Lead Me Out of the Dark

Bombing Biology

I was so mad after meeting that boy that I drove straight to school. Unfortunately, I made it back just in time for biology. I was halfway through class before I started recognizing the sinking feeling in my stomach. The tears wouldn’t be far off. I could already feel them pooling behind my eyes. I tried raising my hand, but the teacher was too busy typing away on his computer to notice. I shoved my books haphazardly into my backpack, zipping it up and trudging towards the door.

“Miss Halen, where do you think you’re going?” Mr. Varner exclaimed, rising from his desk so that he could glare at me. The entire class grew eerily silent. Their eyes trained on me, each and every one of them curious as to what was going on. I swallowed quickly. This was only making it worse.

“I have to leave,” I said. My voice was only barely loud enough for Mr. Varner to hear.

“Do you have a note?” He countered quickly. I shook my head, turning towards the door. I walked faster now, my breath coming faster in my chest. I was so close to tears. I was choking, drowning…

“Miss Halen! Come back here right this instant!” He bellowed. I turned the door handle quickly, bolting out of the classroom so quickly that my hair flew out behind me. I turned the corner just outside the classroom as fast as I could. I ran straight into a hard wall, causing me to fall back against the floor, my bag sliding down the hallway. I looked up in confusion. Since when had there been a wall there? When I looked up, my heart caught painfully in my chest. It was the boy from earlier. Before either of us could react, the door to my science classroom opened, and Mr. Varner launched himself out of it. My eyes widened in fear. He was going to drag me back to the classroom. The boy reached down, gripping me by one forearm. Before I could question him, he yanked me into the open classroom just behind him.

Mr. Varner thundered past the classroom, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. I thanked God that the classroom was empty.  I collapsed onto one of the tables, trying to stop the trembling of my limbs. I buried my head in my knees, wishing I could hide the choked sob that escaped my lips. I was too far gone to hide anything now. I was drowning. Why couldn’t I breathe? The air seemed to turn to water just before it reached my lips.

“Hey,” the boy said quietly, reaching over to shake my shoulder gently. I silently cursed him with every swearword I knew. I hated when people asked me if I was okay. They didn’t actually want to know, they were just asking out of courtesy. People were so transparent that way. They didn’t actually care. No one did. I felt my chin being tilted upwards, and something was pressed against my lips.

I realized what it was three seconds later- it was tea. It was chamomile tea. I obediently downed the cold tea. Why was he giving me tea? I drunk until I could taste the honey at the bottom of the cup sliding down my throat. The boy removed the cup from my lips, staring intently into my eyes. I blinked, surprised. He removed something from his pocket, unwrapping it and holding it up to my lips. I opened my lips, and he dropped something into my mouth. I chewed experimentally. It was spearmint gum.

“Come with me,” he ordered, but he didn’t move. I guessed he was waiting for me to get up, but I was much too surprised. I was literally stunned. He gripped my hand, pulling me to my feet. He popped his head outside the door, looking left and right. He must have been satisfied with what he saw, because he tugged me out of the empty classroom. He leaned down and scooped up my backpack, swinging it onto his back with ease. I could only follow behind him like a rag doll.