Chapter 8

A whole week had passed since Cason and Evan came to talk to us during lunch, and let me tell you, it had to have been one of the worst weeks I had ever experienced in my seventeen years of life.

Even in my old town I didn’t feel like this. I was so used to the torment I received back home that I learned to block it out and not bat an eye if someone was to tease me, however, this was different. When I moved here I put my past of being bullied behind me and started anew, but that didn’t exactly happen this week with Cason’s constant teasing.

I swear that boy had something wrong with him because even when I told him to bug off and mind his own business, he won’t let up on the teasing while plopped in the seat beside me during English.

In the last week alone it seems as though Cason had given me more attention than he gives to Evan. Every day during English he would sit down in the desk beside mine and proceed to ask me useless questions, which I rarely dignified with a response, and he still insisted on calling me Jessa, even though I’d warned him a countless number of times to stop.

On top of the random questions before and after the bell, he's also made it his personal duty to annoy the hell out of me during class. During the week while the teacher was trying to give us an education, I’ve been spending my time trying to ward off the various flying objects that have been sent my way by the devil in disguise. There have been eraser clippings, rolled up pieces of paper, and I’m pretty sure he even chucked a pencil at my arm once to try and piss me off.

And let me tell you, his methods were certainly working.

When the school week was over, I was able to breathe again as I knew that I wouldn’t have to see Cason for the next two days. He was fast becoming a thorn in my side that I really didn’t need.

However, on Friday night my mom asked me if I wanted to go to the Michaels for dinner again, but I had already thought of a way to get out of this situation if it were to arise.

In response, I told my mother that I had already made plans with Olivia to go walk around the beach and grab dinner. However, I didn’t want her to think she had to miss on a night with her new friend and co-worker so, I told her to go over there for dinner.  Just because I didn’t want to step foot in that house right now it didn’t mean that my mom shouldn’t. Her and Diana were friends and they shouldn’t have to stop talking just because their children weren’t on the best terms with each other.

Surprisingly, I actually didn’t end up lying to my mom about what my plans were tonight.

Once my mom left, I texted Olivia to see if she was doing anything and, since she texted back with a negative answer, we actually did end up going down to the beach and ordering our dinner from the beach stand. Even though a large poutine and a bottle of Pepsi didn’t exactly constitute as a healthy dinner, it was cheap and I enjoyed the time that was surely well spent.

Olivia and I were becoming really close and I was really glad that I had someone to trust and lean on in this town, unlike my previous town where all the people my age were jerks and snobs.

That weekend was once again spent in a relaxing environment as I laid out on the beach and just enjoyed my time off of school.

Monday morning brought difficulty and disappointment to my life as I realized this wouldn’t be a great day for me.

The first sign of disaster was in the morning, when my alarm clock decided not to go off. The only reason I ended up waking up was because my mom had gotten worried that I hadn’t been downstairs and had come up to check on me. As she woke me from my slumber, I saw that I had no time to get ready if I wanted to make it to school on time, and for the first time since school started, I accepted a ride to school from my mom.

Waking up late, skipping breakfast, and rushing into school late were just the beginning of the problems that I faced that morning.

Due to the fact that I was late for my first class; functions, I was given extra homework since I didn’t have a legitimate excuse. Dropping into my desk beside Olivia, she sent me a pitiful smile before facing the front and concentrating on what the teacher was saying.

Once my morning had come to a finish and the lunch bell had rung, I noticed as I was putting my books away that I hadn’t packed a lunch for myself. As a result of my forgetfulness, I realized I would have to use the five dollars of emergency money I kept in my backpack to buy something edible from the cafeteria.

Lunch was horrible to say the least. The food I had bought obviously had not agreed with my stomach because I walked into English class with a slightly upset stomach. Not even the annoying antics of Cason during the class could get my mind off of my queasy insides.

Little did I know that English wouldn’t be the worst part of my day, no, I had a big surprise coming to me in biology.

Entering the biology lab, I was feeling slightly better after having spent the previous period sitting down and simply listening to Mrs. Tyler lecture us about the history of Shakespearean civilization. I immediately saw Olivia sitting down in her desk as I headed towards her to take my seat beside her.

“Rumours going around that the biology teacher has an announcement for us today.” Olivia stated as I placed my binder on my desk and slid into the chair to get comfortable.

I raised my eyebrow at her statement. “Really?” I asked in a curious tone. “What kind of an announcement would spark a rumour in this school?”

“A field trip maybe,” she guessed, “Or there could be a dissection coming up that got all the boys excited.”

