Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

“My legs are tired,” said Zander as we walked along the sidewalk towards his daycare.

“I know, baby, but we’re almost there,” I reassured him. Zander’s daycare was about a mile from our apartment and took about fifteen minutes to walk there. It didn’t open until seven, but one of the workers usually showed up early and said she didn’t mind if I dropped him off a little early. It was the only way I could make it to school in time which was another mile in the opposite direction.

It was cloudy out this morning and the sidewalks were still wet from the storm last night. Zander had been jumping through puddles almost the whole over here, soaking his socks and shoes. I rolled my eyes at him, but I couldn’t take away the excitement he felt. He deserved to enjoy every aspect of his childhood. If that meant going through the rest of his day with wet socks inside of his shoes, then so be it.

“What are you going to do today?” I asked him as we walked hand in hand along the sidewalk. I was on the left hand side, closer to the road in case a car were to steer off in our direction. Then I’d be hit first, and Zander would have a better chance. Although the chances of anything like that happening were slim to none.

“Hmm…” he hummed, thinking hard about what his answer was going to be. “I think I’m going to play with my trains.” He said it as though it was something new. He loved those trains and played with them whenever he got the chance.

“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. Despite being in this tedious conversation with Zander, my mind was elsewhere. I was wondering how I was going to explain to my history teacher that I hadn’t had time to finish my homework from the weekend with work and studying for my Biology quiz. School got out at three on Friday, but I went straight to work at the restaurant after that and had to stay until seven. The daycare closes at six, but I called the woman in charge, Meredith, and asked her if she could stay an hour later. She declined at first, but when I offered to pay double what I usually did an hour, she accepted. It really was a strain on our money situation, considering I made less at work than what I had paid her to watch Zander, but I needed this job. If I lost it, there’d be no source of income coming in at all, and then where would that leave us? I had worked the whole rest of the weekend and thankfully daddy was home long enough the watch Zander. Well, he was probably drinking again, but I’d like to think that wasn’t the case.

“Sadie!” Zander was tugging at my hand. He must’ve asked me a question, but I didn’t hear it because I was too involved in my own thoughts.

“What is it?” I asked, giving him my full attention.

“I said what are you going to do today,” his eyes were on me as we continued walking down the sidewalk.

“Well,” I started, “I have to take a quiz in my biology class.”

“What’s biology?” he asked, sounding out the word very slowly.

“Biology is a science class,” I said, trying to keep it simple for him.

“Are you a scientist?” he asked, confused. I couldn’t help but laugh at that statement.

“No, I’m not a scientist,” I said, grinning at him.

“Will you be a scientist one day?” he asked, hoping for a yes.

“I don’t know, buddy,” I said, sighing. “Maybe one day.”

I dropped Zander off at daycare around 6:45, and headed in the opposite direction towards school. Most students rode a bus to school, but since I was only a mile away from school, the board didn’t think it was necessary for my region to need a bus. If only they knew I was really walking three miles before I even got to school. I’d kill for the luxury of sitting on a stinky, yellow bus filled with obnoxious teenagers.

The hike to school felt long today, and I arrived just after 7:10, about twenty minutes shy of the first bell. My legs ached even more than they did this morning, and I was already worn before the day began. I thought about physical education later. Today, we were supposed to run the mile, and I’d be expected to beat my time from last year. It was around ten minutes which was concerned horrible for my age group, but it was the best I could manage. I never did see the point of being forced to run a mile at school. It really just took time away from subjects I actually did find interesting.

The halls were already swarming with people. Most of them stood by lockers conversing with one another. I didn’t have anyone to talk to though. I usually just kept to myself during school. I walked down the first hall until I reached my locker. Quickly, I turned the combination lock to the correct number and prodded open the door. The lockers were all a rusting green color, yet mine seemed to be just a little more worn down that everybody else’s. I wasn’t sure why. I prodded open the door, and fumbled with a few of the books in my backpack. I made the exchange of putting my history book back in my locker and retrieving my biology textbook. I figured I could get a quick study session in if I hurried to the classroom now.

