16 Hungry Chase
It felt like forever since Margaret lay there motionless and in pain.
She slowly willed herself to move and sat up, leaning back against the fence. She was still dripping wet so maybe not much time had passed. She pulled her hair away from her face and stretched her legs in front, wriggling the toes of her braced ankle. There was a slight pain but it doesn't seem much worse than before. But one thing was for sure, she definitely increased her time in the brace.
After her ankle was examined, she pulled her hair back and squeezed out the water from it. She then stood up slowly while leaning on the fence for support and removed her denim jacket. She wound it up tightly and twisted it, or at least tried to. After a couple tries, she threw it on the grass to dry and looked at her dress. The strawberry colored one piece was now more of a cherry red as it stuck to her body. She pulled the hem of the dress and tried to draw out as much water as she could.
Then she bent down and removed her navy blue vans and shook all the water out of them. And as she threw them beside her jacket to dry, she felt her head spin heavily and she immediately fell back onto the fence and slid down to the ground in a reflex.
She closed her eyes and sat there for a while till her head felt light again. But since she exhausted the tiny bit of strength she recovered to dry her clothes, her body now had no strength to even stand up again.
As such Margaret ended up staying beside the football field for another period, which added to two in total. And now, it was lunch hour, so she decided to brave herself and enter the cafeteria and grab something to eat.
The love filled lunch box from her mom, the peanut butter sandwiches were completely washed out as her tumble down the hill broke the lunch box open. And since the sandwiches were not waterproof, they were squashed and in no shape to eat.
Margaret almost teared up as she had to throw her mom's handmade lunch into a trash bin. Her mom was usually busy with work so Margaret wouldn't trouble her with lunches, but when she asked for it, she happily made it for her. And yet, she couldn't even take a bite of it and had to throw it away.
Jacob was still searching for her and she somehow miraculously managed to avoid him thus far. But that guy was persistent for all the wrong reasons. If he showed that kind of commitment elsewhere, he could actually do something useful, but who was going to enlighten him.
Margaret was just a step into cafeteria when she caught Jacob's silhouette on the other end. He was talking to his friend beside him with a serious expression.
Her eyes with a perfect 20/20 vision just had to display its prowess at this moment. That was the first time Margaret felt that having a great eyesight could be a flaw too.
She would have turned tail and ran away in an instant any other time, but she was extremely hungry and half of her brain has already stopped functioning. Her eyes turned to the cinnamon rolls, hamburgers and chicken patties stored inside the glass display counter and her stomach rumbled with greed.
Margaret decided to sneak in and out with the food quickly and eat them somewhere else. And with that thought, she walked inside, trying to blend in and hide herself behind other students. She was just an arm's length away from grabbing a hamburger on the counter when she heard Jacob's voice come close.
Margaret stood beside a couple students near the counter as she hid behind them and listened quietly.
"I swear I'm going to kill that bastard, Jeff. I tell you he's just jealous of me because I can play when he cant." Jacob voice was filled with fury as he gritted his teeth in frustration. "I will make him realize his mistake of throwing me out of the team."
"Chill, man! Don't be so hung up over him." His friend put his hand on Jacob and tried to calm him down. "Just clear your subject and then he'll have to reconsider, whether he likes you or not. Weren't you gonna get that geek to do it? What happened?"
Jacob grew more furious at the mention of Margaret as he growled with contempt."That little bitch is playing with me. She is sneaking around and going from class to class. But I will catch her, and when I do." He popped his knuckles and curled his fingers, as he punched his fist into his palm. "I will let her know the consequences of making a fool out of me. I will make her pay! I will make all of them pay!"
Margaret could clearly feel the killing intent in his voice which made her shake to her boots. Her hunger subsided for a bit, as fear engulfed her mind and dominated her body. She gave up any ideas to find food and rushed out of the place which almost seemed like hell, with a demon king ready to make a barbecue out of her.
She survived through the two periods after lunch with just drinking water, but she was feeling the effects of pushing her body past the limits. Her face was pale and she seemed to have lost weight in the course of only a few hours.
'Just one more class and I can go home.' She reminded herself again and kept herself from falling apart. Margaret would usually look forward to Literature class, but today, she just wanted to get it done with.
