“Hey,” I said, walking through the doorway.
The secretary slowly moved her eyes up to look at me, but then when she realized who I was she brought her head up, “Rose,” she said in a soft voice. “Wow, you’re all grown up.”
I smiled and tried to keep from blushing. “Yeah, how are you?” I asked.
“I’m fine. Just working as usual. Are you here to see the principal?”
I nodded, “Yeah, where is that old guy?”
“He’s back in his office, just give him a knock,” she nodded and went back to her work.
I stood there for a moment while trying to brush off the chills from Terry’s deathly stare, and looked over to the counselor’s office that I used to have to sit in third period every day. I almost felt a bit of jealousy at the thought of someone taking Stephanie’s office, but then I remembered that she was just undercover at the time.
“Everything okay sweetie?” The secretary asked.
“Yeah,” I sighed with a nod, “everything’s fine.”
I walked up to the principal’s door and gave it a knock, then I slowly pushed it open and popped my head in. The principal looked up and leaned back in his chair with the same serious look on his face as always. “Rose,” he slightly smiled.
“Hey,” I walked inside and thought back to the first time I sat in here. We didn’t have the greatest start on account that he pre-judged me before even actually getting to know me. All he had were my records back then and started our relationship with a lecture.
“Wow, nice uniform,” He stood up and walked around his desk to give me a formal handshake. He was still the same bald old man with dark brown eyes.
“Thanks, I just got it a few months ago,” I said, smiling down at myself in pride.
“Yeah, well soon enough you should be making detective,” he chuckled.
“I hope so. That would be great.” I took a look around. I didn’t really like him at first, but after a while he grew on me.
“Oh, you will. After you graduated, I learned that you could probably do just about anything you wanted,” the principal said walking behind his desk to sit down. “I wasn’t so sure when you first started, but you came a long way.”
I nodded, “So, you wanted me to speak to a few of the health classes today?”
“Yeah, just scare them a little bit. Try and keep the kids from doing something stupid that would put them behind bars. You know how that goes.”
I nodded again, “Is the health room still in the same class, or has it moved?”
“Still where you remember it. Nothing but you has changed Rose.” He smiled, “I don’t really like change, but it looks good on you. And shiny. I’m really liking that badge.”
I was starting to feel like everyone wanted to see me blush today with all the compliments. “Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. Make sure you stop by to say goodbye before you leave today. I don’t know the next time that I’ll be seeing you.”
“I will,” I walked out of the office and gave the secretary a nod before I exited the-
I froze where I stood. Terry had come walking through the doorway and straight to the secretary’s desk where she had to sign in. I would have said that she was rude for just cutting me off like that, but I didn’t want to speak to her. Especially since she looked like she could explode at any minute.
I stood in the doorway and watched her as she wrote her name down.
“Hey Terry,” the secretary said.
“Hey,” Terry’s voice was soft. She looked like a murderer, and had the sweetest voice I’d heard since me and Lorena last talked.
“How is your day going so far?” The secretary asked.
Terry shrugged, “Fine.” she had turned around to go sit on the bench, but stopped when she caught me staring at her. If she was showing the secretary any other kind of expression, it faded in less than a second. She just went back to giving me that same blank stare that told me that she would stab me in my sleep.
I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded, but she didn’t make a move. I didn’t mean to, but I actually started to frown. What was wrong with her? When I looked down at her hands, as she held her books, I noticed that they were slightly shaking. “Are you alright?” I asked.
Terry frowned and gripped her books tighter. I guessed that it was to control the shaking in her hands, which was something that I used to do, only I didn’t look scared. I would be angry.
The secretary looked away from Terry then at me and shook her head. I took that as a warning and nodded back to the secretary, then squinted back at Terry. I couldn’t read her, and usually I was really good at reading people. “Well, you guys have a nice day,” I said before leaving the office.
“You too Rose,” the secretary said.
I walked into the busy hall and got a few looks from the students as they passed by. I smiled at the thought of me walking down these halls in my senior years and of the good times that I had, then took a deep breath of school air and walked to my first health class.
Chapter 4
Talking in front of the students wasn’t so bad. It was actually pretty easy with my former wrestling coach Mr. Clothorn being the health teacher. He had switched from government to health my last year at the school, which was a much better choice for him. Government just didn’t suit the goofy guy, but health? There were so many jokes he could give for this subject, and he kept the students engaged in what the lessons were about.
I had already talked through two classes and was starting to get tired already. This wasn’t my kind of thing, but if it would get me back onto the field then I would talk through all the classes that I would have to.
The bell rang and I gave a few high fives to the freshmen as they rushed out of class, then I leaned back on the chalk board. “How do you do this?” I asked Mr. Clothorn.
Mr. Clothorn kicked his feet up on his desk and ate a chip from a bag of Doritos that was in his lap. He shrugged. “I just do it. Teaching is a breeze, and health class? It’s even breezier,” he laughed.
I shook my head, “You’re such a corn ball.”
