The Awakening
A Daray Hall Novel
© 2012 by Samantha Hoffman.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permissions of the author.
Chapter One
I dart across the parking lot, pulling my hood up over my head to keep it dry. The rain is coming down in thick bursts, making it almost impossible to see clearly in. The dark rain clouds covering the sun don’t help visibility any, so I follow the sounds the other students are making up to the front door of the school.
When I step into the brightly lit entryway, I shake the rainwater off, trying to keep my backpack dry. Mrs. Donnelly’s gonna kill me if I get my homework wet again.
Last time she didn’t believe me when I told her that I’d jumped into a pool to save a drowning cat, even if it was actually the honest truth. It wasn’t my fault that some stupid, heartless monsters thought it was fun to torture animals. When they’d thrown the cat they were tormenting into the pool, I hadn’t stopped to think. I’d just reacted; it was the way I’d been trained.
Of course, after I’d rescued the injured cat, I taught those boys a lesson or two about their behavior. When you were as well-trained in martial arts as I was, it wasn’t a hard thing to do. One of them had gotten in a lucky shot and split my lip, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.
Walking to my locker, I try to keep my head down. People give me funny looks as I pass by them, and some even begin to whisper. I try to ignore them, but it’s hard, because I know everything that they’re saying, and I know that it’s not all about me.
“Oh, my god. Do you think she helped her do it?”
“Only Kylie would be friends with that freak for as long as she was! I’ll bet she’s glad Tara’s gone.”
“Do you think they were more than just friends?”
I stop in front of my locker and spin around, searching for whoever last spoke. I’m not surprised to find that it’s McKenzie. She’s the Queen B of the school, and she makes sure everyone knows it. She has no problem with letting people know what she thinks of them, and for some reason, I’ve always been one of her favorite punching bags.
She sees me looking and sneers. “Well? Were you and Tara more than just friends? I’ll bet you two were into some kinky stuff.”
My hands curl into fists as the mention of my best friend. It’s only been three weeks since her funeral, and I’ve done nothing but think of her and miss her. Sometimes the ache in my chest is so painful that it practically doubles me over and knocks the air from my lungs.
To hear McKenzie say something bad about Tara makes me see red, and I hope that I can keep a reign on my temper. The last thing I need right now is to get expelled from school for going all Tae Kwon Do on her annoying preppy self.
“Tara and I were best friends, McKenzie. She and I were not lovers! And for you to even suggest that is just disgusting.”
She folds her arms over her chest, glaring at me. “Why should I care what you think of me? I don’t even like you two. And last time I checked, this was a free country. And I’m pretty sure that it says somewhere in the Geneva Convention that I’m perfectly capable of saying whatever I want.”
I just stare at her, unable to think of a response to that. Finally, “Do you even know what the Geneva Convention is?” I ask, staring at her in total disbelief.
She pops her gum and flips her hair. “Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure that it was like, founded a hundred years ago or something, and it gives everyone equal rights and stuff.”
I snort; I can’t help it. Stupid people are just the most god awful annoying people on the planet, and sometimes I just want to shout at them and tell them how stupid they are. But I can’t, because I can’t afford to get in any fights right now. If I get expelled, it’ll be the last straw for Harry, my step dad.
And military school does not sound like fun.
McKenzie snaps her fingers, and I realize that she’s still talking. “Hello? Are you fantasizing about your friend or what?”
I clench my teeth and try to think of something besides hitting her, but it’s not helping much.
“I said, were you in love with her?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
The bell rings, but I don’t move. McKenzie and her posse of annoying friends is still standing there, watching me, and waiting for me to make a move. They’re baiting me, and I feel ashamed that I’m actually considering taking their bait.
I take a deep breath. Tara wouldn’t want this…
I turn and start to walk away, but stop when she speaks again. “I bet she killed herself because she couldn’t stand what a freak she was.”
