A Proscriptive Relationship (15 page)

It struck.

It didn’t make it across the net, but still I had hit it. Casey and Willis started clapping excitedly. A grin spread across my face. I turned to Mr. Heywood to thank him, but girls had surrounded him again.

“
Teach me how to hit too!” one of the more good looking girls, Allie, requested.

“
You were doing it just fine five seconds ago,” Mr. Heywood told her, sounding amused.

“
But I’m not sure if I’m doing it right!”

“
Me neither!” another girl chimed in.

I scowled and picked up the shuttle again. “Stupid girls,” I muttered. I swung the racket hard, keeping my eye on the shuttle. It connected again and flew across the gym. Casey hit it back to me. I slammed it back again, letting out my frustration.

“
You got better quick,” Willis commented as he received one of my hits. “You’re not letting Lance get in a hit at all!”

“
I’ve got this one!” Lance called, lunging for the shuttle.

He hit it straight up and I ran over to rebound it. Lance moved his leg at the last possible second; tripping me and making me fall straight down onto my face. I landed on the gym floor with a loud smack and my racket slid a few feet away. A pang of pain pounded through my wrist as I landed on it awkwardly.

“
Shit, are you okay?” Lance asked, hovering over me.

“
I’m fine,” I responded, putting my hands under my body to push myself up. A stabbing pain went through my wrist and I quickly shifted my weight off it and fell down again.

Lance laughed. “What are you doing?”

“
I think I hurt my wrist,” I muttered, pushing myself back up with my other hand, this time successfully climbing to my feet.

“
You should probably go to the nurse,” Casey suggested, suddenly next to me.

“
Ms. Evers, are you okay?” a new voice asked, sounding slightly amused and slightly worried.

“
I’m fine. I just hurt my wrist.”

Mr. Heywood took my injured hand and gently grazed it. His touch sent a tingling up my arm and I wanted to rip it away, but I kept myself under control. He frowned. “It might be sprained. You should probably go to the nurse,” he commented, frowning at me.

“
Okay,” I responded, feeling relieved. “I’ll go now.”

“
Can you stop by my room before you go home this afternoon? I need to . . . talk to you about something,” he continued, a hint of a smile on his face.

Casey caught my eye and wagged her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at her. But part of me was excited. “Sure, I’ll see you later then,” I told him, trying to keep my face straight. “I’m going to go to the nurse now then . . .”

“
Careful,” he advised with a smirk.

“
Mr. Heywood! I think I got it! Watch me!” a girl cried from the other side of the room.

“
Sure!” he responded. He did a mini eye roll at me before turning around and jogging over to the girl. I smiled to myself as I turned and headed back to the locker room.

After classes ended I once again found myself at Mr. Heywood’s classroom. “I’m coming in,” I said as I opened the classroom door.

No reply came and I looked towards his desk. He wasn’t there. I frowned in confusion. Hadn’t he told me he needed to talk to me?

I heard laughter from the supply room, so I walked over to it. Just as I was about to enter, a girl appeared in front of me. Her shocked expression must have mimicked mine.

“
Oh, excuse me,” she said, blinking and then walking by me. I turned around and watched her exit the room. What was she doing in Mr. Heywood’s supply closet? I faced the supply room again and walked into it. He was standing by the refrigerator, fixing his shirt.

It felt like a brick had dropped into my gut. What the hell?
What the hell?
No longer did I feel jealous. I felt sick.

He noticed me and grinned, but his grin quickly went away. “What’s wrong?”

“
What were you doing?” I demanded, sounding more accusing than I had meant to.

“
What do you . . oh,” he said, dropping his tie. “Do you mean what was I doing with Susan?”

I nodded, biting my lip hard.

He laughed. “What do you think we were doing?”

Why was he laughing? Wasn’t it obvious? They were both in the supply room, and he was fixing his shirt. When I didn’t reply, he shook his head and sighed.

“
We weren’t doing anything bad, Holly,” he informed me. “I was helping her with her science project.” He pointed to a tray on the counter.

“
Why are you fixing your shirt then?”

“
Because it was messed up?” he responded, walking over the shelves behind me.

I blushed instantly. I looked at the floor and clenched my hands. What was I thinking? This was school. Mr. Heywood wouldn’t be making out or anything with students in the school. I was just letting my jealousy get the best of me again. It was his fault for making me feel this way. If he treated me like he treated every other student, I wouldn’t have these unchecked emotions.

I felt something hard on my shoulder and I jumped.

“
Were you jealous?” Mr. Heywood’s chin was on my shoulder, his jaw moving when he talked.

“
No,” I lied, turning my head away.

He chuckled and lifted his head off my shoulder. “You’re cute, Holly.”

My face grew hotter and I frowned at him. “Mr. Heywood, don’t say stuff like that.”

“
Why not?” he responded, going back over to fridge.

“
We’re in school. You’re a teacher. I’m a student.”

He turned around and looked at me with a sad expression. “I thought we had something special?”

I narrowed my eyes. This was what I didn’t like about him. When he complimented me, I didn’t know whether he was joking or not, because he always said something jokingly after the initial comment.

I sighed. “What do you want?”

“
Oh yeah,” he said, going over to the closet. He began to shuffle through some stuff and finally pulled out a small paper bag. He tossed it to me. “You left your shirt at my house.”

I grabbed the bag and looked inside. Sure enough, my shirt was in there. It was folded and cleaned too. “Um, thanks.”

“
No problem.”

“
Okay, well, I’ve got to go home now,” I told him, a little reluctantly.

“
Already?”

My heart skipped a beat. Did that mean he didn’t want me to go home either? I cursed myself silently. Why today of all days did Lance want to go to dinner? I pursed my lips. “Yeah. I’m going to dinner with Lance in a little while.”

