Fighting the Fall ✔

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Lydia Dunst

The first thing I would tell people about me was that I was a boxer. It was the most important thing. It was what made me, me. Second was that I was raised by a single father.

I was told my mom was a very pretty girl that my dad liked in high school. They had only been dating for two months before I was conceived. When I was old enough, my dad told me the story. Although he didn't want me to think badly of my mother, he said he couldn't lie to me. He said that, at the time, he was an up and coming boxer with a crush and the reputation to get any girl he wanted, but he only had eyes for my mother, Lorelai. The pregnancy came as a surprise to both of them and she wasn't ready to raise a baby, but my dad convinced her to keep me. It wasn't until she held me that she realised she couldn't be a mother.

I told my dad that the hero is the one who stays and the monster is the one who leaves. My dad gave me everything.

The third thing I told people was I hated getting up early. The morning wasn't my friend, although every morning my alarm went off at five and I would meet my dad downstairs and head to early morning practice. After practice I would take a shower and somehow, every day, I still made it to school on time.

Today was the first time I was running late. I ran into school, feeling my wet hair making a puddle on the back of my shirt. I burst into class with all eyes on me. I put my head down and raced to the back of the class to my normal seat beside Casen.

"Excuse me, Ms. Dunst. Care to explain why you're late?" Mrs. Burns was strict and very punctual. I'd seen what she did to her students who were late. They got sent to detention. I hated detention almost as much as I hated mornings.

"I... uh, practice ran late..." I muttered.

"That is not a valid excuse. Please go to the detention room at lunch. I will inform Mr. Xavier you will be coming." She said it very matter-of-factly. I sunk in my seat. Casen just chuckled. Of course he would find it funny.

"Shut up," I whispered, but it only made him laugh more.

"Last class, we left off discussing the difference between voluntary movements and involuntary movements. Can anyone give a quick recap?" She was the kind of teacher who called on the students who didn't raise their hands just to embarrass them. I liked the classes that I could tune out during. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them, so the seventy minutes felt like eternity. If it weren't for my side conversations with Casen, I probably would have fallen asleep.

I was grateful when the bell rang. Casen and I jumped out of our seats and raced towards the door.

"Don't forget about detention, Lydia!" Mrs. Burns called after me.

"Do you think there's any way I can get out of it?" I asked Casen. He laughed at me for even asking.

"No way!" He went his separate way down the hallway. "I'm going to go to my next class now, but good luck. I'll tell Janie where you are." He laughed and turned the corner while I huffed my way to math class. Casen was right -- I was just going to have to suffer through it and that is what I did. I suffered through algebra and a pop quiz. Usually I had lunch to look forward to but with detention hanging over my shoulders, I didn't even have that.

When the bell rang, I walked as slowly as I possibly could to the detention room at the opposite end of the school. There were only two other people in the room: the teacher, Mr. Xavier, and a guy with his back to me, leaning back in his chair with his head hung. He was wearing a baggy sweater with his hood up. I wished I brought a comfortable sweater with me.