Forbidden

Hate

"Ellie!!! Did you really have to stay for tutoring today? We have so much fun stuff to do when we get to your house." So much for quiet and alone with Mr. Reynolds, Abby was here.

    "Um, about that actually, I'm going to Simons, so we'll have to reschedule."

    "Are you serious? We planned this last week, when did Simon ask you?" She seemed furious.

    "Today, but we hang out all the time, and Simon wanted to study for the math test, so I said yeah. I never hang out with him, just give me a break on this one thing please?" That's Abby's worst trait, jealousy. It's like I can never hang out with anyone else without her getting upset. 

    "Fine, whatever. Just hurry up with your math so I can go home then." I saw Mr. Reynolds look at Abby for whatever reason. If I had to guess, it was because of her rudeness, there was absolutely no reason for her to be so angry about me hanging out with someone else for once. I sat back down by Mr. Reynolds' desk so I could get started on my math. 

    "You ready?" He asked.

    "Not really."

    "Then let's get to it." We worked through all of my leftover questions until we were through. We shared some laughs here and there, Abby constantly moaned and groaned to leave, and Ms. Weston and Mr. Easton walked in a few times to give Mr. Reynolds papers. Once we were through, I put the computer back up and gathered my things. 

    "See, I told you you're not stupid." Mr. Reynolds said.

    "Well I got your help so of course not right now." I smarted back.

    "Alright Eleanor, just make sure you get your assignments done on time from now on. Now get out of my classroom." He laughed. I walked over to the doorway to meet up with Abby who was already halfway down the hall. I looked over to Mr. Reynolds, who was looking at me with a bright smile. 

    "Bye Mr. Reynolds, see you Monday, thanks for the help!"

    "Bye Eleanor, have a nice weekend, I'll see you next week." Mr. Reynolds waved, and that was my cue. I took off running down the hall to Abby. 

    "Hey sorry it took so long, math is a pain you know?"

    "Yeah whatever, I called your mom already, she said she's on her way."

    "Oh, ok. Well… how was your day?" I tried to make conversation with Abby, but she had no will to talk back. 

    "Fine." 

    "Anything interesting happen?"

    "Nope."

    "Okay well if you won't talk, I won't talk either." If she wouldn't put in an effort, I wouldn't.

    We walked out of the school silently, and waited for my mom to get there. I looked up to Mr. Reynolds classroom window, on the top floor, to see him looking out at us.

    "Is your mom almost here?" He yelled down.

    "Um, I don't know, but she's on her way." 

    "I'll come wait with you. Time me!" He smiled big, like he couldn't wait to come see us again. "I love him" I thought to myself, over and over again. 

    "Okay!" I laughed. He ran from the window, and within 30 seconds, he was standing by my side gasping for air and laughing. "Thirty seconds!" I said. 

    "30?! That's record time!" He laughed. He caught his breath for a few moments before speaking again. "So, are you ready for flip day? Do you have all of your assignments done?" Flip day's are the best days of the year but we only get four of them, one for each quarter. It's a day where all classes are only 30 minutes long, lunch stays the same, and then we get the last 2 hours of school to have fun. The first one was so fun, Neveah, Vince and I went to Mr. Reynolds' room and played board games. Neveah and I decided from that day that we would pick Mr. Reynolds room no matter what it was. 

    "Well, now I just have to finish my book report."

    "You better get on it."

    "I will, I promise. Why are you so concerned anyway?" I giggled. 

    "Hey, are you judging me for looking out for you?"

    "No I just-" He cut me off before I could finish. 

    "That's what I thought." He looked me in the eyes, smiled, and then looked away quickly. 

    Abby looked me and Mr. Reynold up and down with a look of disapproval before deciding to speak her opinion, which most definitely was not asked for with the attitude she was holding on to.

    "Ugh. I wish your mom would hurry up and get here so I can get away from you two love birds." She rolled her eyes and looked away. I didn't think twice before going off. I wasn't going to let her say that about me, about us, especially right in front of him. If she wants a fight, that's what she'll get. 

    "What did you say?" I asked, my voice quivering with anger. 

    "You heard me Eleanor, you're obsessed with Reynolds and you know it." That was it, there was no way she was serious. How could she just turn on me that quickly? She made her decision very clear. 

    "Yeah I did, loud and clear and if that's how you wanna play, bring it." 

    I slapped Abby across the face hard, leaving a red hand mark. She kicked me to the ground, I fell at Mr. Reynolds' feet, but quickly got up. I heard him say my name, but for once, I didn't listen to him calling for me. I fired back and punched Abby in her gut. I felt Mr. Reynolds come up behind me, trying to pull me away from Abby. Was I really doing this? I was fighting, crying, and hurting. This wasn't me, but I didn't want it to stop, I was furious with her. She was supposed to be my best friend and keep my secrets, but as soon as her feelings get hurt, she has to ruin my life. I snapped back out of my thoughts just soon enough for Abby to sock me in the face, hard. Mr. Reynolds finally pulled me away from Abby. I felt blood trickle down my face, my nose ached, my head was pounding. I stood there for a moment, staring at Abby, crying. I turned around to Mr. Reynolds and looked him in the eyes, a wave of shock and realization came over me. 

    "I.. I am so sorry" I melted into his chest, sobbing and bleeding. He held me close, hugging me tightly. 

    "Hey, it's okay, it's okay." He whispered to me.

    "I can't, I just can't. She's too much, everyone is too much, the world is too much. I just want it to all be gone, I don't want to be here anymore." I whined, my face still throbbing with pain. 

    "No, no, don't say that Eleanor. You belong here, don't you ever say anything like that, you are loved and appreciated." He said. He slowly pulled me away from his chest to look at me. "You are loved. Okay?" I nodded slowly, still crying. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" We walked over to Abby who was not bleeding, but still hurting. "Are you okay Abby, do you need anything?" 

    "No, I'm fine. Take your girlfriend inside." She huffed. Mr. Reynolds, who was holding my arm,  looked down at me, as if to say "Don't do anything, it's fine." 

    "Alright Abby, if Eleanor's mom shows up while we're inside, call her and we'll be out shortly." Mr. Reynolds and I turned away from Abby and walked toward the school building, my nose still bleeding. Inside was cool, and it felt good compared to the warmth outside. 

    "Let's head to the restroom to get your nose cleaned up, and then I have a shirt I can give you in my room." I imagined myself in his shirt, I hoped that it would smell like him. 

    "Wait which bathroom do we go to? I can't go to the men's and you can't go to the women's." 

    "It'll be fine for right now. No other students are here anyway, and if any faculty walks into the student restroom I can just explain what happened." He looked at me directly when he spoke, and he did so in a calming tone. He does so well with handling students in bizarre situations. We walked the stairs up to the top floor restrooms to be closer to his classroom. 

    "Are you okay? Things looked pretty rough." He asked as we walked into the men's restroom.

    "Yeah I'm fine, it probably just looked like a stupid little girl fight anyway." 

    "No it looked rough Eleanor, I'm concerned for you, Abby punched fairly hard." Mr. Reynolds turned the faucet on and wet a paper towel. 

    "I mean it hurts but I'll be fine. I just hate her. I never want to see her again."