On Monday, I still felt special. I liked Timber, and he liked me. Life worked when I let it. After English, I headed for my locker to drop off my Lit book. I had five minutes to get to Spanish class and Doctor Fernandez didn’t handle tardy students well.
“I know about you.” Jason waited in the hall by my locker. “You whore.”
“What are you talking about?” I tried to dial the combination, but my fingers shook. “We’re finished, remember?”
“You lying little bitch. You said you’d give me another chance. Then you spent all weekend with Watkins. I heard about you necking at the drive-in.” Jason grabbed for me.
I sidestepped to avoid him. “Yeah, well, your informants should have told you Warren, Vonnie, Rita, Luis and Priscilla were there too along with half the cheer squad. Do you have even half a brain?”
“Everybody’s laughing at me.” This time, Jason’s fingers bit into my shoulder. “You told them your stepdad made me apologize to his dog.”
“No, I didn’t.” I’d bet Warren and Vonnie had, though. They’d laughed their butts off at the movie over it. Priscilla would have been sure to tell the kids at the elementary. “Why don’t you joke about it, too? Don’t you have a sense of humor, Jason?”
Wrong question. He gripped the front of my shirt and sweater. “Then, you took Watkins with you to your grandmothers’ when you didn’t want me there on Sunday.”
“He was fun,” I retorted. “Not a spoiled brat. My grandmother likes him. So do her customers.” Why oh why did I open my big mouth?
The bell rang and the Sophomore locker bay emptied. Jason lifted me off my feet with one hand. He slammed me against my locker.
Once. Twice. Three times. Then he dropped me.
I threw out my right arm. I tried to catch myself. I fell, landed hard on the floor. I felt more than heard my shoulder pop.
I lay at his feet. Jason sneered at me. He stalked away.
The back of my head felt split apart. My shoulder hurt, throbbed. Would my whole body disintegrate? I took a deep breath, grateful he hadn’t kicked me in the ribs. Why did I think something so horrible? I didn’t know.
I staggered to my feet. I reeled out of the locker area toward the girls’ bathroom at the end of the hall. Had anyone seen? No. The school board hadn’t finished having the security cameras installed in the locker bays. Ours was next on the list as soon as they finished the ones for the juniors.
It was the end of the five-minute break between classes. I’d miss Spanish. Doctor Fernandez would be majorly pissed. I touched the back of my head. My fingers came away bloody. I grimaced. What was I going to do? Some of this had to be because of the football game last Friday, and the way Silverton hammered the Highlanders. That wasn’t my fault.
I’d be lucky if I made it to, let alone through cheer practice today. I didn’t dare lower my right arm. I cradled it across my stomach. My vision blurred. But I was safe in the bathroom.
Flickers of light danced behind my eyes. I wanted to go home. I couldn’t right now. Was I going to pass out? I made it into the closest stall before I hurled.
Afterward, I hunched against the bathroom wall. Finally, I made it to my feet and stumbled to the sink. I rinsed my mouth. I checked my head. It had stopped bleeding. If I skipped the rest of his class, Doctor Fernandez would notify the office.
I’d only missed half the period. I went back to my locker, got my book, and headed down the hall to class. I eased into the room. Doctor Fernandez saw me but didn’t stop his lecture in Spanish on the past-tense forms of verbs.
Students scribbled notes and tried to keep up with what he said. He was prepping us for college and said wasted time was a crime, so he started teaching when the bell rang at the beginning of the period and continued until the end of the class each day.
I didn’t even try to translate the words. I just slumped in my chair and waited for the bell. When everyone streamed out of the room, Doctor Fernandez came over to me.
“Sarah, are you all right? Do you need a pass to go to the nurse?”
I knew I should get up and leave, go to my next class. It hurt too bad to move. Doctor Fernandez went over to his desk and did something on the computer. Then he made some phone calls. He came back toward me. “Your aunt’s on the way.”
I bit my lip. A tear leaked down my cheek. “What about my mom?”
“She’s busy at work, Sarah.” He picked up my backpack. “That’s why she told me to call your aunt. Come on. I’ll take you to the office and you can wait for her there. Your mom said she’d come as soon as she could.”
I didn’t tell him that he didn’t have a clue about real life. Nothing and nobody came between Mom and Book City, especially me. There was no way she’d show up since she’d dumped me and my problems off on Aunt Cathy once again. Doctor Fernandez locked his room and took me to the elevator, which most of the students never got to use.
