Nothing was more awkward than having five people sitting in a cramped hospital room with no one talking. Aaron was staring moodily at the wall like he always did when it was more than just myself and Chris visiting, Chris was reading an Alternate Press magazine, Lance was texting on his phone, and Casey was making funny faces at Jeremy, who was making them back, and they were both trying not to laugh. Meanwhile I was bored out of my mind, trying to think of something to start off a conversation.
“So is today the day you’re going to visit Shawn?” Aaron asked, breaking the silence in the hospital room.
Immediately four gazes snapped to me, all looking surprised. Taken aback by the sudden focus shift, I just took turns staring dumbly back at each person, opening and closing my mouth without being able to form any words. When my gaze landed on Chris, I could finally speak. “Why do you look so shocked?” I demanded.
“Just because,” he responded with a grin.
Jeremy sat straight up in his chair, his eyes wide. “Whoa, wait, why are you two going to see Shawn? Isn’t that a stupid idea? Is this Holly’s idea?”
“Hey!” I protested.
Lance snorted. “It sounds like one. You want to go visit the man who tried to kill you and your teacher?” he questioned, staring skeptically at me.
“It’s not—”
“Did you have to whine and complain to get Chris to let you go?” Jeremy inquired, an amused smirk appearing on his face. “Or did you convince him some other way…?”
“I didn’t—”
Casey gasped. “Did you threaten to break up—”
Smiling, Jeremy quickly slapped a hand to her face. “No, she didn’t threaten to break up that jigsaw puzzle that took him two years to put together.”
“It took you that long to put together a puzzle?” Aaron asked, giving Chris a pitying look.
He scowled, but didn’t deny it, causing Aaron to laugh. I rolled my eyes. “I’ll have you all know, Chris was the one who decided we should go visit Shawn.”
“Mr. Heywood did?”
“Heywood did?”
“Chris did?”
“He did?”
I glowered at everyone in the room. “Come on! Not all choices I make are stupid! Some friends you guys are!”
Casey laughed, shaking her head. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”
“No, not all choices you make are stupid, but this one definitely is. What are you thinking?” Lance demanded, crossing his arms. “And you too!” he added, his gaze switching to Chris. “What are you thinking, going along with it?”
Chris sighed. “I just want to know what Shawn’s thinking and what he wants. He’s gone after enough of my students. Aaron doesn’t need to be another victim.”
“And it’s not like he can do any harm to us while we’re there,” I added, frowning. “It’s not a stupid idea. If it was Chris wouldn’t agree to it.”
Lance didn’t look satisfied. “It is a stupid idea.”
“It is not—”
“It is a pretty stupid idea,” Chris admitted, “but it might be the only one that’ll work. The last month of your senior year is coming up. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I want it to be trouble free for you guys. There are a lot of fun things planned, so I want all complications to be gone. Talking with Shawn will help that along.”
Casey tilted her head to the side. “What kind of fun things?”
“I’m not supposed to say…”
She pouted at him. “Aww! You can’t keep secrets like that Mr. Heywood!”
“You can call me Chris,” he told her, frowning.
Her expression immediately switched to a grin. “But if I called you Chris, I might forget that you’re a teacher.”
“And…?”
She stared pointedly at me. I gazed back at her, confused. Why was she looking at me? Was it because she liked the idea I was dating a teacher? Grimacing, I realized that was probably true.
Lance shook his head at her. “There’s something wrong with your head, girl.”
She waved him off. “No! It’s just cute!”
“What’s cute?” Aaron questioned.
“Nothing!” I said quickly. We were cutting it closer. It was a good thing he was oblivious to everything… oblivious or stupid.
“Then can we please just stick to the main topic?” he demanded. “What are you going to say to Shawn when you go there?”
“We can say hello to him for you, if you want,” Chris told him, a teasing tone to his voice.
I elbowed Chris.
He elbowed me back, but more gently.
Scowling, I elbowed him again. He did it back. Soon we were in a mini-elbowing fight.
“And I’m childish,” Jeremy commented loudly.
We both glared at him. “Shut up. At least I don’t shop at Victoria’s Secret.”
“You do too, Holly,” Chris said, smirking. “I happen to have—”
“Haha!” Casey interjected loudly and awkwardly. “Look at Aaron’s nose! It’s crooked!”
Aaron stared at her, his hand going up to his nose. “No it’s not…”
Chris shut his mouth abruptly, sitting a little more tensely. Apparently he, like myself, had forgotten Aaron didn’t know we were dating. Again. We really did have to be more careful. Surreptitiously, I sent Casey a thankful look.
