More Than A Game

Chapter 6

Sitting in a lecture classroom, I felt frazzled for the first time since being accepted in Bridgetonne. The lecturer at the front was busy going over the guidelines for a new assignment.

I forced myself to focus, since I knew it was probably an important one but spent at least two minutes with no hope. I stared down at the empty notebook in front of me, embarrassed by the little effort I put in to it. Looking at the time on my phone, I felt slightly irritated, why was this lesson dragging on?

My mind kept rambling on from last night events. From the tedious chat with the womanizer Mr Grasswood, my dilemma with Chad and Brayden's reaction to my "lateness." I was suddenly distracted by a soft tapping on my shoulder. It was Jessica Burnwick, my best friend.

"Hey, what's happening? you haven't written anything. is there something I should know about?" I appreciated that Jessica was always there for me but how could I tell her if I didn't know what was going on myself?

"I don't know. I'm just not feeling it today. Sorry Jess." I gave Jessica an apologetic smile and turned my attention to the front of the classroom. Great, now I have an assignment that I have no clue on what to actually do. I sighed.

It was already lunch and I couldn't be more confused. I sat in one of the classrooms hoping no one would find me. I guess there was one of problems which could be solved quickly, which was the assignment. I pulled out my phone and texted one of the girls' from this morning's class, Jennifer Perkins.

Carmen - Hey Jen, can you please explain to me what the assignment was about, I didn't understand it. x

I don't know why I expected Jennifer to text back. She was one of those girls who you wouldn't talk to unless you had a brilliant reason that either involved a party or another reason to flirt. I was surprised however, that she actually bothered to reply to my text.

Jennifer - Um, the lecture obviously said pick a field of journalism and write a story about your opinion on that topic, due in three weeks. Do you ever pay attention, gosh white girls these days.

I re read her reply for a second time as I groaned to myself. Just shut up already Jennifer. I placed my phone in front of me suddenly thinking about the letter from last night.

I still wasn't sure if I should go on Saturday to Chad's training session, what good would it be for me to hang around? Still, Chad was eager to invite me, not attending would be quite rude. Maybe a visit to Adelaide Oval would give me a fresh breath on my current perspective and hopefully give me a couple of ideas for the assignment while I'm at it.

I sent Chad a text message letting him know I was up for the training session on Saturday. I smiled to myself, knowing that I might actually have a normal life sorted properly since the night of the attack.

Moments passed by as I realized the door was slowly opening. How long has I been staring at the phone? The was close to ending so I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here for the rest of the day. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder when I realized that it was only Jessica.

"Oh Carmen, I'm finally glad I found you. I've been looking everywhere for you and it's best if we had a talk"

"About what? Not writing anything on a piece of paper?" I laughed smugly to myself. "I already told you I'm fine Jessica. Nothing happened, I..." I forced myself to stop when my phone began to ring. It was a text message, from Chad. Once again, I could feel butterflies in my stomach. I could sense Jess eyebrowing me strangely.

"Carmen, it's Jennifer isn't it? Damn it, she should just leave you alone."

I stayed silent. I didn't want to say anything because it wasn't a big deal since I haven't exactly told anyone about Chad. Maybe the reason was because I didn't know where I stood in any of this or how I actually felt for