Forever Bound

Chapter 8

        Returning to school after my two-day suspension was not an event I would call pleasurable. The whispers began as soon as my foot crossed the threshold of the school. I sighed, same as always, and hurriedly made my way to my first period class.

I came to halt infront of room 105, where the entire hockey team stood assembled in a crowd, glaring at me with disdained eyes. I shifted my gaze to Greg who stood in the centre arms crossed over her chest. He took two steps toward me; "two weeks" he snarled pointing to the neck brace fixated around his neck. He lifted up his hand and brought it down on me. I closed my eyes bracing myself for a painful head on punch but instead he clamped his hand down on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. I opened my eyes when his hand left my shoulder to find them all walking away.

 I was unhurt?

 There was a part of me that felt as if a pig had flown somewhere in the world because I had spoken to Greg and I was left unscathed.

        Contrary to its out of the ordinary morning, the remainder of the day was normal. People stayed away from me averting their eyes whenever I looked in their direction, I would find the occasional note in my locker and get the shoulder shove into a locker. Everything was basically back to normal, except one thing, Greg and his crew of brainless twits didn’t beat me up or threaten me.

In fact, for the next three weeks, it was as if I didn’t exist to them. As Greg and his posse eased off so did the other students. Going to school became a somewhat pleasant venture.  I walked around school without fear and nervousness, never having to look over my shoulder.

When you learn to drive, they tell you not to rely on your mirrors but to look over your shoulder so you can get a good look at your blind spots. As the days went on I realized that mirrors were all I needed, everything had stopped. This way of thinking was probably why my mother feared for my life if I drove. I was reckless, I entered the road without checking, and out of nowhere, a truck honked its horn but it was too late. I was blindsided and now I was skidding down the road to my destruction.

It was the week of Greg’s annual end of hockey season party, lunch had just finished and the halls were flooded with bustling students. There seemed to be something occurring in the social media world or at the very least the wireless networking universe because everybody was showing their phones to their locker neighbour, engaging in hysterical laughter.

 The laughter increased in volume every time I neared them giving me no doubt that they were laughing at my expense. When I had had enough, I stormed over to Caitlin, who stood by her locker looking down at her cell phone.

 “What the hell, besides a ravenous case of stupidity, is wrong with this school? She looked up from her screen, distress gleaming in her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, “Riley I am so sorry”; she handed me her phone.

A title faded in from the dark, “Nerd in the Shower”, the title disappeared and in its place a video. A rush of heat surged to my face as I watched myself singing and dancing in the school shower. I never took showers at school; this had been after hours after I had triple checked to make sure that no one was in the proximity. I stood in the hallway, mortified, tears burning in my eyes. “Riley I am…sorry look I get them back I’ll---” I handed Caitlin her phone and turned away from her tuning out her efforts to calm me. I stopped and reached out my hand for a locker to support myself. I fought back tears, gasping for air, unable to move my legs.

 “Hey Cruze” Greg’s voice sounded close, but I still didn’t move. He slammed into me, pushing me into the lockers, “take that as a warning.” I smiled a little in spite of my situation, “so that’s how much you love me. Enough to want to see me naked, sorry to burst your bubble but I don’t play for that team.” He punched me in the jaw then threw me to the ground grabbing me by the collar. I scrambled to get up, every cell in my body raging with anger. I jumped on him throwing a punch. For a split second I had the upper hand but he regained it fixing his hands on my shoulders pinning me to the lockers and kneeing me with his right foot.