Cheating on Bowers

Chapter 7: Make it End

My parents being home early complicated a lot of things for me, one of which was my transportation situation. I knew both of them would have a conniption fit if they saw me climbing into Reginald Huggins's car, sandwiched between Patrick Hockstetter and Victor Criss with Henry Bowers riding shotgun. As far as they knew I had always ridden the bus, and I had been getting away with it for so long because they never came home early which allowed me to plan ahead for when I couldn't ride with them. But since they were home early, and my plans were thwarted, I had to take evasive action, I woke up earlier than normal in order to make an undetected phone call.

Belch's voice was rather husky when he had answered, confused as to whose crazy ass would be calling at this hour. He of course softened up a little when he heard my voice on the other end. I let him know that I wouldn't be needing a ride to school today, or for the foreseeable future, because my parents were back, so instead I'd take the bus. He was sweet enough to ask if I was sure, to which of course I replied I was.

The phone call was quick, and I had nearly finished getting ready by the time my mother came downstairs. She wore a fuzzy white robe paired with an ugly pair of teal slippers; her hair done up in curlers. I said nothing to her as she made her way into the kitchen, preparing a pot of coffee for both herself and my father. I was in the living room lacing up my ratty old red sneakers when she meandered into the room, a steaming cup of black coffee clutched in her manicured hand.

She was kind enough to inform me that both she and my father were still very much disgusted by myself, and my actions, and as a result, I would be grounded indefinitely. I would only be allowed to go to and from school, if I had to go anywhere else, I would need to request their permission. Was I surprised? Absolutely not. House arrest had always been their go-to option when I 'misbehaved'. I wasn't really worried about being confined to our property, there was plenty to do if you put your mind to it, plus I had a pretty nice-sized collection of books to read from, so the reality of being forced to stay home wasn't all that bitter. The only thing that did worry me was Henry.

He was on my mind for the majority of the morning, as well as the bus ride to school. He wasn't the most forgiving when it came to my fuck ups, even if he was the cause of most of them. And there was no doubt in my mind that I would be subjected to one of his infamous tantrums before the day was out. I really missed how we were in the beginning... I seemed to be thinking that a lot lately. He used to be so sweet when no one was around, so understanding and kind behind closed doors. But as time carried on, that changed. It didn't matter if we were alone or around people, either way, I got treated the same.

I brushed past a group of 8th graders who were clogging the halls, stopping only when I arrived at my locker. I could already feel a headache beginning to form at the back of my head, and my nose was still stuffed up from all my crying. I silently prayed we'd have an emergency evacuation that'd allow me to go home and sleep a few extra hours. I think all in all I only got about three hours of solid sleep which meant I was in for one miserable day, especially since I had bio first thing with Vic.

I spun the combination into my lock and glanced down the hall to the right as I shoved my books inside the already cramped space. I wondered if I should go and find Henry and let him know what was going on, or if I should continue putting it off. I paused in my train of thought when I saw a group of 12th-grade girls staring at me from where they stood by the water fountain. As soon as they saw me looking at them, they all started to giggle. I turned to look at the little mirror I had hung on the door of the locker and checked to see if I had something on my face like a toothpaste mustache or morning drool still crusting the corner of my mouth. Luckily it was neither of them so I instead checked what I was wearing. Because of what transpired last night I decided to dress a lot more conservatively today. I wore dark blue jeans, a long-sleeved gray t-shirt, along with a red flannel over top. Nothing crazy by any means, plus I had washed everything last night so I knew there weren't any stains on them. I finally decided that the girls weren't laughing at me, there was probably someone near me that they were laughing at.