After school, I was now pulling up in front of Mary Anne’s house and thankfully she allowed me to come over since so much drama has happened to me today. My right cheek still ached and I felt like someone just ripped out my heart. I lost everything, my trust and friendship in Dean, my supposed relationship with Kale, and his friends liking towards me. It all just turned out to be one big lie and my insecurity ghost strangely wasn’t here to say, “I told you so.”
Sighing, I parked my car, took out my car keys, and opened the door. As soon as I closed the door behind me and went to throw my keys into my backpack, something went off inside me. Suddenly, tears slowly fell from my eyes and I felt all of the pain overcome me.
I tried to comfort myself by taking deep breaths and wiping my tears, it only worked halfway for the paining feeling was still uncomfortably strong. After throwing my car keys into my backpack, I zipped it up and walked towards Mary Anne’s house.
As soon as I made it on the porch, the door swung open. “Oh you poor thing,” Mary said sadly as she glanced at me, “come here.” And with that, I stepped closer to her until she was embracing me. Strangely, I didn’t cry again since the hug was actually comforting.
After she released me, I stepped inside of her house and she closed the door behind me. Turning to me she smiled, “Would you like some Peppermint Tea dear?”
“Yes please,” I said politely as I walked over to her comfortable beige sofa.
Mary Anne nodded at this and followed me as she called, “Gregory can you please spare me two cups of Peppermint Tea?”
“Of course, it’ll be ready in a jiffy!” Gregory called back.
After her husband replied, Mary Anne sat in her usual seat and faced me with a reassured smile. I smiled back, thankful that I felt actually better now. “So, is everything okay? If it isn’t, you can talk about it when Gregory is done getting our tea.”
“No it’s okay,” I replied to her as I shook my head. “Can we talk about it now?” I really wanted this day to just get off of my shoulders already and even if I was feeling a bit better, it still pulled me down.
“That’s fine, go ahead,” She said with a nod, “I won’t interrupt you.”
“Okay,” I told her with a sigh and then I continued, “I found out that my boyfriend Kale was having an affair with my um…chemistry teacher on the night of the dance. The next day, I found out that my close friend Dean knew about it too so I felt really betrayed and then Kale found out that I knew and threatened me to not tell anyway. He even slapped me which is shocking and it get worse, he was only dating me so he could keep his relationship with Mrs. Rial a secret.”
Mary Anne looked at me and once again, she didn’t look at all shocked. Instead, she leaned over and put her hand on my knee. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry about Kale. He seems like a jerk and this must mean you’re getting closer to find out what human your insecurity ghost created.”
As soon as she said this, I suddenly thought of something. “Is it Kale? I mean, he tricked me and played with my insecurities—
“It might be,” She told me with a nod, “however, you cannot always be sure. Usually, when they have found them, they’ll know for sure. Do you?”
“Well, he is a jerk but I don’t know if he really is a ghost that my insecurities created,” I explained to her. “I mean, when you said that they play tricks on you, it’s what Kale did to me.”
“Hmm, well dig deeper honey. Find out why he started to date your teacher, I cannot honestly tell you if it’s him or not but I can tell you this: this isn’t easy, they are tricks along the way, and no one is to be trusted.”
“Does this mean I can’t trust Dean?” I asked her quietly with a sigh. I didn’t want to not trust him which is stupid because he obviously cares about Kale more than me but—
“It all depends really, you just have to dig deeper. Find out who told Dean and why he didn’t tell you; find out why Kale is dating your teacher. Did he ask her out or did she? How did this all start? When you find the answer to these questions, you’ll unlock the key,” Mary Anne informed with a smile.
Before I could respond, Gregory arrived with the two cups of tea and as I thought to myself, I figured that Mary Anne was right. After all, she is a survivor. I need to do a little mystery solving and then I could finally defeat my insecurity ghost since I would have obtained the key.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Around lunch the next day, I made a plan to follow Dean. Thankfully, he got the gist and didn’t speak to me at all because I didn’t want him finding out about the plan. Sighing, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I peeked around the lockers. I saw Dean walking the opposite direction towards the Boys’ restroom.
When he was far enough away from me, I followed him making sure that I was quiet as possible. As I walked, I was ecstatic that were some people roaming the halls so he most likely wouldn’t catch me.
As soon as he entered the boys’ restroom, I knelt by the door and listened to their conversation. “…There you are!” I heard Scott saying. “Why have you been avoiding us?”
“Because I have,” Dean replied his voice strained and hurt. “I—
“Dean, get over it! McKenzie found out so what?” Kale snapped furiously. “She’s not going to say a word.”
“That’s not why I am upset,” He murmured, “I am an ass.”
“What?” Austen asked confused.
“You heard me!” Dean shot at him angrily. “I never wanted to be a part of this! I hate that you all make Kale date girls just so you won’t tell on him, it’s stupid! I would’ve told on you guys a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you Mister Brave?” Austen asked with a laugh. “Why, oh wait because of your Dad huh. You’re such a weak piece of s—
“Enough!” Scott hollered over him. “Dean, I know how you feel but you cannot say anything, Kale’s our friend.”
