Ruining Me (29 page)

I shrug my shoulders and sit
at
the desk.  Mrs. Davis starts class as soon as the bell rings.  My thoughts run wild about why Coach Branch looked so angry outside the classroom.  I can’t figure out what he wants from me.  My mind drifts and before I know it the bell rings. 
JT
is waiting outside the door.

“What did he want
JT
?
”
 

“I don’t know any more Jay.  Lately all h
e does is ride my ass about you and threaten
my scholarship chances if I don’t leave you alone.  I swear he acts like he’s your Dad or something.” 
JT
looks upset. 

“Can he really take away your
scholarships
?”

“Hell no, I’ll earn
them
for my
athletic
ability
alone.  The
re are
some guys that he
will be the only reason they get a full ride to college, but not me.  I just don’t understand what his problem is.” 

I swallow hard and turn away walking to my next class.  He catches up to me and slides his hand into mine. 
Glancing down a
t our intertwined fingers
I w
atch
as he
lifts our joined hands and kisse
s
the
m
. 

“
It’s y
ou and me against the world Jay.  The way it always should have been.”  He looks at me. 

Smiling at him we arrive to my next class, but before we go in I look up to see Rhye walking into class.  
JT
looks at him and actually smiles.

“Hey Rhye.”  He lifts his head in greeting.  Rhye nods his head back and looks at me.

“Morning Jay.”  He sm
iles at me and wal
ks into class, not waiting for me to respond
. 

JT
surprises me because I didn’t expect him to be so friendly to Rhye.  I give
him a puzzled look on my face.  He
shrugs
his shoulders at me.

“He called me to come get you.  I would almost say other than you right now, he’s my favorite person.  Believe me, I never thought I’d ever say that
,” h
e comments with a laugh
as I walk into class shaking my head.

When lunch period finally arrives, I walk down to the cafeteria with JT.  Molly and Reed wer
e
already
sitting
at our table
when we
sit down.  M
ore people join us, just like this morning in the parking lot.
  Most of the guys are talking about the game tonight and the other half are talking about the party. 

“Did you bring that hot dress
for tonight
Jay?”  Molly ask
ed
.

“Yeah, it’s in
JT
’s truck. 
I’ll get it this
afternoon.”  My conversation must have caught
JT
’s attention because he stopped talking to one of his players and turned to me.

“Don’t let me forget to get my phone out of my truck.  I could have sworn I brought in with me this morning
, but it’s not in my pocket
.” 
 

“Ok
.
” He leans down and kisses my mouth sweetly and everyone at the table groans.  All the sudden we are hit with a
battalion of French Fries. 

Reed yells, “Get a room!”

JT
just smiles at me and whisper
s
, “I plan to.” 

After lunch
,
I walk with Molly and Reed to Art class because
JT
has to go get ready for the pep rally.  We are getting ready to start a new project so we all
are
in
the same
group.   Molly ask
ed
me
about last night and I share with her.  Reed just ignores us. 
It’s nice to have her back to talk to.

Before class is over my phone buzzes with a text message.

JT
– Need to talk to you.  Meet me in science lab after class during pep rally.  Don’t tell anyone. 

He must have found his phone.  I wonder why he wants to talk with me.  Hearing my name I turn around when the bell rings.

“Jay are you coming to the pep rally with us?”  Molly asked.

“I forgot to get something out of
my locker
.  Go ahead, I’ll meet you guys there.  Okay?”

Molly nods her head and I head over to the silence lab.  Everyone around me is heading toward
s the gym for the pe
p rally.  I walk directly to my locker to waste some time and arrange the contents.  When the final bell rings and the hallways are vacant, I walk towards the silence lab. 

I open the door
to the lab
and it closes behind me.  They’re several exit doors propped open leading into the room.  It’s not that private, but I’m guessing
JT
is figuring that all the students and staff will be in the gym. Walking into
the room
,
I lay my book bag
down
on a work station.

Hearing footsteps
,
I turn around
thinking I’ll
see
JT
, but it’s not him.  Coach Branch stands behind me. 
I guess I now
k
now who has
JT
’s phone
, because it’s in his hand
. 
His face is contorted
with
anger. 

“You stupid whore. Really Jay, you think I’m going to let him have what’
s mine?
  I don’t think so.”  He walks toward me and I back up. 

Hysteria rises in me, but I know I can’t panic right now.  “What’s yours?”  I look at him.

