One Step at a Time
Well, here it is! The next chapter 2 of OSaaT! Please take the time to read my notes at the bottom as I have a favour to ask of you lovely people. And to answer LeafxGreenx3's question, Dawn, May and Misty will appear, but not all at once. One of them makes their debut in this chapter, but who...? You'll have to read on to find out!
Chapter 2
She watched the hands of the clock sit in place. She had questioned the time that the clock displayed several times. Why had the professor not called her down yet? Leaf couldn't concentrate on the lesson – she didn't even know what class she's in just now! The only thing that was on her mind was her journal, the one that the principal had confiscated off that snobby blonde Olivia.
It had been an hour since lunch ended. Why was she still sitting here? All she wanted was her journal back, maybe then she'd be able to at least attempt to pay attention. All she had done in the past hour was look at the clock and write down words that she didn't even try to comprehend.
Leaf continued to scribble down things, but stopped when she heard the phone ring. Her eyes were glued to the teacher when she answered the phone and they didn't leave even after she hung up.
"Leaf, Principal Oak would like to see you in his office."
She nodded and stood up, taking her bag with her. Retracing her step from earlier today backwards was proving more difficult than it sounded, considering how big the school was. Leaf scurried down the hallway trying to recognise unfamiliar plain walls and numbered doors, trying to find the principal's room quickly. Every second she spent away from her diary become increasingly heart wrenching for her.
When she did find her way to the atrium, where her little run in with the snobby blonde occurred, finding the way to the principal's office became pretty easy. The atrium was almost empty of people. There were the few dinner ladies cleaning up the last of the mess left on the tables and chairs. The dinner ladies worked in silence, letting the gentle trickling sound of water from the water machine drip out of the tiny aperture into the paper cone shaped cups.
Leaf looked at the student at the water machine. From the back, the student looked familiar, which to her was not a good sign. The only two people she remembered after a couple of hours in this hellhole were the girl she had a run in with and the boy she had a run in with. What a great first day. Considering the height and the lack of curves and the spikes that reached out from the head, Leaf concluded that this student was a boy, and the only boy she recognised here was him. Gary. There was no mistaking that that was him.
Leaf felt her heart beat faster from nerves of seeing him. She quickened her pace; almost breaking into a sprint in what she assumed was the right direction. Her footsteps created an echo of pitter-patters that reflected her increasing anxiousness. She could hear the sound of a pair of feet shifting as she passed Gary quickly, but not quickly enough.
He had the cup raised to his lips as he turned, just catching a glimpse of the new brunette in town. The corners of his lips turned up slyly. She looked scared. He liked that she looked scared. Gary downed the small volume of water and scrunched up the cup, tossing it directly into the bin beside the machine.
Leaf could sense Gary following behind her. Even with her quicksteps, she knew he could easily catch up to her. A guy who looked to be about six foot tall could surely easily catch up to her. She knew that if she made it past the double doors safely then she would be safe – he probably wouldn't try anything in the presence of other people, would he?
As Leaf moved closer and closer to the doors, she could feel Gary's presence getting stronger behind her. Leaf reached her hand out for the door handle, mentally cursing at the fact the doors had to be shut. There was no way she was going to make it to the principal's office now without some sort of abuse or whatever from the tall brunet.
She felt a tight grip on her upper arm and her body being pulled back up against the pale stone wall. Leaf held her breath, preparing herself for what was to come, though she had no idea what to expect. They were so close to the reception – literally right round the corner. If she screamed that would catch the attention of help but it would show just how vulnerable she is, making her a permanent victim, if she wasn't already one.
She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head to one side, not willing to face the boy who had pinned her flush against the wall. She could hear his breath in her ear, something that made her feel beyond petrified.
"Leaf Green! There you are!" came a pitchy female voice.
It wasn't what Leaf had anticipated to happen next, and she was thankful that this perky, old lady had appeared. Leaf hadn't even realised that Gary had released her and had walked away already. Where to, she had no clue.
"The principal has been expecting you." She said as she signalled for Leaf to follow her. "We were starting to think you got lost on your way down." she said, completely oblivious to Leaf's short, rapid breaths and pale face.
Leaf nodded and followed the lady, blocking out what she was going on about. Her mind had wondered off to where Gary had disappeared off to and what he dangers he was likely to inflict upon her. Her questions were answered when she saw him slouched on a seat outside the principal's office, having a blether with what had to be the one other student that she could name. She noticed that as the two students spoke, the girl shot her stone cold glares while Gary gave her a look with a wicked smile that sent chills down her spine, and not in a good way.
She tried to ignore the looks and went straight into the office, surprised to see her mother. So lying to her mother about how well day one went later was not going to happen.
