Honor Among Friends (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 14-B

Following Zach’s advice, Madison stayed in Carson’s line of sight during class for the next two days. She never approached him, never talked to him. In fact, she didn’t even look at him. She just worked in close proximity and the most amazing thing happened—it started to work!

His eyes constantly tracked her movements, following her when she got up and moved around the classroom. He also became more distracted, often stumbling over words or trailing off mid-sentence. And more than once she saw him start to move towards her, but then stop mid-step and force himself to retreat. But as wonderful as it felt to know she still affected him, it wasn’t enough. She wanted all of Carson.

Friday afternoon she pondered how to achieve that as she walked to Mr. Perez’s room for her after school detention. The first day she showed up in his room, she wasn’t sure what to expect. After stuttering her way through an awkward apology, the man pointed to his trophy case and ordered her to clean and polish each medal. She immediately did as instructed. It took her the whole detention, but each medal shimmered and gleamed inside the case. When she walked into his room the next afternoon, he pointed to the trophy case again and ordered her to clean them. She was about to protest when she noticed the watchful glint in his eye. That’s when she realized it was a test. So without uttering a word, she opened the case and started re-cleaning each medal.

This went on for the rest of the week. So when she stepped into his classroom, she was already prepared to start polishing. However, today he stopped her before she could take off her backpack and beckoned for her to follow. She trailed close behind as he exited his room and started down the hallway.

“I’ll be honest, Ms. Chase, I was prepared not to like you,” he told her, picking up his pace. “After all, you were a random student who chose to take something precious from me.”

“I understand, sir,” she puffed, her breathing heavy as she ran to keep up.

“But over the course of this past week you’ve impressed me. You’ve worked hard and took your punishment without a word of complaint. Not many students would have done so.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“This doesn’t mean I fully trust you, but since you’ll be with me for the rest of the year, I’m hoping we can work on that. So starting today, you’ll be helping me with my cross-country team.”

She stumbled at his words. “C-Cross-country?”

“Yes. You’re going to be recording everyone’s time as they come in.” He handed her a clipboard with names and dates. “I hope you understand how essential it is to write down the correct times. We keep meticulous records so we know who’s improving and who’s not.”

“I won’t let you down,” she promised.

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

Her heart thudded as they jogged down to the track. She could see Carson. He looked happy and relaxed in his running clothes. He was busy chatting with his friends and stretching his muscles when she approached.

Mr. Perez clapped his hands, gaining the team’s attention. “Alright everyone, listen up.”