Given Up

Chapter 14

Cassie elbowed me.  I rubbed my arm and looked at her to see what had made her so vicious. She nodded her head towards the door.  Mr Lexington was standing at the door with a year 7.

"Kyle, Mr Green wants to see you now."

I frowned at him. Why did he want to see me now? Guess I'd find out, I gathered up my things and pushed out my chair.

"Meet you at the front gate after school?"  I asked Cassie as I squeezed behind her chair.

"Yep."

Mr Lexington handed me the note as I came up to him.  "In his office Kyle."

I nodded and headed off in that direction. It was at the other end of the school and I took my time getting there. The longer I was out of Biology the better.  I came to his little office and rapped on the door.

"Come in," his deep voice rang out.

I pulled open the door and stuck my head in.

"I got a note that you wanted to see me Mr Green?" 

He looked at me and smiled distractedly.

"Yes, yes I did. Have a seat."

I sat down in the same blue fuzzy seat I had been in on Friday and dropped my bag to the floor.

He flopped down across from me, and put his notebook down on the small table.  He ran his hands through his floppy light brown hair. He looked more serious that I was used to seeing him.

"So Kyle, how are things?"

"Fine...."

There was a pause.

"Everything alright at home?"

I frowned at him. "Much the same: Look, no offence sir, but why am I here? We only just met on Friday."

He shifted his weight. "Your Aunt rang the school. She is concerned that you came home drunk and with a black eye that you wouldn't discuss how you received."

"She did what?!" I felt my breath shorten. What the hell was she playing at?

"She is very worried about you. She was concerned that you might be being bullied."

"Christ, I am a black belt, I am not being bullied." I rolled my eyes. "She keeps going on about me going out, and when I do, she isn't happy...." I mumbled, almost to myself.

He raised his eyebrows. "I think it was more the drinking and getting into fights that was the concern Kyle."

"Sir, I was barely drunk and she didn't even notice at the time until her poxy boyfriend pointed out my hangover the next day."  I ground my teeth.

Mr Green leant forward and clasped his hands together.

"Well, on the back of this, she was adamant that we talk today."

"She thinks she can just force me to talk." I could feel the blood pooling through my veins now.

'I can't make you talk to me Kyle." He sighed and sat back. "I would like to think that the pleasure of my company might not make it so hard to bear." 

His small joke broke the tension in me and I sat back and sighed as well, some of my anger ebbing away.  We sat in silence for a moment. Mr Green stretched his feet out and leant his head back against his chair. I copied and enjoyed the stretch. I closed my eyes for a second. I am so tired of all this shit.

"Can I ask you a question?" I opened my eyes to see that Mr Green was exactly as he had been before but with his eyes now closed as well.

"You just did..." I went back to my position.