I was the first one there besides Mr. Morrison. He sat at the front of the desk reading some book. I wasn’t sure what it was.

“Good morning, Sadie,” he said as I entered the room.

“Good morning,” I responded politely before taking my seat. I placed my backpack on the floor and opened my textbook to the chapters we were learning. I had reviewed my notes last night, but I figured the textbook would provide some more thorough information. I began reading the words intently. I skimmed through the examples the definitions, focusing more on the words than anything. I knew this wouldn’t help prepare me for the quiz that much, but it was worth a shot, right? I had been so focused on reviewing the material before me that I hadn’t even noticed some of my other classmates were already filing through the doors.

His chuckle caught my ear, and I looked up staring at him. His name was Will Parker. I’d seen him a thousand times before. He was the captain of the football team and he had the prettiest girlfriend in the whole school. She was ten times prettier than I was at least.

Will glanced around and caught eyes with me. His eyes the shade of blue. Mine the shade of brown. I felt nervous having his eyes on me for some reason. Made me feel intimidated.

“What are you looking at, princess?” he asked in a sarcastic tone. I wasn’t sure he was talking to me at first, but I hated the way he said princess. In such a condescending tone that made me hate the word. But I wasn’t allowed to hate the word. It was what Zander called me. I felt vulnerable when he said it, and I turned away from him, my cheeks flushing immediately out of embarrassment of having his eyes on me

“Answer me, b***h,” were the next words that came out of his mouth. The harshness of his tone startled me as I looked up at him, wide eyed. I didn’t know what to say but thankfully Mr. Morrison came to my rescue and chimed in.

To my luck, he didn’t say another word to me after that. Although I was still upset about the princess comment. Even more so than him calling me a b***h. I bet it was easy for him to call me a b***h. Him in his perfect world where he didn’t have to worry about anything. I bet it’s real hard fitting into this plastic place when you’re on a sports team, I thought to myself.

I went back to reading my book, but it didn’t last very long as I was interrupted when Valerie Fiori walked into the room. She came into the room screaming Will’s name.

“You’ll never guess who I ran into this morning,” I heard her say. I glanced up watching her as she babbled on about seeing her ex-boyfriend. Valerie was gorgeous. She was tall, probably 5’8, and she had an impeccable sense of style. Her brown hair was straight and she wore makeup on her face that made her look like a queen. I had tried makeup a few times, but I could never get it just right. I always ended up making myself look worse. I never understood how people did it.

Aside from the hair and the makeup, Valerie had the perfect body. Curves in all the right places that made me envy her. I was short and skinny, but there was nothing much else to my body. My breasts were small and my figure was more like a stick. Valerie had an hourglass figure that allowed her cutoff jean shorts and skimpy orange tank top fall perfectly on her. And on top of all of that, her tan glowed under these florescent lights. I couldn’t even imagine what it would like under the sun. I watched her, amazed by her every movement. I would kill to live just one day in her shoes.

I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but her and Will were talking so loud, it was hard to miss their conversation. I missed most of what Valerie was saying because I was too busy admiring her, but I caught the last few words that slipped out of Will’s mouth. “Karma’s a b***h.”

“So how was your morning?” I heard her say.

“Don’t even get me started,” he replied, sounding upset about something. I wasn’t sure what he could possibly be upset about. He didn’t have any real problems like money or caring about anyone else but himself. All of his problems were superficial and fake.

“What’d you say this time?” I heard Valerie say. She laughed as she said it. Snorted even. I found that to be her only real flaw, if that even counts.

“I didn’t say anything. She just always assumes I’m cheating on her,” he retorted, defending himself.

“Well, are you?” Valerie questioned as though she knew the answer.

“Of course not,” he muttered. I didn’t believe that for a second.

