Saving Ally

Chapter 27

--Ally Christian

Drew and I sit opposite to Mrs. Plannton in separate chairs. For the first 20 minutes or so I keep my head down and my hands together. Her and Drew have been talking mostly. I feel anxiety rise in my body as I sit still waiting for her to speak to me. Mrs. Plannton leans onto her desk and look directly at me.

"I heard what happened to you and that can't be good at all. I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it," she says with a low soothing voice.

My hands start to sweat as I try to come up with a way to say no. I wipe my hands on my pants and say, "W-well... um I-I um..."

I close my eyes tight and look down. Mrs. Plannton starts talking, but I can only hear my dad's voice in my head.

You sound like a stupid seven year old. Open your mouth and quit your stuttering! You such a pathetic waste of space. You should've died with your mother!

"Ally?" Mrs. Plannton asks, trying to get my attention. I feel tears starting to stream down my face and I don't even realize Drew's hand on mine. I keep my head down, feeling hopeless and knowing I can't talk without stuttering.

"She's been through a lot," Drew says, holding my hand.

"You have too I heard," Mrs. Plannton says.

I reach up and wipe my tears, suddenly feeling all eyes on me.

"Yeah... I cared for her too much to let her go through that alone," Drew says, and I look over at him and he gives me a slight smile. I return the slight smile.

"Well, I just want both of you to know that either one of you can always come to me if you need me," Mrs. Plannton says, leaning back in her chair. She looks at me like she only wanted for me to talk. I don't know what she wants me to say exactly. This is too much pressure.

"I should get back to class," I say, standing up. Mrs. Plannton nods and stands up out of her chair, but as she does the bell rings, meaning the end of class. Drew and I walk out the door, and I feel Mrs. Plannton's eyes on my the entire time.

-

During lunch, Drew and I decide to eat off campus. I can't take anymore of this staring. He's supposed to meet me at my locker right after class, but I've been standing at my locker ready to go for five minutes. Since he's not coming to me, I should go to him.

I start walking over to Drew's locker, but get stopped by Kate. The weird thing is, she's without her friends.

"Hey, Ally," she says nicely. "I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me. We could talk and have fun together."

I stand speechless, my jaw dropped.

"Oh come on silly don't act like you don't know," she says, slightly pushing me. By the confused look on my face she continues. "You're all everyone talks about."

"A-all I g-get is p-people s-staring at m-me," I stutter, looking around at the people glancing at me.

"They're saying good things about you. Like how you're brave, strong, and smart," Kate says. "Don't think they're saving negative things. You're literally popular."

I give Kate a blank look. I don't know what to say. How am I popular after doing just one thing? I'm me.

"I-I gotta g-go find D-Drew," I say, slowly stepping around Kate.

"Good luck with that, there's a whole bunch of girls falling for him," Kate says and I walk away.

What is she talking about, I think; but when I reach Drew's locker I know exactly what she means. Drew is leaning up against his locker with three girls on him. One is rubbing his bicep, the other is leaning on the lockers smiling like no tomorrow, and the one in front is way too close for comfort. That's when I realize the one in front of him is Lauren. I stand back and listen to what their saying.