She just came out of bathroom and was dragging herself towards Literature classroom when her luck finally ran out.
"HEY!" She heard a loud roar and her heart literally jumped into her throat. The yell came from somewhere behind her, but it was loud enough to seem like it was right beside her ear.
Margaret gathered all the energy she could muster and broke into a sprint. She didn't need to look back to know whom that howl belonged to, as she could even say that he was very, very angry.
It was hard to run with a brace and it needed much energy but Margaret had no other choice. She ignored the throbbing of her ankle as she skipped and hopped towards her next class. She could hear the heavy rumble of footsteps closing behind her and she desperately burned all her strength without a second thought.
"Stop!" Jacob howled, and the intensity and anger in his voice scared more than just Margaret. The nearby students in the hallway jerked up at his roar and cleared away from his path. "Didn't you hear me? Stop or you are dead!"
Well, he clearly doesn't know how to convince people. As if anyone will stop if he threatens to kill them.
Margaret's energy was almost drained bare when she finally saw the classroom entrance in front of her. But Jacob was right on her tail, rapidly decreasing the distance between.
She was just two steps away from the door when Jacob grabbed her bag and yanked it back. Margaret was pulled along as she fell back heavily and let out a cry. She saw black dots forming in her vision but she quickly shook her head clear and took a deep breath. She wondered how long her body would be intact with all the punishment she had been through.
Jacob stood towering over her, as he grabbed her dress collar and growled in her face. "Where will you run-"
"What's going on here?" Mr. Collins' voice came from behind as he walked closer and looked at them both. Margaret silently thanked the heavens for this small amount of pity. And Mr. Collins too.
"I- uh…"Jacob turned his head to Mr. Collins, then to Margaret and then back to Mr. Collins again. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Ah, the irony.
"She... slipped, so I'm helping her." Jacob blurted out hurriedly as he let go of her collar and instead, grabbed her shoulders to set her on her feet. Margaret no longer had any strength to even support herself so she let Jacob take all her weight. But he pulled her to her feet like she weighed nothing at all.
Mr. Collins eyed Jacob suspiciously and then turned to Margaret, who was swaying back and forth as if she would be swept away with the wind at any moment. "Ms. Laurence, are you alright?"
Margaret jerked her head up at the mention of her name and put on a weak smile. "I'm fine, Mr. Collins."
He looked at her pale face and weak posture, which told him otherwise. Margaret realized that he wasn't convinced so she brightened her smile and Mr. Collins sighed helplessly.
"If you say so. Now, get in." He stepped aside and gently patted on her shoulder as she walked past him to enter the room. He then turned to Jacob and spoke with a stern face. "You too."
Margaret was slowly hobbling towards her desk as Jacob trailed closely behind her. "You are safe. For now." He whispered in her ear and Margaret shuddered as she received his message clearly. This was far from over and he will come for her again, but Margaret wasn't sure she could survive another chase.
How long can a deer escape from the eyes of a tiger. It was destined to get caught sooner or later, it's just a matter of how long the deer can hold its breath, with a predator on its tail, waiting to strike at the first sign of weakness.
Margaret settled in her desk where she sat on Monday, while Jacob went the other way. She could feel his glare on her all along but she was too tired to even be afraid. She was feeling a heavy pounding in her head while her body was screaming in pain. Her vision turned fuzzy and she soon began to feel drowsy. She put her elbows on the desk and supported her head with her hands as it felt so heavy it would fall off any second. The whole world seemed to spin and she couldn't focus on anything anymore.
She didn't know how much time had passed as her body began to tremble and she was finding it difficult to breath.
"aret-… -kay?" She heard a fragmented voice beside her but she couldn't make out any words. There were many more sounds echoing in the background but she couldn't grasp any of them.
Her vision was being distorted and she was fighting to keep her eyes open. She felt a strong urge to just lie down and sleep as she didn't think she could go on any longer.
'No... I cant…
I can't... not yet…
Just a bit more..
Home…'
Her body was past its limits and her mind was on the verge of breakdown. Finally, her body couldn't keep up with her determination and Margaret didn't even know when she blanked out.