“Maybe you should,” Valerie said, looking away from him. That made me mad. Will Parker had the prettiest girl in school wrapped around the palm of his hand. She didn’t deserve to be cheated on. No one did really, in my opinion. And Valerie. She said it so playfully as though she was telling him outright that she wanted him, which I certainly didn’t understand. I didn’t understand what she saw in Will. He was good looking, of course, but he had a reputation for being a hothead. Just last week I saw him walking the halls with Miranda Sharp, and now here he was contemplating cheating on his girlfriend. It really made me sick to hear.

The bell rang suddenly, sending the drama to a cease, thankfully. I don’t know if I could have listened to them speak about this any more than I already had.

Mr. Morrison seemed extra chipper this morning as he began his usual routine of saying good morning and harassing some of the girls in my class. He never harassed me at least. Then he began passing out the quizzes. I was nervous, but I knew I had studied enough to get by. I wanted to do more than get by, but it was hard with work and taking care of Zander all of the time.

“You have exactly thirty minutes, starting now,” Mr. Morrison said at the front of the classroom before returning to his book. I stared down at my quiz beginning to fill up the lines with my answer to question one. I finished one and two quickly, but got stumped on question three. I tried to remember the readings in my head, but I couldn’t recall them exactly. I tapped my pencil against my forehead while staring down at the question when I noticed a sudden movement in front of me. Will had leaned in towards Isabella’s desk and was reading the words off of her page. Isabella Francis was one of the only people I’d ever spoken with at school. I wouldn’t exactly call her my friend, but she was sweet, and I didn’t like seeing Will take advantage of her like this. I knew Isabella was soft-spoken and wouldn’t say anything. I was too for that matter, but I couldn’t stand it. This wasn’t right.

I thought to myself about what to do for a moment. I could go up the front and tell Mr. Morrison, but by then Will might become suspicious and he wouldn’t be looking at Isabella’s paper anymore. I figured the only sure way of him getting caught was if I just said it. My throat tightened as I worked up the courage to formulate the words in my head. I stared at the back of Will’s head remembering first the b***h comment, and then the princess one. Those angered me, and that was about all the courage I needed before I blurted out those words. “Mr. Morrison, Will’s cheating,” I said louder than I usually spoke. It even caught me off guard, but I couldn’t help but smile.

Mr. Morrison immediately looked up from his reading and questioned Will. He looked embarrassed, and for one of the first times in my life, I was proud of myself for speaking up.

He turned around at me for a moment staring at me, but I couldn’t stop smiling. He deserved this for calling me a b***h and saying the word princess in such a sardonic manner. He deserved this for trying to cheat off of Isabella. He only did this to himself, I thought as I watched him walk to the front of the classroom and get scolded by Mr. Morrison.

He walked back to his seat picking up his backpack. I couldn’t stop staring at him as he made his way out of the classroom. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much he deserved everything he was going to get. Karma really is a b***h, I thought, smiling to myself.

Reviews

[Rebecca]

I feel like Sadie should be the main character. I have a character named Sadie too, she's a mom of two archangel-elves. The two chapters in her POV are stronger than the ones in Will's POV.

[Christopher Miller]

Have to get this out of the way - "sending the drama to a cease" - cease is a verb.
The b***h comment on his part seems a bit much, without explanation. Was he just being mean to someone who isn't cool? Did he think she was being stuck up in not answering him?
I was wondering if the teacher would bother her while she tried to study, but nice touch that even the lecherous teacher ignores her. How does that impact her self-esteem? Does she feel nothing but relief, or would she like even that bit of attention, especially since she doesn't get it from her father?
Does she think Will's 'time's ticking' joke is funny? Grudgingly admits it to herself, or would she think he's a moron for pointing out the obvious?

[Sarah]

Hmm, very good points. I think the b***h comment was more that Will was mad at Heidi and he just took his anger out on whoever he saw first, which happened to be Sadie. I could definitely talk more about Sadie's self esteem and how she feels about Will's comments. Thank you for the review!