Not A Word

Chapter Twenty One

Tara

School. That one word had the power to send my heart pounding and fear to settle like a wad of concrete in my stomach. There was no way I could avoid going though. My goal had been to live through high school so I could go to a place where pain was merely a memory for me. If I were to continue to not be there I would be signing off on my dream.

The next morning I opened my eyes carefully to allow them to adjust to the bright light streaming in through the window. For once the sky was not clouded over and promising rain, instead the clouds gave way to a beautiful blue sky colored with light pinks, oranges and purples. I stood up from the bed and raced over to the window.

Never in my life had a seen quite such a beautiful sunrise. It seemed to shine brightly, forcing away the doom and gloom of the past few weeks. I smiled and hoped that this was a sign that things were finally going to get better. There was a slim chance but hope is what keeps people going.

Opening the window I sucked in a deep breath of the crisp morning air and smiled. I walked to my bag and pulled out a pair of sweatpants which I paired with a large tee. I may feel better about myself at home but school was still a battlefield. Things had not changed there no matter how much I prayed it would.

When I walked down the stairs I was disappointed to see that there was nobody home. Feeling afraid I inched my way into the kitchen still not sure of the extent of my welcome. On the fridge was a handwritten note scrawled in beautifully flowing cursive.

I picked it up expecting a sweet note from Denise. I was surprised to see that the elegant handwriting was in fact Greg's. Chuckling a bit I focused on the words.

Dear Tara,

I'm sorry we were not at home this morning. I got called to work suddenly and Denise always leaves early. I promise you I will be home at Three thirty. If you are not home by then I will come looking for you.

Your house key is in the bowl by the front door. Please lock up the house before you leave an remember to eat breakfast. There is money for you to get lunch at school with the keys.

Stay safe,

Greg

I smiled as I read. He had thought enough to explain his absence and had even left me money for lunch. I couldn't imagine that he could ever have gotten even more generous but he proved me wrong. I sent up a silent thank you and grabbed an apple.

Picking up my backpack I slung it over my shoulder before grabbing the keys and money. Locking the front door I stored the keys in a hidden pocket of my backpack. I bit into the apple and headed down the road toward the school. I felt safe, until I laid eyes on the front gates of the school.

Swallowing the apple that had lodged in my fear clogged throat I forced myself to keep moving forward. Honestly, what could happen to me that would be any worse than I had already endured?

With my head held high I walked through the front doors. Two steps in a leg shot out and tripped me. I fell to the ground just managing to catch myself with my hands at the last second. Pain radiated up my arms and sent a shock through my entire body. I gasped in surprise, which quickly transformed into a hiss of pain. So much for being optimistic.

"Watch where you're going tramp! Apologize for ruining my new shoes." I heard someone growl out.

The need to comment back grew but I held it back remembering Greg's words from this morning. 'Stay safe' he had said. A comment would only egg them on and if staying safe made me less of a nuisance to Greg and Denise then I would do anything in my power to do just that.

Picking myself up off the ground I brushed the dirt off my knees and hands. As I took a step to walk away the same voice called out again, "Didn't you hear me? I said...apologize."

'Forgive me Greg.' I mentally called out then turned to face the owner of the voice. I came face to face with the team captain of the wrestling team. That didn't deter me though it only spurred me on. "Oh, were you speaking to me? I thought you were speaking to your girlfriend." I sneered back.

An loud collective gasp sounded from the crowd surrounding us. His girlfriend, the head of the cheer squad, stepped forward. "If you're going to talk trash about me then you can do it to my face bitch." her nasally voice came out more as a whine.

"Fine. I will. I thought your dick of a boyfriend was speaking of your skank ass. I should have known better though, he's too busy doing your best friend." she gasped at my words.

Spinning to face her boyfriend she looked angry enough to kill. "You asshole! I knew you were cheating on me!" standing behind him was her friend. The moment she saw her she launched her body at the other girl. They hit the ground and preceded to roll around with slaps flying through the air along with curses, screams, and fake nails.

Feeling satisfied with myself I turned to walk away but before I could the boy wrapped his hand around my bicep and spun me back around to face him. He looked as angry as his girlfriend but this anger was directed at me. Before I could react a fist flew and connected with my left cheek. "You bitch! You are nothing hut an unwanted piece of trash!" another fist connected with my right eye this time, "I hope you drop dead an rot in hell for eternity."

One last punch to the face sent me sailing to the ground followed my a sharp kick to the stomach. The bastard had fucking steel toed boots on. The tardy bell rang and the crowd quickly dispersed along with the girls who had just been beating on each other.

Moaning I pushed myself to a sitting positing before forcing myself to stand on my feet. My head spun immediately almost sending me back to the ground. I gathered my wits and my balance. That had probably not been the best idea but it had felt good to finally tell someone off for being an asshole. Looking at the time I saw I was already three minutes late. Sighing, I knew I had to stop by Te attendance office to get a late slip.

As I walked up the steps I muttered profanities under my breath. I couldn't wait to get the hell out of this school, this town, and this country. I missed Ireland with all my friends. At least there I had days where I was treated nicely.

Getting up on set of stairs I slammed into a hard body. Losing my balance I nearly fell backward and down the stairs. Thankfully strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me forward away from the long and dangerous fall.

I looked up to see who had acted so swiftly to save me. No, it couldn't be. I hadn't thought I would run into him, and looking like that!

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I would just like to say thank you to all of you who have read and voted for my story.

This chapter is dedicated to Anonymous_Teen even though I can't officially do it from my iPod. If you like this go read her stories. One word... EPIC!!