The Abduction of Stephanie

Chapter 12

Evening approaches and Agnes is still clenching the baseball bat. She hears footsteps approaching and peeks around the corner spotting Billy, Raine, and Brianna. She leans closer trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and still remain unnoticed. Clouds begin to build in the sky and it looks as if a storm is approaching. Agnes can see Billy talking to the two girls but she can’t make out what they are saying. Not from this far away. She takes a few steps closer, careful not to be seen. “Where do you think she could be?” says Billy. “Do you think she ran away?” asks Brianna. “And give up being prom queen. I doubt it,” says Billy. “Maybe that weird girl has her locked up in a basement somewhere,” says Raine, giving an expression that makes it hard for the others whether she is joking or not. “You mean that frumpy girl in our English and History classes?” “She wouldn’t do that. Steph would kick her ass,” says Brianna.

Agnes can’t believe her ears. They are getting too close to the truth. Agnes has to do something about it. It begins to rain. She moves even closer to them now, still clenching the bat. She takes a couple of practice swings and then continues to move, her back against the wall of the brick building, she is nearing them now. They have tormented her for years and now they were going to pay the price. No chance they were going to find Stephanie. No chance they were going to harm her parents or turn them into the police. Now it is her turn to be in control. She holds the bat high over her shoulder, the way her father taught her when she was young and keeps going.

Agnes is only a few feet away now. She can see them but they can’t see her. She runs towards them but knocks over a garbage can on her way. It makes a loud crashes noise and a black cat growls at her before running off into the darkness. “What was that sound?” asks Brianna. “I don’t know. Let’s get out of here,” says Raine. All three of them head down the road. It is raining harder now. Agnes is soaked and has scraped her knee. She brushes herself off and gets up from the concrete. She picks up her bat and returns home. Next time they won’t get away.

She takes off the black sweats and the ski mask, and showers before sitting down at her desk to do her schoolwork. Even a braniac like her can’t seem to focus under these distracting circumstances. She slams a book shut and trudges downstairs into the basement. “She slaps Stephanie across the face. “This is all your fault!” shouts Agnes. “If you weren’t such a bitch none of this would have ever happened.” Stephanie would give anything to punch Agnes in the face right now, dunk her head in a toilet, kick her in the stomach, but the restraints won’t allow her to. “Damn these restraints.”

The weekend passes and Agnes again finds herself in Miss Simpson’s English class. “Good Morning class. Hope you guys are ready to present your love poems.” Today Miss Simpson is dressed in clothing even more revealing than the ones she usually wears, a shorter skirt, an extra button undone, and even her makeup looks better today, and her perfume, Channel No. 5 fills the classroom air. Her freshly done hair hangs down in front of her chest and her nails shine bright pink after a recent manicure.

“So who wants to go first?” asks Miss Simpson. No one seems to be paying attention to her. The boys are swooning over her looks and the girls, especially the popular ones, don’t really seem to care what she has to say. Most of the students are talking amongst each other and Agnes can hear a couple of members of the football game laughing at Melinda. Calling her names like “Fat McNasty” and “Beast.” Agnes wonders what possesses people to treat others this way. Melinda has never done anything to any of them. Sure she is a little overweight, okay, a lot overweight but she never bothers anyone.

“Quiet Down or you’ll all be reading your poems in detention!” shouts Miss Simpson. It’s not often that Miss Simpson gets angry but when she does everyone knows it. The class gets quiet immediately. Even Melody flinches at the sound of her teacher’s voice. “I need a volunteer or I’m going to pick someone.” Agnes raises her hand. “Someone other than Agnes.” The others in the class look around, hoping someone else puts a hand in the air, but no one does. “Ok Melody you can go first.” Melody rolls her eyes and slowly makes her way to the front of the class.

