Enough

by Pacheco, Briana

  I brought my hand to my forehead and felt that I was heating up. Not again. I walked over to the window and stuck my head out. I rested my elbows on the windowpane and closed my eyes after checking for anything weird. A few minutes I brought my hand back to my forehead and I felt normal.

  There was a knock at the door and when I turned around, Scarlett was coming in. She held her hand over her eyes. “Emily.” She whispered.

  “I’m up.” I said. She slowly removed her hands from over her eyes and peeked at me. “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t know what I’d be walking into.” She turned her head to the bathroom when the shower shut off. Yeah, guess Alex coming over last night isn’t a secret. “I heard Taylor came by last night.” She said.

  “Yeah…he heard about Giovanni.” I said walking over to my vanity and applying eyeliner. How can I apply eyeliner and act cool about this? In the inside I’m dying. I have a father who was always there for me but not really here. Bryan and I were friends since forever. Taylor was always around. I even pictured being one of the Vincent’s when I was younger. We looked alike, I made up a fantasy. Guess it wasn’t a fantasy after all. And then I have David. He cared about for ten years then he just stopped. I was never cared for by a dad like I should have been. “Scar…” I looked up at me. Nah, I can’t ask her this. “Never mind.”

  The bathroom door opened and Alex walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Oh…” He cleared his throat. “Sorry.” He grabbed his duffel bag and walked back into the bathroom.

  I turned to Scarlett. “Damn…did you see that body?” She whispered with wide eyes. Obviously, I’ve seen that body. I’ve fucked that body. I’ve done more with that body and just thinking about it…damn!

  I walked over to my door and held it door open for her.

  “Were you checking out my boyfriend?” I asked.

  “He walked out that way.” She said smiling.

  I gently pushed her by the shoulders out into the hallway. “I know. Now go do something that doesn’t involve eyeing my boyfriend.” I said.

  “Fine.” She said. “Em…what did you want to tell me?”

  I hesitated. “It’s about dad. Both of them. We can talk later. We have to get to school.” I said.

  “It’s only seven. School starts in forty five minutes.”

  “Later.” She looked me over and nodded.

  “Okay. If you want breakfast, it’ll be done in ten.” She said heading downstairs. I walked back into my room toward the window. I closed it and saw a car pull up. I leaned in closer and noticed the police lights on the roof of the car. Oh…

  “Is there something out there?” Alex asked letting his hands fall on my hips and leaning over to get a look. This feels amazing.

  “No, the patrol car just pulled up.” I turned around and wiped a wet strand of hair off his forehead. “Ready to go back to school?”

  “Not really.” He said tracing a finger over my lips. “I’m going to miss all the free time. You?”

  I thought about it and honestly I’m not ready but I have to go. I want to go back to the normal routine but after everything that happened last month, it’s still a lot to deal with. “Me too.” I said. “But look how much changed. I think I can handle a regular day at school.”

  “Knowing you, you can handle anything.” He said gently kissing my lips. “Did I mention you look beautiful?” Keep it coming. I like it.

  I blushed. “I can get use to this.”

  I heard a door close and then footsteps. Declan passed by my room then walked back. He’s always interrupting.

  “Are you guys going to have breakfast?” He asked.

  “No, we’re going to fuck each other first so we’ll meet you down there.” I said. Both Declan and Alex stared at me speechless. Then Declan surprised me by nodding…and smiling at Alex.

  “Alright, go fuck each other then.” Declan said. He approves.

  “We’re not going to fuck each other, are we?” Alex asked when Declan left. I glanced at him and he was holding back a laugh. “That was priceless.”

  We grabbed our things and headed downstairs with Gizmo following.

  Scarlett was finishing up whatever she was doing then sat down at the table. “I made waffles and smoothies.” She said.

  “What are you doing up so early anyways? And what’s Mom doing?” I asked before taking a bite of the waffle.

  “She’s on vacation the rest of the week.” Declan said.

