Dream Catch Me (Student/Teacher)

Dream Catch Me - Chapter Twenty Five

Making room for New Jane was hard, I hadn't quite realised how many old habits I'd have to kick, like not eating breakfast. Although breakfast made me feel sick, I pushed myself to eat it that morning. I sat at the table with Alex as we both crunched on a bowl of cereal and milk. Soy for me, and full fat for him. There wasn't much conversation, as earlier this morning we were sitting in the exact spot when Mother walked in. "Morning my darling Alex," she greeted him and blatantly ignored me. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't surprised, this happened all the time. But it was a first for Alex, and he didn't appreciate it. "Hi," he mumbled, holding back his anger.

Once she had left for work he exploded. "How can she even do that? You were sitting right there!" the bowl of cereal almost tipped over at his wild gestures, but I calmed him down before there was a mess to clean up. I assured him it had no effect on me, and that he should brush it off like I do. I didn't go to Al's this morning, New Jane vowed to start drinking less coffee and saving more money that had been spent too much lately at Al's. I was a little sad that I wouldn't see Joe this morning and ask what the story was from yesterday, but I had him fourth period today and would no doubt see him at lunch time, so for now we ate breakfast at the table.

"Let's go," Alex announced and took his bowl to the sink. I followed and grabbed my ratty old bag after I quickly brushed my teeth. The car ride was more comfortable than yesterday but that awkwardness that two strangers shared was still lingering slightly in the stale air of his car. "About Dad..." I started, hoping he would pick up and continue the conversation. "I might go visit him, set up a date to catch up or something." he said and looked out the windshield, avoiding my eye contact. Our Dad was still a sore spot for the both of us, but luckily we had each other this time to lean on if anything went wrong.

"Sounds good," I assured him. "Good luck, he hasn't changed much." Alex nodded and kept driving. I went to roll the window down, but was immediately stopped by Alex. "Don't!" he shouted and reached across to smack my hand away from rolling the window down. "It's too cold!" he protested loudly, the small space of his car making his voice ten times louder. "Are you kidding me? It smells like a rotting foot in here!" I argued. Alex was never a clean person, I guess that hasn't changed about him.

"My car, I say no!" he demanded sternly. I laughed at him until tears were threatening to spill from my eyes. He had a pout on his face and they way he was sitting in his seat reminded me of a three year old throwing a tantrum. "You're such a dork," I commented as I resumed my normal composure. "Least I'm not a girl!" he threw right back. I chuckled, he was acting like a kid. "I bet your girlfriend loves dating a child." he took offence to that and mocked being hurt. "I can't believe you! I was going to introduce her to you soon, but forget about it now." My eyebrows shot up in surprise, I didn't think he wanted to introduce me to Ellie, in fear of her finding out who he really is. "That's okay bro. She wouldn't like me anyway." I said playfully. He shook his head slowly in defeat, just as he pulled into the school.

"I've got work after school, so don't go all crazy when I don't come home. I will find a way home or something and if not I'll text you." I said, not wanting a repeat of his crazed state yesterday. He nodded, "Make sure you do, I'll see you later." I got out of the car and walked into school, the place I had missed yesterday during my 5 hour walk. The bell rang as I walked across the parking lot and I had to scurry quickly to class. It was art first, which was a breeze. While we were still doing portraits, we were focusing more on the details of a persons face. This meant drawing close ups of eyes or lips from various YouTube videos showing the talent Mrs Flanagan didn't seem to have.

"Don't forget your homework!" she reminded the class as we all stood up to leave and hurry towards the exit. During my study period I did that homework and later found myself standing outside the biology class for third period fearing to go in. The other students pushed past me and slumped over to their seats. "Don't want to come in?" Mr Lewis stood at my side and commanded my eye contact with his sleazy voice. I fought the urge to look away when his eyes pierced mine with such hatred, but failed as I had to walk into class. As I walked in with Mr Lewis in tow, I caught site of Shannon. Her eyes reflected Lewis', filled with hatred and it all directed at me. Shannon still either thought that I had a thing with Mr Lewis or thought I would report what I had seen. Little did she know it was neither. I was hoping that by leaving the situation alone, I would get out of it. But New Jane thought otherwise.

