Rain beat the glass and darkened the sky outside the school. The constant tapping at the window was the background noise to Mr. Miller's voice as he droned on. Carter neither heard the incessant rain or Mr. Miller's words. Nothing seem to hold her attention except for the statue of a person beside her. Anger seemed to radiate from the spot, daring her to try and say anything or even look that way.
The bell rang, bringing about the shriek of stools on the linoleum floors and the rise in voices as conversations were taken up.
"Link," Carter said.
He didn't glance at her. He still wore the same stony expression his features had shifted to, when his gaze had landed on her as he walked into the room. A wall of silence had separated them through the entire class and Carter found herself at a lost for how to break past it. Link shouldered his backpack and made for the door, his rigid body screaming his opinion of Carter at the moment.
As she watched him storm off, Carter couldn't blame him for not speaking to her. If she had taken a second the day before to really think about what she was doing she would see how heartless she had been, all because she had had the desire to prove she was right. No matter what kind of relationship Link held with his father, he and his existence was still a shameful secret that couldn't get out.
In forcing him to admit who he was, she had essentially ripped open an old wound and stabbed it, making it bleed fresh. He had every right to be mad at her. She hadn't just crossed a line, she had taken a sledge hammer to a fragile wall.
With a frustrated burst of air, Carter grabbed her bag and followed him. By the time she had stepped out into the hallway, Link had already vanished into the thick crowds with Donovan. The volume of the school and the happy laughter of friends grated on Carter's ears. Locker doors banged shut and footsteps filled the crowded hallways, competing with the storm of conversations and flirtations. Carter walked to history, her thoughts darker than the sky.
Donovan was sitting in Link's usual spot when Carter entered the classroom. Link was deep in conversation with Maddy and pointedly had his face turned away from Carter. As she took her seat, Maddy noticed her.
"Hey, Carter," she said.
Carter turned back and gave a half convincing smile.
"Hi, Maddy," she said.
Carter glanced towards Link, but he was absorbed with the contents of his notebook. His brows were knotted together and his mouth was a thin, tight line.
"I was just telling Link, all of you should sit with my group during lunch," Maddy said.
Link tensed and his jaw flexed. Carter noticed and felt the pit in her stomach grow.
"I know Link and Donovan would love that. I might be busy, but thanks anyways," she said.
Maddy shrugged and smiled, the look open and untroubled.
"Alright."
She turned back to Link and he looked up, meeting Carter's gaze for a second. In his eyes, she read all the hurt and anger his reality held. A reality she had carelessly exposed. All of Carter's planned words collapsed like sand castles under foot. She turned back, allowing Link to resume his conversation with Maddy.
Donovan sat silently beside her, his blank face more impenetrable than ever. With a furtive glance back at Link, Carter twisted towards him.
"Donovan," she said, in a quiet voice.
He looked over at her with emotionless eyes. Though his expression was impassive, there was a tension around his lips that echoed Link's thoughts.
"Do you understand why he's angry?" he asked.
She nodded, seeing it all too clearly and wishing she had shut her mouth for once.
"Then there's nothing to say for now, Carter," he said.
He shifted his attention back to the front of the room. Carter slid deeper into her seat, her thoughts frantically searching for how to remedy her mistake, but found her storage of apologies empty. Mr. Philips stood as the bell rang and silenced the class.
"Modern day politics," their history teacher said. "That's our topic for today. Now something you have to know..."
Mr. Philips paced back and forth behind the desk, his gestures assertive as he talked and laid out his points. The sound of pencils scribbling away on paper joined his voice. Carter heard none of it as she buried herself into her thoughts. Her notebook lay closed and untouched on her desk, her pencil buried in her bag.
As the class drew to the close something that a student asked drew Carter out of herself.
"Did you study politics?" someone asked.
Carter looked back, realizing that it was Link who had asked the question. Mr. Philips paused for a half a second then nodded.
"I did at Georgetown," he said.
Carter turned her attention back to her teacher.
"Were you ever part of an election campaign?" someone else asked.
Mr. Philips leaned against the white board, crossing his arms. Carter focused on him, studying his reaction and the touch of defensiveness in his posture.
"Yes, a few," he said. "Now let's get back to-"
"Who?" a girl cut in.
Mr. Philips shifted his stance, forcing nonchalance.
"A couple senators," he said.
He turned back to the white board, his shoulders tight with tension. Carter frowned. Before Mr. Philips could continue on, the same girl blurted out another question.
"Did you ever do more in politics than just help with campaigns?" she asked, leaning on the top of her desk.
Mr. Philips reluctantly turned back to the class, his features struggling to remain uncaring.