“Getting back on topic,” Lance started, crossing his arms. “Even if you want everything to be settled for our last month as seniors, going to see Shawn is stupid.”
“I agree,” Jeremy said. He glanced at Aaron, pursing his lips. “Why don’t we just have this kid tell the police what happened?”
Aaron glared at him, opening his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “That’s our backup plan.”
“Why as a backup plan?” Jeremy questioned, crossing his arms. “Mikey is the last one still out of jail, right? Beside those other two? Why not just send Mikey to jail and be done with all of it? Chris?”
“It’s what Holly wants to do,” Chris told him. “And besides, for all we know Shawn could have some of his oh-so-loyal followers we don’t know about lying in wait if we put Mikey to jail. He’ll go after we figure out what to do with Shawn.”
Jeremy didn’t look satisfied, but he relaxed his position anyway. “So does that mean I get to stay here and babysit the brat?”
Aaron scowled at him. “You’re very welcome to leave. And never come back.”
“Ah, but then you might be murdered, my dear, weak duckling,” he responded, wagging his finger at the teenager.
Rolling his eyes, Aaron turned his head away from the blonde. “Whatever.”
“I’ll stay with you!” Casey volunteered brightly. “If you treat me to dinner after!”
“Sounds good,” Jeremy told her with a grin. “Are you paying?”
“Aren’t you the man?”
“Well—”
“Oh that’s right,” she cut him off, frowning, “you’re the type of guy who likes shopping at Victoria’s Secret.”
I smirked as Jeremy’s face flushed. “I-I did not!”
“My sister shops there,” Aaron said in a disgusted tone. “I thought it was for women only?”
“Women and Jeremy,” Casey told him.
“Seriously!” Jeremy cried. “I didn’t go there!”
I laughed quietly to myself. She was never going to let that down, was she?
“Hmm, I’m not sure what I should be more worried about, Mr. Ross. You going on a date with a student or you shopping at the same place as Lexi…”
“It’s not a date…” Jeremy said uncomfortably, probably just to throw Aaron off. Everyone else knew it was definitely a date. Or that’s what I hoped it would be.
Lance suddenly sat up with a little gasp. “Lexi! I almost forgot! I’ve got to go!” he said, struggling out of his chair. “We have a date!”
I cocked an eyebrow, impressed. “Another date with her?”
“Yeah, she planned this one too!” he told me excitedly, his eyes lighting up. “Wanna know the best part? She hasn’t even mentioned another guy! Usually she’d be pointing out cute guys all day, but she hasn’t done that!”
“That’s good!” I responded happily. Maybe it was because of what I said to her. It seemed like it had a lasting effect. Feeling a little smug, I puffed out my chest a little bit. Sometimes I could be surprisingly dominative. If I could do it to Lexi, maybe I could do it to Chris…
The man in question put his hand on my shoulder. “I hope you’re not thinking that you might be able to persuade me into doing something, Holly.”
I gaped at him. “How could you have possible figured that out?”
He smirked. “I’m omniscient.”
“And I’m late,” Lance interjected, fixing his hair in the mirror by Aaron’s bed. “I’ll see you guys later. Aaron, want me to say anything to your sister?”
He shook his head. “No, why would I?”
“She’s your sister,” Lance responded flatly.
Aaron shrugged. “Still nothing.”
“Whatever,” Lance grunted, twisting on his heel and making for the door. “Bye guys.”
“Adios,” Casey and I responded while Chris and Jeremy waved.
Sighing deeply, Chris pushed himself out off his chair. “Shall we go too then, Holly?”
I nodded, easily hopping to my feet. “Let’s go!”
“You’re more excited to go see Shawn than when you go see Chris,” Jeremy commented, grinning widely. “Well, Holly does like dangerous men…”
“Old, dangerous men,” Casey corrected.
I pursed my lips at the pair. “Chris isn’t dangerous, guys.”
Chris pushed on my shoulders lightly. “Just move. And aren’t you going to tell them I’m not old either?”
“Oops…”
Casey and Jeremy laughed while Chris sighed again. “Never mind. Let’s just get this over and done with.”
“Right,” I agreed, opening the door that led to the hall. “Bye Jeremy, bye Casey, bye Aaron!”
They all bid their adieus and then Chris and I left, walking side by side down the empty hospital halls in silence. My stomach was starting to tighten as my nerves grew. Nothing could happen while we were there. He’d be behind that fiberglass wall, unable to touch me. There was nothing to be nervous about. Chris would be right by my side…
As if reading my mind, Chris grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “If you keep walking with your body tensed like that your back will hurt later.”
