How To Save A Life

Chapter Nine

I've spent the past four years of high school trying not to stay at school passed hours. I never joined any clubs. I haven't been on a sports team since middle school. And, I do as best I can not to stay after for any school work. I either do it during my free time or at home. The first and only time I stayed late at school was when my mom was running late picking me up. I decided that instead of waiting on the curb in front of the school for her that I would just go to the cafeteria and do some homework. I would've gone to the library but during my freshman year it was off limits due to construction. That year, they did construction on almost the whole school. Each month it was a different route to class. I never made the mistake of staying after school since this. I was in the cafeteria working on a class project when Justin, who was on the JV football team, and his friends came over and started tormenting me. They apparently had a few minutes to kill before practice and they found me. They ruined my entire project. They got a milk carton and poured it onto my head and laughed. One of the many reasons why I wear a hat everywhere now. I remember how badly I wanted to go home that day. Matt was in Mathletes and I haven't met Kyle and Josh yet so it was only me. I had no one to turn to. And, when my mom came and finally picked me up, she just said don't let boys do that to me. She didn't speak another word. She never asked any further questions or contacted the principle. Matt was the only one I could ever talk to and he wasn't even around at that moment when I could've used him.

I'm always one of the very first students out of the school. I avoid going to my locker after the final bell everyday. Every day I take all my things to my final class to avoid stopping at my locker. It saved me a whole lot of embarrassment. The halls are crowded with jocks after school so I try to get out of there before they could make their way to me.

I sped walked out of the school and towards my car, grabbing my keys out of my flannel pocket as I did so. I could see and hear the jocks laughing at their cars that were parked across from mine. The laughter got louder as I got closer to my car and that is when I realized why that was. All four of my tires have been slashed. My jaw clenched in anger before I turned to them. Justin sat on the roof of his car, clapping his hands while he laughed along with the others. 

"I'll kill you, Turner," I said between my teeth.

He continued to laugh. "Yeah, sure you will."

I turned back to my car and examined the damage done to my tires. I couldn't possibly drive all the way home with these. I only had one spare tire in my trunk. I didn't want to do what I had to do next but I had no choice. I had to call a mechanic. The problem was, my dad is the mechanic and tow truck driver. My dad absolutely hates it when I call him at work because of car trouble. He always says that he needs to focus on real costumers with bigger issues. My dad hates it when I call him at work in general. But, who else am I supposed to call when this stuff happens? His auto body shop is the only one in a four mile radius and also it's the only one I know the number to. My dad can't send out anyone else to get my car. He always volunteers when it's me because he usually needs to give me a ride and yells at me the whole time. And, since I don't have any friends available to drive me straight after school, I either have to take the bus, walk, or wait for my mom or dad to pick me up.

I could hear the jocks still laughing at me as I hesitated to grab my old flip phone out of my pocket and dial up my dad. I have his work number on speed dial. He wouldn't answer if I called him on his cell phone. I shook a bit as I called up his number and placed the phone to my ear. I barely noticed that I was holding my breath until he answered.

"Cortes Auto Body and Repair. This is Scott Cortes speaking and what may be your issue?" I was silent for a moment. The sound of my dad's voice always gave me a knot in my stomach. "Hello?"

"Hey, dad," I finally worked up the courage to say.

I heard him sigh through the phone. "Colin, what happened? This better be an emergency if you're calling me at work."