"Yes, I worked under a senator for a time before becoming a teacher," he said, the faintest edge to his words.
"Which-"
"Enough questions for now," Mr. Philips said, his voice controlled, but his look chilling.
The girl sank back into her chair, her curiosity reined in.
"Now, let me explain your homework. It's a research project, due in three weeks."
As Mr. Philips continued his explanation, Carter sat back watching him, but his manner quickly returned to his usual formal way. The bell rang and the classroom burst into movement. Link bypassed Carter, without a single glance, following Maddy out the door along with Donovan. Carter pulled her messenger bag over her head and stepped up to the front of the class. Mr. Philips looked up from his desk.
"You were blessedly silent today, Carter," he said. "You're not sick, are you?"
"No, not sick," she said.
Mr. Philips dropped his gaze and gathered up stacks of papers.
"Was there something you wanted?" he asked.
"Which senator did you work for?"
Mr. Philip's hands faltered before he continued neatening the piles.
"It's of no importance," he said.
Carter nodded and tucked her hands into her pockets.
"If you say so," she said.
He tensed. Carter turned away and headed out of the room. The hallways were slowly thinning as students dispersed to lunch. By the time she reached the chaos of the cafeteria, her thoughts had dragged her features down into a scowl. The noise of the room and the bombarding voices deepened the look. She scanned the crowd and found Link and Donovan seated at Maddy's table. Looks of pleasure coated the faces of Maddy's friends as they chatted eagerly with the impassive faced Donovan.
Carter moved off to a table across the room but still in sight of Link and Donovan. As she sat she found that she had no appetite, her thoughts souring her stomach. The empty spots beside her felt like gaping wounds. As she watched the ever changing scene before her, she racked her brain, trying to find a way to bridge the gap that she had made. Her thoughts were interrupted when a group of guys stopped in front of her table.
"You've managed to scare off another set of friends. Shocking," Lucas said.
Carter forced her features to relax into an unconcerned expression.
"How you haven't managed to scare off your friends with that horrendous excuse you call a face is the really shocking thing," she said, though she felt hollow as the words came out.
Laughter burst from the group of guys as Lucas's face twisted with rage.
"You know what, Owens," Lucas said, leaning in, pointing a finger at her.
Carter cut him off as she stood and shouldered her passengers bag.
"No, I don't know what and I don't care," she said, her voice tired.
She stepped over the bench and left the cafeteria, glancing back once to see that Donovan was watching her and Link turned his head away swiftly.
*****************
Outside the rain had given up and the clouds had slowly trudged on, leaving behind thin wisps of white and a setting sun. Rivers of left over rain drops slithered down the deli windows. Carter flicked her notebook closed and packed up her bag. Customers' conversations buzzed through the place, filling it with a warmth that snubbed the damp outside. As Carter moved to the counter, Maggie looked up.
"You heading off?" she asked.
Carter nodded and couldn't manage to pull up anything other than a blank expression.
"Hun, you sure you're okay?" Maggie asked.
She gave Carter a concerned look. The same look she had give Carter the last five times she asked that question since Carter had shown up.
"Yeah. Fine," Carter said.
Maggie eyed Carter with a worried expression but didn't press her. Instead she handed Carter two sandwiches. Carter tucked them into her bag and paid.
"See you tomorrow, girly," Maggie said, adding an extra note of affection into her voice.
"Okay," Carter said.
She pulled the door open, the bell giving a faint ding, and stepped out into the chill evening. A pebble bounced before her foot as she crossed the street and headed for the alley. In the distance a dog barked out a warning. Mist pelted her face. Behind her cars rushed by with a quick swoosh causing water to splash across the sidewalk. The air smelled of rain soaked pavement and waterlogged garbage.
Absentmindedly, Carter glided her fingers over the cold, metal trunk of a black car. She pulled her gaze up to her staircase and froze.
Two men in black suits stood at her front door.
**********************************************************************
Oh dearie me!
What is going to happen people? What is going on? I'm freaking out?! Oh my gosh it's the end of the world! *Runs around screaming, hits wall and blacks out*
Wow, is she dramatic or what? Moving on, is anyone else freaking out as well because I have paper bags. Let me know and I'll send them over.
Question time! This next inquire is by the splendid bookgirl190403: Are you a dog or cat person?
Answer: Dog because I love life. Now I'm not saying people who own cats don't love life, but let's face it, you own a pet that thinks its better than you and really couldn't care if you loved it or not! I know this is true because my sister owns a cat. I own a toy poodle who loves me completely and is a walking teddy bear. I think I have won!
Vote, comment, follow! What's you preference and don't let my rant sway you!