“It will?” I said, surprised. I hadn’t even realized I was tensed!
He nodded, releasing my hand it and moving it to my lower back, where he rubbed it gently. “It’ll be fine, Holly. Shawn’s not stupid enough to try anything while he’s already in jail.”
I bit my lips. “But what if he thinks that because he’s in jail anyway it won’t matter? I bet he would think that.”
“Well, if he does try something, it’d be favorable.”
I turned my head up at him, my eyes widening. “What?”
Instead of answering my right away, he pushed open the exit and we stepped outside into the surprisingly cool air. A glance at the sky showed heavy, grey clouds that promised an April rain shower. Keeping an eye out for cars, we quickly crossed the parking lot to where my car was parked. Earlier I’d insisted on driving, and for some reason he’d agreed easily. Maybe now I was going to find out the reason why.
“Okay, so are you going to tell me why you want Shawn to do something?” I asked when I pulled out of the hospital parking lot.
“If I provoke Shawn into trying to harm me, the he’ll have his visitation rights provoked, which means he can’t talk to Mikey anymore,” Chris explained, his eyes glued to the road. “Slow down around this corner.”
Rolling my eyes at his passenger seat driving, I pressed on the break. “I noticed you said I in that sentence.”
“I’m going to visit Shawn by myself in one of the cubical rooms. It’ll be much more effective than through a telephone.”
My eyes widened and I glanced at him. “What? What if he hurts you?”
“He won’t hurt me.”
“If you’re provoking him he will!”
“Eyes on the road, Holly.”
Scowling, I reverted my attention back to the road, noticing the speed limit had gone up to forty-five. “That idea is stupid, Chris.”
“I won’t be in any danger. He’s in jail, Holly. They don’t let them carry guns or knives there. Not even pens.”
“I know, but…”
“But you just want to worry unnecessarily like you always do, right?”
“It’s not unnecessarily!” I snapped at him, clenching the steering wheel. “Is it not okay for me to be worried about the person I love while he’s visiting the person who almost killed us both?”
Chris reached over and put his hand on my thigh, squeezing it. “Sorry, Holly. It’s okay for you to be worried. I just don’t like making you worried.”
“Well, like you said yourself awhile ago, it’s impossible not to worry about you.”
“I’m surprised you remember that,” he commented, sounding amused.
I grunted in response. What was Chris thinking? He wanted to provoke Shawn? Scrunching up my forehead, I thought it out. He was right when saying if he revoked Shawn’s visitation rights then Mikey wouldn’t have anyone to obey. And it would be pretty hard for him to actually hurt Chris…
“Take a right here,” Chris ordered.
Nodding, I put on my blinker and turned the wheel to the right, bringing us onto the road the jail was situated on. “The cubicle things have the window I can watch you from, right?”
“Right.”
“Am I allowed to do that?”
“I’ll make sure you’re allowed. I have connections here.”
My heart sunk in my chest. That was right. He’d been in jail here for almost a year before. Of course he had connections. How did he feel about coming back? Glancing at him, I frowned. I knew if it were myself, I wouldn’t want to go back. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure. I don’t care about coming back here as long as I’m not the one going behind bars,” he told me.
“Okay,” I murmured, now pulling into the visitor parking lot.
The jail was a massive, imposing building. Unlike many other jails, it was new and didn’t look like a scene from a horror movie. If you didn’t know it was a prison, you might’ve thought it was a school of some sort. Albeit it would have to be a heavily guarded school.
“Right on time,” Chris commented as I shut off the engine. “Make sure you have your wallet in case they need your identification.”
“You made an appointment?” I responded, reaching over Chris to get into the glove compartment where my wallet was.
“You have to,” he told me, opening his door. “Let’s go.”
The closer we grew to the building, the more intimidated I became. It felt weird to be near it with Chris. After all, he was my teacher, and I was a student, and we were in a forbidden relationship together. Even if it wasn’t illegal anymore, it felt risky being here together. Hopefully none of the other teachers or students at our school knew anyone in this prison.
I kept my head low as I followed Chris to wherever we were supposed to be going. It was unexpectedly quiet in the building. A few people were roaming around the halls, but that was it. For some reason I couldn’t bring my gaze away from the ground to look at anyone or anything. When Chris came to a random stop, I ran into his back, startling myself.
“Hey Carol,” he spoke. “How’s it going?”
