A Proscriptive Relationship (27 page)

“
Ms. Evers, this one is for you,” Mr. Heywood called, gaining my attention.

I blushed and looked away, until I remembered he said he was serving to me. My head snapped up, just in time to see the volleyball coming. Panicking, I tried to remember what move would be best to hit the incoming volleyball. I returned it with a set. Everyone watched as the ball went sailing to the other side, and landed in the dirt before anyone could reach it.

And it was in bounds.

Suddenly, cheering people cheering surrounded me, and even the other team was clapping. Casey wolf whistled at me. A smug smile slipped onto my face as I looked at Mr. Heywood. He grinned back, mouthing something. I cocked my head to the side and he repeated it.
I gave you an easy serve.
 

I scowled at him, not even bothering to respond. Anna was serving now. I watched as she hit the ball easily over the net. It was returned with a dig from Casey, and then returned again with a set from Sadie. Mr. Heywood stepped forwards, grinning at me. I braced myself, ready to return his hit. He set up for a set, so I relaxed slightly. At the last moment however, he spiked it. Unprepared for the sudden volleyball whizzing at my face, I let it smack into me. I stumbled backwards and fell over from shock, my face stinging.

“
Holly!”

“
Ow,” I said, bringing a hand up to my face.

Casey’s face appeared over mine, looking half-worried, half-amused. “Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Mr. Heywood appeared next, frowning. He held out a hand and I hesitated for a fraction of a second before taking it. Without any effort, he pulled me to my feet.

“
Sorry,” he apologized, running a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t aiming for your face . . .”

“
I’m fine—”

“
Holly! Your nose is bleeding,” Casey pointed out with wide eyes.

I raised a hand up to my nose in surprise, and pulled it away, finding it covered with blood. A lot of blood. For a moment I swayed, the sight of so much blood making me queasy.

“
Come on,” Mr. Heywood started, grabbing my shoulder. “I have the first aid kit on the bench.”

He pushed me towards the benches. I plugged my nose, tilting my head back. The feeling of the blood trickling down my throat almost made me gag.

“
Don’t lean your head back,” he scolded me. “Forwards.”

I did as he said and leaned forwards. He continued to guide me until we made it to the bench, which was quite far away from the game and away from prying eyes. Then he sat me down and pulled out a large black box.

“Here.”

I looked up and saw him holding out a package of tissues to me. I grabbed them, trying to open them with one hand. It wasn’t working out too well. He chuckled, taking the tissue pack back and opening the plastic for me. This time he gave it to me and I could pull out a few. I took my hand away and crumpled the tissues up and put them to my nose.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized again. “But the face you made was hilarious—before
and
after the ball hit.”

“I didn’t know you were going to spike.”

“You’re pinching the wrong part of your nose,” he told me, grabbing my hand, and lowering it until I pinched the soft portion of my nose.

It was a good thing I was flushed from the game, otherwise the blush I had now might have made him curious. He removed his hand and I nodded my thanks.

“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice sounding funny due to my nose being pinched.

“I got called in as a replacement chaperone,” he told me, sitting down on the bench. “Mr. Cole got sick last night, so I was asked to drive up here today.”

“Oh,” I responded.

“Lucky me.”

“Was that sarcasm?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He sighed, shaking his hair out of his face. “Trust me. Being around high school girls isn’t as fun as it seems. Especially when they try to flirt with you or rub against you every five minutes.”

Jealously was bubbling inside me again, but I forced it away. There was nothing to be jealous about! “You know, must guys would like that,” I tried to say in a teasing voice, but it ended up sounding relieved.

“Yeah, well if you haven’t noticed, I’m not most guys.”

I looked up at Mr. Heywood who had a grin on his face. I smiled bitterly, returning my gaze back to the ground. “Right. You’re a handsome teacher who is also an ex-gangster and your old gang is out to kill you for some reason, and you won’t let me know the reason even though I was dragged into your problems. Not to mention you like blackmailing people and have a split personality.”

“You think I’m handsome?” he said, an eyebrow cocked.

