Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 20

Although busy, the cafeteria did not have Graham in there. I swung by his locker, but again, I found nothing. Where else would he be? Maybe he was at home or at the hospital with my coma self. Two senior boys walked by me carrying soccer balls. I could have slapped myself in the forehead. Why hadn't I thought of that?

Sure enough, there he was, kicking soccer balls in the net. He wasn't so much kicking them as he was shooting them in rapid-fire concession. He was angry. That much was clear. Each forceful kick was met with a swear word. It's good he was feeling as angry as I was; this wouldn't be one-sided.

I stalked up the grassy embankment to the soccer field. I knew the moment he saw me because his face suddenly turned grim. He stopped kicking balls and stood silently, challenging me. I stomped forward to the challenge he presented. He had no idea what he was up for; I had never been mad at him before.

Before I even got to him, I yelled, "You're a jerk."

Amusement glittered in his eyes, and I wanted to punch him in the face for it. I strode up to him, poking a finger in his hard chest. "You are the cruelest person I have ever met."

Any amusement that had been there slid away, replaced by the golden flames I had seen before. I would not step back like my instinct told me to; I was standing my ground.

"Me," he mocked. "I'm the cruelest person in the world? I think masterminding a prank that leads to a coma is pretty cruel. Don't you?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh, I don't know. Ripping two young boys from their home is pretty damn cruel."

"I didn't know she would do that," he said, some of his anger fading.

"Oh, really. You didn't know telling your mommy that my parents were absent was probably wrong. You knew. You didn't care about anything but screwing me over!" I was heaving with anger and the force of my words.

"There are other people involved. Not that you cared! You are such an asshole!" I stopped, clamping my hand over my mouth in shock. That was the first time I had ever said a swear word. It was his fault. He was bringing out the worst in me.

Graham laughed a mean, sardonic laugh. "Oh, that's rich, Jackie. Acting surprised that you called me an asshole. It isn't the first time."

No, maybe not, but it had been for me, and I disliked it. "You," I said, shaking with anger. "You made me do this! You made those poor boys cry most of the night. You made me this person. How could you be like this? How could I have thought I knew you?"

"You don't know me, Jackie. The only person who truly knows me is in a coma because of you," he shot back at me.

I took a step back. I was comparing my Graham with the one Jackie knew. Jackie didn't know Graham, but this was not him. If it was, I wouldn't want to know him anymore. "Don't try to sway me from what you did to me."

His left eyebrow rose just a fraction, and his eyes bathed me in hatred. "You deserved it. You deserve to be ripped away from everything you care about. I wish I had told the cops what you really did. I wish you were rotting in jail. What happened to those boys was just a side effect of what is wrong with your life. You are poison spawned from the devil himself."

"Those boys are innocent," I said through gritted teeth.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well," he said, turning on his heel to return to his ball kicking.

I saw red. How dare he dismiss me like that? I was done with men dismissing me. Before I even knew what was happening, I had flung myself at Graham. I launched myself onto his back, choking him from behind, screaming incoherent things.