Ch. 17: Cornered

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

I found Ally in Trigonometry and she pointed at a seat in front of her that she had saved for me. Class went by quickly. I felt really engaged and challenged. I really did see why so many people loved Mr. Yoo. He just explained things in a way that made sense. I participated quite a bit and really felt comfortable asking questions and giving my answers. Mr. Yoo ended class ten minutes early, so we had some time to do our homework, chat, or whatever we liked. I saw Bella start work on her homework, and it cued Ally and I to do the same.

"This is probably really smart of you to do some homework now, you know. Since you'll be home late because of your date," Ally said, elongating the 'a' to sound more like 'daaayte.'

"Yeah, yeah Ally," I said back trying to brush her off but just smiling like a giant idiot instead. It made us both laugh.

Someone nearby got out of their seat and Simon moved to it.

"Care to share what's so funny?" Simon asked while sitting down in the seat next to Ally.

"Well, if you must know, Rachel has a date today," Ally said, playfully hitting my shoulder.

"Oh!" exclaimed Simon, "Ooh, is it Sean?" His tone mocking like a 12-year-old girl, voice fluctuating. "He sure is one cute guy," he continued, teasingly.

Ally and I honked. I swear that's what it sounded like. Simon did a horrible job imitating a little girl with that crazy deep voice of his.

I continued to do a few problems while Simon distracted Ally. She had only finished the first problem and kept putting her pencil down on the paper to continue but would get distracted by Simon again. I didn't realize just how funny Simon was. While really reserved, he really became a class clown around Ally.

Mr. Yoo opened the classroom door and announced there was only about a minute left to prompt us all to start packing our things. I packed up and stood, taking in Simon and Ally. They really were adorable.

"No really!" Simon exclaimed, clarifying something in his story to her.

Ally grinned widely and laughed loudly, tears in her eyes. She wiped at them and seemed to have a problem breathing. She playfully shoved his shoulder and inhaled air for a few seconds while Simon watched, obviously pleased at her reaction. He looked so… proud? It really was cute. Ally needed to open her eyes.

The bell rang and we started walking towards the door. The hall was mostly empty and other classroom doors started to open, with more people getting added to the hall.

"Hey! I'll see you!" I called out to Ally and Simon as they walked towards the 'front' entrance.

Ally barely waved back before turning back to Simon who was talking to her about something. Seriously, they had it bad for each other.

I now had to fight the sea of people coming towards me as I went the less popular way, to the student parking lot. I tried walking towards the outermost part of the hall which seemed to help. There was a guy up ahead of me heading the same way who was doing the same. I was happily walking along the edge when a hand reached out and yanked on me.

"Holy-!" I yelled in response, my balance all over the place.

I looked up and jerked back, my body repulsed before I even registered Vance's face. And his hand. It was still on my arm. I yanked my arm out of his grasp.

"What are you doing?" he seethed.

I looked back, alarmed and confused. He was visibly angry.

I got over my shock and became angry too. Who is this guy just grabbing me?!

"No! What are you doing? Grabbing people? What the f***?!" I turned to my side and tried walking back into the sea of people walking in every direction.

He grabbed my arm again.

"Hey!" I yelled, yanking it back. Or trying to. He wouldn't let go this time. His grip was bony, and strong, and just wrong. "Let go of me!" I yelled again. I shoved him with my other hand but he didn't budge.

"You need to think about what you're doing," he said with meaning, like I knew what he was talking about.

"Let. Go. Of. Me. NOW," I said back, ready to punch something. His aura made me shiver.

"What's going on here?" I heard behind me - it made Vance finally let go. My arm felt sore, bruise-worthy. I looked back to see Kyle there, getting closer.

"Remember what I said," Vance hissed in my face then stomped away. Remember what? What in the actual f***?

Kyle came up to my side, reached a hand toward my shoulder but stopped and pulled his hand back.

"My god, Rachel, are you okay?" he asked with surprise and concern. It sounded like he didn't realize who I was before getting closer.

I breathed a few deep breaths and wiped at the invisible mark on my jacket sleeve where Vance had grabbed me.

"Do you want to report this or something? Vance shouldn't get away with that. You can't just go around grabbing people. What the hell was his problem?" he asked in a serious tone. "I can go with you if you want. Man, what an as****e."

I shivered, my body still reacting to the wrong feelings from Vance being so close.

"Rachel?" Kyle asked again, this time with his hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to look at him. I felt paralyzed. "Rachel?" he asked again.

I made contact with his electric blue eyes and breathed out in one big breath. He let go as I grounded myself. I shivered again, shaking everything off as best I could.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said shakily.

He looked unconvinced, "Do you want to walk over to the office? I can go with you."

I shook my head. "No, no thanks Kyle. I… just need a minute."

He nodded and stood there waiting with me as I just breathed for a few seconds. His arms were down by his sides. He repeatedly balled and released his right fist, maybe some nervous tick. The weight on me started to lift and I looked back at Kyle. Just like the sound in a movie, the background of people walking and talking on their way out of school became louder in my ears. The world was coming back into focus.

"Thanks, by the way. I'm not sure what would've happened if you hadn't walked by. I was literally about to punch him," I say, exasperated.

Kyle keeps the same pained, concerned look on his face and says, "How can I help?"

Now that is a big question.

"I'm alright Kyle, really," I adjusted the shoulder straps on my backpack. "I know that was a lot, and I might want to report it, but not right now. I'm on my way out…"

His expression changed to one of compassion.

"Okay. If you're sure. Let me know if there's anything I can do. I can be your witness, or if you want help confronting that jacka** by yourself I will back you up," he smiled and added, "I've got my yellow belt, you know."

I smiled back at him. His kindness put me at ease.

He rocked on his heels and announced, "Alright, well I'll walk you. Where are you headed?"

"Student parking lot, I'm meeting someone there," I responded.

We started back out of the small hall into the main one. The crowd of people had mostly left and now there were just a few groupings of people walking towards the front. Kyle and I stared towards the student lot. We walked past the office, then the courtyard, all while he hummed an upbeat tune to himself.

When we were passing the library I asked, "What in the world are you humming?"

Kyle grinned, "The theme song to The Golden Girls."

He was so unashamed and earnest it made me laugh. It was like he had told me the most obvious thing. Like, why wouldn't a grungy-goth guy in combat boots love The Golden Girls?

"I watch it a lot with my grandma. I guess it's sort of my default elevator music up in here," he added, pointing at his head.

I looked at him incredulous and amused.

"Hey Rach," Sean greeted. He must have seen us approaching and walked over.

"Hey!" I said, still smiling from Kyle's response.

I made introductions for Sean and Kyle. I thought for a second that Kyle might tell him about my encounter with Vance but he didn't. He just said he needed to get going and turned around, headed back the way we came.

Sean's eyebrow raised in a question but he didn't ask me anything. I didn't want to ruin our date by talking about Vance and the whole incident, so I decided to let it all go for now.

"So, are you ready?" Sean asked, reaching out a hand.

I took it and we started walking out towards the lot. The feel of his hand in mine and the sun soaking into my skin helped further melt everything away. I would deal with Vance stuff… later.