I scowled. “Was that all you got out of that entire rant?”

“Pretty much.”

“Narcissistic,” I muttered.

He laughed. “I’m just kidding, Holly.”

I pursed my lips at him. “Why do you call me Ms. Evers in front of others? You call everyone else by their first names.”

“Are you going back to the hotel?” he asked, ignoring me completely.

I scowled. “No, are you?”

He shook his head. “No, I have to stay on the beach to watch everyone. What are you planning to do?”

“Not play volleyball again.”

He chuckled. “Good plan.”

“Mr. Heywood!”

I looked up to see one of my former teammates waving frantically at Mr. Heywood.

“Come back, we want to play again and we need you!” she shouted, gesticulating at him with her hand.

He sighed, pushing himself off the bench. He stood in front of me for a moment, the wind blowing and lifting the bottom of his shirt to reveal a very toned stomach. Slightly surprised, I stared at the exposed skin. How had I not noticed he had abs? But then again, it shouldn’t have been too surprising seeing how he was in a gang for about five years . . .

“See something you like, Holly?”

I blushed, glaring at him. “Yeah, I would if you took two steps to the right. It’s the brown-haired guy, right behind you.”

He whipped around and I snickered. Frowning, he turned back to me. “Maybe it’s because you’re special.” With that, he started jogging back to the volleyball area.

I stared after him for a moment, completely confused. What did he mean by that? It didn’t make any sense! Then it hit me. He was answering my early question.

Why do you call me Ms. Evers in front of others?
 

Instantly my face flushed. “Special” as in what, though? That I knew he was an ex-gangster? That I knew he was a good cook? That I knew what he was like outside of school?

Or was it special as in . . . I shook my head.
Don’t even go there, Holly
, I told myself. It was impossible . . .

That I was special to him.

LESSON NINETEEN

Waves splashed against the black rocks as I gazed into the deep blue ocean, entranced by it. It was such a dark blue; it was almost impossible to see through. And of course the cloudy day wasn’t helping it at all.

I looked up at the sky for a moment. It had gotten considerably darker since I’d come out to the rock pier. I lowered myself into a squatting position, suddenly terrified of falling in. I had no clue how deep it was down there. Judging by my distance from the shore, I figured it was pretty deep.

Barely anyone was on the rock pier. Yesterday, it had been crowded, but today, only a few stray fishermen lined the rocks leading out, and none of them was as far out as I was. I had walked all the way to the end of it, where a little white post stood marking the end of the pier.

Getting here had actually been a difficult task. Not all the rocks were flat on the top or connected, so I had to jump a lot of gaps between the rocks. It wasn’t so hard, but it was scary if you thought about falling into the ocean. At first there was at least a seven-foot drop from the rocks to the water’s surface, but as I got further out, the ocean level rose, so where I was standing by the post, there was only about a half-foot drop.

Casey was too busy playing volleyball, so she didn’t come with me this time. I sighed, staring at the mesmerizing ocean. To me, it was an entrancing, yet terrifying body of water. My worst fear was falling in and either drowning or having some kind of sea creature attack me.

I chuckled at my next thought. What if there was a kraken or something in it? I wouldn’t be able to see it because of the overcast sky and deep water. I moved slowly away from the edge of the rocks. Curse my imagination and ability to be scared easily. Krakens didn’t even exist! I peeked at the ocean one more time before turning my attention to the white post.

Hundreds of names and initials were etched into it or written on it with marker. I ran my eyes along the rocks until I spotted a small and sharp one. Bending down, I grabbed it, and began carving my own initials into the post. As a second thought, I made a heart after my name and added the letters
C.H
. next to it. When I was finished, I chucked the rock into the ocean, hearing it land with a
plunk
. I giggled a little at my childish idea. Hopefully Mr. Heywood wouldn’t come out here.

I felt something moist on my exposed skin and I looked up with a frown to find it drizzling slightly and getting even darker than before. I sighed, knowing I should head back. I didn’t want it to be pitch black as I tried to make my way off the rock pier. Stretching, I adjusted my shirt, rolling my sleeves down from my elbow. With the rain and slight wind, it wasn’t a really warm temperature as it had been earlier.

