"Come on Alice, we've got to get you in." Kara said reaching for Alice's hand. Alice grabbed ahold of her big sister's hand, and they speed-walked off the bus. They'd barely caught the bus before it left the stop this morning, but the driver was kind enough to stay a couple extra seconds while they ran towards it.
Kara rushed with Alice to the front of her school. Maybe after her first few days, Alice could get off the bus by herself to walk to school. But Kara would walk her to the office, and to her classroom if they'd let her, for her first day. She had to make sure Alice didn't feel lost or scared. Even if she was already late herself. Which she was. Great first impression.
The lady at the front desk said that she could take Alice to her class from there. Kara was hesitant, but a reassuring smile from both of them melted a lot of it away. She bent down in front of Alice and kissed her forehead.
"You're gonna be ok, right?" Kara whispered to her. Alice smiled adorably, and nodded. She gave Kara a hug, and then turned to the lady to grab her hand; like she always did with Kara. The nice lady took her hand. Kara stood up straight. "Alright, I'll be here when you get out and we'll go home. Love you Alice." Kara began walking backwards.
"Love you too Kara." Alice said back, and off they went in seperate directions. When Alice was out of sight, Kara started running, only just remembering that she was very late for school herself.
As she emerged from the front doors of the elementary school, she saw the last people getting on the bus she'd left minutes ago. She ran even faster, hoping that she could get lucky just once more today. The bus driver saw her coming, and once again was kind enough to hold the door for her. Kara panted as she made it on the bus, trying to breathe out a thank you to the man who'd saved her twice today. Without actually being able to form legible words, he understood her.
"No problem, ma'am." The man cheerfully chirped, tipping his baseball hat to her. Kara smiled, relieved that she could focus on her breathing, and sat down in the closest seat to her. Also relieved that the vehicle that was going to be her and Alice's main form of transportation was operated by such a patient, kind person. It wasn't like they would be able to afford a car any time soon, and the nearest store was miles out in the town. She'd probably get to know this man very well.
Maybe not today, though. She had too much to focus on.
She dreaded the walk of shame. Where she'd have to walk into her first class over a half hour late and have all eyes on her. Was she even going to make it to her first class? Had she missed it already? Probably.
The lady at the office's front desk seemed nice enough. She didn't seem disappointed or annoyed that Kara was late. She was actually very friendly, and even calmed some of her nerves a little. She did hand Kara a late slip, though.
"Collect three and it's an office detention. Mr. Kamski isn't in his office at the moment, but if you want, at some point during break, or lunch you could stop by guidance and Mr. Anderson can give you all your class information, and your map and such. The guidance office is just down to the left here." The secretary pointed down the hall. "Should I tell him to expect you?" She asked. Kara looked back to her.
"Um, yeah, sure." Kara stuttered out. Probably a good idea to know where she's going. The secretary, her name plate reading Chloe, typed something into her computer at lightning speed, then smiled brightly back at Kara.
"Excellent! For now, I'll walk you to your first class. It's actually second period now, so what is it you have?" She asked, standing up from her wheely chair. Kara looked down at the schedule that was handed to her.
"Um, gym." She said, ashamed that she missed her entire first period. The blonde secretary gave a short nod and started walking.
"Follow me." She said.
"Thank you, Mrs…" Kara trailed off, feeling awkward about calling her by what seemed to be her first name. The lady, however, threw her left hand up to brush off the formality.
"Oh sweety you can call me Chloe. A lot of teachers here go by their first names. You'll get used to it."
Arriving in the gym, Kara saw that the class was already in full swing, as she expected. Dodgeball is what they were playing. The gym teacher saw her and Chloe walk in, and began to walk over.
"Got another troublemaker for me Chloe?" The very tall man wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts asked. He had a silver whistle hanging around his neck and he didn't look very friendly. Chloe smiled up at the man.
"Coach Fowler, this is Kara. Kara, this is your gym teacher, Coach Fowler." The teacher looked over to her finally, and Kara felt very intimidated. She'd only been here a few minutes and already her teacher didn't like her. So much for staying under the radar. She bent her head down to the floor.