I throw down my books and launch myself at her, knocking her to the ground. Everyone starts to scream as I bring my closed hand down on her face once, twice, and three times. She’s screaming and clawing at my face and neck, digging her fake scarlet nails into my skin anywhere she can, but I don’t even register the pain.
Suddenly, a strong pair of hands is around my waist, pulling me off of McKenzie. I’m thrown against the locker, and Guy, her football star boyfriend is aiming right for my head. As he punches, I duck, and I hear his curse as his fist dents my locker.
Straightening myself, I bring my knee up into his stomach, doubling him over. My elbow comes down hard on his back, right over his spine, and he falls to his knees. For the final touch, I cup the back of his head, and slam it down on my knee.
His nose breaks, and it starts to gush blood. In seconds his shirt collar is soaked in bright red liquid. He staggers to his feet. His eyes are watering, and he’s trying to stop the flow of blood from his nose.
People are really screaming now, and as I turn to face them, I realize that I’ve probably just earned myself a one-way ticket to jail. With nothing left to lose, I set my sights on the two football jocks coming to back up their friend.
One lunges in, tackling me to the ground, and I knee him in the stomach before head butting him. He groans in pain, shakes his head, and one of his hands slowly creeps around my throat. He squeezes, and everything starts to go black.
When I wake up, I realize I’m reclining on the examination table in the nurse’s office. I can hear raised voices from the next room, and it sounds like McKenzie’s parents are yelling at the principal, asking why I haven’t been arrested yet.
He sighs in exasperation. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Gilford. We have several witnesses that say McKenzie was goading her on. If she was trying to pick a fight with a grieving student, she’s just as culpable in this as Miss Redding. Kylie’s a good student; she’s just going through a rough patch.”
“I don’t care if my daughter called her friend a fag-dyke-whore; she did nothing to deserve what she got. My daughter is a nice, caring, honest young woman, and she deserves to be treated better than this. If you don’t take action, we’ll be suing the school. You can bet your job on it.”
I snort again. McKenzie a nice, caring, honest person? Yeah, maybe in the same way that a Great White is nice and caring to the seal right before the shark eats it.
“Mr. Gilford, I’m sorry, but Kylie Redding will not be expelled today or any other day. She’ll receive the mandatory two week suspension for fighting, and she will issue a formal apology to both McKenzie and your family.”
Pigs might fly…
“That’s it?” Mrs. Gilford hisses. I can picture her doing what McKenzie does: getting in the face of whoever is challenging her authority, glaring at whoever’s unlucky enough to be at the receiving end of her anger.
“Mrs. Gilford, your daughter was a part of t
his fight, and we can’t just ignore that. If I expel Kylie, I have to expel everyone involved. McKenzie, Guy, and his two friends that also participated. I’m sorry, but this is my decision to make, not yours.”
Someone sobs, and I realize its McKenzie. She’s probably putting on the innocent girl act that she does so well when around authority figures and her parents. Everyone else sees her as this angelic angel, instead of the evil harpy that she is.
“This punishment is a joke!” Mr. Gilford says. “Two weeks for pummeling my daughter’s face? There’s only a week before the spring formal, and she can’t go with her face looking like hamburger!”
“Mr. Gilford–”
I hop down from the examination table and make my way toward the door.
“I mean, talk about preferential treatment! What makes Kylie Redding so special that she gets to avoid a jail sentence for battery and assault?”
“Mr. Gilford!”
The sound of Principal Thompson shouting stops me at the door. In the three years I’d been here, I’d never once heard him raise his voice, and certainly not with a parent. Parents that were head of the PTA and active members of the community.
“My decision has been made,” Principal Thompson said. “There is no changing it. Kylie and your daughter will both be suspended for the mandatory two weeks. End of discussion.”
Angry footsteps stomp away, and an office door slams shut. For a minute, I hang around behind the door, wondering what will happen next. Will Principal Thompson change his mind and expel me?
Principal Thompson sticks his head in the door, and frowns when he sees me up. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough,” I say, watching him. “You’re really not gonna expel me?”