“
Oh,” Mr. Heywood responded simply. “I didn’t know you two were dating.”

“
What?” I cried, making him jump. “We aren’t dating!”

He turned to look at me, a confused expression on his face. “You’re not?”

“
We are going out to eat as friends.”

Mr. Heywood suddenly started laughing. “Poor Lance.”

“
What? Why?”

He shook his head. “You really are cute, Holly. Cute, but dense.”

“
Well you’re cute, but a jerk!” I responded, freezing when I realized what I said.

“
I’m cute, huh?” he said.

 “
Never mind,” I responded quickly. “I meant you’re really ugly.”

“
Sure you did,” he said with a laugh.

“
I did! Now goodbye!”

“
Be careful!” he called after me, still laughing.

The walk home was slow. When I finally made it to my house, I wasn’t in the best of moods. I had gotten used to having Mr. Heywood drive me home, I’d almost forgotten how time-consuming walking was. The door was locked so I reached for the spare key. This time it was where it should have been, and I opened the door and went in, sticking the key in my pocket.

My phone started ringing just as I entered my house.  “Hello?”

“
Hey, it’s Lance.”

“
Hi,” I responded, heading towards my room. “What’s up?”

“
Do you care if we eat a late dinner? We can’t get in until eight.”

“
That’s fine with me,” I responded, narrowing my eyes slightly. Where was Lance planning on taking me? Was it somewhere fancy? I hoped it wasn’t. That would cost a lot.

“
Okay, so I’ll pick you up at like seven thirty.”

“
You’re driving?” I asked skeptically. “I’m not so sure I want to go now.”

Lance laughed. “Hey! I’m a good driver!”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “That’s why you’ve been in two car crashes over the past six months?”

“
I just have bad luck,” he responded, amusement in his voice.

“
Whatever, see you then,” I told him. “I’ll be writing my will in the mean time.”

“
You’re such a bummer, Holly,” he responded with a sigh.

“
I’m joking,” I said with a laugh.

He laughed too. “I know.”

“
Bye.”

“
See you later.”

I hit the end button on the phone and threw it onto my bed. I frowned. Now I didn’t have anything to do. I could have stayed with Mr. Heywood at school. What a waste.

The television was calling for my attention, so I went into the living room and turned it on. It was on the music video channel. I shrugged and kept it there. I plopped onto the couch and settled into a more comfortable position.

After dawdling for a few hours with mindless television, I headed for the shower. Unsure of whether or not it was a classy restaurant, I wore a black cardigan and some dark jeans. Casual classy.

I picked up my cell phone and opened it to see if anyone had texted me, forgetting that it had been set to vibrate. To my surprise, there were ten missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize. I jumped when my phone suddenly started vibrating. It was the same unknown number that had called before.

I hesitated a moment before answering it. “Hel—”

“
Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” an irritated voice demanded.

I blinked in shock. Who was this guy? “Um, I think you have the wrong number—”

“
Holly, it’s Chris.”

Chris? Oh!
“Mr. Heywood?”

“
Yeah,” he responded. “But I told you to call me Chris.”

“
Sorry,” I apologized. “But how did you get my number?”

“
I asked Casey for it,” he told me.

I sighed. It had to be Casey, didn’t it? I was in for some questioning now. “Why did you need my phone number?”

“
I wanted to know where you were going for dinner. Is it downtown?”

“
I don’t know,” I responded. “Why?”

“
Because that’s our territory.”

“
I don’t own any territory?” I asked, confused.

Mr. Heywood laughed shortly, but turned serious again. “Gang territory.”

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah.”

I licked my lips. “What does that have to do with me?”

“
It will be dangerous for you down there,” he told me.

“
Why? I didn’t even do anything!”

He sighed. “I know you didn’t. I got you caught up in this. But you are involved now, Holly. Whether you want to be or not isn’t your decision.”

“
So I can’t even go downtown without worrying about being attacked or whatever they want to do?” I demanded.

“
During the daytime, sure, since there are people around. I’m more worried about nights. Like tonight.”

“
Well we are only going to eat,” I told him.

“
But still . . .”

I smiled slightly. “Are you worried about me, Mr. Heywood?”

“
Yeah, I am.”

I blinked in shock. I wasn’t expecting a truthful remark, let alone a serious one. “Oh, um, thank you.”

He sighed. “Just promise me you will have your phone at all times. And stay with Lance.”

“
Promise,” I told him. “You don’t really think something will happen, do you?”

He chuckled. “No. Don’t sound so scared. It’s just in case.”

“
Okay.”

“
And make sure you actually answer your phone.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “Okay.”

“
Talk to you later then.”

“
Bye, Mr. Heywood.”

“
Holly?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Have fun on your date.”

“
It’s not—” I started, but I heard a click and knew he hung up.

I scowled, tossing the phone onto the bed.
Stupid Mr. Heywood.
 

LESSON eleven

The doorbell rang and I immediately jumped up from my computer chair. I checked my reflection once in the mirror before hurrying downstairs. Lance was dressed in casual clothing, so I knew it wasn’t a fancy restaurant. “You ready?” he asked with a grin.

“
Yep,” I responded, stepping out and shutting the door behind me.

Together we made our way to his car. I raised an eyebrow at the Subaru Outback. Lance laughed awkwardly. “My mom’s car, remember?”

“
She needs a new one,” I told him, getting in the passenger side.

Lance slid into the driver’s seat and shrugged. “I think it’s fine.”

He started the engine and quickly pulled out of my driveway, barely checking to see if anyone was coming. I nervously looked out the window.

Driving with Lance definitely wasn’t one of my favorite things to do. He turned on the radio and flipped through the stations.