Cheyenne: The Art of Love and Jealousy

Chapter Five: Repercussions

The next Monday morning, Cheyenne found out that Alex had been suspended from school for a week and cut from the football team for half of the season. She was certainly glad she didn't have to face him for the week. On the other hand, he might blame her for his suspension and he had already shown once that he was capable of violence.

Cheyenne had been looking forward to her first high school dance. She had been to a couple in middle school but they were all casual dress so she could wear her boots. She also went with Marrisa because neither of them wanted to go with a boy. The homecoming dance was supposed to be fun, but Alex had ruined it in more ways than one. It wasn't just that he had become possessive, and violent, though that was horrible enough by itself. What bothered Cheyenne was that Alex had revealed how she felt about William Dunn. Cheyenne had never planned to tell him at all.

That morning was slightly cloudy but it was still a fairly warm morning as Cheyenne had gone looking for her friends. She didn't have to look very hard because Amberley spotted her and approached her quickly.

"What happened on Friday?" asked Amberley immediately. "I heard there was a confrontation between you and Alex at the dance!"

"He got all pissed off that I left and was talking to someone else, but he was looking at me like he wanted to rip my dress off. To be honest, it was creepy," Cheyenne explained, feeling aggravated though more at the memory than anything. "We argued for a few minutes and then he raised a hand at me."

"Oh my God! Really?" exclaimed Amberley. She looked frantic. "I had no idea he was like that!"

"I'm going to be hanging out with some other friends," said Cheyenne. "Just during lunch."

"I'm so sorry," apologized Amberley.

"It's not your fault, Amberley," Cheyenne said, hugging her friend.

"Oh, by the way," said Amberley suddenly, "I love your haircut!"

"What? Oh, thanks!" said Cheyenne, smiling happily. "Did you finish your homework for Truesdale?"

"Yeah," said Amberley, reaching into her bag and pulling out the completed assignment, and handing it to Cheyenne.

"Good, can I copy?" asked Cheyenne.

"Sure, but you had the whole weekend!" said Amberley.

"I was so stressed out about facing Alex again, I actually got sick," Cheyenne explained. "This is the only thing I didn't finish. I just need the last half...."

Cheyenne pulled out her unfinished homework and copied Amberley's answers, paraphrasing when needed. Then she handed it back and put hers into her backpack.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"No problem," said Amberley as the bell rang.

By the time her first two classes were over, Cheyenne realized that the entire school knew that Alex raised a hand to her at the homecoming dance. It was the only thing she heard talked about all morning. No one knew why, just that he did and he was suspended for it. Several people who know who she was, approached her, asking her what happened. She opted for the short version of the truth. Cheyenne was dreading the following Monday when Alex was back at school.

Cheyenne sat by herself under the shade of a California Coulter Pine during brunch sipping homemade lemonade from her plastic mason jar and reading 'Of Mice and Men' for her English class. It was quieter in this spot than it was on the rest of the campus and Cheyenne liked it. It partially shielded Cheyenne from view which meant she was very seldom disturbed.

The bell rang and she walked alone into her English class expecting the usual greeting she got from Amberley like she got this morning. Instead, she got a cold glare. She stopped, frowned, and tilted her head a little in confusion. Amberley was fine with her that morning. Instead of replying to Cheyenne's silent question, Amberley just looked away and got her homework out. Cheyenne was dumbstruck. What happened in less than three hours that made Amberley give her that look? She pushed it to the back of her mind as Mrs. Marozeck started talking.