Once in the office, he went off to talk to the headmaster, and I waited for Aunt Cathy. She would have to sign me out with the secretary, so there was no point in hanging outside. Aunt Cathy had on jeans and a sweatshirt when she showed up. I eyed her warily. “Don’t you have to work today?”
Aunt Cathy scrawled her signature on the form the secretary handed her. “Jed told me to come take care of you and he’d handle surgery. Don’t worry about it, Sarah.” She picked up my backpack. “Let’s go.”
I followed her to the clinic pickup and got into the passenger seat.
She stood by my door and gave me a steady look. “Can you buckle your seat belt?”
I reached for the seat belt with my left hand. It took three tries to grab it. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I felt it trickle down my face. Or was it tears?
“What’s wrong, Sarah?” Aunt Cathy kept watching me. “My God. You got hurt, didn’t you?” She leaned across and fastened the seat belt for me. “What happened? Is there some nut running around beating up cheerleaders? Or are you a special case?”
I didn’t answer for a moment. I couldn’t. Finally, I said, “I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault, honey.” She waited forever, it seemed, to calm down. Then she leaned in again and kissed my forehead. “Oh, Sarah, baby. I wish I could do something.”
“It’s not your fault. I was stupid. I thought I could just stop being careless.”
Aunt Cathy sighed. “Sarah, nobody has the right to put his hands on you without your permission. Your mom and I always agreed that nobody should hit a kid. No matter what the two of you did, I never spanked you or Warren when you were little and stayed with me. Bruce runs his mouth, but believe me, there are worse things a man, or a dad, can do.”
Well, that was heavy duty and more than I ever expected her to admit. Before I could say anything, she shut my door and walked around the pickup to slide in behind the wheel. “Where am I taking you? Doctor Conway or the chiropractor?”
“My shoulder hurts big-time,” I said. “I think Doctor Kyle is the better choice.”
He wasn’t the only chiropractor in Pine Ridge; he was just the best. He saw me right away, although I didn’t have an appointment. He told me I’d partially dislocated my shoulder.
While I sat on the stool, he had me lift and lower my right arm. He held my wrist, then braced my elbow. With a quick jerk, he put my shoulder back in place. The pain in my arm ended, just like that!
Well, okay. It wasn’t totally gone, but I could bear the ache and the occasional twinge.
Dr. Kyle opened the cupboard at the back of the room and took out a sling. He helped me put it on. “Don’t lift anything with your right hand tomorrow. You can go to school and cheer but take it slow. No fancy pyramid stunts at practice. Come see me after school on Friday and I’ll tell you what you can do at the Homecoming game. Remember to use lots of ice all week. What happened, Sarah?”
I shrugged my left shoulder. “I got shoved against my locker between classes. No big deal.”
Dr. Kyle shook his head. “No way, Sarah. A push or slight shove wouldn’t do that much damage. If you were picked up and thrown, yes. Who did it? Who hurt you?”
When I didn’t answer, Doctor Kyle turned to Aunt Cathy who stood just inside the closed door. “Teenagers. If they don’t make you crazy, nothing will. What does the school tell you?”
“Not much,” Aunt Cathy said. “It doesn’t matter that I have Adam’s power of attorney.” Color seeped back into her cheeks. “Today, they actually told me it must have happened at home. That Bruce or Warren pushes her around.”
“Well, there’s an easy out.” Doctor Kyle turned back to me. “Honey, you’ve got to stand up to bullies. You have to tell somebody at the school who really does this.”
“They’d never believe me,” I said. “Besides, it’s my fault. I screwed up.”
“I believe you.” Doctor Kyle wrote some notes in my file. “Cathy, have the headmaster call me. If Sarah had dislocated her shoulder at home, this would have been much more serious. Her shoulder would have swollen to the point that she’d need medication and muscle relaxants before anyone touched it. She might even have needed surgery. I wouldn’t have been able to put it right back into place.”
Aunt Cathy looked relieved. “Then, there’s proof it didn’t happen at home. Sarah says it doesn’t. Warren’s real protective. Bruce can be a jerk, but he steps up with his dogs and brings them to me right away when they need a vet.” She stopped to think and then gave me a long look. “Who hurt the puppy on Saturday, Sarah?”
“What did Bruce tell you?” I asked.
Another long silence while she stared at me. “You and I are going to have a serious talk, young lady.”
“Good.” Doctor Kyle turned back to eye me. “You’re not talking to me about this, or your aunt, are you? Do you have any adult you feel you can trust, Sarah?”
I hesitated. Then I reached into my pocket and pulled out the business card Dave had given me. “I could try talking to her. Dave says she’s cool.”
