Teachers Pet

52. It's Stupid

       The nurse had called my mother, letting her know everything that had happened. My mom left work right away to come and get me. While I waited for her, I was able to look at myself in a mirror here, and I instantly regretted it. My bottom lip was cut and swollen. I had blood on my chin and shirt that I hadn't even noticed. Then there was the matter of my upper right cheek that was bruising badly and swelling as well. I felt it every time I blinked or spoke. Jake continued to tell me to press charges against Caitlyn, but I refused. I ignored him for the most part. When my mother had finally come, he then proceeded to tell her everything that happened in more detail than the school nurse had. He told my mom how Caitlyn Brian was eighteen years old and started the fight between us. He also told her that I should be pressing charges or that my mom should do it for me. Ridiculous...

       When I left school, I felt so stupid for leaving. How was I ever going to graduate? I was never here. My attendance was horrible. Was I going to fail all my classes? Yesterday had been the only day these last couple of weeks that I had attended all of my classes. Each one I understood absolutely nothing. I needed to look at those study packets. It was just really hard to concentrate on one thing. My mind was always going a hundred miles in every other direction. The school expected me to read these study packets as if that were easy. As if I had nothing else going on in my life.

       The expectations people had for me were amazing. My economics teacher told me she expected better from me when I couldn't answer a single question on a test she handed out. My physics teacher wrote on a graded assignment that I failed "Are you even trying?" and that was honestly the worse one. They all had something to say about me though. In one of my classes, I dared to raise my hand to answer a question I knew the answer to. I felt so happy about knowing the answer because I had felt so stupid in every other period. When he didn't pick on me, I felt a little defeated. At the end of class, my teacher thought it necessary to tell me why he didn't pick on me. He said that he didn't want me to be a distraction to the rest of the class. Still, the "Are you even trying?" comment took the cake.

       Then there were the expectations of my lawyer who wanted me to be happy about Monday. He was so confident that I would win this case, even my mom was happy. Jill had said the same thing that Jake did about how everything was going to be okay. Dean had told me I shouldn't be worried. Tanya had texted me that it would all be over before I knew it. I get that they were all trying to comfort me, but these were not the things I wanted to hear. I don't know what I wanted to hear. Reassurance about me winning my case wasn't it though. I wish they would all just stop trying to make me feel better.

       "We're not done talking about this," my mother told me. I rested my head against the car window, letting the cool glass touch my cheek. I hated how Jake kept trying to get my mom to talk to David about pressing charges against Caitlyn. I also hated how willing she was to do so. She demanded that Principal Morris expel or at the very least suspend Caitlyn for what she did. I hid my face from embarrassment the whole time. I was glad that David had been elsewhere. If Jake could, I'm sure he would've written the police report himself.

       "I don't know why you and Mr. Pierce insist on making things worse for me at school. Why can't you both just leave it alone?" My mother snorted as she turned onto the main road home. I watched as snowflakes collected on the windshield before being wiped away. My mother said something under her breath I didn't hear. I don't think I wanted to hear it anyway. It would probably just make me more upset than I already was.

       "You'd let that girl get away with what she did to you? Just like that?"

       "Just like that." She didn't say anything else after that. For a long moment, we drove in silence. I was almost happy about it until she pulled the car over and parked. I looked at her questionably. She just looked forward, shaking her head. I could see her eyes brim with tears.