Chapter 21

21 more days to go

I happily skipped into school. After my prayer last Friday night, I felt free. I prayed throughout the weekend. It was like a heavy load had been lifted off my chest.

I should have discovered prayer a long time ago. I gave all my problems to God. I can't see him but when I prayed it was as if he was right there listening to me. He has been by my side all along, only I failed to realize it. This is the happiest I've been since my brother died.

I spotted a sister coming out of the principal office.

"Good morning sister” I smiled

She had a shocked expression on her face when she saw me.

"Good morning Ruby, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you. Lovely day, isn't it?"

"It sure is"

I continued skipping along the hallway. My happiness was cut short when I bumped into someone. I was about to throw a fit but to my surprise it was Mr. Henderson. Just the person I wanted to see.

"Good morning" I greeted

"Morning. Seems you're in a good mood"

"Yup, all thanks to you. I prayed last night"

His eyes twinkled in delight immediately I said that. I had the sudden urge to get on my tip toes and kiss him.

Hey! Where did that come from?

"How bout you show me around Rome?" I asked

I needed a tour guide anyway

"Sure" he said “When?"

"Tonight?"

"You know this is against the school rules, right?"

Is it? I didn't see anything wrong. We were allowed to go out and they didn't specify who we couldn't go out with.

A wave of disappointment washed over me. I shouldn't have asked.

"Oh. I understand"

He laughed

"You're so gullible at times. I was kidding"

I grinned widely

"Does that mean you'll take me?"

"Sure. Be at my car same time you were yesterday"

I squealed inwardly in delight. Another night out with my hot teacher. How could I not be excited about that?

"Okay"

He patted me on my shoulder

"Have a nice day"

"Thank you. You too"

We parted ways. He continued down the hall while I made my way to my first class of the day which is Biology.

I scanned the almost full classroom for an empty seat. Annabelle waved to me and patted an empty seat right next to her. Jomar who was behind her waved to me as well. I waved back and went to the chair to sit down.

"Hey Annabelle. Hey Jo" I said

"Hi Ruby" they chorused

"What's her problem?" Anabelle asked

"Who are you talking about?" I questioned

Annabelle nudged her head to the right. I followed the direction and looked straight ahead. Cindy was glaring at me from the front row. The glare was so intense that I looked away in fear.

"Whoa" I said

"I can guess what her problem is" Jomar said

"What is it?" Anabelle asked

"She saw Ruby and Mr. Henderson talking in the hallway. She was looking at you two through the window. She even squeezed her water bottle in anger so hard that the cover popped off"

"Why would she be angry about that?" wondered Anabelle

He looked at Anabelle as if she was the dumbest person in the world for asking that question.

"OH, come on. You of all people know the answer to that. She's had the hots for the guy since sixth grade. She's literally obsessed"

"Oh yeah" Anabelle said "she would always write 'Mrs. Henderson' on all her notebooks"

"See?"

I'm not the type to be scared of anyone but this is way too absurd. I'll do my best to avoid this girl at all costs. I don't need any more problems in my life as it is. Obsession is dangerous. It can kill.

"I'd watch my back if I were you" Jomar told me "You being rich, popular and beautiful is threatening enough for her"

"Yeah, she has really bad anger issues" Anabelle added

"Thanks guys"

"No problem" Jomar said "We got you"

I smiled in gratitude

Cindy still stared at me for a full three minutes but was forced to face front when the teacher came in. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good morning class" Mr. Patrick said as he stepped on the podium

"Good morning sir"

"Okay" he clasped his hands together "Our topic today is a continuation of our old one ; reproduction"

He connected his laptop to the board so he could show us our notes in slides.

"There are many methods of family planning" he started "Can anyone try to mention at least one"

In less than a second many hands were up, including mine. It's an easy question.

"Yes Jomar?" He urged

"Birth control" he answered

"Correct. Anabelle?"

"The pull out method"

Some students snickered. I shook my head. Teenagers.

Mr. Patrick cleared his throat in order to stop the noise.

"Correct. Trina?"

"Vasectomy"

"Correct. Ruby?"

"Condoms" I said

Cindy laughed

"What's so funny Cindy?" Mr. Patrick asked

"Because it wasn't a good enough method for her parents" she said

The whole class gasped. What the hell did she just say?

"Excuse me?" I said in disbelief

"Oh boy" Jomar mumbled

"I mean, it wasn't effective. You were born out of wedlock" she continued "Am I right? Then your mom's parents had to force them to get married. The condom slipped up that's why you're here. All I'm saying is, guys condoms are not 100 percent effective. Let's be guided please"

"That's a very rude thing to say Cindy" Mr. Patrick said

She shrugged

"It's related to the topic sir. I'm just tryna warn my classmates that condoms aren't effective. If they were, she wouldn't be here"

Mr. Patrick gave her a slip

"Detention for four Saturdays"

"What?" She shrieked

"Not a word from you"

Anabelle broke her pencil in half on the table.

"Am I allowed to yank her hair so hard that she bleeds to death and dies" Anabelle asked Jomar

"No, you are not"

My body was shaking in anger. I'm pretty sure my blood was boiled to beyond a 100 degrees. How dare she say such things?.

I'm tempted to go right there and punch her but that won't be such a good idea considering the fact that I almost got expelled the last time I tried to get physical with someone.

"Calm down Ruby" Jomar tried to comfort me "I can see your veins popping out"

I looked at my clenched fists. It's true. My veins were very visible. Everyone looked at me and whispered. They were obviously waiting for me to pop off and fight her. I stayed where I was and proved them all wrong. Bunch of jobless gossips.

The rest thirty minutes of the class passed without me acknowledging any valuable information from the lesson

All I could think of was how to rip Cindy's stupid blonde head into two. Is she a natural blonde? I doubt it. Fake bitch.

I got up immediately the bell rang and followed Cindy out of the classroom before I lost her.

"Ruby wait" Anabelle called from behind me. I paid her no mind

I ran into the corridor and pulled her hand so hard that I swear I could hear a bone twist. She turned around to face me.

"Owww!" She screamed "what the hell is your problem?!"

"I could ask you the exact same thing" I hissed "Why on earth did you have to say such horrible things"

Instead of popping off like I would have in the past, I decided to speak to her like a mature adult and Christian would.

Who knows? We might even sort out our differences

"I was just stating facts" she smirked

What? The idiot isn't even a bit remorseful. Fuck what I said about talking to her like mature adults. I'm bout to sucker punch her in the stomach.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, desperately trying to curtail my anger

"Cindy"

"Yes?"

"It is taking all the self control in me not to snap your head into two"

"Self control? You know nothing about self control. You can't control yourself around Mr. Henderson"

"Is that what this is about? You're jealous that he's nice to me?"

"I just find it disgusting that you're sucking up to him unnecessarily"

"He's my teacher for God's sake. What is wrong with having a good relationship with your teacher?"

"I don't like you Ruby. Not one bit"

"I'm not begging you to like me"

"I feel you're up to something and I'm gonna find out what it is"

She flipped her hair in my face and walked away