A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 6: Crying stalls.

Monday morning is never fun, especially at my house. I'm not exactly what one would call, 'and early riser.' If I could sleep in till 4:00 in the afternoon everyday, I would. Jane, olive I've said before, is the complete opposite of me. Even on the weekends, she gets up at 5:00 every morning. She was already showered and dressed when she came to wake me up. She leaned against my doorway and knocked.
"Sarah, time to get up." I groaned in response. She smirked and crawled over me, tickling my sides. I tried to shove her off,
"Stop it!"
"Get up! Time to go to school!"
"Fine!" I screamed. She got off of me and walked down the stairs, smiling. I grumbled and got up to my closet to search for something to wear. I decided on a pair of nice Jeggings and black converse, but couldn't decided on the shirt to wear with them. It was between a purple hi lister sweatshirt or a slanted grey shirt with a black heart on it. Suddenly, my computer dinged. I sighed and looked at my email, which read;
'Id go with the sweatshirt if I were you;)' my eyes widened and I looked over to Bennett's window, where he was leaning against the frames and smiling at me. I glared at him and typed,
'Stalker.' Then I got up and closed the door to my bathroom, taking a ten minute shower before throwing on my clothes. I threw my hair in a messy bun and walked down the steps to be greeted by my dad. When he saw me, he practically jumped on me.
"How was the date my baby girl?! I haven't seen you for a day or so!" Wow, an entire day without seeing me. Must've been tragic. I shrugged and hugged him back.
"Well, it wasn't what I expected, but we're still seeing each other." He squealed, actually squealed, and kissed my cheek.
"I'm so happy for you! I made you smiley pancakes, your favorite!" I smiled and sat at the kitchen table, where a plate with a pancake and bacon and eggs sat waiting for me. Dad had shown me how to cook when he purchased his auto shop, telling me to cook for jane and I when he wasn't here. I've loved cooking ever since. There's something about being in control, in my own little world without any outside influence, that made me love it. I stuffed the deliciousness in my mouth and sat by jane, who was struggling to do her last minute homework.
"Just this last page! I don't know the answers!!"
"Calm down, I'll help you." We spent the remainder of our time working on her homework. Dad ushered us out the door at 7:45, us hopping into Jane's car. I didn't want a car, mainly because I'd have to pay gas. Call me cheap, but that's the truth. We pulled into the school and sprinted to our lockers so we could be on time. But when I checked the school clock, I realized we were half an hour early. I caught my breath and set my books down, leaving the room to try and find Hannah and Kendra. When they weren't in their prime times, I shrugged and went to fix my hair in the bathrooms. Our school bathrooms aren't the worst ones I've ever seen, but they certainly weren't five star bathrooms. There was always one stall without a lock, and one toilet that wasn't flushed. My personal pet peeve was when a girl got her period and didn't flush. That shit is nasty. Luckily, I didn't need to use the restroom, so I just walked up to one of the mirrors and took out my hair. I wish I knew how to fishtail braid, but I can't even do a regular braid, so I just reset my hair in a side ponytail. Then I heard something from the back stall; crying. It was soft, as though the person was trying to hide it. I frowned and said,
"Hello? Are you ok?" The crying ceased for a minute, only a few sniffles. After about two minutes, Dina came out, her eyes red and puffy. She smiled, though there wasn't anything behind it.
"Hey Sarah. What's up?" I set my hand on her back.
"Are you ok Dina?" She tried not to keep a strong face, but she looked down at her feet and started crying again. I grabbed her some toilet paper and she blew her nose, throwing it away and letting her face falling into her hands. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and stroked her hair.
"Dina, tell me what's wrong!" I exclaimed. She managed to sob out,
"Bennett! H-he..." But she just fell back into a sobbing mess. I finally calmed her down enough to take her to the counseling office. We both sat down in Mrs. Drawn's room. She crossed her small legs and looked at us with her giant brown orbs.
"Ok, Dina, why don't you start at the beginning." She looked at me, sighed, and nodded.
"Well, I-I got to school at 6:50, so I thought I'd get my books and walk down to get some breakfast, but when I got there..." She stopped, her chest hitching. I tried rubbing her back, but she pushed me away and sighed. "When I got there, I saw him leaning against the vending machine, talking to Sabrina Chaipman. At first I thought they were just talking, but he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. I-I d-didn't know what to do, so I ran to the bathroom, and that's when Sarah found me," she stopped, crying a little more. I could feel myself tensing up. How dare he! Oooo, when I got my hands on him...he'll be sorry. My fists were clenching and unclenching as I left the office. Dina was sent home because she was in tears and sobbing, so planned out what I'd do for revenge. I saw Bennett several times through out the day, making sure not to make eye contact. Later that day, as Kendra, Hannah and I walked out of school, we were stopped by Sabrina. She and her ditzy friends with long blonde hair stood in front of Kendra's car, smirking.
"Please get out of our way," Hannah said, staring at them. Sabrina looked her up and down and scowled.
"You should tell that baby to grow up." Kendra clenched her jaw and said through her teeth,
"What did you just say?"
"I said," she stated, taking a step forward,"tell that Dina bitch to grow up and stop cryin..." But she didn't have time to finish her sentence before Kendra punched her in the eye. She fell to the ground, crying.
"Stop crying bitch! Stop being such a baby, I only punched you in the face!" Her friends helped her up and started running away.