He shakes his head. “No. I would have if I thought for one second that McKenzie was as innocent as she’s claiming, but I know her kind too well. It took a lot of convincing, but the rest of the staff agrees with my decision.”
I nod. “Principal Thompson? Is my mom here yet? Does she know I’ve been suspended?”
He flinches, and I sigh. Of course she is. She’s probably out there waiting to tell me what a disappointment I’ve been. Then she’ll do a little sobbing to make people feel sorry for her, all while trying to avoid having her jaw broken by her husband. I hope she didn’t bring Harry with her…
“They’re waiting for you out in the hall.”
Great. She brought Harry.
I follow Principal Thompson out into the hall where, sure enough, Mom and Harry are both there waiting for me. When she sees me, her eyes fill with an emotion I’m all too familiar with: disappointment.
When my gaze flicks over to Harry, I notice his eyes are much harder. He’s filled with nothing but anger, contempt, and disgust for me. He sees me as a waste of space, and a drain on our happy little “family”. If it were solely up to him, I’d be stuck either at boarding school or more preferably foster care.
My mom opens her mouth to speak, but Harry raises his hand, silencing her. She shrinks back and looks away, but not before I see the fear in her eyes. She’s scared of Harry, but she doesn’t want others to know it.
“What do you have to say for yourself young lady?”
Young lady?
“Answer me!” He warns, glaring daggers at me. I know this look. He’s waiting for me to disobey him so he can feel justified in punishing me.
“I won?”
That’s the wrong answer, and I know it the second it leaves my mouth. Quick as lightning, his hand lashes out, connecting with the side of my face. The sound of the slap echoes off the silent halls, and I lift my eyes up to his, refusing to back down or look away. “I’m just kidding; I didn’t really win.”
He frowns, and I think he wants to slap me again, but the halls are filling with other students, and he won’t want to make a scene. He prides himself on being able to look the part of a “family man”, and he won’t want to risk losing that.
“We’re leaving,” he says. “Now.”
I don’t argue; I’m argumentative, not stupid.
Head down, I follow Harry and Mom out to the car that’s waiting. I don’t have my own license; Mom and Harry don’t think I need one, even though I’ll be graduating in a few months. Apparently they expect me to do so little with my life that the thought of needing a car hasn’t even crossed their minds. To them, I’m just a useless, fund-sucking, waste of time and effort.
I climb into the backseat, careful to avoid making eye contact with Harry as he glances at me in the rear-view mirror. When he speaks, his voice is so tight with barely restrained anger that I physically cringe.
“Before we get home and you’re punished, I want to know what made you think it was acceptable behavior to attack another student.”
I sigh and look out the window. “She accused Tara of killing herself because she was a freak, after insinuating that we were lovers.”
He sneers in disgust, but I notice the sympathy in my mother’s eyes. She’s careful not to let Harry see it, but it’s there. She feels bad for me and, for just one millisecond, I feel like I’ve gotten my old mom back.
“That girl,” he says, frowning at the road. “I never liked her. She was a bad influence on you. Perhaps if you hadn’t been friends, you would have turned out better.”
I glare at the back of his head, willing him to just disappear and never return. He knows I can’t stand him, and I know that he can’t stand me. I prefer Harry in private, because he doesn’t have to pretend to enjoy my company; he can be the disgusting, abusive, drunk that he really is.
At least I know where I stand with him.
When he pulls into our driveway, he looks back at me. “Go to your room, and do not come out until your mother and I have had a chance to discuss your punishment.”
I practically bolt for my room without arguing. To Harry, being confined to my room sounds like a scary punishment that’ll make me reconsider my actions. To me, I see it as a reprieve from everyone I hate in life.
When I slam the door shut behind me, I lock it and slump to the floor. I hold my head in my hands. Everything today has reminded me of Tara and the fact that she’s never coming back and, not for the first time since her funeral, I feel totally, absolutely alone.
Tara, I miss you so much. Why did you do it?