Riding home with her mum was quiet. The only sound in the car was the sound of the engine operating. Leaf didn't know what to say to her mother, who made no effort to hide the disappointed look in her face. Her mother kept her green eyes in front, never peeling her gaze off the road in front of her to give her daughter a reassuring smile or something. The silent treatment was making Leaf feel even more frustrated with herself.
Her mum pulled up in their driveway and turned the engine off. She made no signs of getting out of the car and Leaf took that as a sign that they were going to have a chat about today's events at school.
"What did you do to provoke that girl at school today?" the older woman asked, trying to keep her tone steady though that only made the anger in her tone more evident.
"Nothing." Leaf said. Did her mum seriously think she did something? The thought made Leaf livid. And then remembering what Olivia had said – or rather lied about – back in the office only amplified the feelings that were knotting in her stomach. Did her mother really believe that Leaf, her daughter would just go up to someone and try to steal someone else's bag like that? Leaf had done things that had landed her in detention several times before in her life but doing illegal things like that never have and never will happen.
"But that girl, she said she saw you and that some other students witnessed it too." Her mother said.
Leaf looked at her mother incredulously. "You seriously think I would do that?" Leaf asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
"I just don't think-" Leaf interrupted her mother.
"Unbelievable." she said fiercely and got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She walked in the opposite direction of the leaf littered front porch and down the driveway, storming in the direction that the car had only driven down not five minutes ago. Taking some time to cool off alone was what she needed right now, especially since she didn't want to do or say anything to her mother that she may later come to regret.
She didn't know where she was going but she knew that wherever she ended up, 'home' was not going to be that place. She wandered out of the street, onto the main road, took a few turns and ended up at an empty park; the frowning, grey clouds must've warded all the young children off. Her hand reached the rope of swaying rope of the swings, steadying it before she made herself cosy as her legs swung back and forward, trying to propel herself up in the air, something she had never been able to do on a swing.
"You're doing it wrong." Said a voice from behind her after Leaf had sat there trying for a few minutes.
At first, Leaf dismissed the voice, suspecting that it was probably just a couple of passer-bys talking loudly to one another, but when the empty red swing next to her became no longer vacant, she realised that someone was talking to her.
"You have to move your legs like this." She said as she demonstrated moving her legs forward and backwards rhythmically with the swing.
Leaf stared at the short hazel colour haired girl. A carefree smile graced lips as she swung, picking up height in no time. She looked like she was having fun as she swung higher and higher, letting out an occasional laugh as the swing descended backwards and when she stopped moving her legs, the swings lifted less as she passed Leaf each time until she gradually stopped.
Leaf blinked at the girl, distracted by her sudden appearance. "Were you talking to me?" Leaf asked even though the brunette had already made it clear that she was.
"Who else would I be talking to?" she asked and looked like she was about tap her nose like how a mother would do to a child. Or what a boyfriend would do to his girlfriend… It wasn't till then did Leaf noticed the girl's eyes which were a beautiful glistening blue. They were the similar to her own, but also very different. She could tell that they held a story behind them and that story was not pretty.
"Right." Leaf said as she continued to do what she was doing before the girl appeared, though she did try to copy her technique. Legs straight forward, then bend back. Forward then back.
"No, no, no! You're still doing it wrong!" she said, waving her hands about dramatically in the air. "Like this." She said then started her demonstration again.
Leaf tried again once the girl had picked up some height and was soaring back and forth but it was no use; she couldn't get herself any higher than she did the first time she tried, to her frustration. The girl sighed when she noticed Leaf's failed attempt.
"Are you new around here?" she asked Leaf, making some idle chit chat. "I don't remember seeing you at school?"
Leaf nodded. "I moved here less than a week ago. I go to Pallet High School."
The girl made a sound that sounded like something between a gasp and a squeal, and then she eyed Leaf up. She watched the girl give her the visual voyage and then made a face that showed her discontent towards her.
"I've gotta go." The girl said as she leaped off the swing and walked away quickly and strangely.
Leaf watched as the girl scurried off with her head down. Was she okay? She seemed kind of… Bipolar, nice and sweet one second then, just like that, she looked like she saw a ghost and couldn't get away from her quickly enough.
What a day.
Almost eleven o'clock. No Leaf. Still.
Leaf's mother had waited for her daughter all night, worried that something had happened to her precious daughter while she was out. She hadn't been home since she walked out several hours ago and it was bucketing outside. What if her daughter was actually more upset than she thought and had attempted to commit suicide? She shuddered at the thought and clutched the phone in her hands tighter. She hadn't completely dismissed the possibility since she had known Leaf had tried something similar before.
