Educate You

Fifteen

I wouldn't say 'comfortably'; just, 'at my eye level'. The situation was anything but comfortable.

He stared into my eyes for seconds that felt like hours. I averted my gaze and set my eyes on the floor beside him.

Look away! Please look away!

"Yes, Mr. Decarlo?" I whimpered.

"Do shut the hell up,"

What the-?

My head snapped to face him immediately.

If they had a staring contest for the Olympics, this guy would be like the invincible gold medalist.

"Stop blabbering about useless shit and figure something out,"

Ouch...

This is too much, now! I can't just sit back and take all his crap!

I shouldn't have spent any energy to open my mouth, I had to close it in two seconds anyway.

"Don't you dare say anything unless you figure something out, you hear me!?" He roared. "Every passing second I spend trapped in here with you is full of regret and frustration. And I don't wanna waste any more of my time in that way! So you'd better just shut your trap, and start thinking!"
And with that he stood up and paced towards the gate.

At that point I wasn't really sure of what to feel.  This was a side of him that I had never seen. He never spoke more than two sentences at once. This was like a sudden outburst and it took me by surprise.

I could feel a lump forming in my throat and a sharp pain at the bridge of my nose.

Yeah, sure I walked into an empty building alone and stood up against Brittany and all that, but acting unaffected after being yelled at, wasn't my strongest point.

I could feel blobs of tears forming in my eyes. I clenched my fist, hoping that they would go back.

No no! No crying! And absolutely not in front of this guy!

I let my head hang low, still praying that the big drops in my eyes would just magically disappear.

"I wanted to thank you," I gulped.

Yeah, I'm supposed to be quiet, but I feel so damn insecure right now, I could rip my hair out.

"Well, I guess that isn't necessary, then," I shrugged.

He was quiet. Absolutely quiet. Staring out at the basketball court through the window, he remained still.

"You can thank me after we get out of this shithole," Mr. Decarlo muttered.

Okay, that was totally unexpected... did he say 'we'? I mean, it didn't sound exactly cordial but this is Mr. Decarlo we're talking about! He was always at my neck. Saying something like that wasn't his thing at all!

"Sir," I said, cautiously. My throat was dry from all the agitation.

He turned to me and glared. Well at least it looks a lot like glaring, but I'm pretty sure that to him, he was just 'looking' at me.