Chapter 19

A Chapter by Emi

Chapter 19

Discouragingly, when they arrived at school just over an hour later, everyone in the halls seemed to be talking about what happened at the restaurant. Although, the majority were only concentrating on two parts of the story. Half were focusing on Gwen’s takedown of the gunman while the rest were preoccupied by Zach racing to her in her time of need. Neither of them were exactly sure how the news got out, never mind how it spread at such a phenomenal rate. Katie certainly didn’t tell anyone. They could only assume one of the officers’ must have told their children who by some twist of fate not only went to their school, but recognised them. Gwen kept her head down, hoping she would be left alone. She still managed her usual smiles in the halls, but she moved quickly and even jumped when Kate walked up to her. It was rare for her to be so easily spooked by people. However, having over two dozen students come up to her for confirmation of various versions of the story had worn her out. She almost went to Ms. Laslow to ask her to ban gossip on the subject, but even in her stressed state Gwen knew that was ridiculous. Kate was lucky enough to remain unmentioned so no one approached her. Zach didn’t have as many enthusiasts as Gwen, but he too was starting to lose his cool. She stayed close to him believing if they were together when approached at least one of them would be able to cope with the situation. It seemed to work though Zach did have a couple of minor blowouts with guys who wouldn’t take Gwen’s no comment for an answer. The girls were better, most of them were only interested in the romantic aspects of the event which she didn’t mind sharing. It hadn’t taken much for Zach to convince his parents he had done the right thing the previous night. That was partially thanks to his sister who confirmed Gwen was too distressed to be left alone when she dropped them off. With the weight lifted from her shoulders Gwen actually enjoyed discussing the danger free part of the evening, especially seeing the shades of embarrassment on his face when she did. Even her third period in the library wasn’t as peaceful as usual, the librarian had to hush those who came up to her, more than once. Though Gwen could often sense her listening behind nearby bookshelves, not that she had to be a Hex to know. The woman was heavy set and in her fifties, hardly superspy material. Besides, this was probably the most interesting gossip she had heard in her little library. Gwen definitely preferred being invisible, she just had to remember she was the flavour of the week and the limelight would fade. At least in gym it was nearly impossible to approach her, Coach Wester didn’t put up with any nonsense interrupting his class plus they were playing volleyball, with little control over the ball’s path nobody was in a hurry to break ranks. One positive result of the attention was no one in class thought of her as the weak link now, apparently punching out a grown man could do that for you. Volleyball was usually quite fun, it was inside so there was no sun beating down on them when they were out of rotation and none in their eyes when they played. The shifts were fast, every point or penalty was met by Coach’s whistle signalling the players to switch places, swapping one student for another each turn. Unfortunately Gwen and Zach were on opposite sides, but they were never on the floor at the same time. She took to the floor for the third time at the front left corner, as the rotation continued she and the other players would move counter clockwise until they returned to the sidelines. Her team scored and she moved to center. Gwen was enjoying the game, to the point that she didn’t notice those on either side of her, her only focus other than looking over at Zach was on the ball. You were supposed to do that with sports, she thought she was doing well until she jumped for the ball and something painfully solid collided with her left cheek. Gwen hit the tile floor with a thud, hands over her face as pain shot through her head. The whistle sounded in her ear and a second later Zach was next to her along with the other players, then of course Coach Wester. She was about to ask what the heck just hit her, but Coach’s next statement pretty much covered the answer.

“Brown, what is the matter with you!?”

Gwen glanced up, hands still over the lower half of her face and sure enough there was Kelli holding her elbow.

“I was going for the ball, I didn’t even see Gwen,” Kelli said in her girlish voice.

“Ha, that’s not what it looked like from where I was standing,” said a girl from the back line. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone try to spike a ball with their elbow.”

“Me, too,” Zach added his eyes cold.

No matter how much Gwen believed Kelli deserved this she couldn’t help trying to play it down and held up her hands.

“I’m okay,” she said despite the pain spreading across her cheekbone into her nose.

Zach’s face twisted slightly.

“You are not, you’re bleeding,” he said reaching for her, but stopping short.

Bewildered Gwen glanced at her hands, the left hand was clean, however the right hand had been in direct contact with her nose and was now covered in blood. Gwen gasped and slapped her hands over her nose, wide eyed.

“With your metal elbow of all things,” Coach said to Kelli. “You could have broken her nose.”

Gwen turned her gaze on Zach, she didn’t know Kelli had a metal elbow, but it certainly would explain the injury. Kelli tried to talk her way out of it, but Coach wasn’t paying much attention.

“Booker go get cleaned up, you’re a mess,” he instructed, his tone mildly kinder toward her.

Gwen struggled to get to her feet without removing her hands from her face, she was unsuccessful until Zach helped her up by the arm. He started to follow, mumbling about bringing her to the nurse’s office, but Coach stopped him.