“Not until he started dating Mrs. Rial and not until he became a jerk,” Dean said angrily, “And not until he…broke McKenzie’s heart!”
“Oh that’s what this is about,” Austen told him with a rude laugh. “That girl means nothing to us Dean; she’s nothing but an ugly and gullible fool. Why do you care about her so much?”
Kale laughed, “Are you serious right now? Did he actually--?”
“Never mind about my feelings!” Dean exclaimed suddenly furious than ever before. “It’s none of your business, she was my friend! She was there for me and still tried to be my friend even though I have a crappy father. She even helped me when I got hurt and—
“Dean, calm down,” Scott informed with a reassuring tone. “I know how much it hurts, but it’s over now. You’re going to have to move on.”
“I…can’t, I’m out.”
“What? You’re not out, Dean!” Kale scoffed with an evil laugh. “I beat you up so many times and you never told anyone about me and my girlfriend.”
“It’s not that,” Dean said to him. “It’s because of—
“Your father?” Austen guessed.
He sighed, “Yes.”
“Well, fine then,” Kale sighed. “Father or whatever at least you’re still in and since you are, you get to pick on which girl I should date next.”
“What? But I never did that!” Dean gasped. “I’m going to either!
“Ugh, he’s so stubborn!” Austen complained with an annoyed sigh. “Scott, can you beat him up this time?”
“I never beat him up,” Scott sighed, “And I’m not going too, he’s just in a lot of pain right now.”
“I don’t want to be a part of this,” Dean wailed quietly. “Please!”
“Get over it man!” Kale and Austen yelled at him together.
“I’m an ass”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Scott asked with a clueless tone.
“Don’t you get Scott,” He responded to him. “This is wrong!”
“I’m going to beat you up if you keep complaining,” Austen sighed. “Gosh, he’s so annoying. Mrs. Rial obviously has a thing for him and she asked him out first.”
“Yeah,” Scott agreed sighing. “Mrs. Rial kept flirting with him out of the blue and they fell in love, simple as that. Love isn’t wrong.”
“It’s not love!” Dean disagreed loudly. “Mrs. Rial is married!”
“She never talks about her husband so why should I care?” Kale wondered.
Dean gasped, “Kale—
“Ugh, I’m so done with you GET OVER IT!” Austen exclaimed loudly with an annoying scoff. “That’s it!” And with that, I heard him punches, screaming, and kicks.
“NO! I will not get over it! I’m out of here!” Dean shouted furiously his voice sounded so sad that I realized quickly that he was crying.
“You’re going to give up everything for that ugly and gullible fool and for your guilt?” Austen asked. “I’ll give you another black eye for that!” I heard another, shout, scream, and punch but this time it was different.
“That’s right, I can fight back,” Dean said painfully. “Look, Kale, Austen, and Scott, I’m done. I’m sorry, but I’m done. I’m not going to stand here and let you guys plan on using another girl, just no. McKenzie was a nice girl, guys. She didn’t deserve that okay, she was already getting bullied, you—
“No one cares about her!” Austen interrupted. “Have I not made myself clear?”
“You have but I didn’t choose to listen,” Dean snapped at him.
“If you leave Dean, then fine,” Scott with an annoyed sigh, “but you cannot tell anyone about this.”
“I can’t do that,” Dean said.
“Then be less observant,” Austen told him, “like you did with McKenzie—
“Shut up!” Dean shouted at him, “Don’t you dare—
“I thought you were leaving,” Kale laughed. “Oh and if you tell anyone, I’ll make your Dad does it to you again tonight.”
“What?” Dean asked in shock his voice suddenly turning more quiet and full of fear.
“You know what,” Kale chuckled evilly.
I ran away from the restroom and towards a nearby corner just as soon as Dean walked out, his face bruised and left eye swollen shut. I noticed that there were tears in his eyes as he walked away from the scene.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lying across my bed, I thought about what happened at lunch. It’s pretty obvious that Dean isn’t part of this but for Kale and Austen I wasn’t so sure. I couldn’t believe how cruel Austen and Kale were and Scott was just dramatized by the entire thing. It didn’t really make sense at all, how could they not see the picture?
Then, something came to me: Mrs. Rial is the one who made her moves on Kale, not the other way around. Why would she flirt with him at all? How did she feel? Suddenly, everything seemed so off about everything. That’s when I knew I had to talk to Mrs. Rial, but I needed to do something first.
Getting out of my bed, I grabbed my car keys which I left in my backpack and my cell phone pocketing them both. Opening the door, I suddenly saw both of my parents walking towards me. My mom laughed, “We were actually going to talk to you.”
“Oh,” I said with a nod knowing exactly, “okay.”
“Honey, I apologize for putting work in front of you,” Dad said apologetically. “It’s just been so stressful on us the past months.”
