English Literature and composition class rolled around. The only class that I had with Shaun. The teacher chose some students so they could pick their partners for a project. It was Shaun's turn to pick a partner and surprisingly he chose me. We had to read a book together and present it to the class. We did not get to choose the book the teacher simply had one person from each pair grab a piece of paper from a box that had the names of the books written on it. It was our turn and Shaun convinced me that I was the one to choose the paper. I got up and I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I could hear their distant whispers about how I was a whore and I probably bewitched Shaun pick me as a partner. I got to the box and quickly grabbed a piece of paper and sped walked back to my seat.
"What book did we get?", Shaun asked me. I opened up the folded piece of paper and read it to him, "The Handmaid's Tale". "Hmm never heard of it", he told me looking at the piece of paper. "I've read it before, it's really good", I replied. "Well then, that means that we'll do perfectly good on this project," he replied with a smile. We talked and talked about anything other than the book for the rest of the period. After the bell rang Shaun followed me to my locker. "So since we did not get a chance to get started on the project in class, how about I go over your house after to school to start it?", he asked me. "Um I'm not sure but...", I was interrupted by Damon. I did not notice when he had approached us. "I'm sorry but I was already going to her house after school", Damon told Shaun. "We are working on our project for english", Shaun replied staring him down. "Well I guessing you won't mind if I'm there", Damon replied moving closer to Shaun. "Whatever. I'll see you later Angela", Shaun replied turning and leaving.
Lunch rolled by and I found myself searching the lunch room for Shaun so I could apologize. "Angela", I heard my name being called. I turned around to see Alison waving frantically at me from a table in the middle of the lunch room. I smiled and walked over with my tray. "Hey", I told Alison. "Hey you. Finally I catch you by yourself." I smile. "So I need to talk to you Angela. It's important. You're about to turn 18 and something big is about to happen. I've been keeping this from you because I wasn't able to talk about it until your 18th birthday." She tells me and I start to drift off as soon as Shaun enters the cafeteria. I see him scanning the room until he locks eyes with me. I smile and he starts walking towards me. He sits next to me interrupting Alison's big speech that I stopped listening to. "I was wondering why you had stopped listening", Alison sighed. "What were you guys talking about?", Shaun asked. "Oh well Alison was just mentioning that something big was about to happen for my 18th birthday", I told Shaun. Alison looked nervous. "I'll just talk to you later Angela", Alison got up and left the cafeteria. "What was that about?", Shaun asked. "I have no idea but I have never seen Alison like that before", I replied. "I'll just ask her about it later". I looked around the lunch room to see if Damon was around. But him nor his friends were around. "I'm sorry about earlier", I told Shaun. "Don't worry about it", he sighed. "It's not like I'm interested in you or something. I'm with Brittany", he said while shooting me a smile and he left the table. Ouch that hurt.
I got up and threw my tray away and headed outside. I tried not to cry. Well at least not in front of the whole school. I sprinted to the front doors. As soon as I got to the big tree that was twenty feet from the school, tears started to fall. I was stupid enough to think that Shaun was actually into me. Alison was so right. But that did not change the fact that it hurt so bad. I knew that there could be no way that Shaun would be interested in me but nothing prepared me for Shaun's, so straight-forward, answer. I sat under the tree until I felt like I had cried everything out. I looked around to see if there was anyone else outside with me. The only people out there were the guys that would skateboard in the parking lot. I sighed and in the corner of my eye I saw a car in the street of our school. I looked over and saw that there were two men in the car dressed in black staring at me. I felt a sudden uneasiness. I must have been so concentrated on the men in the car that when Damon approached me I jumped up. "Sorry I did not mean to scare you", he said to me. I looked away from the car and looked at Damon. "It's ok. I was just looking at this car that looks really suspicious", when I looked back to show Damon, the car was gone. "It was probably nothing", I told him with a smile. He helped me up from under the tree and we both walked back into the school.
The rest of the day went smoothly without a problem. I was in my last class when the fire alarm sounded. The teacher looked confused but he still got up and asked us to form a single line. As soon as everyone was in a line he walked out the door with us following. We stopped in the middle of the hallway. All the students looked at each other wondering why we were not exiting the building. The hallway was overcrowded with all the students. I saw Shaun at the other side of the hall. I tried to act as if I did not see him through the crowd.
I started to drift off thinking about him when all of a sudden our principal stood on top of a chair and was yelling for us to quiet down. "Alright students! Now is the time to come forward! Someone pulled the fire alarm and locked all the doors of the school!", there were gasps throughout the crowd of students. "If the perpetrator comes forward now, I promise they will only get a week of detention!" The crowd of students was silent. Everyone looked at each other thinking who would've done it. "Alright we do have cameras so we could see who did it. I am giving who ever did it a chance to come forward", the principal said in an irritated tone. Again the crowd of students went silent. "Alright then if no one wants to come forward then all of you can return to your classes. We still have 30 minutes left of school". The principal got down from the chair and walked to the office.
Students started talking and the hallway became loud. I hadn't noticed how crowded the hallway was. I began to hyperventilate. I felt like my air ways were closing. The students talking became louder and louder to the point where I could no longer listen to myself think. I cupped my ears thinking it would help. I started to get nervous. I felt like I was going to pass out. The ground started moving. I could hear in the distance some screams. Teachers started yelling and telling the students to take cover. I saw students start running. My eyesight was starting to get blurry. I could see Alison from a distance pushing her way towards me.
"Angela listen to my voice, just breathe", Alison told me. I tried focusing on her but I couldn't. I felt someone grab my arm. I turned and saw that it was Damon. He started to talk to Allison. I could only see their lips moving but could not hear what they were saying. "What's wrong with her?", I read Damon's lips. "I think she is having a panic attack. I already tried calming her down", Alison responded. Damon turned to me and looked straight into my eyes. "Angela you're going to be ok. Just listen to me. Focus on me. Follow my breathing", he told me. I did as he said. I started feeling more at ease. I breathed along to him until I didn't feel my lungs tight. The ground stopped shaking and everyone came out from where they had hidden. I looked at both Damon and Alison and smiled before passing out.
YOU ARE READING
Arduous Fate
Teen FictionAngela thought she knew everything about life. She had her life set for college. She had a loving family and tried to stay positive even though things weren't always so positive at school. But everything spirals out of control when she finds out eve...
