I'm sorry Ms. Miller

Chapter 8: "What happened?"

Today it's Wednesday and I can't wait for the day to be over, I'm walking toward English, but the classroom is empty. I sat at my usual seat and waited for the bell to ring. She probably isn’t coming today either, I thought.

The bell rang and the class filled with students and a few minutes later Ms. Miller walked in.

She wasn’t smiling and her eye was dark, as if she had been punched. She started teaching and I noticed that her right hand was in a splint. The bell rang and the students run out, I stayed behind and when we were alone I closed the door and looked at her. She was looking down.

-“What happened?”

-“Nothing” She said and I rolled my eyes, she hadn’t lifted her head. I grabbed a chair and sat in front of her desk. She looked up and sure enough, she had a black eye.

-“Who’s hurting you?” I gulped.

-“It’s nothing Emma, I got in a fight”

-“What happened to your hand?”

-“I don’t want to talk about it, plus it is none of your business” I sighed and nodded.

-“I’m sorry, I’ll leave”

-“No, wait” I turned around and looked at her “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to be mean” I smiled at her.

-“It’s ok, you were right, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’ll be here”

-“Thank you, I’ll keep it in mind.”

The next two days Ms. Miller was just not having it, she snapped at everything and just threw the material at us, her class was becoming kind of unbearable.

On Saturday night my parents were fighting again, my father had gotten drunk again and he was screaming and hitting stuff. I couldn’t take it and I grabbed my headphones and a jacket and went to the park, that’s when I saw her sitting on a bench sobbing.

I went and sat next to her, she turned to look at me, she wasn’t wearing any makeup and her eye was way more noticeable. I made a move to hug her but as I touched her arm she flinched. I sat there and watched her crying, not being able to do anything.

-“Ms. Miller, what’s going on? And don’t tell me nothing” She looked at me and took a deep breath.

-“I’m so tired of pretending everything is ok” She said in a low tone and her breath was shaky.

-“You can tell me the truth, I won’t judge”

-“I… It’s my girlfriend, we have been fighting a lot since I got this job and…” She took a deep breath and looked at me “And she started getting violent” tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

-“She did that?” She nodded and I wanted to hug her.

-“Last week, on Saturday, I told her I wanted to break up and she got really mad” her breath hitched. “She punched me and as I tried to leave she grabbed my wrist and twisted it until I gave in and fell on the floor, that’s when started kicking me. That’s when the police barged in and arrested her on the spot and took me to the hospital. Apparently, the neighbors heard us and called them”

-“Shit” I said completely shocked. “Were you living together?”

-“No, we were planning on moving in together, but then the fights started and we abandoned that idea” I nodded and she eyed me.

She took a few deep breaths and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

-“Your parents are fighting again?”

-“Yes, my dad was drunk and completely out of control, I had to get away” She gave me a side hug. “Why are you at the park?”

-“I needed to get out of the house, I felt the walls closing down on me and I was hoping some fresh air would make me feel better.”

-“You are not crying anymore, so I guess the fresh air did help”

-“No Emma, you helped” I smiled and yawned “Tired?”

-“Yes”

-“You should go home then”

-“I’d rather sleep on the bench than go home. I’m sure my parents are still fighting and I don’t want to face the mess my dad has made”

-“Do you think your mum will be okay?”

-“I don’t know Ms. Miller"

-“Irrelevant, but are you wearing the hearing aid?”

-“No, I didn’t think I would need it”

-“So you can carry a normal conversation without it”

-“Yes, but that’s because your voice is relatively loud and clear” She smiled

-“Can’t say the same about yours” She smiled and I nudged her arm.

-“Ouch” She said scrunching her nose.

-“I’m sorry”

-“It’s okay, you didn’t know” I yawned again and dropped my head back. “It’s late”

-“You can go if you want, I’m staying here”

-“I don’t want to leave you here alone”

-“I’ll be fine”

-“Can’t you go to a friend’s house?”

-“No, it’s late and they are both sleeping, plus they’ll start asking questions and I’m really not in the mood to talk about it. I promise I won’t sleep on the bench”

She stayed with me for another half an hour and it started raining, we went under a tree.

-“Shit” I said “I’m going to get drenched going home.”

-“You can come to mine if you want, it’s nearby”

A/N: A smaller update because I suck at splitting up chapters, I hope you are enjoying this book, and if you have any feedback, I'd be happy to hear them.