“You Jay.  You might have shared yourself all over town the
se
last two years, but at least you weren’t giving it to him.  I’ve never liked that little shit.  Actually, you being a little loose has really helped me out Jay.  I mean who would ever believe a drug addict whore over this school’s star coach
,
loving husband and father
?  No one Jay.  No one would ever be
lieve you.”  He laugh
s
and look
s
down at
my body.

“I’ve never told anyone.  I never plan to.”  My voice shook with tears and terror.

“Oh, I’m not talking about that.  I’m talking about how I’m going to take that little body again and again.  I’ve been missing you Jay.  You
throw my notes away and ignore me.  That hurts me and it makes me angry.  I’m already going to have to punish you for your sins.”

My head jerked up at his comment.  “Punish me?”  I step further away from him and he advance
s
on me. 

“Yes Jay.  Maybe you think I’m stupid, but I assure you I’ve been one step ahead of you this whole time.  I guessed right away why you weren’t in school that month after we were together.  Did you kill my baby Jay?”

The color left my face and I almost fainted.  He rushed forward and grabbed me toward him.  I knew better than to fight him off.   He enjoyed it too much. 

“You did
,
didn’t you?   Why you little murderer.  What would
your perfect boyfriend
JT
think about that?
”

“Let me go,” I said in a whisper.  “I’ll tell everyone.  If you don’t let me go, I promise that I will.”

He chuckle is evil.  “Go ahead.  I really don’t think anyone would believe you.  I’ll just tell them how you threw yourself at me for years.  I’ve already mentioned to my wife how you constantly flirt with me.  She will share that with anyone I tell her to. Really Jay, you should have told when it happened.  You didn’t tell though did you?  Maybe you liked it
.
”

Something in me snapped and I push his chest back with all my strength. 
Slapping his face hard
,
I can se
e the surprise
.  I scream
in
his face and push him
hard
again.

“You Bastard, what do you think I liked?  That you raped me in a gym closet and then got me pregnant so t
hat I had to have an abortion.  That you ruined me for my boyfriend and my friends
?
  You took it all awa
y from me and then you continue
to harass me for years.  What the fuck do you think I liked about any of that?  I swear to all that’s holy that if you come near me again I will tell everyone.  I don’t care if
anyone belie
ves me.  I
will not
stop talking about it until your own kids grow up.”

I push him one more time away from me for good.  “Do not come near me.”  Grabbing
JT’s phone out of his hand, I pick up
my book bag
to
walk out
. 
I’m breathing hard and I walk toward the gym.  It’s over with him.  Please God let it be over. 

The noise from the pep rally is loud and I
can hear
the
cheers
when they call
JT
to the stage. 
M
iss
Kell runs into me as soon as I walk into the gym door.  “James
, w
here have you been?  When
I didn’t see you
or him
in the gym I started to panic.”

“I’m okay M
iss
Kell.” 

She looked at my face and frowned.  “You don’t look okay.”

“I am now.  Trust me.”  I walk around her and into the gym just in time to see
JT
walk onto the stage.

Finding a seat on
th
e front bleacher
,
I try to calm myself. 
JT
is looking over the crowd for me.  When he finally spots me he smiles and starts talking
into the microphone
.

“Who wants to beat some Jaguars tonight?”  Everyone goes crazy yelling
, “YES!”
  “For those of us
who are
seniors, this will be our last year playing high school football.  We need to take it as far as we can and I believe that’s all the way to
S
tate!”  Again everyone claps and yells.

“You know I’m going to play my heart out for you guys
tonight
especially for my girl Jay.”  He looks directly at me and smiles.  “So let’s go out there and leave it all on the field.  Let’s go Bulldogs!”  Everyone stands up to cheer.  He walks off the stage and heads directly
to
me.
  I see that
Cal
is getting up to speak now, but I don’t get to hear him because of JT.

“What is wrong
J
ay?  Your face is white as snow.  I know when something is wrong
,
so please just tell me.” 

“If I tell you that everything is fine
,
would you please just drop it?  I swear that if you’ll do that, tomorrow I will tell you everything I can.”

He looked at me and
asked
, “Everything Jay?”

I nod back to him. 
“
Everything I possibly can without hurting
too many people.  Okay?”  Nodding he move
s
to sit beside me on the b
leacher
.  “Are you not going back to sit with your team?”