"Class!" Lewis commanded from the front of the class, "Quiet!" he called out the attendance form and when it came to Jaz's name she wasn't present. That means I'd have to suffer through this period alone. "Now, for the period we are working in pairs for an activity. I'm going to trust you enough to find a pair and if not then come to me," before he finished his sentence there were unspoken agreements made with one glance as to who were pairs. Surprise surprise, I was the only one left and had the shame of having to walk up to Mr Lewis' desk. "Well Jane, I guess you'll have to work with me." every time he talked to me, I felt like ripping my hair out from their roots.

Everything he said, and every way he said it was made a million times worse by the smirk that always accompanied his words. "Come and grab a sheet, and work on it together," he announced and gestured towards a stack of paper on his desk. He licked the tip of his index finger and used it to pick up a sheet, to which he passed to me. "Here you go Jane." he sneered my name like it brought disgust just by saying it. I took it off him and set about working on it as he sat there in his chair watching me work. It made me uncomfortable, but more motivated to finish the sheet quicker. I was half way through when he suddenly shouted out, "Make sure you each are working together to complete it, and not letting one person do it all!" Mr Lewis leant forward and snatched the paper off me with enough force that I was surprised it didn't rip into pieces. "If you don't complete it, you'll have to stay behind and finish it." he added.

"Let's see," Lewis pondered over the questions. Even though he most likely wrote them and knew all the answers, he was taking an extraordinary amount of time to complete it. It hit me like a tonne of bricks when I saw his plan laid out in front of me. He knew the sheet was easy and the class would finish it all, seeing as we were a reasonably advanced class, but he was working extra slow so I'd have to stay behind after class. I crossed my arms grumpily, New Jane wouldn't put up with this, I thought to myself. "Hurry up," I muttered and looked at the time.

"Oh I'd watch yourself Jane, you may just find yourself with a detention. With me. And no one else." he whispered just loud enough for me to hear and to portray enough threat to get his message across. I ignored him and went back to staring at the clock. Just as it struck 12.30 the loud shrill of the bell rang out and the students left in a hurry, wanting to get to their lunch as fast as possible. I stood up to leave too but a rough and hot hand grabbed my wrist violently and pulled me back down. "You obviously didn't hear me Jane, I said if you didn't finish then you'd have to stay behind. And you still have 4 more questions to do." New Jane didn't seem to be as scared by Lewis as old Jane. In fact, the tattoo didn't hold much fear and it was only his over rehearsed threatening voice that made me shiver.

The class emptied out at record speed, leaving Mr Lewis and I alone together. I scribbled out answers in a haste, ready to escape. He leaned in real close so his face was less than half a foot away from my ear. I could feel his breath tickle the side of my face, "Are you scared Jane?" he whispered. I didn't whimper or make any sound but rather continued with the sheet. "Oh Jane, you know. You're actually quite cute. That rugged beauty sort of look..." he trailed off as one of his hands reached out and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. It was getting harder to ignore the twisting pain of disgust in my gut, but I worked through trying to stay strong.

"Finished," I spat out as a slammed the pen down and abruptly stood up and out of my chair. I grabbed for my bag and aimed myself at the direction of the door. I was so close to freedom when his tattooed arm shot out and grabbed the arm of my bag and prevented me from leaving. "Why so fast Jane?" he asked. I was feeling threatened now and feared what he was going to do next. "Look!" I shouted at him, "I don't know what you want from me! I've done nothing wrong and I won't do anything to jeopardise your career!" he stood there looking amused as he leant over me.

"I know Jane, but you made yourself known to me and now I'm not going to leave you alone." a glint in his eye told me he wasn't joking. He stalked closer to me and pinned me against the wall, He was so close that the old and weak Jane almost can out again. Lewis' face leant in and before I could move he trapped me into a kiss. His sudden attack left me stricken with fear and I struggled against his deathly grip. I tried to lush him away but he had other ideas, as he grabbed my wrists and tried to force his slimy tongue into my mouth. I refused and my anger took over. I brought up my knee and socked him right in the 'gut', causing him to double over in pain and cup his 'jewels'.