“You like it,” he said before popping another chip in his mouth with a crunch. “So how is the police life? You like it?”
“It’s alright if you like sitting on desk duty,” I sighed. “I get to go back on the field after today.”
“Oh, you were off? What happened?”
“Nothing, there was an incident and I needed a little bit of time off, then counseling…and more counseling,” I sighed.
“Stephanie’s orders?”
“Yup.”
Mr. Clothorn smiled and shook his head, then said, “She still sees you as one of her own.”
I turned to Mr. Clothorn, “What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said. You and Abigale might as well be her own kids, because that’s what she sees you as. That woman has been protective over you since the day you two met.”
“That was just her job. She was undercover,” I shrugged. I didn’t want to start blushing and tried to brush it off as work related.
“Right, you just keep telling yourself that, but I bet you feel the same way. You look up to her like she’s another parent.”
“She’s not my mother,” I snapped, but only by accident.
“I didn’t say that. Children that are adopted can tell the difference, but still call their adoptive parents mom and dad.”
I didn’t say anything for a moment. I always looked up to Stephanie, especially after the day that she saved me from Arnold. She had killed her own brother to keep him from smashing my face in and forcing me back into fighting for him. It was her job to do so, but with her aim, I’m sure that she could have just badly wounded him. No, instead she killed him.
I looked to Mr. Clothorn who raised both eyebrows. “Am I right or what?” He asked.
I slowly nodded my head, “You’re right.”
“I know,” he jumped to his feet. “We teachers are a
lways right.”
“Oh please,” I laughed.
“Come on, let’s head over to the gym. My next health class isn’t for another hour.”
“Sure.” I said. My stomach growled when he walked passed me. “Give me some of those chips.”
“All gone.” He tossed the empty bag into the trash before he left the room. “Too late,” he said.
I shook my head and followed him out of the classroom. We had walked down the neatly painted hallway and made a few lefts and rights, and then we walked into the gym that was full of kids. Today was free Friday, so they got to play basketball, volleyball, soccer, or shoot hoops. There were a few people using the jump ropes, but not too many.
“Hey Mr. Clothorn,” the young gym teacher greeted. He only looked to be in his early thirties with sandy blond hair and gray eyes. He could have been older, but his ripped muscles screamed young man, “and officer…”
“Klein. I’m Officer Klein,” I said.
“Nice to meet you officer,” he nodded. “I’m Mr. Jack, but you can just call me Jack.”
I smiled and looked at Mr. Clothorn who was trying not to laugh.
“Stop flirting Mr. Jack,” one of the students laughed. The student had taken a ball from the basket and bounced it over to the nearest hoop.
Jack shook his head, “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” I laughed. I stood against the wall next to Mr. Clothorn who was getting ready to play a game of volleyball with the girls.
I couldn’t help but feel like someone was staring at me so I turned to Jack, but it wasn’t him. I sighed and turned back to watch the students play around when I noticed Terry standing only a few feet away from me. I saw her in my peripheral at first, and when I turned my head she was staring right at me.
I didn’t know what to do, so I just nodded.
“You’re late,” Jack said. “Go and get changed for gym.”
“Sorry about that. Our session lasted pretty long today,” Terry said softly.
“It’s alright. Just go get changed so you can blow off some steam.”
Terry nodded, then walked passed me and towards the girls’ locker room.
I watched her, almost as if I was stuck in a trance, until Jack spoke.
“So you’re the famous Rose Klein huh?”
“Hmm? Oh, what?”
“You like went to states and everything for wrestling right? I think I saw your picture up on a wall somewhere.”
“Oh, yeah,” I smiled. I didn’t really know what to say to him, because my mind was on someone else.
“Yeah Mr. Clo-“
“So what’s up with Terry?”
I knew that I had thrown him off guard, but I was tired of talking about myself. It was time to talk about the younger version of me. Terry.
“Oh, well what do you mean?” Jack asked as he watched her come back out of the locker room with a pair of basketball shorts and a beater on.
I clenched my teeth and looked down at him. He knew exactly what I meant. “She seems kind of…off,” I said.
Terry picked up a basketball and started shooting around.
“Well, she is,” Jack sighed. “She was just brought back from trafficking a few months ago. She was a pretty big time fighter from what I heard. Was kidnapped a few years ago, maybe her seventh grade year, and was turned into a fighting machine after that. She’s a sweetheart though. I’m glad they found her when they did.”
“How did they? Did she run away from her owner?”
Jack frowned, “No, she shot him. Guess he was doing a little more than just making her fight. The screwed up thing about it is that he was a cop.”
I sighed with relief. Now I could understand why she looked at me the way that she did. She didn’t like cops.
“My question is, how does a cop actually have time for all that? I heard it’s pretty much like having a full time job.”