Melody holds a piece of notebook paper in her left hand and twirls a piece of gum around her finger with the other hand. “Lose the gum, Miss Quinn.” Melody rolls her eyes at Miss Simpson again and throws her gum in the trashcan. “Whenever you’re ready, Miss Quinn.” Melody looks down at the piece of notebook paper and then focuses her attention on Billy. “Love is when I can’t pay attention in class because you are in the same one I am. Love is when I can’t write this poem because I’m too busy writing your last name next to my first name in my notebook. Love is sitting here everyday, hoping you’ll stop thinking of her and notice me.” “That was very good Miss Quinn. I’m impressed.” The entire class is in a state of shock; no one has ever heard anything so sweet come out of Melanie’s mouth before.

“Brianna, you’re next.” Brianna strolls to the front of the room, no notebook, no paper, just her lovely self. She adjusts the white headband that rests upon her forehead and brushes a strand of hair from her eyes. “Love is when a big strong guy takes you from behind, pressing his…. “ “That’s quite enough Miss Barry. Either take this assignment seriously or you will find yourself in the principal’s office.” Brianna begins again, “There are many fish in the sea but you will always be my Ariel. Wait. Ariel’s a girl mermaid, right? That didn’t come out right.” The class is laughing so hard they nearly wet themselves. Brianna runs back to her seat and puts her head down.

“Okay, Billy, you’re up.” Agnes watches as Billy walks to the front of this classroom. Agnes blushes, turning redder and redder with every step he takes. “Stop Agnes. You’re staring at his butt. Someone is going to notice.” Billy is such a beautiful man, the way his Levi’s cling to his waist and his pectoral muscles ripple through his shirt are enough to make any girl take a second look. His sinewy biceps bulge as he stretches, his shirt riding up just enough to reveal his fully sculpted six-pack. Agnes stares as he takes a crumpled piece of notebook paper from his pocket. “Roses are red. Violets are blue. Poems are lame. I’m ready for the big game.” “That was so poetic”, thought Agnes. Everyone claps for Billy. “Go Eagles!” they shout.

Agnes couldn’t stop herself from clapping too. So what if just last night he was ready to attack her family, he is beautiful and Agnes likes him and one day he is going to notice her, not Stephanie, not Melody, but Agnes. Agnes Raven Bumgarner. Besides she doesn’t know if he really was going to attack her family or not. All she knows is that he went looking for Stephanie.

Raine is the next to go up. Agnes always finds what Raine says funny even if she doesn’t want to admit it to herself. Raine might hang with the mean girls but she always seems to speak the truth, brutal as it may be. She applies new black lipstick and digs through the skull-patched bag for her notebook. She comes across it and begins to read. “Love is a deep, dark hole in the pit of your stomach. It eats away at your insides like the worst form of cancer. Love is nothing more than a nightmare, the kind of dream where you fall forever until finally you either wake up or plummet to your death.”

“Thank you Raine. I guess that leaves you Miss Bumgarner. The rest of you will present your poems tomorrow.” “Love is when you feel your heart melt in his arms. Love is when he puts you first. Love is when you look into his eyes and can see his soul. Love is when he kisses your lips. Love is when he offers you his umbrella in the rain. Love is when gives you his coat in the cold. Love is being there for each other when the two of you grow old.” “That was beautiful Agnes. Great job.”

The bell rings and Agnes goes to her locker to retrieve books for her next class. She can see Billy running after Melody. Melody is crying, mascara running down her face. “Mel, wait.” Billy finally catches up to her and Mel says, “Leave me alone.” “Mel was that poem about me? Was it? Did you mean what you said back there?” “Every word” says Mel. “Melody, I didn’t know. I’ve liked you since the third grade. You just never seemed to show any interest in me. You were always busy with your friends or dating some other guy.” Billy wipes the tears from Melody’s eyes and plants a soft kiss on her lips.

Agnes watches the whole time, feeling as if a thousand knives have been thrown into her heart and twisted over and over again. She can’t believe her eyes. Stephanie is out of the picture, and he chooses a bitch like Melody over her. Melody probably didn’t even write that poem. She probably stole it from someone off the Internet. Agnes runs to bathroom and curls up in her usual stall, crying her eyes out. “Just when I think things are getting better. They get worse.”