  Oh, so she’s sleeping in. Finally.

  My phone chimed.

  Tiffany: You almost here? Everyone’s waiting.

  What is she talking about?

  Me: Waiting for what?

  Tiffany: Just hurry up :P

  I put my phone in my back pocket and finished eating. It was seven-thirty when Scar and Declan finally let us leave for school.

  “Text me when you get out.” Scarlett said. I slipped into my heels because it feels like a heel wearing day and opened the front door. She walked with me and Alex down the steps toward the patrol car. “I need to know who they sent.” She said shrugging.

  Alex stopped by the Camaro.

  “It’s been a few days…” I said running my hand over the smooth exterior. I turned and saw Scar talking to Officer Reynolds. The one who is her age. Oh, it’d be good if she sleeps with him. She always wanted to sleep with a cop.

  I got into the car and drove to school. Finally.

  For the first time ever almost the whole student body of Wilks Academy was outside of the school. No one ever stays outside except for the smokers. I pulled into an empty parking space and took a deep breath.

  “Ready?” Alex asked. I nodded and got out. It’s going to be okay.

  I saw Tiffany, Sophie, Zach, Bryan and Liam walking together toward me and Alex so we met them halfway. A lot of the students smiled and actually said hi to us, when we walked by. Some of them talked about the thing with Giovanni and asked if I was okay. They don’t know the whole story either. They think he died by someone else’s hand. I’m not going to say anything so they can think whatever they want.

  The bell rang as we met up with everyone.

  “How’s Justin?” I asked Zach right when I was close enough to him.

  “He’s been better. He’s a little down this morning because he saw it’s official.” Zach said. I furrowed my brow.

  “What’s official?” I asked. I’m lost. Is the cancer that bad?

  “You and Alex.” Sophie said. “Em, you guys made it official this morning.” What the hell is she talking about? I didn’t do anything.

  “Facebook, Twitter, everywhere… ring a bell?” Bryan asked.

  “You didn’t go online yet?” Tiffany asked pouting. More students passed us and smiled. What the fuck is up with them?

  The second bell rang telling us to hurry up. “I didn’t–”

  Tiffany turned us around and pushed us to start walking.

  “I hacked your accounts.” She said. I was about to say something, anything that came to my mind but she cut me off again. “Don’t be mad. It’s true, isn’t it?”

  “How did you hack my account?” Alex asked. “I have the highest level of security on everything.”

  “Alex…nothing gets past me.” Tiffany said. “Don’t worry, lover boy. It was a one time thing. I won’t do it again.” He nodded. I don’t know he’s mad or not but he doesn’t look like it. All she did was say we’re official. It’s not like she said we’re having a kid and getting married.

  As we walked through the front doors and I swiped my ID, I thought of Mrs. Bond. Something on my face must have said something because Alex took my hand in his and squeezed. “It’s okay.” He said. We waited for everyone else to get swiped in when Alex searched my face. “If it’s too much, get some fresh air.” I nodded. I’m okay. I’m okay.

  “Come on, that old guy is a bitch to anyone who’s late.” Tiffany said. We walked up the stairs toward Mrs. Diaz’s room. I remember seeing Liam goin
g down the stairs before. Isn’t his class down there? Hold on…

  “Are you guys walking me to class?” I asked. I don’t like it.

  “If it’s the old man we can sneak in. There’s an assembly in a few minutes anyways.” Liam said. Just great. I’m being walked to class.

  The first door was locked so we walked to the back. When I stepped inside all eyes were on me. All the students were already seated and I looked at the teacher’s desk. My heart stopped.

  Mrs. Diaz is sitting there with her coffee cup in hand.

  Everyone else poured inside and saw what I was looking at. She looked in my direction and smiled. When she stood up, I ran toward her and hugged her tightly, not caring who saw us. She pulled away from me and gave me a hard look. “Ms. Vasquez that is highly inappropriate.” She looked over at the group standing in the back and said, “All of you outside. Now.”

