What She Hid - NEW

4. Someone Worse

I play this game as I pull open the door, exchanging the bright light inside the girls' washroom for the dim hallway.

I call the game What If?

What if Mom hadn't brought her creepy boyfriend, Paul, home and installed him in our lives when I was eleven? I let my mind wander to a past where I grow like a tree in the wild—tall, branches spread wide, majestic... instead of a small bonsai crippled by snips here, ties there until shaped into something tamed and unnatural.

A janitor walks by me. He's an older man with gray hair and a stony face. His wheeled bucket squeaks against the floor, as he drags it along by the mop handle, staring until I turn away from the intensity of his pale green eyes.

My mind reverts to the game. If not for Paul, would Jaime have been attracted to me later? Or was it the very crack in me that drew him in?

And what if, because of the bigger crater Jaime left, something worse comes next?

I shiver at the thought that there's worse than Paul and Jaime.

But of course, there is.

There's always someone worse.

And now that Dad's forcing me to do in-person school in Ludford, it's just a matter of waiting to see who that will be.  

My soft knock on the math room door comes out instead as two sharp blows in the hall's quiet.

A man in his early thirties with dark, gelled hair opens the door and studies me with curious gray eyes. His bulging arm muscles strain against his shirt sleeves, like someone who spends a good part of the week at a gym.

"Leila...?"

When I nod, he says, "I know your sister. You look like her." His gaze rests on me for several seconds, as if he's flashing between my face and hers.

We get this all the time. We're both half Dutch on our mom's side, but I'm a quarter-Asian brunette and Cassie's a blonde mix of German and Italian, and yet somehow, we look enough alike that everyone needs to tell us. Maybe it's the differences mixed in with the sameness that make us such an oddity to everyone in Ludford.

"Come on in," he says, at last, moving aside. "She told me to expect you today." He makes a sweeping gesture toward the class. "Everyone, this is Leila Hails. She hails from...."

Someone at the back groans. 

He smiles, unfazed, and waits for me to fill in the gap. "Over to you..."

I stare at the off-white wall behind the students' heads. I could say Toronto where I've spent this summer, but instead, I mumble, "Bantry."

Some people get weird when you tell them you're from a big city. They either hate you or ask you a million questions. Neither of which I want.

"Take the seat beside Hilary," he says. "See me after class and we'll discuss what you've missed."

Heads turn to follow me to the only empty chair beside a slim girl with a heart-shaped face, brushed with freckles.

"Thanks," I say as she slides the textbook to the middle so we can share.

I focus on the equations in front of me. It's been months since I've done any studying, but within minutes, it's like I never stopped. I'm good at school the way athletes are pros at catching and throwing balls. I get it from Dad. As a back surgeon, his specialty is facts, details, and basically anything unrelated to interacting with people. Mom's the opposite. She charms everyone she meets.

At least everyone who isn't a female in her late forties living in this town.  

Since Cassie and I got here, to the place where Mom grew up, we get snide comments and weird innuendos all the time. I know what Mom would do if she were here. She'd laugh it off. She'd say they were jealous because while she still looks hot, they've morphed into old cows. 

But Mom's not here. 

Mom's laying on a beach somewhere in Mexico with Chad, and as usual, she's left us to deal with her messes.

[Author's Note: 

The next installment is coming soon. Let me know if you are enjoying the story.]