“No, I knew that I couldn’t. I’d just hoped that you’d get to know me a little better before you had to judge me.”
It was similar to what he’d said about not wanting the teachers to think badly of her because of him before they had a chance to get to know her.
“Stay away from me,” she whispered, feeling sick. When everyone had warned her about him she had never dreamed that this was what it was about.
He stood back up slowly. Then he turned and walked to the side of the stage. He walked down the stairs to the ground. Then he looked at her and walked slowly along the stage until he was standing in front of her. He looked up at her and his eyes were so sad she found she couldn’t look at them.
“You know, you might stop and remember that I’m the same guy you kissed yesterday and this morning,” he said, softly.
“I didn’t know who you were then,” she said.
“And you think you do now?” he countered.
She didn’t say anything and she refused to look at him.
“Okay, I get it. Just do me a favor and be careful when you get up,” he said.
He turned to go and started walking toward the side aisle. She pushed up off the ground and made it to her feet. The world started spinning faster. She needed to grab onto something, but there was nothing. She took a step and tilted, off balance. She was too close to the edge of the stage, and suddenly she knew that if she couldn’t get away from it she was going to fall over. She tried to take another step, and she lost her balance completely. With a cry she fell off the stage.
She saw Mal turn. He threw his hand up and shouted something. For a moment the feeling of falling ceased then just as suddenly it resumed. She fell into Mal’s arms.
“How did you move that fast?” she asked.
He had caught her with an arm under her knees and another beneath her back.
“I’ve got you,” he said, and she could see the panic on his face.
She wanted to tell him to put her down, but her stomach was lurching and she closed her eyes and struggled to keep herself from being sick.
“Opal, put your arms around my neck,” he said.
“No.”
“Please, I need you to do that so I can carry you easier.”
Slowly she put her arms around his neck. When the skin on her wrists touched his neck she half-expected to feel that same electric feeling she’d felt before. There was nothing, though.
He was walking quickly and pretty soon they left the auditorium and were back in one of the hallways.
“I’m sorry about this. I know that you really could do without this kind of attention,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she asked, head finally starting to clear a little bit.
She cracked her eyes open just as they rounded a corner. The hallway was filled with people. A girl screamed and suddenly there was pandemonium. People were grabbing at her. A fist whizzed by her head and hit Mal squarely on the jaw. He staggered slightly, but didn’t fall and she clung to him, her terror greater than it had been earlier.
All around her she saw scared, angry faces.
They think Mal hurt me, she realized.
“Everyone get back!” he suddenly roared in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the walls. It was deafening and in the silence that suddenly fell she panicked for a moment, thinking she’d lost her hearing. Then she realized that everyone had been shocked into speechlessness.
Suddenly three police officers raced into sight at the end of the hall. Mal shifted her slightly in his arms and then barked out, “Seth!”
The quarterback came into her field of vision.
“Take her to the nurse. She fainted and she fell,” Mal said, thrusting her into the other guy’s arms.
“Sure, Mal.”
“Wait, what’s happening?” Opal asked as Seth backed away.
“You’re safe now,” someone said to her.
Then she saw the three officers race down the hall, shouting. Everyone parted in front of them, pressing themselves up against the walls. Mal slowly put his hands behind his head, lacing the fingers. He was starting to go down on his knees when the first officer body slammed him to the floor. The other two were on him in a flash. One of them hit him with a club.
“No! What are you doing?” Opal screamed, as the world tilted.
They had Mal face down on the ground and one officer was pinning him while another was handcuffing him. The third one was speaking. “-have the right to remain silent-”
They hauled Mal up to his feet and he turned and looked at her. There was a large cut above his eye and blood was pouring down his face.
“Seth, get her to the nurse right now or you’ll answer to me,” Mal said, face contorted and terrifying.
Then Seth turned and was moving as fast as he could down the hall without breaking into a run. When they reached the nurse’s office, it was one of the teachers who threw the door open for them.
“What’s happening?” the nurse asked, bustling forward.
“She fainted and fell,” Seth said, putting Opal down on a cot.
“Mal’s hurt,” Opal burst out. “The police hit him and he’s bleeding.”
“He’s the least of my worries,” the woman said, pursing her lips. “You’re his girlfriend, aren’t you?”
Opal thought of everything that had happened. “I don’t think so,” she said and felt tears streaking down her cheeks. Everything was so messed up.
“Get out of here so I can examine her,” the nurse said to Seth.
The quarterback nodded and left. When he opened the door the commotion from outside became much louder for a few seconds.
“What are they doing to Mal? They just attacked him,” Opal said.
“I’m sure he’s getting everything that’s coming to him,” the woman said coldly. “Now tell me, what happened to you?”
“We were talking. I got upset and I started to hyperventilate. He warned me to slow my breathing, but I didn’t. I fainted. When I came to he said I should get up slowly. I pushed too fast and got dizzy. I fell and he caught me. We were on our way here when everyone just went crazy.”