  I followed her through the front door with everyone following behind us. She pulled me into a hug when the doors closed.

  “I didn’t know you’d be back.” I said.

  She looked at the others and back at me. “Emily, what happened, I–”

  “Don’t. Please.” I said dropping my head. She must know I was raped.

  “Are all of you okay?” She asked. They all nodded. “You can stay in my class today. I’ll send out passes later but don’t tell anyone I’m doing that.” She looked over at Liam. “I guess I’ll see you twice today. There is an assembly in a few minutes so just pretend you’re doing something in my class.”

  “What’s it about?” Bryan asked. His class is right next door so he’s trying to hide. It’s funny because he’s tall. How can he hide?

  “No one knows. Headmaster Rubin is setting everything up.” Mrs. Diaz said opening the door and let us in. We walked down the aisles of desks and sat in the back. She got a few things ready on her desk and then turned to us. “Happy New Year everyone. As you see I’m back and I hoped all of you behaved well when I was gone. Any minute there will be an announcemen–”

  On cue the headmaster’s voice rang through the school. “All Seniors please make your way to the gym for an important assembly.”

  Everyone stood up from their desks and walked out the door. We had to walk all the way to the back of the gym and start filling in seats. The next students in were most of the football players. They passed by and nodded hi when they saw Zach and Liam. They did their own handshakes and sat behind us.

  The way people were looking at me, was setting me off. They didn’t say anything but that made it worse. I noticed this happening when students walked by. They said hello or asked how I was doing instead of giving me weird looks and calling me a slut. Which is better…

  I leaned back and saw Zach looking at me. “I told you I would take care of it.” He said.

  When the remainder of the students came in, the gym was crowded and loud. Tiffany told Alex to scoot down because she had to talk to me. I bumped into a knee behind me and got a pain in my thigh as I grabbed onto it before I fell. I turned around and said sorry. The football player, Cam, just stared at me and smiled then he bent down so we were face to face.

  “I heard you were the one that broke Zach’s nose.” He said.

  “It’s not broken.” I said with a sad look. I’m still sorry about it.

  “The team just wants to say thanks for knocking sense back into him.” Oh, god. “Glad to see you’re back, Emily.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled then turned back to his friends.

  “Hey, you’re not mad about earlier are you?” Tiffany asked.

  “No, just let me know before you do something.” I said.

  “Deal.” She grabbed my leg and I don’t know how but the pain stopped. Damn, I should make her touch me all over. She has magic fingers.

  The speaker made a sound when the headmaster tapped it on his hand so everyone quieted down. Headmaster Rubin cleared his throat and began talking. His shiny, bald head was all I could see but from experience I know his brown eyes are looking at everyone.

  “Everyone must be asking what this assembly is about. I just wanted to say Happy New Year to all of you and I hope you had a great winter break.” Boring. “Unfortunately not all of us had that happiness.” Tiffany grabbed my hand and I felt her tense. “We lost a beloved secretary and student during the break.” Awesome, I’m being reminded of it.

  “Don’t think of it that way.” Tiffany said.

  “The guidance counselor is open for anyone who needs to talk.” He said. How about we just forget about them instead? “In memory of the two we lost, Wilks will have a memorial fountain placed in the front of the school.” I’m sorry, what?! “If anyone–”

  “Fuck this.” I said standing up and making my way down the bleachers. Everyone was so silent I only heard my heels clicking against the rubber floor. I kept my eyes focused on the door and didn’t look back. Once I opened the door, I heard the headmaster say something then feet hitting the ground.

  “Stop right there, young lady.” He said. I stopped and turned around. “You know very well no one is allowed to leave an assembly unless it is an emergency.” He hates me. Always has. I don’t know why.

  “I well not go back in there and listen to shit.” I said.

  “Watch your language. You will go back in there and sit down like the rest of the student body or else–”

  The gym door opened and Tiffany popped out.

