Chapter 40

An Unexpected Announcement

Heather arrived in time to see the final quarter, though it was hardly a suspenseful ending. The Thunderbolts had indeed “skinned” the Bears, 42-17. The boys dumped their cooler of sports drink on their euphoric coach and took a victory lap around the track, throwing their hands up triumphantly and waving to the crowd.

The visiting team and the Bears’ spectators had already started to trickle out of the stadium, but the Thunderbolts’ fans stayed right where they were, wanting to savor every last minute of their victory.

Heather’s scar prickled; something was about to happen. She pushed her way to the front of the bleachers to get a view. As she did so, spectators marveled at her—for no longer did her painted face look just like everyone else’s. Now her scarred face, so plain against the painted and costumed faces of the spectators, was thrown into such stark relief.

A parent pulled on her daughter’s sleeve. “Look! It’s that girl. The one I read about!”

“Look at how deep her scar runs!”

“Did they ever catch the kids who did it?”

“No.”

“Won’t she reveal their names?”

“She won’t tell.”

“She’ll go to her grave with that scar. It’ll never go away completely.”

“Shhh! She can hear you!”

Heather’s scar burned with the renewed attention. But she could not devote her focus to it now because something was happening on the field, and she wanted to see it. She flicked back her silky black hair, leaned against the cold metal railing, and gazed out into the field.

The Thunderbolts had finished their victory lap around the track. Principal Elders had entered the field. His face was plastered with a politician’s smile. He was all propriety and celebration as he made his way down the line of players, shaking hands with each one. He took his time, pausing frequently to allow parents and photographers to snap a picture of him with their sons.

Adam, standing farthest away from the principal, held his stomach. His face was ashen gray, and there was something in his hand—something he was hiding behind his back. Heather struggled to make out what it was. Adam swallowed hard and took a step forward. It occurred to Heather that he was making his way in baby steps towards the wooden platform, which had been rolled onto the track again in front of the spectators. He stepped onto the platform, and his trembling hand dropped the microphone. It clattered, echoing through the whole stadium and capturing the attention of all the spectators.

All eyes fixed themselves on him, and he looked downwards and drew his breath. The world moved in slow motion as Heather watched him pick up the microphone and pull at his collar. Adam inhaled once more and licked his lips. He was about to confess; Heather knew it. She peered into the crowd, hoping to spot Burton. Adam was about to rob Burton of the one secret, the one source of power he held over Adam, and Heather wanted to look into his creepy eyes as Adam defeated him. And so she stared into the crowd in search of Burton.

She didn’t find him. But something else caught her eye. Something moving so quickly through her molasses world, it was like a bolt of lightning.

Meanwhile, on the platform, Adam had started speaking. “There’s something that needs to be said.”

But Heather wasn’t looking at Adam. She was looking at the streak of energy speeding towards the platform. It was something that didn’t belong on the field. The blur slowed when it reached the platform. Adam turned; his jaw dropped. The blur of energy reached for the microphone and materialized as a man. Compared to Adam’s weakened stance, the man looked powerful and strong, confident. It took Heather a moment to realize it was her father.

“You’re right, Adam,” Heather’s father said, taking full possession of the microphone from the bewildered boy. “There is something that needs to be said.” His eyes searched the crowd and found Heather immediately. They locked eyes, and the resolve in his face told Heather that whatever he was about to do, it was all for her.

“There is something that needs to be said.”

Adam stepped down from the platform, fading away in the excitement of the moment. Heather’s father turned his body to face Principal Elders. Heather blocked out the world as she waited for her father to speak.

“Principal Elders.” He said the name with disgust.

The principal turned to face him as members of the football team sensed trouble and shrank away. Heather saw out of the corner of her eye that Principal Elders shot a worried glance at one of the police officers who had been hired to monitor the game.

