Chapter 11

Garret left for school early on Monday morning. His first class didn’t start for almost an hour, but he had promised Russell he would give him a ride so the third grader didn’t have to take the bus.

Walking toward the library, he noticed three upperclassmen on the side of the gym with Sheryl. Glancing over, it appeared she was trying to walk away, but the boys had formed a circle around her and wouldn’t let her leave.

After their date on Friday night, he saw her again Saturday evening, when he stopped at Burger Shack to grab something to eat with friends. She was sitting in a car with a couple of guys from the football team so he didn’t talk to her. He figured she was a free agent and didn’t give her much thought. But now, she didn’t look happy. Changing route, he walked toward Sheryl and the boys. He recognized them. They were all seniors, members of the football team and a year older than him: Stu Parker, Craig Mason, and Richard Brown.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Garret asked as he approached. Startled, the boys looked in his direction. They hadn’t seen him coming. Sheryl took the opportunity to rush to Garret’s side.

“Please get me out of here,” she pleaded in a whisper. Garret studied her face, she had been crying.

Now angry, Garret pushed Sheryl behind him, blocking her from the football players as he faced the three boys.

“What the hell is going on?” Garret demanded.

“No big deal,” Stu insisted. A bit uneasy with Garret’s sudden interest, Stu shifted nervously. Stu’s dad worked in the local Coulson factory, and his old man would kill him if he and his friends did something to Garret Coulson. While Stu didn’t think he could take Garret himself, he knew he could with his two friends.

“We were just arranging a little fun with Sheryl. Everyone knows how she loves a good gang bang,” Richard said.

“What did you say?” Garret seethed and moved closer, his hands balling into fists.

“Oh, come on, Coulson, the whole school knows she’s just a slut. What’s the big deal? Even you’ve been getting some of it, so don’t act like you don’t know,” Craig said.

Without hesitation, Garret lurched forward and punched Craig in the face. The boy fell to the ground. Richard and Stu did not rush to defend their friend but stood silently.

“Leave her alone. If I hear you guys have been talking trash about her again—or if you lay a hand on her again—you will hear from me.”

Rubbing his injured jaw, Craig stood up and mumbled something under his breath. The three boys made their hasty departure.

Garret turned to Sheryl. Tears streamed down her face. He gathered her in his arms and held her for a moment, letting her cry. Finally the sobs subsided.

“They’ll leave you alone now,” he promised.

“They were right. I’m the joke around here.”

Garret sighed and then released her, looking again into her face. With one hand, he wiped away her tears.

“Sheryl, you’re a good person. Don’t let those assholes get to you. Hell, you aren’t doing anything they aren’t.”

“But they’re guys.”

“Yeah, I guess we can get away with more shit. You just need to avoid assholes like that. Pick guys who don’t treat you like crap.”

“Like you?” she whispered, faintly hopeful.

“I like you, Sheryl. And I promise I never talk shit behind your back. But I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. There will never be anything between us, aside from friendship and some fun. If you want more, then maybe we shouldn’t get together again. But even if we don’t, I want you to know I’ll still consider you my friend.”

“Garret, when’s your next class?” She was no longer crying.

He glanced at his watch. “Forty-five minutes, why?”

“I thought we could get the hell out of here for a while, before your first class. That is, if you have any condoms in your truck.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Sheryl smiled up at Garret. “But I want to.”

The two walked out to his truck. After they climbed into the cab, he reached over and opened his glove compartment. It was empty.

“Fuck,” Garret cursed. “I don’t have any.”

“That’s okay,” Sheryl said, placing her hand on his thigh.

“No, it’s not. My grandfather would kill me.”

“I mean, there are other ways. Come on, I want to. What I have in mind, I can’t get pregnant.”

Garret looked at her. He wondered if she meant what he thought. Sheryl smiled adoringly at Garret.

“Please Garret. Let me do this for you. I want to show you how much I appreciate what you did back there.”

Somewhere in the back of Garret’s mind was a small voice telling him it was wrong to take Sheryl up on her offer. She was vulnerable and would probably do whatever he asked. But the horny sixteen-year-old shut out the voice and put the key in the ignition.

He drove to a nearby park and stopped in a desolate area. They didn’t even have to get out of the vehicle. It was over pretty quickly, and since Sheryl hadn’t removed any of her clothes, she didn’t need to redress. The girl had some pretty impressive oral skills, and she left no evidence of the deed on his clothes or the seat.

Garret drove back to the high school with a smile on his face and a twinge of guilt tugging on his conscience.

Beth Chamberlain sat at the back of the classroom watching her students work quietly at their desks. She had just finished grading the test papers from last Friday and she was very pleased, especially with Garret Coulson’s test.

“Mr. Coulson, would you please come here for a moment,” she called out. Garret stopped working on his algebra assignment and glanced towards the teacher at the back of the room. Setting his pencil down, he stood up and walked towards her.

“Yes?” Garret stood by the teacher’s desk. Beth looked up at Garret and smiled.

“I just wanted to let you know I finished correcting the tests from last Friday. You were the only one who scored one-hundred percent. Congratulations.”

Garret shrugged and said, “It was an easy test.”

“No. I don’t believe that’s it at all. Perhaps it was easy—for you. But no easier than the other two tests we’ve had so far this year. The difference, in my opinion, you didn’t rush and you took the entire time allotted to take the test. I noticed with the first two, you whizzed through them both, turned them in after fifteen minutes, and while you passed the tests, you only got a C on each one. Garret, if you keep this up, I see no reason why you can’t get an A in this class.”

“Well, I just figured, I don’t have anywhere else to go, so I might as well work a little longer on the test.”

Beth smiled at Garret, delighted he was actually trying.

“You know, Garret, I see no reason why you can’t do as well in all your other classes. I’m very proud of you. I just wanted you to know that.”

“How’s your daughter doing?” Garret asked, abruptly changing the subject. Beth suspected he was uncomfortable with praise.

“Alexandra? Why she’s doing very well, thank you. Although, I suspect those little boys who were chasing her are still having nightmares.”

Garret chuckled. “It serves them right for picking on a little girl.”

“By the way, I met your younger brother. He’s in my son’s class.”

“Yeah, Russell mentioned something about that to me. He’s a good kid. You don’t have to worry about your son hanging out with him. Russell isn’t anything like me. Kid always gets good grades, never gets in scrapes.”

“Well, Garret, from what I understand, you never get in trouble at school.” Beth eyed him with curiosity.

Garret leaned closer to the desk. “Mrs. Chamberlain, you know why that is. If I was anyone else, I’d be racking up hours in detention. Most people around here are afraid to reprimand me. Everyone but you.” He flashed Beth his most charming smile, then headed back to his desk.