How can she be a whore when she’s obviously a prissy little virgin? I know! She must like the back door!
I was mortified. I stopped reading after that one. I stood there with my fists clenched staring down at the desk trying to think of something to say in the face of this.
“Don’t worry – we deleted them as soon as they were posted. I doubt that anyone saw them,” Michael assured me.
“Don’t be upset. You know it’s just Cheryl. Nobody saw. It’s nothing. We shouldn’t even have told you,” Chad tried to say as comfortingly as possible.
I was too humiliated to tell him what had happened in English that morning. Cheryl had begun singing “Back Door Man” and she and Janice and a few others had cracked up laughing. I hadn’t understood at the time. I sat on the other side of the room completely ignoring them, oblivious to the fact that it was me they were ridiculing.
“It’s okay,” I said finally, and I turned and walked out stiffly, ignoring Chad as I heard him calling my name to come back.
“Catherine!” He had chased me down the hall and had now caught up with me.
“I’m sorry – we shouldn’t have told you,” he said as he caught my arm.
“No, you should have. I’m glad you did. I know what I’m up against, now,” I said stalwartly.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Strangely enough, I was. Something inside me had snapped. But snapped in a good way like something snapping into place. My spine became steel, and my spirit became resolute. I was not going to let these people bully me or make me cry ever again. What Cheryl had done was so completely juvenile that I felt that much stronger for it. I saw her for what she was: a silly little spoiled child.
“I’m fine. And thank you. For deleting the comments and for just generally caring.” I said.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
I shook my head, “Nothing.”
And I turned and walked away from him feeling hard as nails.
CHAPTER 25
On Friday morning I went to my scheduled appointment with the guidance counselor. She was a short, plumpish woman with a shock of dark grey hair that was streaked through at the front with white. She had a beautiful face with delicate features and something about her made her hair color look edgy and cool, as opposed to her hair color making her look old.
She ushered me into her office and offered me a seat as she picked up a folder that had been lying on her desk.
“Hello, Catherine, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Mrs. York. I see from your file that this is your first year at Brandenhurst – how are you settling in?”
She seemed pleasant and warm enough that all my anxiety melted away and I felt comfortable confiding in her.
“Well,” I began, “It’s had its ups and downs so far.”
“What do you mean by that? Tell me what’s been going on.”
I related to her the incident with Trevor, and briefed her about what had happened at the dance, omitting the part about him being drunk at the time.
“Hmm,” she said as she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair and pondered me for a moment. “Alright, so you slapped him in the face at the dance. Completely off the record, I say good on you – I would have done absolutely the same thing. Officially though, I can’t condone students hitting each other. But, in light of the fact that it was a spontaneous response to being groped, I think we can overlook it for you. Did you want to make a formal complaint about that incident at the dance?” She peered at me over her glasses.
“Oh no. I just wanted to let someone know about how he had followed me in the dark and threatened me. I am actually concerned that he might try to harm me in the future,” I explained.
“Okay. Well I think that’s wise. What I think we’ll do is have a little chat with Mr. Murray and hear his side of the story. At that time I’ll let him know that we have a record of you complaining about him threatening you, and it would, therefore, be very unwise of him to bother you in the future. You don’t have any classes with Mr. Murray do you?”
“No, I do not,” I answered.
“Great. Then it shouldn’t be a problem for him to stay away from you from now on. Is that an acceptable resolution?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s wonderful. Thank you very much,” I said gratefully.
She stood up to show me out of her office.
“I’m glad you came to me. Harassment of girls is an insidious problem and most are too afraid or embarrassed to do anything about it. You did right.”
“Thank you again,” I said as I was about to exit.
“My pleasure. I’ll contact you if there’s anything. Oh – and don’t forget this slip – you’ll need it to show the teacher of the class you’re now late for,” she said as she shut the door behind me.
Well that was easy! Phew! I was very glad to have that over with, and I hurried off to English class to see what little tricks Cheryl had come up with for me today.
I had the slip in my hand ready to give to Ms. Tyrol as I tried to sneak in through the door. Class was already halfway over by now and there was only empty desk left for me to sit in and thankfully it was on the other side of the room from Cheryl. It was also mercifully near the front of the class, so I had my back to her and wouldn’t be able to see if she was tossing threatening looks my way. As soon as the bell rang I made my escape and slid out the door and into the hallway and disappeared into the sea of students, all dressed nearly exactly the same way as me: school uniforms certainly had their advantages. Well that was two potentially unpleasant experiences over and done with and they hadn’t lived up to my expectations after all.
In fact, I got through the entire day without anyone threatening or ridiculing or otherwise ostracizing me. And then in the afternoon I had Italian with Chad and it was actually almost downright pleasant.
“Hey – I read your column!” was the first thing he said to me as we were getting settled in class.
“Yeah?” I smiled.
“Loved it. Beautifully written! Makes me want to take up horseback riding so that I can be out there in the morning and experience that!”