To make it easier to walk, I took off my flip-flops and held them in my hand. Making my way carefully from each rock to the next was turning out to be more difficult on my way back. The rain was picking up now, making the rocks more slippery. I cautiously maneuvered myself around a rock I couldn’t climb over.

My foot slipped though and a strangled cry escaped my throat as I fell forward. For one gut-wrenching second I thought I was going to topple over the edge, but I managed to catch myself on the next rock before I fell. I pulled myself back into a standing position, my heart hammering against my chest. I should have at least told someone I was coming here.
Stupid,
stupid
Holly.
 

Gathering up my courage, I continued at a snail-like pace across the rocks. I kept my eyes off of the ocean below, knowing it would only frighten me more. As I slowly approached the shore, the rain fell heavier, and the sky grew darker. When I made it to the relatively flat portion of the rocks, I relaxed immediately. At least now I couldn’t fall into the ocean.

When I finally made it to the shore, I did a little dance of victory. Somehow I managed to let go of one of my flip-flops. I scowled as it fell down one of the crevices. Getting on my hands and knees, I crawled to the edge of the crevice, looking down. My flip-flop was lying in a puddle of water at the bottom.

Positioning my right hand across the crevice for support, I leaned my upper body down, and reached with my left hand. My fingertips just barely brushed the top of my flip-flop. I tried to force myself further down the crevice, but my shoulders were too wide.

Suddenly I heard a wolf whistle behind me.

Casey.

I retracted myself out of the hole. “Casey, I dropped my flip-flop and . . .” I trailed off when I looked up at the person who wolf whistled. He was definitely not Casey.

It was hard to make out the person in the rain, but I could definitely tell that it was a man. I slowly stood up, forgetting my flip-flop.

“
Well look who it is,” the man commented, taking a step closer. “It’s the bitch from yesterday.”

As soon as the man took two steps closer, I recognized him as the buzz cut boy I had punched the day before. Internally, I groaned. It was just my luck to run into him now. Why did this kind of stuff always happen to me?
Better you than Casey
, a voice in my head said. I had to agree with that.

“
Ryan,” buzz cut boy called, “come look!”

A few moments later, “Ryan” appeared in my vision. I realized with he was shaggy-haired guy from yesterday. Ryan raised his eyebrows, a smirk slipping onto his face.

“
Good find, Eric,” Ryan laughed, patting his friend on the back.

“
I need to go back to my class before they get worried,” I told the pair through gritted teeth. “Although I’d love to stay and chat.”

“
Then stay,” Eric said with an evil grin. “Let them worry.”

“
No, it’s alright.”

I started to walk around the pair, but they stepped in my way. I tried the other way, and they stepped in my way again. I scowled, glaring as best as I could. They returned my looks with amused ones.

“
You don’t think we’re just going to let you off after what you did, do you?” Ryan asked.

I narrowed my eyes. “If I got you both yesterday, what makes you think today will be any different?”

Eric smirked and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a switchblade and my blood ran cold. I stared at it apprehensively for a moment, and then back at him.

“
Those are illegal to carry around,” I stated, trying to sound calmer than I really was.

Eric snorted. “It’s not like anyone will know I have it. Grab her, Ryan.”

Ryan stepped forward, reaching out his arm to grab me and I slammed my remaining flip-flop into his face. He cried out in surprise, his arm dropping away from me. I let my flip-flop go and spun around, jumping across the crevice, and racing over the rocks.

“
Get her!” I heard Eric shout.

I slid on the slippery rock surfaces as I tried to climb from rock to rock without falling. Twisting my ankle didn’t sound too pleasant to me at that moment. I scrambled past the crevice that led to the sectioned-off beach Casey and I found the day before. I wondered briefly if that could be a good place to hide, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to get in without being noticed and followed. So instead I scrambled further along the rocks. My heart was racing and I had no clue where I was going, or where the rocks led, I just knew I had to get away from the man with the switchblade. I could probably take on the Ryan guy . . .