Now I removed my attention from off the ground to the woman Chris was addressing. She was a stubby, elderly lady with short, graying hair. Her cheeks were rosy and her expression was bright, making her look out of place in such a solemn institution. Recognition flashed in her green eyes as they swept over Chris. “Christopher! How nice to see you! What are you doing here? Did you get into trouble again?”
He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. “Nope, I’m visiting someone.”
“A friend?”
“Kind of.”
She smiled kindly. “Well I hope this friend of yours is in here for a good reason, not a crappy one like you had.”
“He is,” Chris responded flatly.
“And who’s this?” she asked, peering around him at me. “Girlfriend?”
I blinked at her. “Umm…”
“Yep,” Chris interjected, saving me. “She’s cute, right?”
Taken by surprise by his comment, my cheeks flushed. Carol laughed, nodding her head. “She’s very cute.”
“I know,” he said smugly, causing me to lightly punch him in the back. “Anyway, are you the person I’m supposed to talk to so I can visit my friend? I have an appointment.”
“Of course! I can help you out. Can you give me your friend’s name?”
“Shawn Myers.”
She nodded, typing something into the computer she was standing beside. “Okay… Christopher… Six o’clock… Right. Officer Marques will be right with you.”
“Thank you,” Chris responded, inclining his head. “And it was nice seeing you again.”
“Same here! You should come to visit more often. I know quite a few of the staff felt you were rather easy on the eyes.”
I rolled my eyes. That would definitely inflate his ego.
Chris chuckled again. “I’ll do my best.”
Luckily Marques was a fast person and he arrived before Carol could say anything else that might’ve boosted Chris’s self-confidence anymore. Marques was a rugged looking man with a small amount of dark stubble on his chin. Judging by his appearance and name, I figured he was Latino or Hispanic.
“Chris, nice to see you again,” Marques started, his voice holding an alluring Spanish accent.
“You too, Marco,” Chris responded, shaking the man’s hand. “Will you be the one observing the visit?”
He nodded. “Si, señor.”
“Is she allowed to be with you?” Chris asked, hooking a thumb at me. “If not, can you let it slide?”
Marques laughed loudly, startling me. “Claro! How could I say no to you? Is this your girlfriend?”
“Yup.”
“Not bad.”
I gave Marques a tight smile. Not bad? What was that supposed to mean?
“Follow me,” he ordered, gesturing with his hand. “You’re visiting Shawn, eh? He’s a pretty mellow inmate. Never argues or fights with any of the officers.”
“Is that so?” Chris responded skeptically.
Marques nodded. “I’ve grown to like him.”
I frowned. So Shawn was pretending to be a good boy. Too bad he was as rotten as an apple that was left on the ground for three months. Clenching my fists, I raised my head a little more. Hopefully he’d show his true colors now.
It felt like we’d walked at least ten miles before Marques finally stopped in front of a set of double doors. “Do you want to go in right now?” he asked Chris. “Or is she going in?”
“I am,” Chris told him. “And sure, now works. Holly, stay with Marco, okay? Behave.”
I frowned at him, biting my lip, nervous about the whole idea again. Shawn was good at doing unexpected things. With no regard to Marco, I grabbed Chris and quickly kissed him. “Be careful,” I whispered before pulling my head away.
He ruffled my hair. “See you soon.”
Marco led him to a different door to enter, down the hallway a little more. I cupped my elbow with my hand as I watched Chris enter it, disappearing from my view. After Marco shut and locked the door behind him, he turned to me, grinning handsomely. “You ready?”
“Yes,” I said quickly, wanting to get into the room so I could see what was happening as soon as possible. “Isn’t someone supposed to be in there with them?”
Marco nodded. “Yes, but since we’re short on hands today and I know him, it’s okay.”
I grimaced. It’s okay? Didn’t he mean he wouldn’t get in trouble for it and it made it easier for him so he’d allow it? It sounded stupid to me. This guy was like the cops who didn’t pull over people that were speeding just because they were feeling lazy.
As soon as I entered the room Chris and Shawn came into view. My heart skipped a beat when my eyes landed on bulkier man of the two. How long had it been since I last saw him? Since December? That was, what, four months? It seemed so much longer than that.
“You can hear them talking through this,” Marco informed me, pointing at what looked like a large grey speaker.
I moved closer to it and the familiar sound of Shawn’s lazy drawl met my ears. Immediately I shuddered. It was weird hearing his voice again.
“I told you I won’t talk to you, so you’re wasting your time,” he was saying, giving Chris a bored look.
“Aren’t you talking now?” Chris challenged.