"Sorry I'm late sir." She didn't bother with an explanation of why she was late, she doubted he cared. Adults often saw explanations as excuses.
"Just don't let it happen again." Kara looked up surprised. She expected scolding. Was it because it was the first day of school? Are teachers more lenient today versus the rest of the year? "Do you have any gym clothes?" She shook her head no, and hung her head again. Coach Fowler sighed heavily. "Alright, you'll help with the storage closet today. Unpack some boxes, throw out the deflated basketballs, oh, but first thing I want you to do is go through the box of locks. Take out any of the ones that don't have a combination sticker on them and put them in a different box. I'll have the janitor come by with the master key later. Go put your bag in the locker room and come out and head into that door right there." He pointed to a grey door across the gym. Kara nodded her head, ready to take off, before Coach Fowler stopped her again. "And don't forget your clothes next week. Dismissed." Oh, she had to wait to be dismissed. Ok, she could do that.
Kara dropped her bag off at the very end of the locker room where she hoped nobody would find it. She speed walked back out into the gym and headed for the storage closet. When she reached it, there was 4 girls surrounding it, one leaning right against it. They didn't look like they had even the slightest interest in the game. Kara walked up to a few steps away from the girl against the door. She had orangish hair in a ponytail and was chewing gum. She wore black leggings and a dark blue tank top with white converse.
"Excuse me please, I kinda need to get in there." Kara said as politely as she could. She gestured awkwardly to the door behind her. The girl's head snapped in Kara's direction and she looked her up and down, scrutinizing her. She blew a bubble with her chewing gum as Kara waited for her to move. But she didn't, she just turned back to her friends and continued talking like Kara wasn't even there. "Um, excuse me." Kara tried again, taking a few steps closer.
"What?" The girl snapped, causing Kara to jump back in fear.
"Um, I-I just need…" She pointed to the door, unable to ask again ask she fought off some bad memories. Memories of a man who would snap at her like that when she said his name.
"I think she needs to get into the storage closet, North." A girl with blue hair leaned in and said to the other girl, whose name was apparently North. Kara nodded in confirmation. North rolled her eyes, and opened the door for her. Kara nodded.
"Thanks." She said quietly as she walked by.
"No problem." North said, as she also flicked on the lights for Kara. But she didn't get to say thank you again as the girl already shut the door behind her. Kara turned back to the shelves and racks that held different sports equipment.
Ok, time to find this box of locks.
It wasn't long before she heard the bell ring. She hadn't gotten to get through all of the locks, but there weren't many left. Another student who forgot their gym clothes, or Coach Fowler himself could finish the job. Kara stood, and dusted herself off from the sitting on the floor. She walked over the grey door and tried turning the handle. But it was locked, and Kara felt immediate panic sweep through her from the top of her head to the tips on her toes. She frantically tried turning it again, but no luck. She banged on the door with her palm.
"Hey! Is anybody out there? I'm stuck! Hey! Can someone let me out?!" She yelled against the door. She put her ear up against it to see if she could hear anything. Nothing. She looked down to see if there was a big enough crack underneath the door for her to see out of. There wasn't. It barely let any light in at all from the gym. The panic got worse as she took in big gulps of breath.
She didn't own a phone she could use to call someone to let her out. Nobody seemed to be in the gym right now, but banging on the door and yelling for help was all she really had. So she kept banging. After 20 minutes, nobody came. She felt tired from banging and banging, and her throat hurt from non stop yelling. She eventually collapsed against the door, hugging her knees as she curled up into a little ball and cried.
What had even happened? It couldn't have been one of those doors that locked when you shut it. It was shut when she walked in, and that North girl had opened it without having to unlock it. It must have been locked from the outside. But who would do that?
That North girl wouldn't, would she? She did seem friendly, but surely she wasn't cruel enough to lock her in a storage closet. What kind of person would do that?
Kara cried harder as she recalled exactly what kind of person would do that.
You are are not home. You are not home. You are not there. He is not here.
It didn't do much. She was still trapped in here.
An undetermined amount of time later, the door swung open, and Kara almost landed flat on her back. But she caught herself and practically threw herself across the room, still sitting on the floor.
