Crush

Crush Day 2 (Photograph)

"What do you see?"

"Him. My dad. His head."

Principal Landon blanched. She took a deep breath and then put her arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. He didn't move. "I am very sorry about what happened to your dad. I read about it, obviously, just like everyone else, but I can't imagine what you're going through, what you've went through-seeing it. Do you talk to anyone?"

Jace knew that she was talking about someone professional. He shook his head.

"How's your mom? Have you at least talked to her?"

Seth shook his head quickly. "No, and I don't want her to know about this, about what we're talking about. She's just...she's finally starting to act like a living person, I don't want to put her back in the grave."

"I know what you mean, Jace. My own father died when I was young. He was in the service."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Mrs. L."

"It was a very long time ago, but that doesn't matter, does it? The pain is still there. How long has it been?"

"Five years and twenty seven days," came the quick reply. Principal Landon winced.

"I'm going to overlook a few of these tardies, Jace, but you really need to make sure you're here on time. Luckily for you, I have a little bit of pull. I don't want your mother to be in trouble either. But I do want you talking to someone."

Jace nodded, grateful that she wasn't going to run to the phone the moment their conversation ended. "Thanks, Mrs. L."

"You're welcome, now let's get inside before Mrs. Call phones the house." She nodded up toward the school and they made their way toward the building. Some of his classmates were already looking down at him with grins on their faces, probably wondering what he did this time. Not that he was bad, but for some reason the kid that always showed up late got a bad reputation for things.

Principal Landon turned before they went in. "What's this I hear about you and Cheryl Langly?" A twinkle lit her eyes for a brief moment before she gave him an "I got ya" look. Jace laughed.

"Nothing. That's been going around for two years now. Cheryl's mom works with my mom."

"That's all?"

"She's over at the house a lot, we do our homework together, nothing more. Besides, she's dating some college guy in Andover."

"Oh, well then why let the rumor go around?"

Jace grinned. "I don't have to worry about any girls chasing me, and Cheryl doesn't have to worry about her mother."

Principal Landon laughed. "She doesn't know, eh?"

Jace thought of the photo that Cheryl's mom saw of "the boyfriend" last week. It was some artistic looking photograph of the guy beside a bar called the "HIDEOUT". He looked way older than they were, and he had more facial hair than most 40 year old men. Jace sniggered. "She does, she just hopes that one day her daughter and I will be married and that we'll all be one big happy family."

Mrs. L opened the door and they walked in. "Third period, go to Mrs. Tunston's. I'll see that your teachers know."

Jace was just about to argue, but then kept his mouth shut and nodded. Mrs. Tunston was the guidance counselor, and according to Cheryl, an absolute fruit loop. "Okay."