Back For You

Chapter Three.

   Back For You - Chapter three. 

                            “Peyton?  Peyton?”

Ms. Aguilera called, for what felt like the millionth time today. Or well, what felt like the millionth time to Peyton.

She’d been sitting in Ms. Aguilera’s office for twenty minutes now. Not speaking. Just briefly exchanging gazes and picking at her finger nails.

Peyton thought by now that Ms. Aguilera would get it that she didn’t have any desire to speak about Tyler, or how messed up her life was. Clearly not.

“Peyton, I know things are hard right now, but please-”

“Lunch is already over,” Peyton said, cutting her off. “I should be in class by now.”

“Class can wait. We have to discuss the issues you’re having, sweetheart. You can’t keep your emotions all locked up.” Ms. Aguilera shook her head, “Please talk to me.”

“I’m fine, Ms. Aguilera, really.” Peyton assured, “You can ask my mom and stuff. I’ve been eating, talking, and sleeping just fine. I don’t see the point in this.”

“I know, dear, and the progress you’ve been making has been excellent, but-”

Again, Peyton, quite rudely, cut her off. “Then what’s the point of this?”

“I wanted you to express your feelings. I thought it would make you cope better with your… tragedy,” Ms. Aguilera trailed off awkwardly. Peyton narrowed her dark eyes at the young guidance counselor.

Peyton swallowed down the screams of frustration that built up in her throat. She was oh-so tempted to tell Ms. Aguilera to stop beating around the bush and to say what she thinks. And to stop using choice words just because she’s afraid Peyton will go off at her.

Instead of spewing an onslaught of her own choice words, Peyton grunted and said, “But I’m coping just fine. Trust me.”

Ms. Aguilera nodded, “I suppose you’re right. I’m sorry Peyton. The school just wants to be put at ease and know that you’re doing fine. I’ll talk to them about discontinuing the sessions, seeing as you are fine. Alright?”

Peyton nodded immediately. It was the best news she had received all week. “Thanks Ms. Aguilera.”

Ms. Aguilera smiled timidly. “Alright then. Off to class you go.”

Peyton stood and waved a curt goodbye to Ms. Aguilera, eager to escape the small and stuffy office that smelled of cheap air freshener.

Peyton made her way down the hallway, feeling an odd sense of Déjà vu as she gazed back towards the office. She doesn’t look where she’s going and that results in a rough collision with another student.

She didn’t manage to steady herself before she fell unlike the other person. She fell to the ground with a loud thud, a surprised gasp leaving her lips.

Out of reflex, Peyton hurriedly backed away from the other person and stared up at the boy with wide eyes. She realized it was Jason when she did a double take. It doesn’t calm her nerves one bit.

He looked just as surprised as Peyton. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason said and reached out a hand to help her. “Here, let me help-”

Peyton pushed herself up off the ground, turned her back to him, and walked off. Why? Because Jason was Tyler Moore’s brother. She’d found out right after that day at the office. At the time, she thought nothing of it. Now just looking at Tyler’s brother made her wince. Though there was nothing similar about them. Tyler had blonde hair, Jason had brown. Tyler had green eyes, Jason had brown eyes. And so on and so forth.

Maybe it was just the fact that Jason was related to the monster that ruined her life.

Yeah, she concludes, that’s definitely the reason.

And she knows it’s wrong to dislike someone just for another’s actions that they hadn’t even caused. But still, Peyton couldn’t help that new state of distaste she had for Jason. Even if he was truly sorry for his brother’s actions.

Jason had attempted to speak to her just a month after Peyton arrived back to school. He caught her off guard when he suddenly appeared behind her in the library.

Peyton was hunched over the table. One hand was tangled in her brown locks while the other rested on the table. She stared at the scar on her forearm, trying to muffle the sounds of her cries.

She had run off to the back of the library when she heard two girl’s whispering Tyler’s name. And the rumors spreading around about what Tyler did to her in that basement.

It brought back memories for the worse.

So, there she sat, sobbing like the weak and pathetic girl she thought of herself as while she reminisced with the flashbacks of Tyler and his haunting words that he would whisper to her nightly. How he claimed that no one would come for her, that he loved her. It was all too much. Too much.

“Peyton?” She jumped at the sound of the voice and whipped around in her seat, meeting the familiar brown eyes of Jason Moore. “Are you alright?”

Peyton reached up and wiped away at the tears that stained her pale cheeks. She averted her eyes to the ground when a tight knot formed in the pit of her stomach.

She didn’t exactly know what to say. So she said nothing and tried to ignore the high level of tension that filled the air around her. She failed.

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Jason’s handsome features twisted into a look of distress. “I’m sorry,” He blurted suddenly. It caught Peyton off guard.

Peyton looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing together. “I… I don’t understand.” It was the most coherent response she could say at the moment without choking up again. Jason seemed to understand what she meant, though.

“About Tyler,” He began uneasily, taking notice of the way Peyton tensed up at the mere mention of his brother’s name. “I should have stopped him or something, maybe things wouldn’t have ended up the way things are. You know, like Tyler…”

Peyton blocked out the rest until it became too much. “Please stop,” She whispered weakly when Jason began to bring up the letters that Tyler would write to her on Facebook. He didn’t listen. He just continued to ramble on.

“I saw the letters he sent you. I should have known-”

“Stop,” Peyton repeated louder. Still, Jason nervously ranted on.

“Maybe I could have caught the signs earlier. And I could have stopped those horrible things Tyler did to you in that basement-”

That line was what set her off.

“Stop!” She shouted, her voice taking on a higher octave. “Stop it! Stop it!”

And with that, she took off, running out the door and not even caring when Jason called after her. She somehow found her way into a bathroom stall where she stayed for the rest of the day. That was when Peyton knew everyone was lying when they said things were going to get better. She was never going to forget Tyler Moore and what he did to her. She was never going to move on. She was never going to be able to hear his name without cringing. She determined she was hopeless.