I yanked my bag out from under him and scuttled out of the room. The corridors were empty, with the students all at lunch. And I was happy as none of them could see me kick the wall of lockers in frustration. It clanged out loud, reverberating down the corridors and almost stunned me from my furious state. I felt dirty and taken advantage of, but I knew I wouldn't be defeated by him. After all, he has stolen the one thing I had been saving for that one special person: my first kiss. I know that being seventeen you don't really hear of a girl who hasn't had her first kiss, but Jumbo Jane never attracted anyone, so I remained kiss-less. I brought my foot back and kicked the lockers again, furrowing my brow in anger.

"What did the lockers ever do to you?" I spun around at the sound of Fletch's voice with a hand over my heart, calming my beating heart. I chuckled lightly, "Nothing, but they aren't very cooperative are they?" I joked, shrugging off my earlier distress. I was intent on keeping what happened to myself, it wad unfair for anyone else to know and be under that pressure of knowing what Lewis really is, who he really is. He smiled in response and came closer. "Come on," he demanded and dragged me through the corridors. "I had to go out and look for you when you didn't show up for lunch, god know what'd happened. Probably Shannon, am I right?" Fletch dragged me around the corner and into the courtyard for lunch, no bothering to wait for my reply. As he dragged me I mentally prepared myself to face people again, taking a few deep breaths and calming my fury.

"Found her!" he announced and waved his arms about dramatically, as if presenting me to the people in the courtyard. And by people, I mean Joe. Joe was sitting awkwardly on the bench, his legs crossed at his ankles and his face full of worry. He immediately jumped up on his feet when he saw my entrance and strode over to me, "I'm so sorry!" he cried out, "Nan had a fall and I had to go, I knew you would be in safe hands so I had to leave. I'm so sorry!" I nodded, feigning hurt, but my facade cracked as I smiled at his attempt to beg for forgiveness. "Don't worry about it," I shrugged it off. I didn't need to be hurt, especially when he was doing what any good grandson would do after all. "What's for lunch?" I asked. He seemed taken aback, and stumbled over his next words. "I made you a um, sandwich. Again" he said and handed me a package in brown paper from his bag. I thanked him and sat down against the wall and started to eat. "Where's mine then?!" Fletch cried, seeing the whole scene play out in front of him and was more concerned about his sandwich. "Catch!" Joe called out and threw another brown package over Fletch's head. "Thanks!" he said and went foraging through the bush to find his lunch.

Joe sat down next to me and opened his own lunch. "So your dad hey?" he started a conversation I didn't really want to talk about. "Yeah, I told Alex and he said he's going to see him and set up a date for us to meet up again." Joe nodded and noticed my hostility towards the topic, deciding to change it. "Remember my friend Wes? From the Italian restaurant?" he asked, "Well he's just come back from a holiday at the coast. He invited me to pizza and movies at his house, he insisted that I invite you too. To be honest, I think he has a little crush on you." I laughed out loud and blushed. "That's impossible." I stated.

"Why would you say that?" Joe asked curiously. He obviously thought it was deeper than your usual teenage self esteem problems, but it wasn't really. "Please, look at me! I used to be Jumbo Jane! Plain Jane, it think that couldn't happen. Especially in a town like this." Fletch who had been eating contently suddenly burst out laughing, "JUMBO JANE?" he screeched. "I've gotta see this!" he said and continued to laugh.

"Too bad! No one will ever see her. Ever. But my point is, I don't want a crush! I want love. I want someone who can bring me flowers and cheer me up on the darkest days! But you two wouldn't know anything about that, you're boys." Fletch mocked being shot, "Ouch." he muttered. "I have never been so ashamed to be a guy!" Joe sat quietly, watching the scene in front of him and scratched his head as if in thought. "Anyway, you in or you out?" he said. "In," I decided on a whim but promised myself not to take it back. Here's to new Jane!

And that's how I basically ended up with a date with my geography teacher, who I may or may not have feelings for. But I guess that's the good side, when you think about it. Because I did just knee my gangster teacher who hates me in the sensitive region.

-

The last few periods of the day passed quickly but without a geography lesson and Jaz by my side, I found myself in a bitter mood while walking to the book store. I kicked the same stone all the way from the school gates to the corner of the book store p's road before I accidentally kicked it too hard, sending it scattering into the drain. I sighed and pushed open the glass door, the bell ringing out above my head.

