The Girl in the Wrestling Shoes

Chapter 4.

My dad got out of his cop car right as the bus dropped me off, and gave me a small smile. I wasn't in the mood for it right now. 
"How was your first day baby girl?"
"Terrible."
"Why?"
Dad fixed his pepper spray on his belt, and looked at me, looking concerned. 

"My English teacher hates me."
"What's his name?"
"Mr. Wilson."
A look of knowledge crosses through his face, and his eyes got wide.
"What dad? What's wrong?"

I say, looking at him suspiciously. 

"Nothing. It's just weird how you think he doesn't like you- that's all."
"I know."
"It's only the first day."
He said nothing after that.
"Let's go inside and see what mom is making for dinner, ok?"
"Okay."
He put his arm around me, all the way until we were inside. 
********
Dinner was corn, mashed potatoes, and muffins. Cameron told us a story of how some kid pulled a senior prank and got arrested, earning a laugh from mom and I. 
"Sounds interesting" dad commented.
"So how was school today?"
Mom pushed back some of her pretty black hair, and taking a sip of her iced tea. 
"Terrible."
I say while taking a bite of corn.
"Why?"

Cameron looked at me with those eyes of his that I loved.
"I have no friends and Mr. Wilson hates me."
Pieces of corn flew out of Cameron's mouth right after I said it.
"Did you just say, Mr. Wilson?"

"Yeah. He called me "cobra" today and said I reminded him of his dog."

Cam gave my parents a look from across the table.
"What? Tell me."
Something again was going on here.

"It's nothing sweetie." My mom looked at my brother, squinting her eyes at him. 
"Cameron thought you meant someone else, that's all."
I watched my dad out of the corner of my eye, he looked like he was eyeing them both, they all were giving each other a look. 
Weird. Something's up.
"I'm done.-"

Cam stood up, and my dad followed him into the kitchen.
My mom smiled at me, immediately forgetting what just happened between the three of them. 
"Did you make any new friends?"

"Just one. Paige."

I say, feeling ashamed. Mom must've noticed my tone, because she reached across the table, placing her hand on mine. 

"That's good Savannah."

As I got up, I found dad and cam in a heated discussion in the kitchen.
"Why were you acting like that Cameron, you know damn well that-"

"It's just that-" 
"What are you two talking about?"
I suddenly blurt out, making them both jump a bit. My dad closes his eyes, looking stressed. 
"Nothing."
They both said in unison.
Something told me they were, though.
***********
2 weeks went by, and Mr. Wilson still seemed to hate my guts.
In class, he would give me looks, roll his eyes when I got an answer wrong, or just wouldn't talk to me at all.
I was positive i was failing English. All of my other teachers liked me, except him.
I was determined to know why that was. 
******
"As you can see, the diary of Anne Frank was an important piece of history. From her point of view, we got to see how badly the Jewish suffered during this time."
Mr. Wilson flipped the board to anther page, then continued.
"Read the rest of the chapter, then finish the questions. It will count for a test grade, alright?"
He seemed like he was in a good mood today, he was calm, and he looked pretty good today, I have to admit. Honestly, he was one of the best looking teachers I've seen so far. I quickly finished the chapter and the questions. We only had two minutes left. After what seemed like forever, the bell rang.
I took a deep breath and walked over to his desk.
"Mr. Wilson?"
"Yes?"
He jumped when he saw me.
"Savannah? Can I help you?"
"Yeah. I have a question for you."
"What would that be?"
He shut his laptop and gave me his full attention. His gaze made me feel a bit self conscious. 
"What's your problem with me?"
"What problem?"
He looked worried, like he knew I was onto this weird behavior.  
"You hate me. I see it everyday in class. You treat me like crap, and you don't do it to everyone else. I want to know."
"Well-" he sighs loudly, and closes his eyes.
"I'm sorry if you feel that way Co- Savannah. If I treat you differently than everyone in the class. I'm sorry it's just-"
My eyes go to a picture on his desk, of him and a girl. The picture was a bit faded, but the girl was holding up a huge trophy. A wrestling trophy, almost as big as her, and she had on a black singlet.
Was it me, or did she look like me?
Mr. Wilson saw me looking at it, and he abruptly flipped the picture face down, and pushed it to the side of his desk, under a pile of papers. 
"Sorry about that. I'll sign you a late pass."

Mr. Wilson quickly scribbled me a pass on a piece of paper, and handed it to me, and 
our eyes locked for a second, like we both knew what had just happened.
****
The girl in the black singlet. She looked like me, a lot. She had the same light caramel brown hair, up in a ponytail, and the crystal blue eyes. She looked like a younger version of me, honestly. There wasn't many pictures of me when I was younger. 
Was that the girl Paige was talking about?
Who couldn't ever wrestle again?
Got sick or whatever, I couldn't ever think of that happening to someone.

EDITED MARCH 21ST 2015