Savanna

Chapter 6

Dad promised to take me to school on Monday morning. Mum had offered to let me spend this one day at home, but I'm perfectly fine. And just laying around doing nothing doesn't seem the best idea for me. Studying can keep my mind away from what had happened.

The thought of Jake made me a bit uncertain. I didn't know if I'd see him today. But I can't hide forever, which meant I had to face my fear. Trying not to show any motion, I got in the car.

The ride to school seemed to pass too quickly. Too soon, I could see the white building with three floors, surrounded sparsely by young maple trees. Dad parked pretty far away from the entrance, as the front of the school was too crowded. I smiled to my dad, affirming that I really was okay, and waved him good-bye as I stepped out from the car. Then I watched as his car disappeared from my view. Starting from that moment, I felt vulnerable.

I headed towards the school building, taking long and fast steps, at the same time keeping my eyes open for any threat. Like Claudia suggested, I stayed close to bigger crowds. If Jake should approach, he can't do anything to me in front of all those people.

When I had taken my things from my locker and made it to biology class, Nicole practically jumped on me, hugging me tightly.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," she said, squeezing me even more tight.

"I think I can imagine," I replied, gasping for air, surprised by her strength.

"I am so, so sorry for forcing you to come with me. It's all my fault..."

"Nicole, it's not your fault," I told her comfortingly. "And I'm fine, I really am. I didn't even get hurt."

Released from her grip, we walked over to our desk. Rudy met me there, hugging me, too, but not as strongly as Nicole although his grip was still firm. And Rudy, again, was much calmer than Nicole. And more quiet, too. Until the lesson started, Nicole didn't seem to take a single breath between her talking about how sorry she is and how bad she feels. And I did my best to confirm that it wasn't her fault. I really didn't blame her for anything. Rudy rather stayed silent. He only said a few words.

As hours passed, Nicole gradually started to calm down. At one point I even managed to forget it all. Almost. But the day would move on pretty peacefully. I only saw Jake once, when we were heading towards our next class. Luckily we didn't happen to be too close to each other. I'm not even sure if he saw me.

At the cafeteria we three sat together behind one table, as always. Nicole, the biggest chatter amongst us, was talking about one of her relative who recently got into a car accident and has been in the hospital ever since. Today after school, Nicole had to go to visit him with her parents. I tried to pay attention to what she was talking, but I was too distracted by my own thoughts.

"And you are not listening to me, are you?" Nicole said when I had drifted away again.

"Oh, um..."

"It's fine. I understand you don't want to listen to other people's problems at the moment."

"I'm sorry. I was listening." I gave her an apologizing look. It was just that I couldn't take my mind away from what I had seen in that old school house. I couldn't forget those glowing eyes. As much as I wanted, I couldn't prove myself that it was all just a dream. Because I know it was real.

"Okay then," Nicole sighed. "I need to call my sister, to tell her to pick me up after school." She stood up, her food only half eaten, and left our table. It was so quiet after she was gone. I almost drifted away in my thought again.

"I haven't heard Nicole mention it yet, but did Jake show up at the party then?" Rudy suddenly asked, almost making me flinch.

"No," I said automatically. "At least, we didn't see him," I then added.