I laid on my bed facing my old wall, that had once been a light shade of blue, but now a colour that is so dull it looks disgusting. I couldn't bring myself to stop thinking about Josie. I mean, we could call the cops right? Mr. Thompson was clearly a sexual offender who was preying on his students. Especially the students who he knew, were in helpless situations. How many others were there apart from Josie?
I had thought about telling the authority and had suggested the idea to her in the bathroom but she was quick to say no. She had decided to not tell anyone about what this man was doing to her. I had begun to express my disagreement to her stupid decision when the cleaning lady had ordered us out of "her" washroom.
I'd lost Josie after that. She'd run down the hallway, her backpack bouncing on her back, as if staying in the school any longer killed her. In a way it kind of did.
I jumped up to a sitting position when I heard my room door being opened and watched as my mother walked in looking unusually nice.
She had on her navy blue dress, which she hasn't worn since my father died, and had her long hair down. Although her face was bare of make-up apart from a paste of pink on her lips, her skin was clear and moisturized and she was glowing under my room's shitty yellow lighting.
It took me a few minutes to catch my breath from being interrupted from my train of thought, and even more time to take in my mother's appearance. I found myself thinking of Harry's words from earlier today and started feeling even more bitter than I was feeling before.
"A bunch of my friends invited me over tonight for dinner. I've made yours. You can just heat it up. And go to bed early, don't stay up just because of the weekend. I might be late tonight." She rambles while folding up my quilt before she sets it at the edge of my bed.
"When were you planning to tell me about him?" I asked her after a moment of thought, quite flagrantly might I add. I hate myself for believing anything Harry tells me but I needed to know.
She stopped fiddling with her hands and started shifting from foot to foot on the black pair of heels she was wearing for the night and gave me a long look. She then sighed and sat at the edge of my bed. I instantly tucked my legs, which were outstretched, underneath me.
"Did you hear that from someone at school?"
When I didn't answer her question, she bit her lip and started looking around the room. I thought of white rabbits layering pink lipstick onto their tails, and allowing other animals to chew on them. I quickly dismissed the weird image from my head and looked away from my mother.
"I am dating this man and his name is Des." I saw her turn to look at me but I couldn't look at her. I was still trying not to think about the rabbits, yet failing miserably.
She sighed again before continuing, "I've been dating him for 2 months."
It was my turn to look at her and hers to turn away.
"And, obviously you had no plans of telling me?" I said between my teeth, trying to control my temper, something I've never quite done really. I rarely lost my temper.
"I really was looking for a chance to tell you, I promise Aspy!" She looked at me briefly before continuing. "I haven't begun to believe it myself actually." She whispers the last bit and if it weren't for the quiet and tense air between us, I wouldn't have caught what she said.
I spoke up, surprising both my mother and myself. "Let me come with then. I'd like to have dinner with the both of you."
She looked at me in astonishment and tried to conceal her joy? Fear? Couldn't tell.