“Ha! That’s what Andrea was afraid of – that it would encourage other people to ride in the mornings and it would wreck our idyllic solitude!” I laughed.
“Well you really make it sound incredible,” Chad kept looking at me.
“Hmm!” I felt myself flush a bit at his compliments and I turned and put my eyes on my desk.
There was an awkward pause before he spoke again.
“So, this weekend, do you want to get together tomorrow or Sunday?” he asked me.
“Oh, Sunday would be better,” I said. “Andrea is taking me out on the trail for a really long ride tomorrow.”
“Great. Sunday it is, then. Late breakfast again?” he asked.
“Sure, that would be perfect,” I replied.
A perfectly bad idea as it turned out.
I enjoyed an incredible trail ride with Andrea on Saturday. We talked a great deal about equestrian related things and she encouraged me to get my own horse and maybe start training seriously for competition. I tried to explain to her that competition didn’t really appeal to me, and that what I loved was the feeling of being at one with such a powerful, majestic animal out in nature, but I think I came off sounding a bit flakey. She seemed disappointed at any rate, although it had been a small part of the experience that day and overall it had been highly enjoyable.
The rest of the day was relaxing and drama free. I went back to my room and had a nap before slipping downstairs to the dining hall for something to eat. I wanted something I could bring back to my room and eat in peace without worrying about running into malevolent forces. I spent the evening hanging out with Stefano, and although it would have been nice to get outside and enjoy the rose garden, after my last harrowing experience of walking home in the dark, we decided it was best to stay inside.
He was distraught about what had happened and agonized
over not being able to protect me.
“But you did,” I protested. “I distinctly remember hearing your voice in my head telling me to run.”
He gave me a strange, sorrowful look and we talked no more about it.
And then Sunday rolled around and Chad and I met for our weekly Italian study date.
As I got into Chad’s car, I kept casting furtive glances about to see if Cheryl was watching. I didn’t see her (much to my relief) but as it happened, that was because she was already in town hanging out with her hangers on at the little diner where Chad and I had decided to go for our big greasy breakfast.
As soon as he pulled the door back for me I saw her there. She must have seen us walk past the window because her eyes were locked on the doorway before we even arrived.
“Chad, Cheryl is here,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“So what? We’re not letting her spoil our plans. There’s a table near the front –as far away from her as we can be. Here,” he said as he pulled a chair out for me, “You sit with your back to her so that she can’t see you.”
I caught her eyes as I sat myself down and she was shooting daggers out of them at me. Chad behaved as though she didn’t exist at all and somehow managed to keep his eyes from ever wandering over in her direction. The waitress came over and he ordered coffees for us without skipping a beat or letting his gaze go anywhere near her.
“What is she doing?” I asked as I pretended to scan the menu. I was looking at it, but not seeing a thing.
“I have no idea and I don’t care,” he said. “Now what are you going to order?”
Just then his phone beeped to let him know that he had a text message. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to read it, and then slid his phone back into the pocket without saying a word or changing his facial expression.
His phone beeped again. And again. Five times in rapid succession.
Now he removed it from his pocket, turned it off and put it down on the table.
“Was it her?” I knew the answer without having to ask the question.
He smiled broadly at me and almost laughed as he said, “Of course! Who else?”
“Chad, I’m so sorry. It’s because you’re with me. It’s because you’re friends with me…”
“Nope,” he cut me off. “You forget that I am well practiced in the art of ignoring Cheryl. She’s turned a bit nastier since I met you, but she’s always been this relentless. Don’t you dare blame yourself one bit.”
He took my hand, which had been resting on the table, in both of his and leaned in close to me. “And now, I’m going to give her a taste of her own medicine! Let her watch us and think that we’re enjoying a romantic breakfast date!” His eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Chad!” a little thrill went through me. “You’re terrible!” I half-gasped and half-laughed. “Please don’t! It’ll only provoke her!” I pleaded with him.
“Ah, you’re right,” he admitted as he dropped my hand. “I’m sorry – I shouldn’t have done that. She’ll take it out on you,” he said and his eyes darkened.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “She’ll take it out on me anyway – just me being here with you is bad enough.”
“Alright!” he said as he slammed his menu down. “That’s enough about Cheryl. Now, seriously, what are you having?”
The waitress came over and took our order and I think I actually managed to forget about Cheryl for a whole minute. She must have sensed that I wasn’t thinking of her, so she decided to come over to our table to make her presence felt.
“Oh, look out, she’s on her way over,” Chad grimaced at me as the waitress departed.
“Just sit there and say nothing. Promise me.” Chad was looking very intently into my eyes and I nodded silently.
“What’s going on here?” she demanded as she approached our table. “I’ve been sending you texts and you’re ignoring me,” she stated as if this were the most indignant thing she’d ever been subjected to in her life. (Who knows? Perhaps it was.)