Her husband had taken the car and drove around the local area, hoping to find his daughter somewhere, preferably alive, conscious and not broken.
Leaf took a deep breath, and pulled the door handle. To her surprise, the door was unlocked (she didn't think that would work) and before she had even taken her dripping coat off, she was pulled into a tight embrace by her worry stricken mother, who started to ramble on about her extremely long breather.
"If you're ever upset about anything you know you can talk to me." She said once her speech had become less hysterical and more audible.
Says the woman who didn't believe her own daughter, Leaf thought but refrained from saying. Instead, Leaf just said, "I know" and left it at that. The last thing she wanted was to make her mother guilty. All she wanted to do now was to take a shower then lie in bed, and fall asleep while reminiscing with her journal.
Leaf sat at her desk. Her mood was worse than yesterday's and when a certain brunet haired boy strolled into class, she became even more wary and nervous. Even though she had only had two brief encounters with him, she could tell already that he was not someone to be messed with.
Her heart rate rocketed when she saw a pair of hands slam onto her desk. The veins in the hands could be seen clearly, which added to her nervousness. She swallowed hard and looked up at the same pair of cyan eyes that she saw yesterday.
He leaned in. "You have a secret that I want to know." He purred in her ear. Leaf's breathing quickened her throat dry and incapable of speaking. Her eyes were locked with his. She found herself incapable of pulling her gaze away. Or do anything other than watch his taunting smile.
The class had silenced itself to watch the two brunets. Just about the whole class had concluded that what he was going to do next would be a whole lot worse than what he had intended to do yesterday but never got round to due to being out of class all day.
Erica rushed back into her classroom when she realised that all chatter had been dropped, a suspicious yet familiar occurrence. Last time she heard that happen wasn't that long ago but what happened next was something she wished she had the courage to stop before it escalated that far.
"Gary, the principal would like to see you in his office." Erica said all at once. She mentally cheered when the stutter didn't make an appearance in her command this time.
Gary shifted his gaze from Leaf's round, brown orbs to the woman who he considered petite. He lifted his arms off the desk and spun round.
Leaf let out a sigh of relief. Even though she was new here, she knew she was now off the hook.
Gary kept taking daunting steps forward and Erica shifted back uncomfortably. He put has arms on the wall around the teacher, blocking her path on both sides. "Does he really want to see me this time?" Gary asked in his threatening tone.
Erica nodded, trying not to look intimidated by her own student. "Yes." She said.
Gary let his arms drop and walked out of the room nonchalantly like how he did yesterday.
Leaf felt like she was still living in yesterday rather than a new day. A sense of déjà vu washed over her as she watched Gary's retreating form.
The bell shrilled, indicating the end of registration. The sounds of chairs scraping back filled the room as soon as the bell had stopped. Leaf waited for most of the students to go before she rose from her seat.
"Leaf." Erica called in her serene voice. "Can I have a quick word?"
Leaf nodded. She had been watching Erica, wondering if she was trying to help her by sending Gary away. She contemplated questioning her about it.
"The principal had a word with me about you having a mentor, you know, to talk to about any problems you've been having, in or out of school." Erica said.
She didn't reply for a moment. "You're my mentor?" Leaf asked, tilting her head to one side once Erica's words had sunk in.
The question surprised Erica. "Well, the school has a mentoring programme for students who need it. You'll be assigned a mentor. Someone who is hired just to talk to students enrolled in the programme." She explained, making sure to speak slowly as if that would make the programme more appealing than it really is.
"What if I don't want a mentor?" Leaf asked monotonously.
Erica tried to read the brunette's expression but drew a blank. The girl wasn't giving anything away. "Why not?" Erica asked, an expression of genuine concern graced her delicate features. "Your mum has already enrolled you in the programme."
Something she failed to mention last night. Leaf thought as she felt the small ember of anger from last night reignite itself. "What I should say is I don't just want anyone to be my mentor." Leaf said.
Erica gave her an understanding nod. "I'll be sure to let Principal Oak know that." She said then sent Leaf off to her class.
I don't want just anyone to be my mentor; I want you to mentor me. You're the only one I feel I can trust here.
The words echoed in Erica's head. She knew what she had to do this time.
Okay, so that's this chapter done for now but I hope you liked it and, like always, please review it! I like to know what people think of the plot/ my writing/ and just general stuff.
Also, I have a task for people! Can someone help me think of a name for Leaf's mum? I think it'd be good if I could put a name to her character instead of always referring her as 'the older woman' or 'Leaf's mother'! Just submit names via reviews and I'll pick one that I think fits my description of her best. Thanks in advance!
Silver-hedgehog