Ship to Wreck

10

Athena looked in the mirror, her nerves showing in her eyes. She felt insanely guilty that she wasn't there for the last week and a half of the kids' school year. But she knew now that it was for the better.

Even though she missed the last few weeks of school, she still had to go in and tie up the loose ends. Clean her classroom, file some paperwork, set course objectives for the next year, and all the administrative things that go along with being a teacher.

It sounded like a fairly stress-free time, but she knew better. Kyle knew that she did this. Kyle knew the days she went in...

Kyle knew. And that terrified Athena.

Christian being in Minneapolis for a road trip didn't help matters, either. She was alone and her safety net wasn't there to pull her back from the edge.

This was the moment when she learned if she was a strong woman or if she was just a fraud.

She had a feeling she was just a fraud.

"Hi Steven," Athena greeted, nodding towards the Geography teacher. She and Mr. Wagner shared the same section of the hallway and it was one of her favorite aspects of her job. He was always willing to go to bat for her and he always made her smile.

"How's my favorite goddess of wisdom?" the lengthy man asked, unlocking her door for her.

"I'm trucking along," she smiled softly. "How did your final exams go?" she asked trying to navigate how she would clean her room with only one working arm.

"Fairly well. You know my exams; if they actually do the study guide and read the packets, they pass," he smiled and immediately started to reach down items for her.

"Oh thank you, Steven. I really appreciate it," she said softly, blushing at her own incompetence.

"It's no problem, Athena. I'll help you clean this up so that you can get going quickly. You should still be resting, really." Mr. Wagner assured her, immediately getting to work and helping her with the cleaning so that she could do her paperwork.

"Thank you so much for helping," Athena said again as they headed down the marble stairway to the foyer. As they neared the ground level, the sounds of commotion grew nearer.

"Let me in, Duke. I am a cop!"

The voice stopped Athena in her tracks, the box in her arms falling down to the landing with a thump.

He found her. He was here and he was going to hurt her, and she had no way to escape.

"Athena, Athena. You need to breathe," Mr. Wagner tried to get through to her, but she was completely petrified.

"Duke, get him out of here," he snapped, guiding Athena so that she was sitting safely.

"Christian... Call Christian," Athena whispered, her hands shaking. She wasn't thinking straight, so the fact that he was 330 miles away was the last thing on her mind as she pulled out her phone and dialed his number.

"Athena? I thought you were going into work today?" Christian's strong voice instantly calmed her, but her voice was still shaky.

"I... I am... Kyle," Athena gasped as a loud bang echoed through the empty building.

***

"Athena! What the hell is going on!" Lorenzo watched as his close friend started to unravel. He saw the way he shot up and how his eyes widened. Christian shouldn't have taken the phone call, given their proximity to game time, but now Lo was glad he did.

"Thenes, you need to calm down. Listen to me, sweetie," he said softly, and Lorenzo could see the weight as it lifted off of his shoulders. "He isn't going to hurt you anymore, Athena. You are safe. I know you're scared. I know. What he did was wrong, and you aren't whining. You have every right to be scared... Do you need me to come home?" Christian asked softly, and Lorenzo was taken aback.