Sierra
Chapter eleven
“Ci Ci, it’s Wednesday, just today and then tomorrow and it’s sleepover day!” Sam says excitedly as she storms into my bedroom, jumping on the bed, bouncing up and down.
“Calm down for a minute, Sam,” I call out to her, as I reach out and frantically try to get her to sit still.
“I know you’re excited, but I need you to understand how important it is that you not say a word about Aunt Sarah not staying here.
If you let anything slip, they’ll call child services and split us up.
” I need her to understand the importance of it.
“I know, Ci Ci, and I’m not gonna say anything. Promise.” She holds out her pinky, which I interlock mine with.
“Okay, well, I spoke with Destiny’s mom last night and she asked if she could pick you up after school on Friday since she is also getting Felecia from school.
She plans to take y’all roller skating before heading home that night.
I told her she could.” Sam gets even more excited at this news and wildly bounces up and down on the bed again.
She ends up a little too close to the edge of the bed and falls over backward off it, hitting the floor with a thud.
When her little laughter fills the room, I know she’s okay, so I slowly get out of bed.
“Go get dressed. We need to be leaving here soon.” She bounds out of the room, rambling on about how excited she is, and my heart fills with warmth.
Seeing her happy being a kid makes me know all the nights I work at the club are worth it.
I drag my ass to the bathroom and go about getting ready for the day. Dread fills me at the thought of what’s coming my way today. What awful prank are they plotting to pull on me?
Forty minutes later, we’re both dressed and rushing out the door, barely making it to the bus stop on time for Sam to catch it.
I would’ve ended up late to school if I had to take her.
Mental note: set my alarm for twenty minutes earlier to ensure we make it without having to rush.
Hell, we may not have been cutting it so close to the wire if I hadn’t gone back to my room to pack an additional change of clothing in my backpack.
I’m going to be prepared for whatever attack on my clothing they have coming my way today.
The clothes Mr. Stevenson loaned me yesterday are also tucked away in my bag to give back to him, just as I promised. Looking on the bright side, doing a load of laundry last night saved me from having more than one to do this weekend. I took this as a win in the weekend chore category.
I wave goodbye to Sam as her bus leaves and heads down the road.
Now to rush to the bus stop to catch one myself.
Long ago, I learned the city bus was the best option for me to get to school.
That or walking. One too many times of being tripped on the bus, gum in my hair, clothing ruined, and the taunts from the other students taught me school transportation wasn’t for me.
When the bullying first began, I would question Sam daily, wanting to know if the same was being done to her.
I knew Savannah had a sister in elementary school, and I didn’t want their newfound hatred of me to seep down on her.
She swore to me it wasn’t, and she always seemed happy and spoke so fondly of her friends that I believed her. I just hope it stays that way.
Luck is on my side for once. I make it to the bus stop just as it’s pulling up. Stepping inside, I drop the change in the slot, and the bus driver, an older man in his sixties, gives me a sweet smile. His glasses are so low on his nose, I wonder how he sees anything out of them.
“Good morning, Sierra. How are you and that adorable sister of yours?”
“We’re good, Mr. Stanley. And yourself?”
“Can’t complain, I’m above ground and that’s always a good place to be,” he says, laughing at his joke.
“I guess it’s good then,” I say as I move down the aisle and drop in the empty seat two rows behind him.
Putting my earbuds in, I turn my barely working outdated iPod on and start listening to some of my mother’s favorite eighties songs. They always make me feel closer to her and calm my nerves, something I desperately need before ascending the steps of hell.
Dropping my head low, I take my first step onto school grounds.
The cliques have all formed in the spots they claimed on campus.
The front steps are where the popular kids rule before making their way into the building for the day.
I take my time and move up the steps, making sure to constantly scan the area for whatever curveball is coming my way.
I make it through homeroom and then on to Lit class, ignoring the insults thrown in my direction.
Those are easy to deal with; it’s the physical violence that I’m still adjusting to.
It's gotten worse over the last year, and I assume it’s because it’s the last year and they have to make my life pure hell.
I’m one of the first to make it inside the room and head straight to the back toward my desk in the corner.
It’s the perfect spot because I can see who's coming in and leaving the room, as well as keep any people from coming up behind me. I’ll take that as a win for me.
Deciding to take this moment to get ahead on my literature project, I start jotting down author names.
Ones I’ve read and loved and some that I just know of.
Between the two of us, we should be able to narrow down the list to the one we want to write about.
I’m so engrossed in my list I don’t even notice someone has stepped up beside me until I feel hot breath on my neck and the delicious scent of sandalwood.
I jump in my seat, nearly falling out of it, fearing what’s about to happen, and angry at myself for letting my guard down.
“Sierra, it’s me, Zander, are you okay? Fuck, I’m so sorry for scaring you,” he says, distress in his voice. But is it real or just for show? Just another cruel joke on me, pretending to care, then hitting me with more abuse.
“Yeah, you just caught me off guard. Wasn’t expecting anyone to get that close.” I straighten my body back in my seat, taking slow, deep breaths as I try to calm my racing heart.
“I see you’re already working on a list of authors.
Got my own list too. We should compare them and pick a winner.
” His white teeth sparkle when the light hits them as he speaks, but there’s something else sparkling in his mouth.
I thought I saw it on the first day of class, but now I know for sure; he definitely has his tongue pierced.
Some of the girls at school talk about how it feels when the guy has a tongue ring and goes down on them.
I wouldn’t know, and being the outcast of this school, no one is beating down my door to date me.