“She can make it there on her own, Wallace,” he said firmly, dragging Zach back by his shirt.

Gwen turned briefly, nodded to Zach, confirming Coach Wester’s statement then raced from the room.

“As for you, Miss Brown,” Coach continued darkly. “I’m not at all convinced that was an accident, I will be informing the principal about this incident. You’re to run laps for the remainder of the class.”

Gwen ran through the halls, hoping she wasn’t leaving a trail of blood behind her, frankly she didn’t like her chances. She knew the way to the nurse’s office from anywhere in the school, so even her watery eyes didn’t slow her. The poor nurse nearly jumped out of her skin when Gwen burst into the room. One look at the blood streaming from between Gwen’s fingers and her nurse’s instincts overcame her surprise.

“Oh goodness,” she said beckoning Gwen to the sink and filled her hands with paper towels. “What happened?”

“Elbowed during gym,” Gwen said raising her hands when the nurse turned on the tap.

“Doesn’t seem to be your best class, does it?” the nurse sighed, carefully dabbing at Gwen’s nose.

“Certainly not my luckiest,” she replied feeling the headache throb like a hammer with every heartbeat.

With her hands clean Gwen leaned her head back and fell into a chair to let the nurse get a better view of the damage.

“Well, I don’t think it’s broken, however, a nasty bruise is definitely on the way,” the nurse said handing Gwen a wad of paper towels for her nose.

“Of course,” Gwen breathed with the tiniest hint of annoyance.

She wondered who would throw the bigger fit, Lesley out of concern or Pinky who would be using her skill with cosmetics not for a hot date, but to help cover the damage before Gwen could go to work.

“It always seems five times worse when it’s on the face,” the nurse said sympathetically.

“Makeup has so many uses,” Gwen said. “Covers zits, imperfections and injuries.”

The nurse laughed and checked the bleeding.

“Not yet,” she said glancing at her cheek. “That’s starting to swell. Do you want a gel pack?”

“Yes, please,” Gwen said gratefully.

The nurse smiled kindly, then moved toward the mini fridge situated between her lower cabinets and pulled out a bright blue gel pack. Gwen took it with her free hand and carefully placed it on her cheek. She was trying so hard to ignore the sickening sensation of the blood running down the back of her throat. She found it very difficult when the only things to distract her were the blank ceiling, the lights and the chill creeping across her face.

“Are you sure it was just an elbow?” the nurse asked with a thin frown. “It reminds me more of a punch.”

“Yeah, well a medically enhanced elbow still counts,” Gwen said rolling her eyes. “I believe titanium is the material of choice.”

“That explains it all right,” the nurse said just before the last bell rang. “Let’s see.”

She lifted the paper towel, Gwen leaned forward a bit realizing the feeling in her throat had stopped. No blood left her nose so she sat normally, nothing.

“Thank God,” Gwen laughed.

“Just in time,” the nurse said tossing the bloody paper in the trash and giving Gwen a damp cloth to clean off.

“Yeah, considering I have to pick up my neighbour’s daughter to take her home,” Gwen said wiping around her nose quickly. “I doubt she’d enjoy seeing me with a tissue over my face.”

“Understandable,” the nurse said smiling.

Gwen stood, threw the paper in the garbage and reluctantly handed over the gel pack.

“Thanks for the help, I hope you’re not getting sick of me,” Gwen said with a shy chuckle.

“Not at all, I’ve had weeks where you were the only student to come to me with an actual problem,” the nurse replied with a grin. “Now, get moving or you’ll leave the young girl waiting.”

“Right, see you next time,” Gwen said as she hurried from the room.

She jogged for a short distance, then slowed to a steady walk, she wasn’t sure who or what was waiting for her in the girls room. Maybe if she went slowly enough the others would be gone by the time she arrived. Seconds later she turned a corner and came face to face with Zach, still in his gym clothes.

“Hey,” she said attempting a big smile.

Pain shot through the left side of her face reducing her smile from wholehearted to ordinary.

“Just a new bruise?” he asked, glad to see her.

Gwen nodded not at all surprised that he knew it was nothing major, despite the blood on her shirt.

“Coach went to Ms. Laslow’s office right after class, I think he’s finally realized you’re being targeted,” Zach said stroking her arm before taking her hand in his.

“At least someone did before Kelli found a way to really hurt me,” she said moving to his side in search of comfort.

“Yeah,” he said wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “She’s a lot more vicious than I thought.”

They walked along the hall which was quickly filling with voices as students went about their regular -get off the school grounds as quickly as possible- plans. Gwen was used to other students looking at them, however her blood stained shirt was attracting more attention than usual.

“Let’s hurry,” she whispered to him. “We’ll be late for Les.”

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