His problematic mate

Chapter 3

The next day, I managed to stay at home with the excuse of a bad stomach and I told mom that I was sitting on the toilet for hours, so she let me stay at home for the day. The day after, though, I needed to go to school again, whatever I tried.

I was terrified of what would happen to me once I stepped into school, but then I decided to go to Collin myself and apologise to him before he came to me to take revenge. Hopefully, he would forgive me and he would forget about all of it, but I knew that it was impossible. If things were different and the whole school wasn’t present when I pushed him and he fell, then maybe, but sadly, that wasn’t the case, so I was totally doomed. If things take a really bad turn, I can still turn to the principal for help. He was Collin’s father after all and we are buddies… kind of, so I was sure he would help me if I asked.

I made my way towards the school reluctantly, like I was going to my execution. I got to school too early even though I walked really slow.

Students glared at me, but they didn’t say anything to me at that time. I mean I was sure they talked about me, but not to my face. They were whispering to each other, but none of them dared to say anything to me, which was a first. They all stood aside as I walked by, not daring to come close to me, and I didn’t mind it, but I didn’t really understand why either. Okay… I understood why… because I pushed the bad boy like he weighted nothing with my skinny hands. I still didn’t understand how I managed to do that.

The first thing I wanted to do as soon as I walked into the building was to look for Collin. I walked to all the places he used to hang out with his friends, but he wasn’t there. The strange thing was that I didn’t see his brother, Ricky, either.

“Raya Stone, please come to the principal’s office.” Someone said into the loudspeaker and I furrowed my eyebrows while thinking about why I needed to go there, but then my eyes widened when I realised what I had done two days ago.

I pushed the principal’s son and he fell and hit his head on the wall. That was probably the reason why he wanted to see me.

Students were watching me while I made my way upstairs, but I just tried to ignore them. At least they weren’t insulting me or laughing at me like they used to, which I was glad about. Maybe they were really afraid of me.

I knocked on the door of the principal’s office and he called me in.

“Good morning.” I said timidly while I closed the door behind me.

“Good morning, Raya. Please sit down.” He said and watched every move that I made. “Are you okay?” He asked as he looked at me closely with a worried expression on his face and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“Yes, I am fine.” I said.

“Why didn’t you come to school yesterday? Did Collin hurt you or threaten you?” He asked and my eyes widened.

“What? Why would he?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well, I heard what happened in the corridor the other day, so I assumed he was bullying you.” He said.

In one part, it was true, he messed with my lunch for fun, but should I snitch on him to his dad?

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to see if you were alright.” He added when I didn’t answer and then stopped talking, but he looked like he wanted to say more.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter anymore?” I asked him in confusion.

“Well, I had enough of his behaviour so I sent him to a private school with his brother yesterday.” He said and my eyes widened.

“What? But he… actually I was the one who pushed him… he never touched me.” I didn’t know why I started defending him, but I didn’t want his dad to punish him like that. Maybe because I knew that he would hate me even more when he came back and he would want to take revenge.

“Don’t worry, I planned to do that anyway, but because he didn’t want to go, I was thinking about letting him stay, but after he was sent here again the other day , I decided to ignore his pleads and send him anyway. Hopefully it will do good to him and he will learn not to use his p… to use his brain next time.” He changed his words at the last moment and I wondered what he really wanted to say.

“Oh, okay.” I just said and started fidgeting with my fingers. “How long does he need to stay there?” I asked him nervously.

“For two years,” he said, and my eyes widened. Two years? He would definitely kill me when he came back. Hopefully, he will forget about me by that time. I would be out of school anyway.

“Oh.” I just said and felt bad even more. Especially if it was true that he was defending me when he burnt that paper.

“I wanted to ask you something, though. Something is not clear. Collin said… that you pushed him and I am sure he deserved it, but he said that you pushed him with an …inhuman strength.” He said while he hardly found the right words.

“Well… I don’t know what happened… I was very angry at him and I don’t know what came over me. Suddenly, I felt powerful, like I got a power boost and I… I pushed him. I am sorry. I wanted to apologise to him the first thing today , but I couldn’t find him. Now I know why.” I told him timidly. I trusted him, so I told him what had happened. Not what Collin did, but what I did to him. Maybe he had some idea about what was wrong with me.

“Alright. Did something like that happen before? Did you feel that powerful before?” He asked and I shook my head.

“Never.” I said.

“How old are you exactly?” He asked.

“I will be sixteen in a few weeks,” I told him.

“Can I ask you about your parents?” He asked and I looked at him strangely, but I still answered.