The nurse shined a light in each of her eyes. “Now, tell me the truth. Did he do anything to you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. All he did was save me from getting really hurt when I fell.”
“And there was no magic involved?”
“What? No. He wasn’t practicing any tricks or anything like that. We were just talking.”
The woman looked like she was about to say something else and then changed her mind. She finished looking Opal over.
“Well, you’ve got a bit of a bump on your head. How’s the dizziness?”
“It’s getting better. The whole room doesn’t look like it’s tilted at an angle.”
“Good. You should be just fine. It wouldn’t hurt to go to the hospital and have some x-rays taken, but other than that there’s nothing really to do. You can rest up here for a little while before we call someone to come and get you.”
“I have a headache.”
“I’ll get you something for that and some water.”
The nurse disappeared then returned with two tablets and a cup of water. “You’ve got some visitors if you’re strong enough,” she said.
“Yes, that would be great,” Opal said.
The alternative was to stare at the wall trying to figure out what she was going to say to her aunt about the whole thing.
Moments later Annie and Ginger came into the room. They pulled up two chairs.
“Are you okay?” Annie asked.
She started to say that she was, but then shook her head instead.
“What did Mal do to you?” Ginger asked fearfully.
“Nothing.”
“That’s not what people are saying,” Annie said.
“What are they saying?”
“That he went berserk and attacked you. I hea
rd Mrs. Jennings say that,” Annie told her.
“Mrs. Jennings is lying,” she said.
“So, you didn’t break up with him?” Ginger asked, sharing a look with Annie.
“I’m pretty sure we did break up,” she admitted. “I pushed him to tell me about his past.”
“And did he?” Ginger asked.
“He was telling me when I freaked out and hyperventilated. That’s when I fainted.”
“I’m sorry,” Annie said.
“Girls, it’s time to get to class,” the nurse said, poking her head in.
Annie and Ginger got up.
“We’ll see you later,” Annie said, heading out the door.
“Feel better,” Ginger said.
She grabbed Ginger’s wrist before she could leave. Her head was clearing up a lot more and now that it was she needed answers more than ever.
“Wait, Ginger, please, tell me. He didn’t get a chance to tell me exactly what happened.”
Ginger hesitated.
“Please. There’s nothing to hide anymore.”
“In this town? There’s always something to hide,” she muttered.
“Please.”
Ginger slowly sat back down. “What do you want to know?”
Opal swallowed hard. “Who did he kill?”
Ginger twisted her hands in her lap.
“A teacher.”
“A teacher? Are you sure?”
Ginger nodded.
“How come he’s not in jail?”
“It was self-defense. No one could deny that.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t like remembering it.”
“Please,” Opal implored her.
The other girl sighed.
“It was when we were Freshmen. We had Mr. Clarke for homeroom. Mr. Clarke hated Mal ever since the first day. He was always jumping down his throat, yelling at him. Then, one morning, Mr. Clarke snapped, right in the middle of class, and we all saw it. ”
“What did he do?” Opal asked, urging the other girl to keep talking when Ginger came to a halt. Fear and anger mingled together in Ginger’s eyes.
“Mr. Clarke started in yelling, screaming at Mal. Then Mal said something, really soft. Mr. Clarke went crazy. He jumped on Mal, hit him. When Mal fell he was on top of him, slamming his head into the ground over and over and screaming like some sort of demon.”
Tears streaked down Ginger’s face and she dashed them away with her knuckles. “Mal was unconscious. Seth and a couple of the other guys tried to pull Mr. Clarke off, but he was too strong. He hit Seth so hard he lost two teeth. He knocked the other guys down. And all the time he was still screaming. There was blood, so much blood. It was everywhere. People were screaming. Someone called 911, someone else ran to get help. Mr. Clarke hit Mal again. Mal finally regained consciousness. Mal kneed him and then he got his hands on Mr. Clarke’s head and then...then he twisted, and he broke his neck.”
Tears were streaming faster down Ginger’s cheeks. “I’ll never forget it. It was so awful. They were right next to me. Some of Mal’s blood splattered on me when Mr. Clarke hit him the last time. Sometimes, in my dreams, I can still see it all, smell the blood, all of it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Opal said, starting to cry herself. She couldn’t imagine how awful that must have been for Ginger.
And even worse for Mal.
“Did you hear what Mal said to Mr. Clarke before he went crazy?”
She nodded slowly. “I think I’m the only one who did.”
“What was it?”
He said, “I know about Greg.”
“Who was Greg?”
Ginger shrugged. “I don’t know. There was no one named Greg in our class. I don’t think it was an upperclassman either.”
“What happened next?”
“The police said it was self-defense. We all saw Mr. Clarke attack him. He was trying to kill Mal, and he would have if Mal hadn’t killed him. Mal was really hurt as it was. He spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and then he homeschooled the rest of the year. When Sophomore year started up, though, he came back.”
