History equals dates

Chapter Three

    After finding a good parking spot at a local cafeteria which had been open for as long as Sadie could remember, Mr Wilson parked his car and made sure it was locked before they walked to the entrance. People seemed to enjoy robbing cars these days; they would break the glass or pick the lock and start the car. Not that he cared about his car - but he did have some important paperwork on the back seat in his briefcase.

    Mr Wilson and Sadie found an empty sitting booth and waited for a person to take their orders. Everyone around them suddenly whispered to each other and even pointed at Mr Wilson. One woman said, maybe a little to loudly, "Oh, look! The mayor's cheating on his wife with a minor - shame on him."

    Another replied, "But I thought his wife passed away a couple of years ago? Or maybe they're separated - I don't know."

    Sadie remembered what it was like to be in the spotlight. People kept forgetting that the mayor of the town had children of his own and that sometimes - just sometimes - he took them out to have breakfast. Suddenly, she did not feel hungry anymore; she just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. But her father would never allow that. 

    "What are you thinking?" She heard her father inquire after silence filled the room. "Is something bothering you?"

    A waiter - who seemed a bit too excited to meet the mayor - took their order and silence followed. However, Sadie's thoughts were interrupted as soon as her father placed his hand on hers, since she was resting it on the table separating them. She gasped and stared at him blankly until she opened her mouth to say, "Doesn't all this bother you?"

       Mr Wilson raised an eyebrow not understanding what she was referring to. But as soon as Sadie rolled her eyes at the people gossiping about them a few feet away he chuckled.

      "I had to get used to it, love. People will always say stuff about you; you will always be judged and there will always be rumours, especially when you're in the limelight like us. My advice is this: don't ever ever let these judgements - or rumours - define you. Do you understand?"

      Flashes of the bullying at her school reminded Sadie of the several times she was called a 'slut' or a 'snob'. She realised that none of these two terms defined her character as she was quite the opposite. Sadie would never let these words reflect her behaviour.

    "Yes, Daddy," she assured her father, as he squeezed her hand tighter and ignored all the comments around them.

    After they finished their iced lattes and Mr Wilson took a couple of pictures with the same people who were gossiping about him a couple of minutes before, he paid the bill and drove Sadie to school. 

    Sadie barely had enough time to run to the toilet, let alone apply her usual make-up routine. Instead, she ran to her first lesson and chose a seat right in front of the teacher's desk. This way, she would not hear the other students at the back call her names; and also so she would get a better view of her history teacher. 

    Mr Cooper was not the school's favourite teacher although it was only his second week working there. True, he was admired by the girls because he was the new, handsome teacher. However, he was soon hated because of the interesting way he punished his students. One would not expect such a good looking teacher to even punish girls; but he did he did he enjoyed it. He assigned long presentations or complicated essays to those students who were cheeky or bothered him during his classes. 

    As soon as Sadie leaned to open her book bag to get out her writing pad and pen, Mr Cooper walked into the classroom straight to the teacher's desk.