Till Next Time | completed | currently under re-edit

4

4

Through some twist of luck, I manage to get a hall pass in Mr. Harriet's class and scramble out of my seat before he can change his mind. Like a middle finger to the envious eyes bearing holes into the back of my head, I slip past the desks, out through the door, and shut it back with no more than a squeak at its hinge.
With nothing but my sure footsteps echoing through the hall, I make my down to the washroom.

A sound of muffled crying and skin brushing against skin explodes into the surrounding as I pull open the door to the men's restroom. A distressed moan follows. A voice of reason tells me to step away from the door.
"Please!" A familiar voice squeaks out. A bang resonates through the wash-room, most likely a punch, followed by another muffled call of distress. Blood turns to lead inside my veins.

Someone is in there. Crying.

My legs plant themselves firmly to the floor, and I speak with self-assuredness. "Who is in there? Get out or I am calling the teachers!"

"No, please!" the weaker voice speaks back, his voice faltering at the end into a wail.

My mind goes haywire. Someone. Is. In there.

"Open the door!" I bang my fist against the door of a bathroom stall. The noises ricochet inside the walls of my skull. The door swings open. A smug smile greets me. I see Harvey shrivel up behind him, shying his eyes away from me with his undone jeans pressed between his legs. My breath hitches at my throat, and I look away.
The smug smile disappears from the boy's face, replaced by a heinous snarl. "What are you going to do about it?"

An all frequent live wire sparks within me. I swing my fist at him, aimed towards his jaw. He blocks the hit and pushes me back into the sinks. "You are going to regret this!" He says, pushing me back harder. The faucet digs into my back. I let out a grunt.
"What happened?" He snickers into my face and I smell his slimy breath. "You can't fight back?"
I kick him between the legs, and he tatters down, shouting obscenities under his breath.

Harvey scrambles out of the bathroom stall while pulling his pants up. I watch him disappear behind the door.

Two thick arms wrap around my waist, and before I can react, we both go flying past the door. He pins me down to the ground and sits over my chest, every wisp of air pushed out of my lungs. He draws his fist back, and I struggle and twist under him to get my arms free.

"Stop!"

The guy stops to look up and suddenly, I feel his weight dissolve from over me. I gasp to catch my breath. He crashes into something and the sound of metal and a shout makes me turn my head.

Anastasia.

I heave myself off the ground and run over to her, her face scrunched in pain as she tries to drag herself closer to her overturned wheelchair. A feeling of dread makes my toes curl as I see her twitch in ways I never thought was humanly possible just to try to sit up.

I try to help her up grabbing wherever I can, her arms and waist. She speaks up between all of that. "That bastard pushed me over!"

"What are you doing to her!"

The commotion must have attracted attention. Counselor Samuelson stands before us, eyes wide in bewilderment.

 "Let her down!" she shouts.

"It's not what it looks like, ma'am!" Anastasia comes to my defense.

I trip into reality and realize how bad it looks for me. A disabled girl out of her wheelchair, evidently in some degree of anguish and in my arms.