  “I will not go back in there. You can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do. You act like Denise and Giovanni were saints. You don’t know the half of it. You want to build a fucking fountain for two of the worst people I have ever met.” I snapped.

  “Denise was a beloved secretary who–”

  “Denise was a mother who let her son ruin my life and didn’t do a goddamn thing to stop it!” I shouted.

  “I’m sorry if you were bullied–”

  “I wasn’t bullied!” I said running my hands into my hair and pulling. I want to hit this guy. I want to repeatedly hit him so he can understand. “Giovanni was a monster and you want him remembered. I’m glad he died. I’ll always remember him as the guy that raped me and tried to kill me and my friends. Neither of them deserves shit!” I kicked a trashcan and walked to the women’s bathroom but the door was locked. I’m so angry at what this school wants to do for them. They weren’t worthy of having a fountain.

  I threw my right arm into the door, trying to open it but it wouldn’t budge. I leaned my head on the door for a few seconds then turned back to the headmaster.

  Rachel was standing next to the door with the rest of my friends.

  “That is a serious accusation.” Was all Rubin said.

  I stared at him in disbelief. “You’re a fucking–”

  “It’s true.” Mrs. Diaz said cutting me off. “The police said we can’t talk about it but when I left the hospital the investigation was over. No one knows what really happened except for us and the police.” I sighed. “I’ll take them back to my class and talk to them.” Headmaster Rubin walked back inside in the gym without saying another word. “Come on.”

  “Did somehow kicking the trashcan help the situation?” Bryan asked.

  “Yes!” I snapped. “He thinks they deserve a fucking fountain. Are you kidding me?!” I shook my head as I the tears came out. “Maybe I should rape someone and get a fountain in my damn name.” Rachel walked up to me and wrapped me in her arms.

  “It’s okay, Emily.” She said. I sank into her embrace and nodded.

  “He must feel like a dumbass.” Liam said as we started walking back to Mrs. Diaz’s room. No one said anything as I exhaled loudly with every step. I’m still pissed. Alex stayed by my side holding my hand the whole time and it was slowly calming me. He calms me down.

  Mrs. Diaz unlocked the door and turned on the lights. I set my purse down on a desk and sat down. Everyone turned the desks to form a circle around me and Mrs. Diaz. “Do you know why he did all this?” She finally asked. I nodded. �
��They talked while I was around. They said a lot of things about your father.”

  “Why did they involve you?” Zach asked her.

  She looked at me with an apologetic look in her eyes. “I talked to Denise about your family moving. I told her you’d be staying with me if you don’t go and I asked her to help out if you needed it.” She grabbed my hand. “If I kept my mouth shut none of this would have happened.” She touched my arm and brought her hand to my forehead. “You’re really warm.”

  “It’s nothing. What do know about my dad…?” I said.

  “I know enough.” The way she said it sounded like she wanted to say something else but stopped herself.

  “You know everything, don’t you?” I asked. She nodded. “And you didn’t tell me sooner.” I stood up and walked over to the window. “Everyone’s getting comfortable keeping secrets around me.” I do it because I have to. I turned to Rachel. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  So we did. I hate this school for even thinking about setting up a fountain in memorial for those monsters. The people I killed… I should be getting that fountain for saving some other peoples lives.

  People didn’t get hurt because I stopped them.

  27. Nerves

  Mrs. Diaz didn’t want to talk about much but I made her. She told me everything that happened when she was being held by Denise and Giovanni and it made me sick. She went through everything because of me. It was my fault. I should have opened my eyes.

  When the bell rang, we had to go to our regular classes. The teachers were talking about how the school changed their minds on the fountain and didn’t feel like teaching so we watched movies all day.

  When school was over, I passed by Mrs. Diaz’s room and helped her clean up until Alex got here. I feel like a child. I have a babysitter. The door opened when I was done and Alex came in.

  “Are you ready or do you want to stay a little longer?” He asked.

  “Go. You two have some fun.” Rachel said.