her voice. "Maybe you should actually get to know your students, because I can assure you, they're getting wounded beyond your imagination. Not physically, true, but words hurt just as much. And, you know? Maybe you could have started somewhere close to home. Like, oh, I don't know, your daughter!"
"Sadie, get out of my office." Her mother said, slamming her hands on the desk. "We will talk about this when we get home."
Sadie grabbed her backpack, turning on her heel. "No… no we won't." she whispered to herself, her head spinning. She left the school and walked the short 5 minute walk to her house. Opening the door, Sadie pounded up the stairs, getting her duffel bag and loading her supplies into her backpack. She grabbed her plans out of the drawers, and her money that she kept in the house. She shoved that into her pockets. Her winter coat easily fit into her duffel bag, with room to spare. As she was about to leave the room, she suddenly remembered the reason that she was leaving this place. Dropping her things, she got out a pen and paper, and started writing.
She finished the letter with ease, and grabbed her things once again. She dropped it into the mailbox outside of the bank, withdrew all of her money from her account, and left Springfield.
Not much to say, but reviews are love. You'll see what she wrote next chapter, which I am already in the process of making. It's going to be pretty short, like this one, and then I'll get back into longer chapters. Now I know where I'm going with the story, and I have a destination. Thank you to everyone who's reading.
Peace, Love, and Seuss forever.
Em Cabot.