“That’s right,” Chad replied calmly. “I am ignoring you. It’s incredibly rude to pay more attention to your phone than to your company, so I turned my phone off. I trust you’ve filled it with rude, angry messages?” He looked her dead in the eye as he asked her this question.
“Well I think I have a right to know what’s going on!” she insisted without missing a beat.
“No. No, actually you have no right to know anything about me or my life,” he stared at her nonplussed.
“Well are you two boyfriend and girlfriend now? It certainly seems like it. I catch you together all the time “studying” and I see her in your car all the time and we all know you’ve both been lying to me and sneaking around behind my back! So is that it? You’re a couple?” She was really working herself up and her voice was rising and other people in the diner were starting to look.
“How is that any business of yours? I finished with you at the end of the year last year, so now whomever I might be dating or not dating is of no concern to you!” Now his voice was rising to match Cheryl’s. “And to be brutally honest, Cheryl, if I ever had any second thoughts about breaking up with you, your obsessive, stalkerish behavior put a stop to them real quick!”
He was borderline shouting now and Cheryl was stood there with her mouth agape, unable to respond. So Chad filled the silence by continuing his rant.
“And furthermore – I don’t even want to be friends with you anymore. I’ve seen a really nasty side of you these past few weeks and you should know – I’m telling you this for your own good – it is not the slightest bit attractive. What guy in his right mind would want to go out with a self-absorbed, vindictive…”
But he didn’t get to finish his sentence because Cheryl had picked a glass of water up off our table and threw it squarely in his face.
She turned on her heel and slammed out of the restaurant. The group of girls she had been with, Lisa and Janice among them, hastily gathered their things together and followed suit.
“Are you alright?” Chad grabbed his napkin and leaned over the table to mop up the splashes that had gotten me in the face.
“I’m fine! I’m fine! Your phone!” I exclaimed as I grabbed it and began drying it off on my jeans. “It didn’t get soaked, just a little splash – I think it should be okay. Here – take my napkin, too. I’ll see if they have a towel,” I said as I got up to go and ask for one.
But the waitress was already barreling for the front of the restaurant.
“Hey! Hey! Come back here! You didn’t settle up!” she stood in the door yelling down the street at them. “Ah!” she lamented. “Those girls are nothing but trouble. They come here and order food that they never eat and they make a mess and stay forever and don’t leave a tip! Now they run out on the bill!” She threw her arms up in despair.
“It’s alright,” Chad piped up, “I’ll take care of their bill.”
“Chad!” I whispered. “Why would you do that for them?”
“It’s not for them it’s for her,” he said gesturing to the waitress. “She probably gets it taken out of her pay when that happens.”
I looked at him then. Truly looked at him. He wasn’t just handsome because his facial features made him so: he had an energy of compassion and understanding combined with something humble that made him very attractive.
“I’ll get you a towel,” I said as I stood up again.
After we mopped up the water, we decided to stay and enjoy our greasy, starchy breakfasts. After all, as Chad pointed out, we had earned them! By the time we finished eating we were even laughing about the water-throwing incident.
“We’ll always refer to it from now on as Water-gate!” I said and we both laughed.
“On a more serious note,” Chad said as our giggles subsided, “I should apologize for losing my cool like that. I hadn’t planned to. When I saw her coming towards the table I made a decision that I was going not going to let her ruffle my feathers. Clearly
I failed,” he looked sheepish.
“Don’t apologize. She’s a handful. I get it.” I assured him.
“No, just because she has no class or dignity, doesn’t mean that it’s alright for me to forget mine,” he said.
“Well, you’re talking to a girl who slapped your best friend hard across the face not too long ago, so I know what it’s like to be provoked!” I said with a sheepish look of my own.
“Oh no – that’s different. Trevor was out of line,” he began.
“So was Cheryl!” I countered.
Chad got a funny look on his face and then he mumbled almost imperceptibly, “And he’s not my best friend.”
“Chad,” I started to say hesitantly, still not sure if I should tell him what I was about to tell him even as the words were coming out of my mouth. “Can I tell you something about Trevor?” I felt the muscles in my face tense and stretch and squint as if my face was cringing at what I was about to do.
Chad immediately looked wary.
“What? What happened? Yes – tell me,” he insisted.
“He threatened me the other night. He followed me in the dark and when I was almost at the dorm he appeared out of nowhere and wanted to confront me about what happened at the dance.”
“Okay,” Chad sat back in his chair looking perturbed.
“I refused to apologize to him and he got really angry and called me some really choice words and then he threatened me.”
“What exactly did he say?” Chad questioned me.
“He told me that if I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, that maybe somebody should shut it for me. It doesn’t sound like much, but it wasn’t so much what he said as the way he said it. And in the context of being followed in the dark, well, suffice it to say I was quite terrified.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Chad demanded.
“I didn’t want to get you involved. You live with the guy. I thought he was your best friend – up until you just said that he wasn’t a minute ago,” I said weakly.
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