The Eaton Household
Tuesday
It was lunch. I was sitting against my locker, which was a bottom locker, with my head leaned back. My eyes were shut so I wasn't staring at the sun. I had to admit, it was nice.
Calvin didn't know what I knew about him. And most of me wanted to keep it that way. But then there was always that pissy, annoying part of you that kept nagging you in the back of your head and there was only one way to get ride of it. I didn't feel like getting rid of it...
For now, I thought.
I sat alone. It was quiet. Everyone else was eating at their cafeteria tables. I wasn't even eating. For some reason, I didn't really eat at school. I would sneak a Hersey's kiss into a class every once in a while in case I was starving, but they melted so quickly it was getting rather pathetic at that point.
Someone kicked my gray Converse and my eyes opened. I stared at Calvin. He wasn't smiling, but that wasn't anything new.
"You eat alone too? So aren't you just another outsider?" Calvin asked flatly as he blocked the sun perfectly.
"What outsider bullies?" I grumbled as I craned my neck to look up at him.
"Outsider is anyone without friends," stated Calvin in monotone. "You can be a bully, goth, nerd, whatever."
"No, outsiders are people who aren't recognized by anyone and nobody would give a shit if they died," I argued.
Calvin flinched and I almost felt guilty. Almost. But curiosity quickly over took it.
"So, what's your deal with not meeting after school?" My voice was a little too casual and Calvin narrowed his eyes.
"Gloria told me a school friend had stopped by. The girl was an awful lot like you, but then again Gloria is rather old," Calvin hissed.
I shrugged his hostility off. "It's not like I planned on seeing you there. It's on my way home, and I just wanted to see if it was really you. Now I have solid evidence."
"What did Gloria say?" Calvin snarled.
Should I tell him? I wondered.
"Nothing personal, right?" I replied. "No backstabbing either."
"Exactly," he snapped and walked away.
I blew the hair poking my eyes out of my face.
Sheesh, I thought.
~
I decided to skip Chemistry. I wouldn't go home. Home wasn't a place I was necessarily excited to go back to after school.
Maybe if Mom wasn't as weird...Or dad wasn't in jail, I thought.
I took out my homework. Yes, I did do my homework. I had to pass class somehow. I wasn't studious though so forget tests. Finals? Please tell me you've heard of cramming. Lots to cram? Yes. Hard? Yes. Impossible? Nope.
I was on the top of the gym. There was a stairwell and railings. If I got in trouble, it wouldn't be because the roof is completely off limits, just that it is off limits during class time.
"What are you doing here?" Calvin asked, appearing in the stairwell doorway.
"What does it look like, stupid?" I shot back. "Ditching? Doing homework? You?"
"I'm always here practically-when I'm at school," he snapped.
"Seriously?" I asked. I really had never noticed him up here before. I grunted at this new information as my brain processed it. "Never noticed you."
"No shit," he muttered, and shut the stairwell door behind him. "Know if we have chem. homework?"
"Do I look like I would? I'm not in class so what do you think?" I retorted.
"Can't you find any other spot?" he asked.
"Yeah," I answered, "I could."
He was very calm for a pissed person. I wondered how much it took to turn him red with anger.
A lot, I guessed mentally.
"Look, can't you just find another spot. This one is taken-by me," he said.
"We can use it to plan our pranks, since you have a job and can't do it after school," I sneered.
"Ha! Of course it's my fault," he said through clenched teeth. "Fine, you can stay. But, don't ever bother me."
"Yeah, yeah," I replied. Like I cared.
"Calvin...he has a very difficult life. I'm sure you know how bad it is at school, but that's nothing compared to what goes on in that Eaton household." ~Gloria's voice rang in my head and it was a moment longer than usual before I pulled my eyes away from Calvin.
"So"-I slammed my binder shut-"Suppose we should start planning?" I suggested.
Calvin glanced at me. He was probably about 10 feet away and had just settled down on the ground. He had a look on his face that said, 'Really? Right when I sit down?'
Calvin got to his feet with a grunt like he was getting old then he walked over to me slower than usual just to piss me off. It worked a little, and I was annoyed with him.
"Nex-" I began when the rooftop door opened and Will smirked at us. He shut and I knew he locked it.
It happened quick, and took me a moment to figure out exactly what happened.
"I think this is the lamest prank I have ever been a part of," Calvin stated and I nodded in agreement.
"Better have a prank better than this one, shit face!" I shouted and Calvin let a chuckle slip out before stopping himself. I continued. "Alright, so we should..."
~
"Have a plan for getting down too?" grumbled Calvin. "You know Will wouldn't unlock it."
"Yeah' we can just climb down," I answered simply. "There's a tree."
"You're kidding?" asked Calvin.
"Wuss," I sneered. "Afraid to get a scrape from the bark? Please, you haven't lived until you climb down a tree. Forget climbing up! When you climb down' you're forced to look down-not so much when you're going up' huh. Hope you're not afraid of heights."