"That's right! Run away!" We hopped into Kendra's car, not speaking. We pulled into Dina's driveway to help her with the homework she'd missed from today. Kendra was still fuming. "Stupid bitch."
"Calm down, Kendra. We need to be calm for Dina." Hannah stated. Kendra nodded and we all walked inside. Dina sat on the couch, a pile of tissues by her side, watching TV.
"Hey girly, how ya feeling?" Hannah asked, sitting next to her. She sniffled and smiled.
"Kind of crappy, but I'll get over it, eventually." She blew her nose again and smiled. Kendra sat next to her and said,
"We brought your homework, we're gonna work on it together, k?"
"Ok." I went to sit down, but Dina stopped me, "I think they can help me enough, would you just make me something to eat?" I nodded and asked,
"What do you want?"
"Some kind of soup." I nodded again and left to her kitchen, rifling through the pantry for fresh ingredients. I found buion cubes, carrots, fresh basil, celery, and potatoes. I threw them all in a pot with water and sat on the couch with them. My phone started buzzing, so I looked at the text;
'Wear something short for our date tomorrow.' Carson. I sighed and shook my head. Dina looked at me,
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Carson wants me to wear something short for our date tomorrow." She sniffled a little more.
"Well, at least one of us has a functioning relationship."
"Not exactly," Kendra said, leaning back. I whipped around and covered her mouth.
"Shhh!"
"You didn't tell them?!?" Kendra asked, ripping my hand away. I looked at Hannah and Dina, who were thoroughly confused. I threw my hands in the air.
"Well, ya might as well tell em." She rolled her eyes and explained the whole story. About the kitchen encounter and the movies. Once she finished, Hannah and Dina looked at me like I just ate a baby panda.
"Sarah...oh my god, why didn't you say anything!?"
"What can we do, Hannah? His fathers the sheriff!"
"So, he can't just..." Dina trailed off, flailing her hands. I shrugged and said,
"I'll figure something out, don't worry." They just stared at me in disbelief. My phone buzzed again, only this time, it was from Bennett,
'Are we going 2 work on skit?' I clenched my jaw and sent back,
'B there soon.' I got up and gathered my things. Hannah frowned,
"Where're you going?"
"Home, the foods done, I'll see you guys tomorrow." I got up and called a taxi, who brought me to my driveway. Once there, I set my bags on the counter gently and strolled over to Bennett's house. I didn't see either of his parents there, so I waited for him to answer. When he answered, he was smiling. That changed when I punched him with everything in my being and all my strength in his eye. He fell onto his ass, gripping the eye.
"OWW! Jesus Christ!"
"How dare you do that to Dina!" He frowned, then got up and said,
"Please, Sarah, I can explain..."
"No! She had to go home because she was so broken up! And of all the people to kiss, it had to be that snooty as bitch! What the hell were you thinking?!?" He stood there, trying to calm me down.
"I swear, Sarah, it can all be explained..."
"I don't wanna hear it!" I stomped back to my house, slamming the door and sitting on the couch. After a few minutes had passed, I heard some knocking on the door.
"Sarah, please let me explain."
"Go away Bennett."
"Please?" He said again. I huffed and opened the door.
"Fine, explain."
"Let's sit down." I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the porch swing.
"Ok, I'm here. Now explain." He sighed and looked at me.
"I was just hanging out with the boys and we were talking about our relationships. I wasn't really happy with being her boyfriend, because it like this other girl..." He stopped, looking down. I crossed my arms and said,
"Sabrina?"
"What? Hell no, the only thing greaser than her trap is a freaking car engine." I giggled a little at that one. He continued,
"So Carson said, 'just kiss another girl and she'll wanna leave.' But when I did it, I felt like such an asshole. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, but I didn't know how else to tell her to break up." My face softened a little, but only a little. I sighed and replied,
"Well, you need to tell her you're sorry and that you messed up."
"But then she'll think I want her back!" He exclaimed, frowning. I shrugged and said,
"Just tell her that she's not right for you, that you want to just be friends, she'll understand." He thought about it for a moment, then agreed.
"I guess," then he touched his swollen eye and flinched a little.
"Oh, shit, sorry about that. Here, let's get you some ice." I took him inside and had him sit at the counter while I wrapped some ice in a wet wash cloth.
"Here, keep it compressed."
"Thanks." He smiled and looked around the room.
"This is nice." I smiled and took out the homework I needed to do.
"Thanks, but your house is nicer." He chuckled at that one and sighed.
"Maybe, but that's an opinion. Most of the furniture is from our old house in France." He stopped, remembering. I looked up from my oral history and said,
"Tell me what it was like to live in another country." He looked at me and smirked.
"It's the same as living here, except France has better cheese. American cheese tastes like processed cow poop." I laughed and looked down at my homework.
"Well, why'd you move here, of all places?" His smile faded and he looked away.
"I'm not really supposed to talk about it." I nodded and shrugged.
"That's ok, I don't need to know," then I checked the time,"you should go apologize, before Hannah comes to kick the shit out of you." He laughed and sighed.
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"No, I've got a date," I stated, not smiling. His smile left completely and he looked down.
"With Carson?"
"Yes," I stated, sighing. He nodded and waved.
"Bye book theif." I threw a pen at him.
"My name is Sarah!"

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Sorry, I know these chapters kinda suck, but it promise there's more of a plot coming, thanks for reading, and enjoy the next chapter. Bye! :p