Doctor Kyle reached for a pad of paper. “I’m going to refer you to see her. Cathy, have Doctor Conway check Sarah over. I want to know what he thinks about that bump on the back of her head. He may want X-Rays. Tell him to refer Sarah to Bernice Jefferson too. Then Adam’s insurance will cover therapy.”
“All right.” Aunt Cathy reached into her purse for the cell phone she carried everywhere. She called Doctor Conway’s office and arranged for him to see me right away, before she turned back to the chiropractor. “Thanks, Kyle. I’ve got to admit I’ve been at my wits’ end with this mess. It doesn’t help when I email Adam and he tells me to handle it. He says he has enough on his plate in a different war-zone. He doesn’t even take it seriously when Helene Nelson, the C.P.S. investigator contacts him.”
“Hey, kids will do it to you.” Doctor Kyle ushered us to the door. “Sarah, I’m sure your aunt’s told you this already. But no guy hurts a girl when he loves her. He needs help. I don’t know who your stalker is, but turn him in to the authorities. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for him.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said. The whole thing with Jason reminded me of the song I’d learned in grade school. Freedom isn’t free. You’ve got to pay the price. You’ve got to sacrifice for your liberty.
Hadn’t I paid enough? Suffered enough? When would all this trouble end? I shuddered as another thought came. What if they pushed enough of Dad’s buttons? Would he make me move to California? Or would he enroll me in some boarding school?
Surprisingly, Mom caught up with us at Doctor Conway’s office. She and Aunt Cathy had a short confab about me. Mom wasn’t happy with the idea of me seeing a counselor, but my aunt told her that Dad insisted in his latest email. Either I got my head straight or I was headed to California until I turned eighteen. An Army lawyer would be in touch. Before Mom exploded, Aunt Cathy left for the clinic and Mom stuck around. We didn’t talk, which was okay with me. She couldn’t hassle me about leaving Book City when she was supposed to be running the store.
Three hours later, it seemed like everybody was home when we finally arrived, although it was barely after lunch. Bruce’s car was parked in the drive next to Warren’s Mustang, and Timber’s pickup. Jason was there, too. He got out of his sports car when he saw me.
“Hi, Mrs. Masters. Hey, Sarah. Let’s go have a soda,” Jason said, coming toward me.
I took a step back and shook my head. “No. I’ve got a ton of homework.”
Mom frowned thoughtfully. “Sarah got hurt at school again, Jason. Is there any way you can walk her from some of her classes?”
“No way!” I hoped I didn’t sound panicked. As Grandma would say, it was like asking the fox to guard the hen house. “It’d be majorly un-cool.”
“Get used to it,” Mom said. “And I don’t see what’s so un-cool about it, Sarah. My boyfriends and I used to neck in the halls between classes.”
“Gross. We’d get suspended for that,” I said. “SFA has rules that public schools don’t enforce about public displays of affection.”
“Well, that’s a dumb rule,” Mom said. “Will you watch over Sarah for me, Jason?”
“What’s so dumb about respecting our academic environment?” I tried to distract her with the headmaster’s favorite lecture on PDA. I didn’t want Jason around me. Period! No exceptions!
“I’d rather have my daughter neck in the safety of the school, than out at the Lake Mary overlook,” Mom said, and repeated her question. “Will you watch out for Sarah, Jason?”
She was unstoppable. I glared at Jason as he agreed.
Mom started for the house. “Now, your stalker will have to leave you alone, Sarah.”
“Great,” I muttered. “Just great.”
I looked at Jason after Mom left. “Why are you here? Do you still need a punching bag?”
“I came to apologize.” His voice was as stiff as he was.
“That makes me feel a lot better. Did you bring another crapload of presents? Throw them in the garbage because that’s where anything you give me goes. I’ve told you more than once that I’m done.”
“It’s your fault.” He loomed over me. “If you watched your mouth and didn’t act like a slut, I wouldn’t have to hurt you.”
“We broke up, remember?” I lifted my chin. I wouldn’t back away or run from him, regardless of how scared I got. “You said you wanted a second chance and that you wouldn’t try to control my life anymore. You agreed I could have other friends, too and you lied.”
“Don’t push it.” Jason reached for me.
I ducked away. “Back off. You don’t get it, do you? My real dad wants me to move to California and if he finds out you hurt me again, he’ll send me there or to boarding school.”
“Then behave yourself.” Jason caught my shoulders. “Stay away from Watkins and stop running off at the mouth.”
“Let her go, Phillips.” Timber came at a run from the house.
Fear slammed into me when I saw the rage fill Jason’s face. I didn’t want Timber in trouble or hurt like he had been last spring. It wasn’t as if Jason fought fair.