“And everyone was afraid of him. But, why? It sounds like he didn’t start it.”
“It was terrible. We all thought Mal was going to die, but then when he snapped Mr. Clarke’s neck, it was so unreal. Who even knows how to do that? And that wasn’t the worst part even.”
“What was?” Opal asked.
Ginger shuddered. “When it was over, Mal got up. He was just standing there for a couple of seconds, bloody, half-dead, and then...”
“And then?” Opal pressed.
Ginger’s voice dropped even lower. “Then he started laughing.”
8
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” Opal said to Ginger.
“It’s okay,” Ginger said, rubbing her right hand up and down her left arm like she was trying to get warm. “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out for you and Mal, but I’m sure you’ll find someone new in no time.”
“Thanks,” Opal said, sorrow washing over her for a moment. She would never be able to explain it to Ginger but she and Mal had a crazy sort of connection. She still couldn’t find any way to explain the electric feeling when he touched her.
“I have to get to class. Will you be okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you later.”
Ginger nodded and then hurried from the room leaving Opal alone with her thoughts which were tumultuous. She also couldn’t help but wonder what was happening to Mal and feel guilty about that. Whatever he’d done in his past, it wasn’t fair that people had made assumptions when they saw him carrying her. They all just jumped in and made Mal and her business their own.
She thought about how quickly the police arrived and realized they had to have already been on campus. She wondered if it had anything to do with Mr. Grossman’s absence or Mal being late to lunch because he’d been in the office.
Her head was still aching and she just wished everything would go away. Maybe if she went to sleep she’d wake up to find the last few days had just been a bad dream. Of course, if she was making those kind of wishes, she’d like to undo the last four weeks and wake up back home in Los Angeles with her father alive and well.
“How are you feeling?”
Opal opened her eyes and saw her aunt standing in the doorway, a worried look on her face. She sat up, remembering to do so slowly.
“Not great.”
“Are you ready to go home?”
To Los Angeles?
She wanted to ask that, but knew that wouldn’t make either of them feel any better.
“Yes.”
There’s a young man out in the hallway who seems very eager to see you,” Tanya said.
Mal.
Maybe that meant he’d straightened everything out. She hoped so. At this point she just wanted to put the whole matter behind them.
“Do you need help?” Tanya asked.
“No, I’ve got it,” Opal said, easing slowly up to her feet.
At least this time the world wasn’t spinning. She took a hesitant step forward, then another. It seemed like she was much better. She’d just take it slow and ask for help if she got dizzy again.
They walked out into the hallway. Opal was surprised to see that it wasn’t Mal but Seth who was standing there waiting for her. He practically jumped when he saw her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you. What are you doing here?”
He dropped his eyes. “Mal told me to look out for you.”
“Look, I get it, everyone’s scared of him. I’m fine. You don’t have to look out for me,” she said, frustrated with the whole situation. She got angrier feeling as she stared at Seth. If he hadn’t been such a jerk in the first place Mal wouldn’t have had to say he was her boyfriend and this whole mess could have been avoided.
“It’s not just that. I owe him.”
She blinked. “He said that you owed him a favo
r from a long time back.”
“I do,” Seth said, still not meeting her eyes.
“You feel like you owe him and yet you won’t have anything to do with him?”
He nodded.
She turned and looked at her aunt who looked baffled.
“I’m okay.”
“I’m going to walk you to your car. If I don’t…”
“Fine,” she snapped.
The three of them started walking. A minute later Opal was climbing into Tanya’s car.
She was about to tell Seth he could go when she realized he might have the piece of information she needed.
“Seth, what happened to Mal?”
“The police arrested him and took him away.”
“What did they charge him with?” Tanya asked.
“Assault and battery,” Seth admitted.
“It wasn’t like that,” Opal protested.
He shrugged. “I should get back to class.”
He turned and left.
Once Tanya had gotten into the driver’s seat and closed the door she turned to Opal.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I got upset while talking to Mal. I hyperventilated. He warned me to take deep breaths and I didn’t listen. I fainted. When I woke up a few seconds later he warned me to stand up slowly. I didn’t listen again. I fell and he caught me. Then when he was carrying me to the nurse’s office since I was dizzy people jumped to the wrong conclusions and attacked him,” she said, trying to get the story out in a rush and hoping Tanya didn’t ask too many questions.
“What were you upset about?”
There was no use lying about it at this point she realized.
“I found out that a couple of years ago he killed someone in a fight.”
“It was self-defense,” Tanya said.
Opal turned and stared at her aunt. “You know?”
“Of course. Everyone around here knows.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I might have if I knew you really liked him. Then again, I might not have. It’s pretty common knowledge and you were bound to find out and I wouldn’t have wanted you to think I disapproved of him.”
“Why, because you assumed if you did disapprove I’d somehow find him more attractive? That whole forbidden romance thing?”
Now You See Me Page 7