"Hello dear," a heavily tired voice called out. June came out from behind the counter, a pair of crutches tucked under her arms were clacking lightly on the floor. "June!" I called out in concern and rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" she smiled sweetly, but was obviously in pain. I pulled out a nearby chair and brought it over to her, demanding for her to sit down. "Thanks Jane, Joe warned me not to be here but how could I miss out a day of business? Especially now it hasn't been going so good. It seems people are buying more books online now, leaving me in a difficult position." June was worried, it showed in her run down eyes and her voice toned with defeat. I wish I could help her, but I believed there was very little I could manage on my own.

June gave me an opportunity to help her out, but it came with some heavy news. "I'm sick Jane," she said bluntly. "I've been sick for a while, and I don't really know how long I've got left." the news was heavy, and the thought of losing June, my surrogate grandmother, brought tears to my eyes. "Don't cry dear, I'll be glad to be with my husband so we can rest peacefully. But more importantly, I need you to do something for me." I nodded enthusiastically, eager to help in any way I can.

"I've always had a dream, to extend the book shop and make it into a cafe and bookstore. But I think now would be the best time as business is dropping. So what I'm asking you to do, is when I leave would you follow this dream for me? I've left money aside for it, and somehow could you make it happen? Even passing it on to Joe would be okay, but I want this to be yours. All yours Jane." A tear slipped down my cheek slowly, I was experiencing large amounts of sadness, yet large amounts of happiness. I found it hard to be grateful and happy towards her generosity when I knew there was a reason behind it.

"I'll do it," I told her determinedly. She clutched onto my hand and pulled me into a hug so I bent down. I was engulfed into a cloud of flowery perfumes as her iron grip locked around my neck. "I'm going to tell Joe, so I need you to be there for him. Like a 'friend'..." she used quote marks as an emphasis to her disbelief of our friendship. I rolled my eyes but agreed anyway. Speak of the devil and he shall appear; Joe walked in the door, surprised to see it unlocked. He walked in but was shocked to see his Nan sitting in a chair with me at her foot. "Nan!" he whined, "I told you to stay at home and off your feet!" Joe sounded disapproved and tutted angrily. She shooed him away but gestured him to help her to her feet. "Come one Joe, leave Jane out front. I need to talk to you urgently." They walked away, leaving me with my own thoughts, which weren't necessarily positive.

I went through the motions of my job, shelving, sorting and selling few books. Now that June had mentioned it, I had seen a drop in purchases lately. The mothers and children no longer visited and bought picture books and the students didn't come for their textbooks. It was a quiet afternoon, with no show from Joe and June for a long time. Just as I was packing up to leave they emerged, from the back room arm in arm. I watched from a distance as I saw the exchange of looks between them, held with love. "I'll always be here," I overheard as I watched June gesture around the shop. Joe nodded and dropped his head. His eyes remained dry, but I could see the emotion behind them building up.

It was then I remembered June saying that I'd need to be there for him. June limped outside on her crutches and was sent off into a taxi with the aid of Joe. He returned to the store, and immediately started locking up the back doors, with the intent to leave. Not a word was uttered between us as we stood out the front locking up. We walked to his car and got into our seats. Joe remained silent as he drove steadily, with both eyes plastered to the road in front.

We arrived at the front of his house, I didn't question it but rather accepted my duties as a friend and followed him inside. Joe chucked his keys on the sideboard near the door and went into the living room. I watched as he pulled out a bottle of brownish liquid and poured it into a tumbler, taking a large gulp and emptying the glass. He poured another and sat down on the black sofa. "Sit down," he ordered suddenly. I obeyed obligingly and sat next to him where he patted the spot on the sofa. "It'll be okay," I assured him, but my comforting skills weren't great and I watched as a single tear was shed from his eye. "I just don't know," he trailed off and downed the contents of his glass, wiping away the tear. I reached out to grab his hand and squeeze it tight. The touch of his skin against my palm made my heart rate increase and a pleasant buzz to travel up my arm. He grabbed onto my hand tighter and turned to me.

"I think it's time I tell you about my life," Joe decided randomly. "And about my parents..."



Why don't you all comment and tell me what you think is going to happen? I'm curious as to what you all think. :) anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I've got a bit of time on my hands this weekend and will be doing some writing! Please vote and comment your feedback!