Heather’s father turned back to the crowd. “Yes, something needs to be said. All of you sitting there enjoying your homecoming game, just so content with the world. Well, someone wise once said, all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to stand idle and do nothing. Earlier this year, my daughter was attacked. You’ve all heard about it. Gossiped about it, no doubt. Painted your faces because of it.” He pointed to his daughter. “How many of you have gawked at her even today as she attended the game just trying to live her life like everyone else? Have any of you given her words of encouragement? What about those of you whose sons or daughters she tutors? Have you thanked her? I mean, really thanked her? Have you encouraged your sons and daughters to befriend her at school, or were you content with them treating her like trash—or standing idle while others treated her as badly?”

Tears streamed down Heather’s face. Here was the love, the support she’d been craving for so long. Here was someone who cared, someone who wanted to help her without demanding anything at all in exchange. As Heather blinked away tears, she noticed Principal Elders silently communicating with the police officers. Heather turned to her side to see that two more policemen had gathered and were waiting only on Principal Elders’ command to enter the field and deal with her father.

“And how is it that on a morning when my daughter was in the courtyard screaming her heart out, being brutally attacked, Principal Elders was in his office just a few feet away, so enraptured by a supposed meeting that he had no idea about the attack until after it was too late? How is that?”

At this point, Principal Elders motioned for the police to take action. They rushed onto the field. Everywhere, people were muttering and taking pictures. Heather’s dad sensed his opportunity shrinking, and so he spoke more vehemently into the microphone.

“You see, none of you really tried to find out about Heather’s attack. None of you really wanted to help the girl who ruined your little football team. No one cares. Otherwise, how could it be that I, who live in a different state entirely, have found out the identity of two of her attackers?”

The police were rushing the platform now, and Heather’s father had time for only one more sentence. He would make it count. “Otherwise, all of you would have found out what I learned: that Heather’s four attackers were led by Jared Winters and Melanie Williams—”

He was yanked from the platform, and the crowd erupted in chaos. Photographers rushed the field. Jared and his friends materialized, threatening to sue Heather’s father for defamation of character. The police secured Mr. Primm in handcuffs for the time being and began the impossible task of clearing out the stadium.

Heather barely noticed any of it, though. She kept her position at the front of the bleachers, and it was as if her scar once again isolated her from the rest of society. Her tearing eyes watched her father’s tearing eyes, and she didn’t even look away when Ruby latched onto her with a hug and yelled something about calling Mom.

And once again Adam faded into the background, unable to release the heavy burden that continued to weigh him down, body and soul.

That evening saw Heather sitting at the kitchen table listening to her parents’ warzone. Ruby had been sent to her room, but she had snuck behind the couch instead so that she could hear everything for herself.

“She’s not going to the dance tomorrow!” Heather’s mother was saying.

“Oh, let her go! She needs to get back out there to keep her courage up. Keeping her away from adversity will only make her weaker!” yelled her dad.

“What would you know, Jack?”

“A lot more than you, apparently. All this happened while on your watch, Emily. That’s not going to hold up well in court.”

“Neither will your affairs!”

“I know you’ve been seeing people, too—”

“Only since you left.”

“At least I’ve stopped. I messed up. I’ll admit that. But I haven’t given up. We’re still married. You should have been focusing on the girls. It won’t look good in court.”

“At least I wasn’t nearly arrested!”

“I wasn’t arrested! They put me in handcuffs until they could sort things out. If anyone’s going to be arrested, it’ll be that good-for-nothing Principal Elders!”

Heather’s mom crossed her arms. “Heather is not going to that dance.”

“But I want to go,” Heather mumbled. She didn’t want to go with Burton, of course, but she needed to see Adam. She needed to see if he was okay. With all the chaos at the game, Heather hadn’t even seen him leave.

“Let her go,” her dad insisted.

Her mother turned to Heather. “Fine! Heather, if you want to go to the dance, you go to the dance. If it were me, I would stay home and pack for Hawthorne. But it’s up to you. You’re almost an adult. Don’t come crying to me if they call you horrible names. You and your father, Heather! Always fighting uphill battles. What you hope to gain by it I’ll never know!” She waved her arms dismissively, and Heather ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.