Rolling my eyes, I smiled. “Dissections aren’t that bad.” I said, remembering the previous year at my old school when I was assigned to dissect a frog by myself.

“To us, but to some of the other girls in this school, a dissection is worse than a bad hair day.” she replied in a hushed voice, being careful not to let any of the girls surrounding us hear our conversation.

Chuckling quietly with Olivia at her remark, we stopped when the teacher entered the room. The biology teacher was much like my English teacher in a way, although he was a man and she was a woman, they were both fairly young and taught their students in a way that seemed to make sense to everybody.

“Good afternoon class.” the biology teacher projected, turning around to face us as he leant back against the desk.

I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t think he was somewhat attractive for an older man. Actually, for being in his late twenties, he was quite good-looking, but unlike some of the other girls in this class, I knew that nothing could ever happen because I wasn’t interested in older men - he was my teacher, and he was happily married.

As the class replied in grunts and the odd greeting, Mr. Blakely shook his head in amusement and smiled. “Well, I bet you all of heard the little rumours going around the school about an announcement.” he stated, getting most of the class’ attention as they all sat up slightly in their seats. “Any guesses on what the announcement is?”

“A group project?” a girl on the other side of the room guessed.

Mr. Blakely shook his head back and forth. “No, not quite.”

“Dissection?” one of the pig-headed guys in the right back corner asked, looking quite excited.

“Nope.” the teacher replied, crossing his arms across his chest.

One girl, who was obviously tired of this guessing game, decided to voice her thoughts. “Why don’t you just tell us what this is about?” she asked, resting her head against her hand.

Mr. Blakely rolled his eyes in amusement. “Since you’re so impatient…” he trailed as some of the students chuckled at his sarcasm. “I might as well tell you that on Friday, both this biology class and my morning class have been signed up for a field trip.”

With the enthusiasm he had in his voice, he got most of the class, including me, to grow smiles on their faces and get interested in the mystery destination.

“Where are we going sir?” Olivia asked, a smile of excitement on her face that matched mine completely.

“Well,” he said, prolonging his reply, “We’re going to be boarding a boat at the pier on Friday to go on a marine biology excursion.”

And with those words, my bad day turned from bad to disastrous.

I couldn’t think straight as all the students around me, including Olivia, started to buzz and smile at the thought of spending the entire school day on Friday relaxing on a boat with only a tad of school work to worry about.

Olivia turned to me with a smile. “Isn’t this gonna be amazing?” she asked, glee and amusement shining in her eyes.

Masking my discomfort, I raised the sides of my mouth into a fake smile and nodded. “Yea… amazing.”

The announcement of the marine biology field trip had taken up my whole mind; it was one of the worst things that could have possibly happened this soon – I just wasn’t ready for it.

Throughout the class I wasn’t paying attention to the lesson at all, and I just hope Olivia was taking good notes that I could copy. Even after the class was over, I was basically incoherent as I slipped the dreaded permission form into my bag and headed towards my locker.

During my entire walk home, my bag, that held the permission form for the biology trip, felt like a hundred pound weight on my shoulder and my mind was swirling, re-visiting my past.

Walking in the door, I headed straight to the kitchen, dropping my bag on the table before grabbing something to drink. I hoped that something, even water, would be able to clear my head and get me out of this awful state of mind.

However, things don’t always end up as you plan.

I spent the next half an hour or so just looking at the permission form. I had taken it out to throw it out, maybe forget about, but I ended up reading it over and over again, not having the courage or the strength to throw it in the trash.

Without realizing it, my mom had arrived home from work and was standing across from me at the table.

“What’s on that piece of paper that is holding your undivided attention?” my mom asked, spooking my slightly as I raised my head to look at her.

No emotion showing on my face, I slid the form across the table for her to read.

As her eyes scanned the page, I saw her smile fade and her eyes lose their glow. Her entire face drained of colour as she finished reading and looked back at me with sorrow filling her eyes.

“Oh honey…” she said, letting the paper fall to the table as she came around to wrap her arms around me with comfort.

I leaned my head into her chest and accepted her comfort while securing my arms around her waist. It was times like this – when the past was brought up – that we needed each other and I was glad to still have her around.

“I… I don’t… want to go… mom.” I spit out through the tears that were streaming down my face.

I could feel tears from my mother’s eyes fall onto my shoulder as she brought her hand up to stroke my hair.

Pulling me away from her, my mom kept me at arm’s length as she shook her head. “You don’t have to sweetie.” she replied as the tears streamed down her face. “You really don’t need to.” she choked out again before pulling me back into a hug.