"There's no way you actually care whether I'm scared of heights or not," he remarked.
"Look, I'm going to go down first, and if you fall, you'd fall on me. If somehow you don't fall on me, I seriously doubt I'll try to save you. Now, come on."
"Yeah, I have a job," he muttered under his breath but I still caught it.
~
Once again, I was whistling on my way home. It was a force of habit, like Will's sticking his hands into his desk But, I found whistling less strange than sticking your hands into your desk.
I took the longer route to avoid the temptations of walking into Sienna's Animal Shelter and spying on Calvin. We'd agreed on nothing personal. I didn't want him butting into my oh-so-great and joyous life, so I woulnd't by nosing into his.
At least that was what I had hoped would happen.
I wasn't in the greatest part of Venice, California, but it wasn't where all the real freaks hung out either. It was somewhere been poor and average. It was a few blocks down from my house, which was included in the poor-average neighborhood.
Suddenly there was a crash from inside one of the houses and my shoulders jumped in surprise. I turned towards the house, my eyes wide.
What the fuck is going on in there? I wondered.
Just when I was about to continue walking, the door swung open and I turned around again. For a moment there was complete silence. Then a little girl burst out through the doorway running.
"Caroline!" screamed a drunken man. "Get your ass back in here!"
Caroline, who had to be about five or six, kept running. The man stumbled to the doorway as tears began pouring down her little red cheeks. She darted down the driveway, cut across the dying and tanned grass yard, and was racing right towards me.
The man continued to scream. Then a woman came into view and she looked strikingly familiar. So did Caroline, but I couldn't tell where from.
Then Caroline reached me an raced behind me. I was a total stranger.
Must'e done something pretty bad, I thought as I stared at the man and woman.
"Uh-uh-uh-uh-" I stuttered and looked down at Caroline as she clung to my leg.
The woman whispered something to the man, and he began to stomp in our direction Well, it was more like he would stumble, stomp, stumble, stomp, and so on.
I started to back up, but put on a brave, serious front as Caroline's grip tightened. She was too young to be in too much trouble, and this guy was drunk. Her face said that he was her worst nightmare as she turned as white a a plain sheet of newly made paper.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a commotion at the front door again. I glanced over to the scene before returning my gaze to the man. He was pissed.
When I had glanced at the door, I had seen the woman holding someone back. Suddenly the dark figure burst past the woman, and she shrieked. She was shoved back into the house as the man reached Caroline and I. It didn't surprise me when the man didn't even flinch at thewoman's scream.
"Give me back my daughter, bitch," slurred the man, but I didn't move.
I wasn't afraid of him. I'd seen worse. I'd been through worse. I glared at him as Caroline hooked her small fingers into my jeans loops.
My jaw dropped slightly and my mouth parted a little when I recognized the dark figure that had pushed past the woman as none other than that stupid retard Calvin Eaton. And now I knew why the woman and little Caroline looked so familiar.
"Make me," I snapped after getting over the new shock.
Calvin shoved the man forward. I grabbed Caroline under the arms and pulled her out of the way. She weighed a lot less than she should have. I could feel her bones.
The man fell forward, off the concrete sidewalk, and into the street. He was lucky. Being tucked into the center of the neighborhood, it wasn't a busy street.
Calvin grabbed the back of the man's shirt and shooed him forward again. This time the man fell on his face, and blood dripped from his nose when he finally managed to get back up.
"Calvin!" shrieked Caroline as she continued to sob.
Half of me was stunned, and half of me wasn't sure what was going on. As a result, I had no idea what to do for the first time in a very, very long time.
The woman came out now. "Calvin Eaton! Just what the hell are you doing to your own father?! Stop it right now! You cannot behave like this!"
"And he can?!" screeched Calvin.
That's when I saw the bruises, cuts, and gashes covering his face. There was one long yet thin slice across his neck that was soaking his short with blood. And my jaw dropped.
Calvin gave the drunk man one last good shove into the neighbor's bush, and stalked over to Caroline next to me. He acted like I wasn't even there!
"Carrie-" he began to Caroline.
"Calvin!" screamed the woman.
Then Calvin grabbed the front of my shirt as his father started to begin to attempt to get up.
"You are taking Carrie," demanded Calvin. "Bring her to school tomorrow since I don't know where you live. But, do not bring her back. And if you hurt her, you will wish it was Will and Henry and the whole fucking cross country team that was killing you instead of me."
Okay, I had to admit. That was intimidating. With his scraped up and bruised face and neck. His pissed, killer look that looked like he'd taken it from a real serial killer. And his gothic look.
I grabbed Caroline's hand with a silent nod and ran. She cried hard. She pulled against me, reaching with her free hand out to Calvin. I didn't look back. I couldn't. When Caroline let out a blood Mary scream that felt like a dagger piercing my heart and then slicing it right in half, I knew the first punch had landed.
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