He smirked, pretending to zip his lips and throw away the key.
“Tell me why you attacked Aaron,” Chris demanded.
Silence.
“What do you want from him?”
Shawn pretended to yawn.
“Why won’t you talk?”
“I told you,” Shawn said calmly, inspecting his fingernails. “I’ll only talk to Holly. I know she’s with you.”
My jaw dropped a little. How did he know I was with Chris? Did he somehow have a watch on us? I shook my head. No, he probably just figured I was with him since I was mostly with Chris twenty-four seven anyway.
“You’re not talking to her,” Chris told him.
“Then I won’t talk at all.”
“Why?” Chris demanded, closing in on the other man. “Is it because you want to see her face? The one that looks like Holly’s? The girl I stole away from you?”
I swallowed, my eyes never leaving the pair of men. So Chris was beginning his taunting. A quick glance at Marco showed me he wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on in the other room. Shaking my head, I let out a quiet sigh. He was a really bad officer. Shouldn’t he be overseeing the visit in case of danger since there was no one in there with them?
“Talk!” Chris ordered, stopping barely a foot away from Shawn. “What are you afraid of?”
Again, Shawn didn’t respond.
“You’re a coward. Can’t you ever pick on someone your own size? You’d rather go after minors who are much more vulnerable?”
“You go after minors too,” Shawn shot back slyly.
Chris clenched his fists. “I don’t try to kill them.”
Shrugging, Shawn stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Tell me what you want. Why do you keep going after Aaron? Why set Aaron on Holly? If you have a problem with me, take it out on me, not them.”
I stared at Shawn, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Why wouldn’t he talk to Chris? What would talking to me do? It wasn’t like there was something he could tell me he couldn’t tell Chris. Whatever he told me I would inform Chris of. He knew that too.
“How do you give orders to Mikey?” Chris tried, his voice calm and composed again.
Shawn scratched his arm, completely ignoring Chris.
I let out a small groan. This was going absolutely nowhere. If Shawn wanted to talk to me, then I’d let him talk to me. “Mr. Marques?”
“Call me Marco.”
“Marco,” I began, turning to face him. “Do you think you could let me in there too? I want to talk to Shawn as well.”
An apprehensive expression came onto his face, but after a moment he nodded. “I don’t see why not. Follow me.”
“Thanks,” I responded, dogging him out of the mirror room and to the door that led to the room where Chris and Shawn were.
“After you,” he said after unlocking and opening the door.
Two pairs of eyes landed on me as I stepped into the brightly lit room. A smirk formed on Shawn’s face as our gazes met. “Hello, Holly.”
“What are you doing in here?” Chris demanded, his eyes narrowing.
“Shawn said he’d only talk to me, so I’m here to talk to him,” I responded as calmly as I could. On the inside, I was shaking. No matter how much time passed, Shawn was still intimidating.
Chris scowled. “Holly, get out.”
“No, you leave, Chris,” Shawn said, stepping around him. “I’ll have a nice chat with Holly if we’re alone.”
“I’m not leaving,” he replied stubbornly.
“Then I guess I won’t talk.”
“Chris, leave,” I requested, giving him a pleading look. There was no way we were leaving without any progress. We had to learn something!
Marco whistled from the doorway. “An alarm will go off if I don’t close this in the next minute.”
“Chris,” I started, staring at him imploringly. “Please.”
After a short staring contest, he finally sighed. “Fine. I’ll be watching though,” he warned Shawn, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t touch her.”
“I won’t,” Shawn promised, his smirk growing. “We’ll have a nice talk. Bye bye now, Chris.”
“Be careful,” he murmured as he passed by me, his hand grazing mine.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest, making the sound of the door closing and locking nearly inaudible. Shawn let out a satisfied sigh, taking his hands out of his pocket. “Finally I get to see you again, Holly.”
I stood rigid, my hands at my sides, not saying a word.
“Why so uncomfortable?” he inquired, faking an offended look. “Come come, have a seat.” He gestured toward the table at the back corner of the room. “Let’s have ourselves a nice chat, shall we?”
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I apologize for the wait! It's been a very hectic week... School and work and shopping. Blah. This isn't my best work. In fact, it's so awful, I want to stab myself in the wrist with a fork. I'm kind of pissed off right now because of my boss, but I'll save my rant. Let's just say he's a total jerk. I hope school is going well for all of you who have started it! And sorry for a cliff hanger. This wasn't a very interesting chapter (at all), and I'm all over the place, but I wanted to put up something before bed. I'll update soon! And it will be interesting! haha. And more put together xD