Just Try It

Chapter 14- Disaster Averted

Monday, February 13th 12:00pm

Lincoln High School Lunchroom

As she headed back over to Nancy in a fog, Susie thought about how bad it would be if Malcolm had come back when she had a new boyfriend.  It was a good thing that Sondra had let her know he was getting out of the youth shelter.  Having Sondra do something nice for no reason almost made her want to stand up to Nancy.  No one, especially her, would have been safe if Malcolm had unexpectedly come back to find out she had another boyfriend.  The rest of the students swirled past her, and never knew the danger that had been adverted.  A cold sweat formed on Susie's back and she was shivering as she collapsed across from Nancy.   

Nancy glanced up from her lunch to asked, "How is it going with Moe?  Is he going to join us?"

Susie dragged her mind off of the nightmare months of dating Malcolm, as Nancy's question registered.  She shook her head, but she almost didn't recognize her own voice as she answered flatly, "Forget Moe, Malcolm is coming back tomorrow."

Nancy smiled in delight and said, "Great.  Now we won't have to waste time looking for another boyfriend for you." She looked Susie up and down critically and said, "You should probably change out of that get up after lunch," before she went back to eating.

That was so unfair, Susie thought resentfully.  Nancy had come up with the outfit, and she had just gone along with it.  Nancy had done similar things other times.  Come up with ideas, and then been critical and unhelpful when things went wrong.  The biggest example Susie could think of was when Nancy had encouraged her to start the relationship with Malcolm.

It had all seemed a good idea when Nancy suggested that she go out with the star of the football team.  There were hints, like his sudden anger at others over little things, but it hadn't been bad at first.  That was when Malcolm was leading the team to victory, and was the school star.  It was only after football season had ended, and Malcolm had stopped being the star, that things had gotten really bad.  He had started insisting that she spend even more time with him, and become jealous at the parties that she went to with him.

He had looked okay, but if Nancy hadn't pushed so much she would never have started to date him.  Nancy had taken her under her wing when she first started joining the heavy partying crowd.  She had been focused on sports previously, like her dad had encouraged.  After her dad had left, and her mom had gotten busy with work, her restrictions had been lifted. 

Susie suspected that her mom had lifted them partly to get even with her dad, partly to try to get Susie on her side, but mostly because she wasn't going to be home to enforce them anyway.  The parties were different from any she had gone to before.  The music was louder, there were no adults around, the alcohol flowed freely, and they could last all night long.

She had doubts even before she had started dating Malcolm, but Nancy had kept saying how great he was.  At a weak moment she had agreed to go out with him.  When things started to go wrong, she had thought about breaking up, but Nancy had always convinced her to stay.  She hadn't even been worried about the "accidents" and Susie wondered if she was making too much of something that wasn't a big deal.

The first time he had left bruises, he claimed he had just grabbed her arm a little too hard.  She had threatened to walk then, but he had apologized and promised that it would never happen again.  She had thought that she had seen a glint of excitement in his eyes, but Nancy had said that she was imagining things.  Nancy had suggested that Malcolm was just so big that he didn't know his own strength.  She had even suggested that Susie go to the doctor to make sure that she wasn't anemic, since she bruised so easily.  Nancy was so convincing that Susie actually started taking iron supplements, while she hoped things got better.  The "accidents" just kept happening though. 

Susie hadn't ever thought of herself as the type to stay with someone who hurt her, and when the "accidents" kept happening she really had tried to get out.  Malcolm had just ignored that she had broken up with him, and when she tried to get on with her life without him people had gotten hurt. 

The last time she had broken up with Malcolm, she had just wanted to dance at a party.  When a stranger had asked her to dance she had hesitated, but she hadn't been serious, and didn't even know the guy. It was only a dance for fun.  Susie hadn't even known Malcolm was there until he had charged onto the dance floor.  Malcolm had been sent away after he had put the guy in the hospital. 

Nancy had blamed her for setting Malcolm off, and hadn't talked to her for almost a week.  No one else had talked to her either.  Rooms went quiet as soon as she came in, and she knew they were talking about her, but no one said a single word to her.  After a week of silence, Nancy had finally forgiven her.  The only thing that Susie had to do was accept Nancy as her partner in doubles.  It had seemed a small price to pay, even though she had to work hard to get Nancy close to varsity level.

Susie had been relieved when he was gone, but she didn't want to face the silence again.  She didn't dare criticize Malcolm to Nancy either.  If she was going to get out, she would have to find a way to do it on her own.  After ducking her head to hide her whirling thoughts from uninterested eyes, Susie began to automatically start eating food that seemed to suddenly tasted like cardboard. 

I'll get back to my "main" characters next chapter.  For some reason, Susie just demanded more page time and before I knew it, there was enough of her point of view and backstory for a short chapter.  She calls out to  me even though she is supposed to be on the "bad guy" side.  Now I'm thinking of giving her a chance at redemption after consequences for her actions have been delt out.  What do you think? 

Looking for ward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter.  If you don't want to take the time to leave a comment, please consider voting with that little star if you liked what I wrote.  It is always appreciated.