He Who Moved the Sun

Chapter Nine: Caught red-handed

Chapter Nine

Susan Griffith’s eyes were black with hatred as she glared at J.R, her mouth set in a permanent frown and her arms crossed tightly to her chest with anger. She wasn’t a very big woman, but for some reason her presence made J.R shrink down below his regular 6 foot height and cower under her.

“Who on earth is this,” Mrs. Griffith hesitated as she searched for the right word for him. Thing? Alien? Creature?

“Boy!” she spat finally.

 Ah, he thought to himself. He was a boy. This was going to be bad.

Escher was wringing her hands nervously, her eyes darting back and forth between him and her mother for a few seconds before she spoke.  She was just as taken aback by the sudden confrontation as he was. “This is just a boy from school,” she finally whispered, her voice hoarse. She was staring at the ground now, unable to look her mother in the eyes.

“Just some boy!” Mrs. Griffith shrieked. Escher flinched at the loud voice and seemed to shrink down as well. J.R resented the woman for being able to shout at someone as sweet and vulnerable as Escher.

“Obviously he isn’t just some boy,” Mrs. Griffith continued in the same angry tone, hands on her hips indignantly. “Since you’ve allowed him into this house without my permission and then into your bedroom, which is beyond me!”

“We have very few rules in this house, but having friends of the opposite sex over without talking to me or without your father and I at home is strictly forbidden!” She continued sounding a lot like his own mother. “How can I trust you anymore? You’ve gone behind my back.”

Escher’s eyes were turning red and watering, dangerously close to spilling over with tears. He wanted to reach out and take her hand, help her through this, but he couldn’t. It would only make things worse.

“Mrs. Griffith,” he said calmly, trying to maintain composure. “Your daughter was helping me with my history and I had a little accident.” He pointed to his eye. He was hoping she would understand, but that was close to impossible at this point.

“Well son,” she replied darkly. “Despite your predicament, I’m quite sure you don’t need to get that close to my daughter.”

J.R swallowed and dropped his gaze. She had seen more than he’d thought. She’d probably even seen him kiss Escher. There was no way around this. He’d ruined is chances of being liked by the Griffiths and he’d probably messed things up with Escher as well.

“I should go home,” he said quietly without another glance towards Escher, who was sniffling into her hands beside of him. He knew that if he saw her crying, it would make this one hundred times worse.

“I’m so sorry,” he added sincerely to Mrs. Griffith as he stood in the doorframe of Escher’s room. “Please don’t blame Escher; it was my fault.”

Mrs. Griffith stared at J.R, not an inch of pity on her stony face. “Escher has sinned tonight and you and I both know it. You’ve done enough here,” she replied quietly. “Let yourself out.”

He took this as his cue to leave, despite the many words he wanted to scream in her horrible face. He swept from the room and hurried down the hallway, stopping by the top of the staircase for a moment to listen.

“How dare you go behind my back young lady. How dare you bring a teenage boy into your room and sit that close to him on your bed then allow him to kiss you.”

“Mother J.R is a good boy, I promise!” Escher cried, obviously sobbing harder than she had been when he was in the room. “I didn’t know he was going to kiss me on the cheek!”

“But he did and you didn’t seem to mind. I can no longer trust you Escher. I'll have to tell your father. There will be serious consequences. There’s a reason young boys and girls can’t be trusted with one another. They end up doing unrighteous things. I’m just sorry you turned out to be like the rest.”

“But we haven’t done anything!” Escher whimpered.

“I have no reason to believe you,” Mrs. Griffith said seriously. “Not until you gain back my trust.”

He’d heard enough. He stomped down the stairs, seething with anger. Storming through the living room and snatching his book from the couch, he swung the front door open and shut it behind him, jogging to his truck.

He had to get out of here.

Behind the wheel he could feel his emotions bubbling up inside of him. He hated that woman. He hated how unfair she was being to him and he hated how every adult in this town only cared about the ‘terrible crimes’ their children committed.

He started his engine and backed out of the driveway, taking a good look at the home he would probably never step foot in again. How could he have been so careless? Of course she would run her mouth about this to the women of the church. She would probably even find a way to tell his mother. Then he’d be screwed.

All because of a simple kiss on the cheek.

If Mrs. Griffith hadn’t walked in, what would have happened? He would have asked her on a date. He could have told her he liked her. He could have taken his plan to the next level and finished this stupid bet before things got messy.

But now it was too late. Things already had gotten messy. Escher would be on lockdown and she’d probably be too scared to ever speak to him again, let along get close to him.

He scooted uncomfortably in his seat as he turned down his street, feeling something hard against his leg. He bent down and reached into his pocket, fingering something rectangular and small.

Her diary.

His breath caught in his throat and as he pulled into his driveway, he couldn’t help but let curiosity get the best of him, despite what had happened only a few minutes earlier. He opened to the first page and realized, because of the date, that Escher had been writing in this since eighth grade.

Then he made a decision. Even though all of this had been royally screwed, he wasn’t going to give up. He was going to keep fighting to win this bet, no matter what an old bat like Mrs. Griffith said. Escher had wanted that kiss and he wasn’t going to let her go that easily.

He closed the book and nodded in determination. Operation Escher was back into action.

Author’s note:

Okay so that was a little quick upload to fill in the gaps. I hope you like it. I wanted to be quick to make up for the time it’s taken to upload chapter eight.  Thanks to everyone who is reading this story, it’s so much fun to write and I have really good ideas for it. Vote, comment, and fan! :)

-ACertainLady___