Boy Charming

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Chased

I can't eat, even with al the food I have in my back pack now. What Morgan did makes my stomach turn. He ruined everything. How am I going to go to school now? It's like a bitter taste in my mouth that won't go away. I can't escape it. I stayed up all night trying to figure out what I'm going to do now. What if a group of social services agents will be waiting at the school office for me?

I could just skip school, or never go back... run away and hide on the streets.

I look at the man on the bus sitting in the seat across from me. He looks unhappy and tired too. His clothes are worn, the colours of his once bright t-shirt faded. Even his skin is a faded greyish colour. The bus bumps along through the snowy roads. It's still dark outside despite the streets being busy with morning traffic already. It's too early for school but other places are open. I look out the window at the car tops below. They're all rushing to their jobs, trying to make it on time with the bad weather. The snow should have left weeks ago. But it just won't give Spring a chance. We wind through the downtown streets and take a turn into a more suburban area. Fortunately I don't have to switch busses anymore to get to school.

There is a bad smell and I think it's coming from the man across from me. I glance at him again, wondering if he's homeless or if he's on his way to work. He is looking at me now and smiles. His teeth are crooked and yelow, one missing at the front. It isn't a friendly smile. It's the kind of smile my Mom's guy friends would give her.

I pull the string to signal that I want to get off at the next stop, even though it's not the one nearest the school. I can walk the rest of the way. I just want to get off the bus. The smell is almost repulsive now like sour milk. The bus feels heavy and slow beneath me. I can feel the man's eyes on me but I pretend not to notice. It's like the more uncomfortable I am the more he smiles.

The bus finally comes to a slow stop and I get up quickly, pulling my heavy back pack. I don't look back as I rush out the doors and into the snowy morning chill. It is still five more blocks to the school and this part of town has no stores or buildings I can walk into, just houses. Most of them are dark with people still sleeping. I left the coffee shop at 6:30AM and so it must be near 7AM by now. The sun won't come up for another hour or so.

Now that I'm outside and away from the man on the bus I begin to feel better. Not everyone's out to get me. I have to quit being so paranoid. But I can't shake the image of his predatorial smile.

The loud engine sound of the city bus gets farther and farther away until I can hear my footsteps crunching in the snow. It's a lonely sound that makes me wish I had a home and a bedroom to go to. I stop for a minute to adjust my back pack on my back and that's when I hear it, the sound of other footsteps behind me. I turn around.

The man from the bus is walking in my direction. He'd gotten off the bus too. I turn away and begin to walk faster. He still has that same grin on his face. My heart speeds up as I look around. Everything is quiet. Someone would help me wouldn't they? I pass by the dark houses and fenses that close them off from the sidewalk. My back pack is too heavy for me to run. I can see my breath in the air under the street lamp as I walk as fast as I can. I turn to look back again and the man is gone. I look left and right. He's nowhere.

I keep walking. I've been hanging out at the coffee shop overnight and never did it occur to me that I could get followed. Maybe I'm just overreacting from lack of sleep.

The five blocks to the school feel like ten, walking through the snow. My cheeks and nose hurt from the cold and I still have that bitter taste in my mouth. It reminds me of how I'm mad at Morgan. He knew I didn't want any adults involved. That's why we didn't tell his parents that I stayed the night the day before yesterday. I can feel my face turning red with anger.

But there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm on my way to school and will just have to pretend like nothing happened. If Mr. Gregory asks me about what Morgan said I'll just deny everything. I'll tell him that I was just joking with Morgan, playing a prank.

I can see the school up ahead under the dim lights of the street lamps. There are no busses or students out yet and the walkways haven't been shoveled. I never thought I'd be so happy to see my school.

As I turn the corner I see the man from the bus standing there, on the other side of the street. It startles me so much that my heart squeezes tight in my chest, making it too difficult to breathe. His grin expands into an ugly smile. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry but I start walking fast. When I glance back I see that the man is walking too now. I walk faster and he walks faster. My chest tightens even more. I can actually hear myself breathing now.

I drop my backpack in the snow and run. I run away from the front entrance of the school towards the school yard, around the outside of the large fenced area. There is an opening in the fence, a small square that I can get through easily, hopefully with my winter jacket on, but that will be too big to get through. Or at least it will slow him down a bit. As long as I get through before he grabs me. I keep running, knowing exactly where the opening is. I am a lot faster now without my back pack and I reach the opening before the man reaches me. He is running too, with a bit of a limp. I scream as I rip my way through the square in the fence. It catches the hood of my jacket for a moment but I fall through onto the snow covered grass a few seconds later.

I imagine the man is right behind me, his greyish hands reaching through the opening for me. I scramble on my hands and knees on the slippery grass, finally catching my footing. I want to scream but can't catch enough breath. Finally on my feet I run again. My body is shaking, even as I run. Hot tears streak down my face. The man hasn't gotten through the opening in the fence. I don't know where he is. It's still dark.

I run past the back doors, knowing they won't be open and around the side of the school building, the side that can't be seen from the street. Then I round the corner to the front doors. My eyes are blurry with tears and fear but I manage to pull on the doors. They open and let out a small sob. Thank God, thank God.

I keep running down the dark hallways, past the dimly lit cafeteria and the red exit signs. I run until  see a light in a classroom. It is Mr. Gregory's room. My shoes squeek on the linolium floors as I skid to a stop, every moment feeling like the man is only inches behind me. I'm running and sobbing at the same time,

"Mr. Gregory!" My voice sounds like I have a cold or smoker's cough. "Mr. Gregory!"

Mr. Gregory gets up from his desk where he was grading papers. He looks worried and confused. I run into him, knowing that I'd been headed here the whole time.

"Alanna?"

I wrap my arms around him and hold on tight, like the man will rip me away if I don't hold on with all my strength.

"Alanna what's wrong?"

I can't answer because I'm sobbing, low sounding sobs that don't even sound like me.

"Please don't make me go to the social services people, please," I cry, "please don't tell them."

"Who?"

"I don't want to live in foster homes."

"Why? What's happened?"

I pull back a moment, turning to put Mr. Gregory between me and the open door. I still have that awful feeling that the man is after me and will appear at the door any moment. "Didn't Morgan tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Mr. Gregory takes a chair from a nearby desk and sets it down behind me.

"Sit down Alanna. Tell me what's happened."

I sit down.