A small weight lifted off of my shoulders as I heard the words my mother was saying. I didn’t have to. I was grateful for her understanding because, truthfully, I wasn’t ready.

As we just sat there in each other’s arms I knew that I would never be able to lose her. We needed each other and I couldn’t live without her. We were each other’s rock at this moment of time and I loved her with all my heart.

After staying in each other’s arms for a couple of minutes, we separated slowly, sniffing away the tears and wiping our faces.

My mom stared at me with a saddened look on her face as she finished wiping her face dry. “Are you okay sweetie?” she asked in a motherly tone.

I sniffed quietly and let out a deep breath before responding. “Not yet, but I will be.”

Giving me a small smile, my mom nodded. “Okay, well I need to change out of this work clothes before getting started on dinner.” she stated. “Are you doing anything special tonight?”

As I thought about it I knew I wasn’t doing anything overly exciting, however, from the position I was seated in at the moment, I could see right through the kitchen window and had a clear view of the beach.

“Actually,” I responded, standing up from my seat, “I think I’m gonna take a walk down the beach. Clear my head and what not.”

My mom nodded in acceptance, telling me not to stay out too long in the sun before heading out of the kitchen and towards her master bedroom.

I quickly ran upstairs to change out of my school clothes, transitioning into a pair of exercise shorts and a comfy t-shirt, before heading outside and down onto the beach.

Approaching the shore-line, I looked right and saw the public beach not far from where I stood, however, I was not in the mood to have a bunch of rowdy people surrounding me as I tried to clear my head. Without giving it another thought, I turned in the opposite direction and started walking.

My feet were sinking into the water as I walked. I couldn’t see much going on down this side of the beach, but that was just what I need; peace and serenity.

Walking for what seemed like ten minutes, I saw a rickety looking pier that stood a couple inches above the water level. It looked sturdy, but it did look pretty abandoned, as though nobody had put it to good use over the last couple of years.

I was getting a little tired of just walking, so I made a split second decision and starting walking towards the end of the wooden pier before sitting down at the edge. From my current spot, I looked in front of me and could see the vast amount of water floating peacefully around me. The tips of my bare feet were skimming the water, giving me a tiny refresher, as I rested my hands behind my back to lean on.

With the clear water out in front of me and the thoughts of my marine biology trip still swimming around my mind, I was immediately brought back to one of the vivid memories of my life.

I had just gotten home from school and I wasn’t in a good mood, in fact, the only thing that had me smiling was the knowledge that it was family movie night. Most Friday nights throughout the year my mom and dad would both make sure their schedules were free and we would all sit together in the living room to watch a new release. It was something that I always looked forward to.

Walking into the kitchen, I came to the scene of my mom and dad having what looked like an intense conversation.

Before I could retrace my steps and slowly make my way out of the kitchen, my mother spotted me from the corner of her eye and smiled.

“Oh there you are sweetie.” she stated before continuing. “You’re father has something to tell you about tonight.”

Slightly confused, I looked towards my dad as my forehead crinkled. “Okay, what is it?” I asked, slightly shy.

It wasn’t that I was intimidated by my father, oh no, I loved him. The reason I was so shy was because it was just my personality. It’s who I was and my parents recognized that.

“Well,” he started and, right then, I knew something was not going to go according to plan. “Some of my friends rented a boat for the night and they wanted me to join them. There’s a barbeque, some poker and a couple of drinks tonight, but I won’t go if you don’t want me to because I know how much you enjoy our family movie nights.”

Hearing his words, I was somewhat saddened, but I was also happy for my dad. He didn’t get to go out much and hang out with his boys, and who was I to say he couldn’t. Their wouldn’t be many nights like this for him as he grew older, however, we could always make any night a family movie night.

I shook my head as I smiled at him. “Go dad.” I said. “We can watch a movie together next Friday. Go have fun with your friends while mom and I stay in.”

At my reply, my dad sent me a smile before coming over and wrapping his arms around me.

“Thank you honey.” he stated, kissing me on the temple as I rested my head on his shoulder. “You know I love you.”

“I love you too dad.” I said, getting another kiss from the biggest male figure in my life.

As my memories faded, I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, content at just looking out at the water; into the unknown.

As I gazed, I barely registered the fact that the tears from before had made a reappearance and were currently streaming down my face.

That was the last memory I had of my father… it was the last time I hugged him and the last time I received a kiss.

Things could change in a second and you never know what fate has in store for you.

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Dun dun dun! So, that was a pretty intense chapter and, if you don’t get it now, the next couples chapters will definitely clear up any confusion you may have.

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