Chasing Cars

Chapter Fifteen

"You tried." Andrew whispered, once Charleston had disappeared into the office again. He was right, I had tried. But not hard enough. If I had given it my all and ushered him out sooner, it would just be me in there with Sue, not the both of us.

"At least we're not alone," he said, trying to sound more brave than he probably felt. I had experienced Charleston's office before, but somehow, knowing what it was like made it worse. Because I knew exactly what to expect. 

We slowly made our way to the office, and when we reached the heavy grey door, my heart thudded so loud it wouldn't have surprised me if Charleston heard it. I led the way to the very back of the office, where a second door with "DR. P CHARLESTON" written in big, black block letters stood open a crack. One glimpse of the stained walls made me jump and hold back a scream.

"You okay?" Andrew asked, still whispering. I shook my head. The memories of Charleston's office turned me into a scared, pathetic person. I gulped, looking all around the main office, taking in the brown carpets and cream walls. Everything about it looked perfectly normal. There were newer chairs in the front, wooden ones with cherry red seat cushions.

But the ugly maroon bench still stood against the wall, in the exact same place it had been last time I took a trip to this office. But it had changed quite a bit, more splotches decorated the worn felt. 

The same secretary sat at her desk. She looked like he hadn't moved an inch since last time I was here. She wore the exact same outfit, staring at a computer screen that looked exactly the same as last time. As I looked around some more, I noticed something that hadn't been there before. On the walls, there were photos of every principal this school had ever had, and Charleston's picture featured her holding a bat with a smile that would scare small children.

The bat though. I remembered it all too well. I shivered.

"We should go," I whispered to Andrew, who was gazing around the office himself. He had probably never been in here for one moment of his life. If so, that was a streak that was now broken. Hopefully this would be his first and last time in here. The thought struck me. What if this is the last time he's in the office because he...

"Don't think about that!" I said, not even realizing I'd said it out loud until Andrew looked at me. "Charleston won't beat you again Karev, not with three of us in her office!" he laughed, clearly trying to bring the mood up. Good thing he didn't guess what I'd actually been thinking about, but now that he brought it up, what if Charleston wouldn't both trying to hurt us with a bigger number? Three has to outnumber one, right? 

At least we'd find out soon enough.

------------

When we reached the back room, it was Andrew who went in first. He thought it was a nice offer, and honestly I was thankful he didn't make me go first. 

So after sitting next to Sue and Andrew in front on Charleston's desk, I tried not to look around, but I couldn't just stare in one spot. I remembered everything from the lack of windows to the suspicious stains on the floors and walls to the large set of chain locks that hung from the door. 

Instead of the single crusty chair that stood in front of Charleston's desk when I had been here before, there were now three ugly chairs, all lines up in a perfect, straight row. It seemed as if Charleston had been expecting us. 

In the furthest chair from where Andrew and I stood by the door, Sue sat down, staring at the floor. Charleston was nowhere to be seen, which was strange considering neither Andrew or I had seen her leave the office since we arrived. I awkwardly got into the middle chair, which is quite complicated when you have useless legs.