“It’s okay,” I squeaked.
“Somebody hurt Sarah at school,” Jason said. “She just has to be more careful, not hang out with the wrong people.”
Timber nodded and held out his hand to me. “I couldn’t agree more.”
That shocked Jason. His grip loosened. I slipped away from him. But I didn’t take Timber’s hand. I just stopped in front of him. I felt so safe with Timber behind me, like a giant protective shadow. “We’re through, Jason.”
“What?” He started toward me, pasting on the charm. “Come on, Sarah. You don’t mean that. You said you’d go to Homecoming with me.”
“No. We’re done. I never want to see you again.” I pushed by Timber and ran for the house.
Once I was safe on the porch, I looked back. With measured steps, Timber stalked toward Jason, but my ex didn’t stick around to see what happened next. Jason bolted to his car. He raced out of our drive and was history. Relief swept through me.
Timber stared after him, then turned and came back to the porch. “What happened today, Sarah?”
“I’m not going there with you,” I said. “It’s over.”
“You’re a mess.” Timber nodded at the sling. “You were barely over that fall down the stairs. The guy deserves a beat-down.”
“But you’re not giving him one,” I said. “I don’t want you arrested. Jason will call the cops and press charges.”
Timber took another step forward. He framed my face with his hands. “I can’t take you to Homecoming.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” It still felt as if my heart shattered in little pieces on the wooden deck. “I didn’t dump Jason to be with you.” I twisted away from Timber and opened the front door. “I dumped him for me.”
I couldn’t be around anyone. I ran into my room. It looked different.
My stuffed animals were all over the bed. Board games were stacked on top of the dresser. The dolls I hadn’t been able to find stood on shelves behind the desk. And a bunch of my paperbacks were in the bookcase. Bruce had made Priscilla come through with a lot of my stuff. So, why did my heart hurt?
Slamming the door behind me, I flung myself on the bed and burst into tears. I cried myself to sleep. Things couldn’t get any worse.
Of course, they did.
Several hours later, Warren knocked on my door. “Hey, shrimp-bait. You awake?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
Warren opened the door and looked at me. “Ms. Olson’s here.”
“Oh, my Gawd! I forgot all about practice.” I got off the bed. After a quick stop in the bathroom to wash my face and comb my hair, I headed for the front room. Tall and blonde, Ms. Olson still looked like the cheerleader she’d been in college.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I can’t believe I blew off today.”
“No worries.” Ms. Olson came over and gently hugged me. “You’ll be there tomorrow, won’t you?”
“Yes, but I can’t do the stunts or baskets before Friday.” I might as well get the bad news out first. “Doctor Kyle wants to see me that afternoon.”
“It’ll be fine.” Ms. Olson smiled at me, but I knew she was faking it the same way she taught us to do when one of the teams was losing again. “Enrique Fernandez told Rita to tell me you were hurt. I wanted to see how you are.”
I bit my lip hard so I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t cry, not here in Priscilla’s Palace. I’d never hear the end of it from Mom or Bruce. “You’re dropping me from the squad, aren’t you?”
“Not yet.” Ms. Olson smoothed my hair back from my face. “But if this keeps up, I won’t have a choice. You know that don’t you?”
I nodded and swallowed hard. “B.J. would be a good flyer to replace me. She needs more training, but she can do it. And she and Dallas can help you pick someone from JV to take her place when I’m off Senior Varsity.”
“And what will you do?” Warren demanded. “You love cheerleading.”
“Maybe I could go back to the J.V. squad for a while.” I took a deep breath. “Or I could do what Dad wants and go to that boarding school. I don’t think I want to be at the academy if I can’t cheer.”
“What are you talking about?” Mom came out of the kitchen. “I thought we had a deal. If Sarah made all the practices and helped the new girls, everything would be okay.”
“She missed practice today,” Ms. Olson said. “And I can’t pull the Senior Varsity squad out of the rec cheer competition circuit this late. I won’t pull them out after they did car washes, candy sales, and bake sales all spring to raise money for the season. Either Sarah deals with whoever is hurting her and it stops, or she’s back to J.V.”
“Anything else?” Mom demanded, glaring at my coach.
“You’ll be sixteen at the end of October.” Ms. Olson looked at me again. “Abbie and Marcie told me you would be interested in working at the espresso stand.”
Mom beamed at us from the kitchen doorway. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Sarah wants to get a job and this will teach her responsibility.”
“No way.” Bruce came up and stood behind her. “No daughter of mine will be a bikini barista.”