The Girl with Cat's Eyes

C H A P T E R 27

And then it ended, faded into my sobs, until the recording was stopped.

I sat there, frozen in my seat, detached, broken, as it played, as people heard me speak, learnt all my secrets, learnt about my old life, about my rape, about my dead boyfriend and his psycho brother. I just sat there, my eyes glazed. I tried to make my self look un feeling, hard, cold. It didn't work, and I could feel my shell breaking around me.

Chelsea stood on a nearby table, as it ended, and then she started to talk.

'So now you know! Our very own mute cantalk! Not only that, but she has a few rather dirty little secrets...' She said, smiling. Everyone turned to look at me. I looked down at my lap, closed my eyes, let tears slip from behind my eye lids. They'd heard it all, my inner most feelings, about the baby, my dad, my old life, and my memories.

I stood, picked up my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and ran out, running between the tables, ignoring the shouts from Jesse, and Lilly, and Sam, ignoring Josh trying to pull on my sleeve and get me to stop, or wait. I ignored their stares as I dodged and swerved between the tables and out of the door into the teachers car park.

I ran, just like I always did, out of school, over the other side, to the forest where I first met Josh. I carried on running deeper and deeper into the trees until I heard the cracking of twigs behind me. I ran faster, pumping my legs to go the fastest they could. Then I sat at the base of an old tree, once I was sure no one could be following me anymore, and I cried.

I sat there for a while, I'm not sure how long, I lost track of the time, but it began to get dark and colder, and I wrapped my blazer tighter around my self, the cold finally getting to me.

Jess found me after a while. He didn't say anything, he just picked me up, and let me cry into his shirt, and then he carried me back part way through the woods, till I could stand, and we got out just out side of school, and bundled me into a car, Sarah in the front seat.

I ripped a piece of paper out of one of my school note books.

What do I do?

'I-'

Write it, I don't want your mum to know we're talking.

He took the paper, and wrote: You don't have to do anything tonight, but tomorrow you and mum and me will go for a meeting with the head. You don't have to talk to them if you don't want, I mean they won't force you.

I smiled. Okay. What time is it?

Four.

Oh. What happened after I left?

Nearly the whole student body got mad at Chelsea. They may talk about you, but they are just curious, and they all thought it was bang out of order what she did. Started throwing insults at her, and Lilly had her had a catfight. Still, I'm pretty sure they'll talk a little more than before, you know, about you and your... situation.

I know. At least Chelsea got a hiding.

The evening came and went, Sarah spoiled me silly, and didn't ask a thing, which I was glad about. Jess sat with me in my room, while Sarah was cooking dinner, and we talked for a while, about everything. Chelsea got in big trouble, with the school, and they nearly involved the police for victim harassment, but Jess persuaded them not to because he knew it'd just cause more trouble, and I wouldn't want that. He had words with Chelsea, and she'd stopped being quite so obsessive. But through all this, though the school might be being supportive now, I could just imagine what people were saying about me, imagine the stares, and whispers, the questions. I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it.