Not knowing what happened that night at Wesley’s, I’m not even sure how I would act if it ever came to me having sex.
Would flashbacks flood my brain and I start remembering, or would I panic and freeze up, unable to enjoy it?
I’ve masturbated, don’t get me wrong. Hell, I even went out and made a bold online purchase of a vibrator one week when I had some extra cash.
But it’s just me pleasuring myself, totally different than being with a guy.
“You already made a list?” I ask, a little shocked. It wasn’t something I expected, but I really shouldn’t make rash judgments, not knowing him.
“Yeah, I did. But I went a different way. Not wanting to follow the masses and pick the overused common authors.”
I let out a harumph at his words. Seriously. He doesn’t want to follow the masses, yet he is here at school.
“What’s so funny?” He raises his eyebrow in question.
“Nothing, just a thought. Not important.”
The bell rings and Mr. Blake clears his throat, attempting to gain the class' attention. When that doesn’t work, he shouts out, “Quiet!” The students instantly become quiet.
The only noise is the desks scraping on the floor as they move in them.
“Now that I have your attention, it’s time to get to work, and what better way than with a pop quiz on the reading assignment from last night?
Once you are done, bring your tests and place them face down on my desk and return to your seat and sit quietly.
” He has a pleased look on his face at our troubled ones and grunts of disapproval.
Why is it that all teachers take such great joy in pop quizzes, hell, tests in general?
He passes the tests out and when I get mine, I get to work, thankful I had done the reading.
I’m one of the first to finish, even after looking over my answers twice just to be sure I was happy with what I put.
Taking my time walking to the front, I pay close attention to where everyone’s body parts are, not wanting to be tripped, and place my test on Mr. Blake’s desk.
I’m able to make it back to my seat without any incidents and begin doodling in my notebook.
“Sierra… Sierra… Earth to Sierra.” I hear the words, but I still don’t respond, lost in my thoughts, until he places his hand on my arm and shakes it gently.
“What?” I know it comes out a little abrupt and harsh, but him talking to me without having to is keeping me on edge.
“Mr. Blake said we could take the last few minutes to work on our project before the bell. Weren’t you listening? I was saying we need to plan some time away from school to work on this project. I was just seeing if tonight or tomorrow was good.”
“Umm… No… I mean, I can't. I have to watch my sister.” Not a truth, but not a lie.
“Oh, well, how about I come over to your place?” Why is he being so persistent? There has to be a knife getting ready to be stabbed into my back.
“You can’t. I’m not allowed to have people over when no one’s home.” I squirm nervously in my seat, especially after letting it slip no one was home. Sam hates how I harp on her all the time not to let something slip, and here I am fucking up, letting it roll right off my tongue. Stupid! Stupid!
“How about you ask your mom if I can? She can even confirm with my father that I am an upstanding young man. We can stay in the living room and your sister can be our chaperone.” He chuckles as he speaks, his smile growing wide, displaying the most adorable dimples that make me feel some type of way.
Get it together, Sierra, you can’t fall for his charming lies. This is just a ploy to do something to you. He’s friends with Wesley and his psycho crew.
“My mom’s dead, it’s just my aunt, and she doesn’t allow anyone in the house when she isn’t there.
” She’s just never there; I omit that part.
My aunt is a fucking cougar, Zander is hot, and if she was there she’d be strutting around in her underwear, attempting to lure him to her bed.
I wonder if he would take the bite and join her?
I must catch him off guard because he stumbles over his words.
“I-I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Guess that Wes and his sheep left that detail out.
“But we really need to get together and work on this. I don’t do well under last-minute pressure with assignments.
I’m more of a get it done kind of guy. How about Friday?
Does she work? Can you stay after school and go to the library or something?
” I can hear the frustration in his voice at my reluctance to meet with him and his smile turns into a frown.
“No, I have to work- but how about Saturday morning? There’s this coffee shop on Main Street, Nothing But Bean, we can meet there at ten. How’s that?” His frown quickly turns back into a wide smile that reaches his eyes.
“Fuck yeah, sounds good. Need me to pick you up?”
“No, I'll meet you there.”
The bell rings and I gather my things and hurry out of the class, not wanting to give Zander the chance to ask any more questions.
One class down, “I can do this. I can do this,” I mentally tell myself, giving myself a pep talk to make it through the rest of the day.
I’ve barely made it down the hallway when someone grabs hold of my arm and pulls me sideways, causing me to stumble into them, before turning my body and shoving me forward through the door.
I try to catch myself, but it doesn’t work and I end up falling onto the bathroom floor, barely missing the stall.
“It’s time we had a chat, bitch!” Savannah sneers at me before kicking me in the stomach. “You’re to stay away from the new boys. I’ve already seen how you’re trying to worm your way into their good graces using that disease riddle pussy of yours.”
“I haven’t done anything,” I cry out, using my hand to cover my head as I cower in a ball, trying to protect myself.
“Whatever. Janet overheard you begging him to come to your nasty apartment.”
“That’s a lie. We have to meet to work on a project,” I yell, just as she kicks me again.
“Just stay away from them, slut,” she shrieks, before turning on her heels and stomping out of the room, with her cronies in step behind her.
Sitting up, I lean my head back against the cool stall door and pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my hands around them.
Fuck, I just wish I knew what the hell I did to turn everyone against me.
Dropping out and getting a GED is looking better and better every day.
Because this is hell. I’m smart. If I could pass the test, then I could work during the day as well as at night and earn more money to pay for the lawyer I’ll need to get custody of Sam.
The blaring of the bell pulls me from my thoughts and now I’m late for class. Perfect!