Once again the haze made it difficult for her to judge how much time had passed. Eventually the pain faded, though didn’t disappear completely. Thankfully it had retreated enough for her to drink some water and eat.
Jimmy regulated how much she could have.
“I don’t want you getting sick,” he said while pulling the water bottle away.
She cried as if he was taking it away for good. In reality it was only for a minute and then he would allow her to drink some more. Drink a little, take it away, drink a little take it away. Every now and then he would also give her some pretzels and other dry foods from the shelf, his hands having to hold it while she chewed because her fingers weren’t working. Some of it was stale but Megan didn’t care. It was the first thing she had eaten since… her mind couldn’t even figure it out and didn’t really care.
“She was so pissed off, it was great,” Tina said while the three were walking to school. “But she couldn’t really say anything because everyone at the school was saying I did the right thing and that it was better to be safe than sorry.”
“And the police actually took him away?” Jimmy asked even though she had already said they did.
“Just for questioning,” Tina said. “They didn’t arrest him or anything but they made sure the threat of that possibility happening if he didn’t cooperate was there.”
“God, I bet the sheriff just wanted to take him into some deep dark basement room and beat the shit out of him,” Alan said.
“Do you think he’s really responsible for the two girls?” Jimmy asked.
Tina shook her head. “No. The guy is odd, but harmless. I mean, his favorite pastime is knitting with a bunch of middle-age ladies.”
“Still, who knows what goes on inside his head? Maybe he has a thing for high school girls and that’s why he is spending so much time with your mother, and other mothers who knit, so he had easy access to you and their daughters.”
Tina seemed somewhat spooked by this statement but then brushed it away. “He and my mother have been seeing each other since before I moved here. I don’t even think he knew I existed back then.”
“Still…” Jimmy started but didn’t finish. He didn’t want to push it too far.
“Oh don’t worry, the guy is a creep, no question about that, and I won’t be caught dead alone with him. And I’m guessing he will think twice before offering to do my mother any favors in the future.”
The three went silent for a while and then Jimmy asked. “Do you have to stay after today?”
“My mother didn’t say anything about it. She probably wants me to but I won’t. I mean, we get out at what like noon today?”
“Yeah.” Jimmy turned toward Alan and smiled. “Two of us do.”
Alan gave him the finger.
“Then there is no way in hell I’m staying at school,” Tina said. “What would I do all day?”
“You know, this isn’t fair,” Alan snapped. “Instead of letting all the seniors have a half day they should let anyone with a ticket to the prom have a half day.”
“But then lower classmen like yourself would have one less day to prepare for finals, which wouldn’t be good.” Jimmy never understood why seniors didn’t have to take finals during the second semester, but didn’t mind. He had a feeling it had something to do with tallying up who had graduated and who had not; especially since the graduation ceremony was the weekend after finals. Still, it seemed odd.
“It’s still stupid, and why does everyone need a half day to prepare for a dance that isn’t until Saturday night?” He turned toward Tina and asked, “Do you need all day to do your hair?”
“Um, no,” Tina said. “I really have no idea what I’m going to do all afternoon in that empty house all by myself.”
Jimmy heard the words and then saw the look Alan gave him, but wasn’t sure what to say.
“It’s going to be lonely,” Tina added.
Jimmy stayed silent and calm, despite the questions jumping around in his mind. A fantasy also began, one that he couldn’t shake.
Brett watched and waited for the two to split up before classes, eager to give the girl the video he had picked out for her, his body barely able to hold back the desire to run up and down the hallway shouting that Jimmy liked watching bondage sex movies.
The two stood by her locker for a long time, both having gone right to it since Jimmy didn’t seem fond of using his own all that much, and instead just carried all his books from class to class.
Dork!
Anger at the guy oozed through his veins. He so desperately wanted to walk over there and punch him right in the face, consequences be damned.
Somehow he held back and waited for the two to part ways, Jimmy heading toward the science hallway, Tina toward math.
Halfway toward the math class Brett intercepted her, the words, “Hey cutie, how’s it hanging,” leaving his lips.
“What do you want?” she asked while trying to slip between him and the wall of lockers.
Brett put his hand up against the locker to stop her.
“Tina, isn’t it?” Brett asked.
“Yeah,” Tina said. She started to walk around him the other way, but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Hey, let go of me.” She tried to twist away but his grip was too firm.
“Not so fast. I just have a question for you. Do you know if I can borrow Jimmy’s handcuffs one day?”
“What?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Brett asked.
“Know what?” She tried twisting away again to no avail.
“That Jimmy is a huge bondage freak and loves to see girls and boys all tied up.”
“You’re sick,” Tina said.
“Hey, you don’t have to believe me, just watch this tape.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the VHS tape, only she wouldn’t take it. “There are a whole bunch more where this one came from too and I’m sure Jimmy will show you his others if you want.”
“Why don’t you get a life,” Tina snapped and tried to pull free again.
In the hallway other students were rushing by them as they tried to get to class. No one paid much attention to them, and those that did made no move to intervene.
“It’s your little friend who needs to get a life,” Brett said. “Take the tape.”
“Let me go!”
“Take the tape and I will.”
Tina grabbed his arm and dug her nails into it.
Brett winced and grabbed hold of her backpack, his fingers easily opening the flap and dropping the tape inside.
Above them the bell rang.
“Enjoy,” he said and hurried away. In his mind he saw crowds cheering his brilliant move. Others came forward to shake his hand.
The excitement wore off quickly though as he headed into his English class. He hated the class and the teacher and would have gladly skipped the class if it wasn’t something he needed in order to graduate. Most had completed the English course the year before. He had failed it, and now had to sit in the class with a bunch of juniors while listening to the stupid fag tell them all about all these great authors. It was such a waste of his time. If they were so great why hadn’t he ever heard about them before?
“Samantha,” Megan said again. “Just try.”
Once again her friend ignored her, only now Megan wasn’t going to back down.
“Samantha, get off your lazy ass and start undoing those ropes!” Megan screamed.
Several hours earlier screaming like this would not have been possible, but the food and water Jimmy had given her during his morning visit had helped clear her mind a bit. She was still sluggish, and her exhaustion still felt like a boulder strapped onto her head, but her thought process was once again able to focus on things, which was good. Even better, the hallucinations had disappeared for the time being, though she was sure they would return sooner than later, especially if she continued another day without sleep.