My Teacher's Daughter

Chapter 6: Punches and Skate Dates

Four weeks passed and I could honestly say that the taunting turned to terrorising. I couldn't walk down the hallways or into a classroom without people whispering or having something thrown at me. The worst one was two weeks before, I'd arrived to gym a few minutes late and everyone had already gone in.

*Flashback*

As I arrived at the changing rooms I heard the usual loud chatter and laughter from the girls inside. I took a shaky breath, preparing myself for the abuse I would be receiving upon walking in. Approaching the door I noticed a large piece of paper taped to it with my name standing out.

"Official petition to keep Mitchie Dyke Torres from changing with us", followed by around thirty signatures. There were only thirty three people in the class including me, Jodie and Alicia. Everyone had signed it. I tore it down in frustration as the PE teacher, Coach Lister, approached with a mug of coffee, talking rapidly to a music teacher.

"Torres, why aren't you changed yet?" She yelled at me when she noticed that I was standing there. I turned around to face her and she must have noticed the tears in my eyes as the hard look on her face softened to one of concern. "Are you okay?" She asked as she put a relatively comforting hand on my shoulder. I shook my head and showed her the piece of paper.

"I am not going in there. Give me detention if you want but I'm not going in, I am not going to put up with shit like that." I told her firmly, standing my ground and thinking of how I could get out of it if she tried to make me. Looking up at her, I noticed that she had an understanding look on her face as she shook her head softly.

"I don't expect you to, go to the counsellor and she'll take care of you. I'll speak to the girls, take that with you and show her." And with that she went inside the room. I vaguely heard her screaming at the girls through the closed door but my mind was so distorted at the time that I could barely make out what she way saying to them.

After that Mrs Goldman offered to call my mom but I told her not to and she sent me home instead, so I went to Alex's and waited for her to come home from school for our regularly occurring half-hour make-out session before work. Coach Lister told me that she made the girls run laps every gym lesson that week as a punishment and afterwards I was permanently excused from PE, I used my newfound free period to text Alex and get ahead on English work; I'd inherited my passion for the subject from my mom which I supposed I was grateful for as I had constant help available to me.

It was the beginning on November, Alex and I had been on eleven other dates when we were both free after the first one and we had planned another one for after school on Friday. I was going to be sleeping at her apartment and we were going to the local ice-rink for couples' night.

"Mom!" I called out to her from my room, it was nearly time for me to leave for school and I was yet to ask her if it was okay for me to go out with Alex. She appeared in the doorway of my room and I closed the door leading to my balcony where I'd just had my morning cigarette. "Is it okay for me to go out tonight and stay at Lexi's?" I asked her hopefully with an innocent smile.

"Okay, firstly, you can't pull off the innocent smile when you smell like an ashtray. Secondly, I'm not really sure. You've been saying you're spending so much time with this girl and I've never even met her, I'm starting to doubt where you're really going." She said as she sat down on my bed. I turned to the mirror and continued to pencil on my eyebrows which I'd been doing before going outside. "Mitchie, I want you to tell me the truth," She began slowly, leaning back against my pillows and somewhat relaxing into the warm comfort that they provided. "Are you meeting a boy?" She asked worriedly. I bit back a laugh and nearly slipped with my eyebrow pencil; turning to face her, I put the cap back on my pencil and shook my head.