I smiled and tossed him a brief hug. “It’s okay Dad, I forgive you.”
“Great,” My Dad smiled. “So maybe the three of us can have a movie night this Saturday?”
“Yes, that sounds nice,” I nodded.
“Okay, it’s settled. Now we have to work, but if you need us, the door will now always be open,” My mom told me as she planted a kiss on my cheek.
And with that, the two of them departed to their rooms. Turning back, I headed down the hallway and towards the garage. Taking out my keys, I unlocked my car and hopped into the driver’s seat as I did so. Buckling up, I started the engine and backed out of the driveway and onto the road.
As I was driving, I decided my insecurities and I should have a little chat. “Nice try, but I’m going to figure this out sooner or later. I’m real close.”
No answer.
“I already know that Dean isn’t the human you created for sure so I’m one step closer,” I continued. “You can’t bring me down any longer.”
No answer.
I smiled, no answer meant that I was right and she couldn’t stop me. Well, at least not yet anyway.
I finally approached the place I was searching for Dean’s house. I was still a bit angry with him for not telling me, but now that I understood not so much anymore. Besides, he needs me right now so that can wait. Parking the alongside the sidewalk, I turned off the engine and threw my keys in my pocket.
Once I got out of the car, I marched to the side of Dean’s house and since it was way bigger than mine, it was hard to see where Dean’s room was. However, I could tell by the faint sound of Skrillex’s coming from the left side window. I looked around to see a nearby tree and I climbed onto it. As I climbed up, I ignored the feeling of the old wood scratching my skin and focused on not falling.
When I finally reached the top, his room wasn’t too far away and I could actually see him. He had his headphones on, an ice pack on his face, and he was lying across his bed. I couldn’t tell if he was upset or not because he looked motionless. Was he asleep? Sighing, I told myself he probably was so I stood up and climbed onto a skinnier branch which leads straight to his window.
I was kind of scared; I was very high off the ground about ten-fifteen feet. As I climbed slowly, I heard the sound of bark breaking. I panicked and immediately climbed briskly until I reached his window. I struggled to open it as I did and the branch broke. Screaming, I jumped off of the branch and hung onto the window as the skinny branch fell to the floor.
Now, I was terrified because I didn’t have a very good grasp around the window. Thankfully, Dean must have heard me because he took his ice pack off and his headphones. Once he saw me, he looked shocked and immediately opened the window. “What the hell McKenzie?”
“Hi to you too,” I murmured with a fearful tone. “Can you help me up please before I die?”
Dean laughed at this which didn’t make any sense because I literally almost died, but that was Dean for you. He reached for me and pulled me up as he wrapped his arms around my waist. Once I was inside of his room, he released me and I looked around. His room is kind of messy with a few clothes and wrappers on the floor, but it wasn’t too bad. He also had Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Zedd, and Ellie Goulding posters all over his walls.
“So what are you doing here?” Dean asked me as he raised his eyebrow. “I thought we weren’t talking.”
“What happened to your eye?” I wondered ignoring his question and suddenly his face fell.
“I…I’m out,” He informed me. “I’m not going to stand by Kale anymore while he tries to pick out more girls. I’m sorry, McKenzie that I didn’t tell you. I didn’t like at all from the beginning, but you’re still my friend, I should have told you.”
I sighed, “Why didn’t you? Why care about Kale more than me?”
“To be honest, I was just terrified of him,” Dean whispered softly as he stared at the floor. “He was a nice guy until he started to date Mrs. Rial. He suddenly became vicious and starting beating on me like a punching bag. I guess I let him get in the way of people who I care about.”
I nodded, “I see.”
“But it’s over,” He said finally looking at me, “I’m done with them.”
“Are you going to tell someone?” I asked him as I crossed my arms.
“I want too but—
“Your father,” I whispered so quietly that he didn’t hear me. Louder I asked, “Dean, what does your father do?”
“What?”
“Does your father hit you?”
Suddenly, Dean’s mood darkened, “McKenzie, please stop.”
“He does, doesn’t he? Is this why you won’t tell anyone?”
He didn’t answer for a minute and I thought that he was upset with me but then he suddenly took off his shirt which shocked me. Turning his back towards me, I gasped in horror. He had several scars and bruises scattered everywhere on his back. “He does,” Dean murmured sighing, “but I can’t do anything about it. I’m just glad my mother and May aren’t here to—
He paused and then he turned to me, his swollen black eye looked a bit better but when I saw his tears, it looked even worse. He immediately wiped his tears, “I can’t tell anyone about Kale okay! My Dad will hurt me if this shows up on the school board or in the news.”
I walked up to Dean and without thinking; I wrapped my arms around his bare chest tossing him a hug. He hugged me back, not even daring to let go. “Dean, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say, but I know this. Things will get better, trust me.”
No reply.
“Dean, do you trust me?”
“Yes,” He whispered into my ear softly, “I do and I’m sorry I-
“I know, I know. Don’t worry about it; I know just what to do.”