"Kara?" The person who opened the door asked, almost sounding shocked.
Kara looked up at the person with a tear stained face. She shot herself up to her feet.
"Coach Fowler." She said as she wiped her face on her sleeve. Her heart rate calmed down a little seeing his face.
He's not him. He's not here. Nobody locked you in here, it was an accident.
The gym teacher had wide eyes and furrowed brows. "What are you still doing in here?" He asked.
"I'm-I...The-the door locked. And I couldn't- I was- Nobody heard me." She stuttered and sniffled. The coach looked on at her in pity. Poor girl was probably claustrophobic and had a panic attack.
"Alright, ok. Come here, come with me." Coach Fowler said and gestured for her to walk out with him. She hesitated but complied. She did want to get out of here. She walked over to him, and he shut the light off and the door behind them. He walked next to her and put his hand on her back as he led her out of the gym. Kara tensed at the touch, despite knowing it was unthreatening. Coach Fowler didn't notice her reaction and continued to guide her through the school until they reached the main office section. Chloe saw them walk in and gave Kara a concerned look at her tear stained face. Kara tried to give the lady a small smile to assure that everything was alright, but it did nothing to change her expression.
Her and Coach Fowler stopped outside of a blue door with the name plate Mr. Anderson on it. She tried to remember where that name sounded familiar from, but came up blank. Coach Fowler knocked on the door.
"Come in." Came a raspy sounding voice from the other side that made Kara shut her eyes tight at how similar the smoke damaged voice sounded to another she was desperately trying to forget. Coach Fowler opened the door, and nudged Kara inside with the hand that was still on her back. When the door shut behind her, she panicked a little. "Fowler. What can I do for you?"
Kara looked up at the man, Mr. Anderson. He was a little scruffy looking, but not too bad. He had straggly grey hair and cold blue eyes. He seemed quite old, based on his appearance. He gave Kara the shortest glace before his eyes firmly settled on Coach Fowler.
"Stay right here, Kara." Coach Fowler gently whispered to her, and walked over to Mr. Anderson. His hand fell off her back and she visibly relaxed. She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. A few quiet words were exchanged between the two adults. When they finished, Coach Fowler walked back over to her. "I'll bring your bag up." He said. Kara had completely forgotten about her bag in the locker room. She nodded at him in thank you, and then he left.
"So," Mr. Anderson piped up, and Kara looked over to him. "Fowler told me about what just happened. You're welcome to stay in here until you feel better. I'm your guidance counselor by the way. You can call me Hank, or Mr. Anderson, I don't really give a shit." He tossed his hands around in a carefree manner. "It's Kara, right?" He asked. She nodded. "Kara what?" Kara took a few slow steps forward.
"Kara Williams." Mr. Anderson nodded. That's what she decided to call him, because calling teachers by their first names felt weird to her. Chloe hadn't given her the option, but she'd deal. It's not like she'd see her much anyway; hopefully. She saw Mr. Anderson pull up a folder, that she assumed was her student file, and started reading through it. She felt a bit awkward standing there, so she decided to sit in one of the very comfortable looking colorful bean bag chairs. She picked the magenta one, and finally relaxed a little after having one hell of a morning.
Hey guys! Ok, don't kill me! Let me explain myself first. I actually had started writing this chapter a few days after I published the last one, but I ended up in the hospital for 9 days. I'm all good now, but I caught pneumonia, so I could hardly breath, nevermind write (and trust me, I wanted to). Then I took about a week or so to recover, but after that, that's all laziness, which you all have every right to be mad at me for haha. But, I really really do want to stick with this story, so I give everybody permission to yell at me in the comments to update it!
Anyway, in regard to how I've decided to develop the Hannor and Karther relationships, Karther is the only one that will develop romantically. Sorry to any Hannor shippers, or people who wanted Kara and Luther to just be friends. Also sorry to anyone who wanted it to be a surprise, but I think people have the right to know (I know I would wanna).
Ok, thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review telling me what you thought, or any constructive criticism. I hope to see you in the next chapter! Bye guys!
Words: 2,548
Date Published: September 27th 2018