“It’s only my mom. I have never met my dad.” I said and he nodded his head with a thoughtful expression on his face. He wanted to ask more, but he didn’t and I was grateful about that.

“If something like that happens again or if you notice anything strange about yourself, please come to me and I will try to help.” He said gently and I nodded my head.

“Thank you. It’s really nice of you,” I said with a smile. I trusted him. He was the only person aside from my mom who used to make time to talk to me and who also listened to what I had to say. He was a fair principal and I really liked him.

“No problem at all.” He smiled back at me.

“Can you please tell Collin that I was sorry for pushing him? Was he very mad?” I asked worriedly.

“Alright, but don’t worry about him. He is always mad. He will calm down. Now just go to class and don’t forget to come to me if anything happens , alright? Anything.” He said and I nodded my head before I stood up.

“Okay, but do you know what’s wrong with me? Do you have any idea?” I asked and he let out a sigh.

“I do, but I don’t want to assume things. Maybe it was nothing. It just got my interest because I have never seen Collin being so… surprised.” He said with a half chuckle and I nodded my head in understanding. I was surprised too.

“Alright, I will get going then. Have a nice day, sir.” I said with a smile and he smiled back at me.

“You too, Raya.” He said, and I left the office and went to attend my first class, which had already started.

“I hope the Alp… I mean the principal punished her accordingly.” I heard Kenzie’s quiet voice as I was walking to my seat.

“I am sure he did.” Her friend Ella whispered back as I sat down at the back. Everyone was looking at me scornfully and I almost rolled my eyes. If I was the one that someone pushed, which happened several times before, they would just laugh at me and praise the person who pushed me. Sad, right?

“Alright class, pay attention.” The teacher said and I couldn’t help but look at Collin’s empty seat.

I should have been relieved that he wasn’t here to take revenge on me, but instead I felt strange about his absence. Maybe because I knew that he wouldn’t forget what had happened. But then again, I was a nobody. Why would he remember me after two years just because I pushed him for being mean to me? He would be more mature by then and he would care about different things and he would forget all about me. That thought felt strange for me for some reason, but it calmed me as well. At least I would be left alone.

The day went by uneventfully and strangely, nobody dared to bully me anymore. Of the two kinds of groups of students, they became one because they witnessed me pushing Collin. They were kind of afraid of me, so they were just whispering when they saw me or avoided me , which I didn’t mind at all. At least I was left alone and if I knew that pushing someone would scare them away from disturbing me all the time, then I would have done it earlier.

“Hi mom.” She was already at home when I got back from school.

“Hi sweetie. How was school?” She asked and I stopped for a moment and looked at her.

“It was good.” I told her with a smile and she grinned at me happily. I had never told her that before. I always say that ‘it was okay’ or ‘just the usual’, but today nobody disturbed me, so it was actually a good day.

“That’s great, sweetie. I told you you would get used to it eventually. Did you make friends?” She asked excitedly and I shook my head with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Not exactly, but nobody bothered me today. I had a calm day and it was really refreshing.” I told her honestly.

Mom was my best and only friend, so I used to tell her everything, but after I saw how hurt she was from the fact that her precious daughter had been bullied, I left out the details and my feelings about the situation and tried to act like I didn’t care.

“That’s good, I guess. You have two more years left at this school and I am sure everything will be great in college.” She said and I looked at her while I shook my head at her.

“But mom, I want to work and help you with our expenses. I don’t want to go to college.” I told her for the hundredth time.

“Yes, and you can do that after college. You are very smart Raya. You will get a scholarship, so you need to go,...” She said, but then after seeing my expression she added.. “but if you want to work that badly, after you graduate I will look for a parttime job for you next to college, but only if you will be able to work and study as well.” She said and that was good enough for me.

I smiled at her and went to hug her tightly. “Thanks, mom.” I said and we pulled away.

“No problem, honey, but you have two more years of high school, so make the most of it. Make friends and enjoy yourself because as soon as you start college and working, you won’t have time for anything else.” She said and I nodded my head in agreement, while my smile hadn’t faded.

“Of course, Mom.” I said and she turned to go to the kitchen, but stopped and turned back to me.

“Oh, one more thing. If I let you work, I have a request as well.” She said, and I didn’t like where this was going.

“What is it?” I asked her carefully and her expression was serious.

“I know we already talked about this and you refused it right away, but I want you to learn self defence, Raya. I would be more relaxed if I knew that you could defend yourself. Especially if you want to work.” She said with a worried expression on her face which I hated to see on her, so I let out a sigh in defeat and nodded my head.