A Year Full Of Surprises

A Year Full Of Surprises - Chapter Fifteen.

Chapter Fifteen…

I barely left my room for the rest of the weekend. When I did, it was when I was sure I was alone in the house. My parents had both ignored me and I made no attempt to talk to them either. I spent the whole weekend dreading Monday. I knew Mrs. Danks would have no option but to contact the police and then everything would begin to unravel.

It’s a game of whoever cracks first. Me or Zack. I had the inclination that if someone was to crack under pressure it would be me and not Zack. Still, I had to try and save Mr. Armstrong, after everything he had done for me. 

Another thing that bugged me all weekend, was how I remembered Mr. Armstrong’s arms around me in bed so intensely. When I went to sleep, I couldn’t help but wish Mr. Armstrong was next to me. This both scared and annoyed me. He was my teacher. I couldn’t become involved with him, and he most certainly wouldn’t want to be involved with me anyway. I was deluding myself. I was just grateful and I needed to get past my stupidity. There would never be anything between me and Mr. Armstrong. 

When Monday morning did come, I was just, if not more, nervous than I was the previous Monday. I wouldn’t be able to put Mrs. Danks off anymore, I was going to have to explain everything to the police. 

Me and Mr. Armstrong had arranged our story perfectly. There wasn’t one hole in it, that was for certain. Anything that the police could possibly throw at us, we had an answer for. That wasn’t what I was worried about, however. 

I was worried that I wouldn’t be believable. All of these things had never actually happened to me, so I didn’t know how I should be acting. I didn’t want to let Mr. Armstrong down. His career depended on my realistic-ness and I couldn’t let him be fired. I just couldn’t. 

When Mel beeped from outside to let me know she was here, I grabbed my rucksack and charged out of the door, remembering to lock it behind me. I also knew I was going to be asked about why Mr. Armstrong had given me a lift home on Friday by Mel. Luckily, that wasn’t going to be hard to answer. She was never going to need to know that I had stayed at his on Friday night. 

As soon as I had closed the door to her car and she had started driving, she blurted out the question. “How come Mr. Armstrong gave you a lift home on Friday?” She asked eagerly. 

I shrugged, acting nonchalant. “He saw me walking and knew how long it took me to get home, so he offered me a lift.” I explained. 

She looked kind of disappointed that that was all I could offer her. “Nothing else happened? You looked like you were having a pretty good time when I drove past you.” She prompted, as if there was something she expected me to tell her. What did she think had happened? 

I shook my head. “We were just laughing at something on the radio.” I told her. “And then your face.” I couldn’t help but add in, and then laugh. She glared at me, playfully, then we made small talk about something else. 

When we arrived at school, I could see a police car pulled up close to the main entrance and my eyes widened. She had called them already. They were already here. Oh god. I closed my eyes momentarily and then tried to act normal, ignoring the presence of the car altogether.