Sanity Siphoned

Ch2: Crazy Increased

Chapter 2

“I’m sorry.” Julienne whispered to her mother from where she lay in the hospital room. The cut had been deep and required stitches. The doctor also wanted her to spend the night for ‘observation.’

Ellen Teller shook her head and frowned sadly, her eyes were red from the tears that had now dried. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t put what she felt in the kitchen into words, it was as if she checked out and someone else took over for a moment.

“It wasn’t an accident Julienne, that much is clear but I cannot figure out why you would hurt yourself. I know having people over isn’t something you like but this….I don’t understand.” Her shoulders sank in defeat.

Julienne’s frown deepened. “Yes you do.” She spoke with a trembling whisper. “It was my fault.” She said, speaking about her father and little cousin who were killed in an accident she caused nearly three years ago, it was the reason they hade moved to a new town, that and all the hate her extended family expressed. Her mother had hoped for a fresh start away from the memories. “Dad looked away from the road because of me.” it was a conversation they had many times before and every time her mother would protest and try to push it back under the rug.

Ellen lived every day as if the tragedy never happened. They each had their way of coping. “I keep hoping with time you’d deal with this better but you’re only getting worse. I’m worried and I think it’s time you consider seeing someone.”

“A shrink? Do you want to lock me away in a pretty, padded, white room?”

She sighed and sat along the bed. “On one hand I want you to take this seriously and on the other I’m relieved to hear you using sarcasm.” She grabbed her daughter’s hand and looked into her eyes. “What do you suggest we do?”

Julienne shrugged her shoulders and hoped she could keep her guilt in check before making another disastrous mistake. “I’ll try to hide it better in front of others. I’m sorry about your friend….” Worse than that she wanted to strangle herself for making such an error in front of Michael Gregory. He’d tell the whole school by Monday, calling everyone over the weekend to joke about how unstable Julienne finally lost it.

Ellen stood and hugged her daughter. “Get some rest.”

~*~

The last thing Julienne wanted was for her mother to baby her and miss a day of work. So when Monday rolled around and she asked, “Are you sure about going?”

Julienne nodded meekly and tried to smile. “I’ll be fine.”

She expected the whispers to be worse that morning as she walked to her locker. Except no one said anything, they didn’t know about her visit to the hospital. Her hand was bandaged but no one asked questions. They normally stayed away from her until Michael and his friends started in on her, then the whole school would gather to watch her misery.

Thankfully her morning was uneventful, she didn’t even see Michael. Maybe he moved on to someone else, she thought with hope.

Every bit of that hope was shattered when he cornered her during lunch. He grabbed her arm and pulled her inside an empty classroom while no one was looking. At least his torture would be private today. She really didn’t want everyone to know about what happened in the privacy in her home.

“That was some crazy shit.” He ran his hand through his short hair; it was barely long enough to cover his fingers. “Did I make you do that?”

Julienne blinked, surprised and confused she glanced at him then back away to the window behind him. Was he feeling guilty about his taunts? Hell must’ve frozen over. Now would’ve been the perfect time to snap and tell him now he made her life hell and take that guilt but as always she said nothing. If he’d start leaving her alone that would be enough.

“Julienne?” he sounded frustrated, it wasn’t the first time he had said her name. He gripped her shoulders. “There’s no one here, talk to me.”

Her frown deepened, it didn’t matter if they had a crowd or not, why would she talk to him? He was a bigger idiot than she thought.

One thing was clear in this usual turn of events; Michael wanted her attention. What he did next proved that. Gripping her shoulders he leaned in and kissed her.

Julienne’s body tensed tighter than a wire pole, had he just done that? Enemies didn’t go around kissing each other. She should feel disgusted but on top of her shock she thought it had felt almost nice. She didn’t know how a kiss was supposed to feel but a kiss from Michael should have her running for the hills, and yet….here she stood.

A quick glance at his face again showed she wasn’t the only one confused. Whatever he hoped to achieve with the kiss took a backseat as uncertainty laced his blue eyes. He shook his head and did the unthinkable; he kissed her again.

This kiss wasn’t a quick peck on the lips. He urged her lips apart and used tongue, his hands moved from her shoulders up to her hair.  

The tightness in her body turned into something different. She liked his kiss and wanted more. Her mom was right; she should visit a doctor because she must be insane to allow Michael Gregory to kiss her. She could’ve pushed his hands away and run out the room; she had done that before when he his abuse turned physical.  

She opened her mind and tried to understand this. As he kissed her she didn’t feel like a walking corpse, it was as if he was breathing life into her tortured soul. It was normal. That could be a reason, actually that was the big reason she partook in this crazy turn of events.

Michael ended the kiss but didn’t move his hands; he stared down into her eyes. “Oh all the people to have chemistry with…” he mumbled.

Julienne understood what he meant. She had never looked at him in that way before, she didn’t hold a secret a crush like most girls did and she was certain he didn’t harbor one for her either. If he had never kissed her they would’ve known about the electric push and pull. She swallowed hard and made her lips move; they felt numb from his kiss. “Why did you do that?”

He smiled like a kid in a candy store. “To get you to talk.”

“And the second kiss?”

Her boldness to mention it deepened his smile. “I wanted to.”

With the way he was holding her she had no choice but to look into his eyes as he stared into hers. “That makes you a bigger freak than me.”

He smiled. “Most definitely.”  His eyes darkened as he looked at her mouth. “You’ve never been touched before have you?” having run out of words she shook her head no. His eyes snapped back to hers. “Good. I don’t want to share.” He let her go and left the classroom.

Julienne stumbled on her feet, her mouth gaped open, as she stared at his retreating form. It hadn’t been a joke, he was crazier than she was.