Unexpected Day

Part Two

      Finally the school day ends, and I head out of the classroom door. I sigh, a long day of work behind me, another ahead. I stand out in front of the school, searching for George's tall figure, and I notice that the man in the suit and tie is still in the same spot where I saw him this morning, still looking nauseous. He looks more nauseous now than before, actually. Out of concern, I find some nausea tablets in my purse, and mentally prepare myself to approach the man and offer them to him. He is probably around thirty after all, and approaching a stranger, even out of kindness, can be hard to do. A teacher beats me to him, however, and asks him why he's here, and to please leave the school grounds. The mans face turns from concerned to determined, and he heads straight into the school. I follow, mostly curious, and prepared to offer him the tablets to chew on if he wants. The paleness in his face has disappeared, I am surprised to find, and the look on his face tells me that he's looking for someone. I see his eyes stop in one spot and follow his gaze to see who he was searching for. Alexus. She is kissing all up on some boy at the moment, in the most disgusting and revolting show possible. One of the strangest people I have ever met, she is quite the opposite of modest. She has a reputation of sleeping around, and I actively avoid her, since she's a well-known bully. She notices the man and in an accusatory tone yells, "What are you doing here?"

      "What are you doing with that boy?" The man gestures to the boy she was just all over, his tone angry and hateful.

      "Nothing of your concern!" she yells, while "that boy" has a hurt and angry look on his face.

      "It is my concern babe!" he hollers, enraged by her tone.

      "We broke up, we're friends now!" Alexus hollers back, made angrier by him.

      "Friends." The man spits out the word like a lugi. He takes off his topcoat, revealing a blue and white striped shirt and a gun on his hip. My nerves build, and I feel adrenaline spark through my veins. I know a little about guns, since my parents put me through a gun safety course once. I can't shoot very well, my aim is terrible. I know how to turn the safety on and off, and how to empty the margin and take the bullet out of the chamber. But how does that all help now?

      The fear in Alexus' face is obvious. I almost feel like she deserves this, that she did this to herself. But the other half of me feels bad for her, and that she must crave attention so much that she had even accepted it from this man. The man, apparently, Had not been okay with their break up. He also was not, in fact, nauseous. I feel a little shaky, and a trickle of adrenaline runs through my veins. It is an intense moment, I am frozen by it. I stare at the gun, it's black and simple from what I can tell. Alexus is staring down the man, the man's hand twitches in the direction of the gun. Finally Alexus says to him, "I never felt anything for you anyway, why would you want to drag out a fake relationship?" I called her bluff, but the man snapped. He pulled the gun out and pointed it at Alexus, and my body moved on it's own. I rammed myself into the side of the man, quickly backed up, and had barely enough time to wonder, Why did I just do that? The man pushed me over, sat on top of my chest, and in his rage, wrapped his fingers around my throat and began to squeeze. Something came over me, and I stared at the man in the eye with a pitying look. Why? I mouthed to him. His fingers loosened for just a moment, and then someone knocked the man off of me.

      I lay on the ground a moment breathing in, feeling a new and odd pain in my throat. My instant concern was of who was now going to be hurt by the man. I rolled to my side to see George and two of his friends punching, kicking, and beating on the man in a fit of anger. The man fought his best, but it was three against one. I mustered all the energy I had left, and stood up. I was instantly dizzy and light headed, but I stepped forward and placed my hand on George's back. I took in a deep breath and yelled, "Stop it, you guys!" and they all stared at me. All eyes are now on me. I gave the man a very serious stare, mustered my nerve, and breathed in before speaking, "I--" I let the breath out and tried again, "If I can forgive you, so can everyone else," I tried to keep my voice even, but it was coming out raspier than I had expected it to, "I believe in second chances. I do not believe in third chances. This is your second chance, if you stop now, you can fix things. Take your chance." The man stared at me, eyes wide and surprised. He stared open mouthed at me for a solid minute before beginning to process my meaning. He utters a disbelieving, "What?" and I frown upon his stupidity. "You heard me." I said gently. He slumped to the ground, looking defeated, and said, "I'll take it."

      The man was arrested. I told him to take his punishment and then to work on becoming a better person. I was rushed to the ER in an ambulance, since I was light headed and had a huge welt on the back of my head that could be a concussion. The doctor confirmed that I only had a welt which would bruise up, and my dad appeared and gave me a warm and tight hug before carting me home and feeding me barbecue ribs that he's had marinating for the last week. The doctor told me to keep ice on my head and to take aspirin if the pain persists.

      One week after that day, and Alexus has actually been less of a bully. She was actually kind enough to pick up a pencil I'd dropped for me. I wonder if it's because she feels embarrassed or because she actually wants to be kind. The whole event had been recorded from different angles and videos still floated around the school. I had unwittingly become a hero. School continued much the way it always did, only I'd get a pat on the back from my fellow students or a nod of approval from the teachers. George always jokingly calls me the heroine of our school, and my life faded back into the calm of what it had once been.