“It is,” I said while still watching Terry. She had made another three pointer while shooting hoops by herself. It almost looked as if all the students that were playing over there had completely shifted to another spot to play at. “The students don’t know about her, do they?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Some parent flipped out when they heard that she was going to be going to the same school as their kids and caused a big fuss. A lot of parents don’t feel safe with their children around others that just came back from trafficking. They say that they aren’t stable enough to be around other people.”
“We aren’t,” I sighed. “Not at first at least. We recover though. I did.”
Jack looked up at me as if surprised that I had admitted I was just like Terry. I smiled back at him.
“Is it okay if I go and talk to her?” I asked.
Jack nodded, “It’s fine. Just be...”
“I’ll be alright,” I stepped onto the court and walked in the direction of Terry. I was glad that she hadn’t noticed me yet, or else I would have changed my mind. I just wanted to talk to her, or at least give her a little company while she shot around.
Terry had finally missed a shot, and the ball bounced off of the rim and right towards me. I caught the ball after the first bounce and turned to Terry, who was frozen in her spot. She didn’t look afraid, but the shaking in her hands told me otherwise. Just like I did back then, she tried to hide her fear in front of others.
“What’s up?” I asked. “You look pretty good. You play ball?”
Terry didn’t say anything. She didn’t move, and I couldn’t tell if she was holding her breath or not. She was completely motionless.
I sighed and gave a slight smile, then I shot the ball in the hoop. “I was a wrestler back when I went here,” I said. I went to grab the ball after I realized that Terry wasn’t going to go for it. “I was pretty good at it. I got a few scholarships because of it.” I made another shot. “You should try getting on the basketball team. I bet you would get some if you worked hard enough,” I went to retrieve the ball again.
Terry watched me the entire time I shot around and still wouldn’t say anything. It was awkward at first, but soon I just forgot that she was there and was just talking about anything. Halfway through the class I noticed that she wasn’t as tense and I continued on trying to soften her up. She had finally moved and went to sit down outside the sidelines. I just wanted her to talk to me, or to relax a little, but figured it would take a lot more than lecturing and shooting to get her to do that.
It was a cop that had owned her, and it was a cop that she killed. He had most likely beaten and tortured her for months before she finally snapped. Not to mention fighting for her life every other week may have given her serious psychological problems.
I shot my last basket, completely out of breath, and grabbed the ball, then I walked over to Terry and held it out to her. She just stared up at me, but this time it was more in question. I guess she was trying to figure out what I was up to.
“Here you go,” I said. “Sorry about the lecture. I’ve been doing it all day, so I kind of got into the groove.”
Terry reached her hands out and took the ball, then she stood up. “Thanks,” she said.
I could have done a back flip after hearing her speak to me, but I held my composure so that I wouldn’t seem like a weirdo.
Terry was about to start walking again when I called out to her. She stopped and looked back at me with a blank stare.
“You’re not alone you know,” I said. I pulled out my writing pad and wrote my number on it, then I held it out to her. “Really, I can relate to what you’re going through right now.”
Terry turned all the way around and took the paper from me. She stared down at the number for a few seconds and then started ripping it to pieces. We both waited for the ripped paper to land on the ground.
“I am alone,” Terry said in a soft tone, “and we aren’t alike.”
I sighed, “Terry-“
“Thanks for coming over here with me, but I’d rather be alone. You don’t know me
, and I could hurt you.”
I frowned at her, which made me feel like I was giving her the same exact look that she was giving me. I could tell that she was surprised at how my mood had completely changed, but I didn’t like to be threatened, or misread.
“No Terry, you don’t know me, so don’t assume that we didn’t get off of the same boat.”
The bell rang for class to let out.
“Hey Rose! Let’s head back to class,” Mr. Clothorn said.
I pulled out my pad again and wrote my number down, then I held it out to Terry. “If you ever need someone to talk to then give me a call,” I said.
Terry hesitated, but then took the paper out of my hands and tucked it away into one of her books. She looked up at me one more time, then turned around and walked towards the exit of the gym.
I sighed and forced myself back into the happy person that I entered the school as, and then I went back to health with Mr. Clothorn. I talked through a few more classes, then called it a day and went to say my goodbyes to everyone. I really didn’t like saying goodbye, but with my job, I’d never know if I would ever see them again. The next day wasn’t promised to anyone.
Chapter 5
Being back in the car with Abigale felt great. A week had passed since I went to the school, and I was finally back to work like I wanted to be. Miss Shy still wanted me to see her for counseling, but I got the feeling that she just liked me coming to visit her office every day.
I had just finished showering at work and started getting ready to head home. I was tired as hell and wanted to go to bed. My phone had beeped twice letting me know that I had a text message, and I picked it up.
At first I thought that the text might have come from Lorena, because it was from an unknown number, but then I brushed that thought away. Lorena wouldn’t ask for my help all the way from France.
I need your help.
That’s what the text said.
I continued to dry my hair with my towel as I stared down at the message, then I texted back asking who the texter was and put the phone down. Once I was dressed back into my navy blue Nike sweats, and white T-shirt I finally got another text.
Caged 2 (Caged Series) Page 3