The Wright One

ISABELLE

I am a little irritated with Alex Saxon at the moment. What the hell is his issue with me? I didn’t do anything to him. Why the hell does he keep trying to piss me off? Does he have something against my family or is he just a jerk in general?

Luna looks up at me with those shy eyes. “What can I help you with Luna?” Right now I need to focus on Luna, she obviously has a problem and she wants my help. Keeping my own anger in check is just fine. I guess that is what I learned teaching the little kids. There is a time and place for anger, but never in a classroom.

“Um.” She shuffles from foot to foot almost like she is hopping.

“It’s ok, Luna. You can tell me anything.” I try to give her a reassuring smile. I want her to be able to confide in me if something is bothering her. That is why I am here after all. I want to make a difference.

She takes a deep breath. “I have a problem.”

“Ok, you can tell me, maybe we can work it out together.” I am trying to be a friend to her. That is what is going to get her to open up to me. I can tell that she is scared and I want to eliminate that.

She takes a seat in the chair next to my desk. She still seems really nervous. Grabbing her bag like it is her lifeline and she will simply be too vulnerable if she lets it go. She looks down at the ground rather than looking at me when she starts talking.

“The reason I am in this class is because I ran away.” I really didn’t see that in this girl. She seems like she maybe just had too much going on. Like too many classes or something. Or pressure from her parents. Not that she would run away.

I nod, not really sure where this is going, but I am here to help. “Sometimes we have to step away from a situation to see it clearly.” I am hoping this helps. But without knowing the whole situation I can’t really say much.

She shakes her head. “It wasn’t like that. My parents are great and really understanding. It wasn’t their fault that I ran away.” Now I have no idea.

I try to keep myself relaxed. But I kind of feel a little on edge. “Do you want to tell me why?” I am hoping this isn’t a forceful nudge and just something gentle.

She nods. “I’m really embarrassed. I’m not sure if I am just being a baby about it or if it is really a problem.”

“Hey,” I make sure she looks up at me. “If it bothers you then you aren’t being a baby about it. You are taking care of yourself. You are never a baby to protect yourself. If it makes you uncomfortable enough to run away then it is something to be concerned about.”

She nods and it looks like she is ready to cry, but she pushes on, forcing her tears away. “Last year this boy started to pick on me. He’s really popular and everyone thought it was funny. Like it was all some joke. I didn’t like it. I asked him to stop, but then he kind of changed. Like it was more like flirting. I didn’t understand it. I’m not even sure if it was flirting or if it was just another way to tease me. My friend said it was flirting. I didn’t like it. Then one day after school, I was finishing up a project in the library and he cornered me there. He kissed me. I told him that I didn’t want that, but he said that it didn’t matter. I said I would tell everyone and he said that no one would believe me. So I ran away. I didn’t know what else to do.” I think reliving it for me might have been too much for her because now the tears are falling.

“Did you report him?”

She shakes her head, sniffling. I hand her a tissue. She gladly takes it. “My parents found me, they really want me to keep going to this school. They have me doing counseling, but they really don’t know why I ran away in the first place. They think it is some teenage rebellion or something.” She looks so lost right now.

“This boy, is he here in summer school?” I figure I better know how bad this is.

She sniffles again. “No, but his friends are and now I am worried that he is going to show up and try to tease me again.”

I nod completely understanding. “How about this, when you aren’t in your classes you can come to my room. That way you are not alone. He can’t harass you if you are not alone. I am assuming that he has never come to your home or anything like that.”

She shakes her head. “No, it was always at school. I guess that could work.” She seems to relax a bit more. Like having a plan makes it a little easier to handle.

“I’ll even make sure you get home alright. As long as I am here, he can’t mess with you.” I want to make that clear. I would like to report this kid, but not knowing the kid I can’t do much. But I can protect her for now.

She gives me a small smile. “Thank you. I just didn’t know what to do. You are the only female teacher this summer. I figured it would be easy to talk to a woman about this.” I know that girls have this issue, that is a problem with some schools. Students like to confide in like genders.

“I understand. I would also suggest that you talk to the counselor that your parents got you in with. You should never be scared to live your life.” I want to help her in any way that I can, because let’s be honest here I may not be here next year.

“I just don’t know how to do it. He is nice, but it just seems weird.”

I nod, understanding the problem. They put her in with a male counselor and she is scared of a male in particular. “Have you talked to your parents about a female counselor?”

She shakes her head. “No, I don’t know how to tell them. I know they tried to find me the best. I feel like it would be a slap in their face after I ran away.”

“Do you want me to talk to them? I can help without actually saying what happened, if that would be alright with you.”

She looks up at me and suddenly I see her shoulders sag in relief. The tension that she was holding in, is suddenly gone and she has a small smile on her face. “That would be good. I really want to feel better. I don’t want to be scared. I want to finish high school.”

“Well, I will do what it takes to make that happen.” I put out my hand for her to shake. I would usually pat someone on the shoulder to let them know I am on their side, but I don’t want to touch anyone that doesn’t want it. I figure a hand shake isn’t going to hurt anyone. Plus she can always turn it down. I wouldn’t be offended.

She doesn’t though, she takes my hand.

I lean back in my seat. “So, Luna, what do you want to do after high school?”

She smiles. “I write sometimes. I have a little bit of a following on this one app. I really enjoy it.”

“Have you ever thought of journalism?”

She nods. “Yeah, but I like to use my imagination. I like coming up with my own stories.”

“Maybe we can find ways to explore that too. Where do you have your stories? I would like to read them.”

Her face lights up even more. “Really?”

I return her smile. “Yeah. I want to see how good they are. My brother is a literary nut, I am sure he would love to check it out too. Not to mention his wife is a real lover of reading, she loves to hear about new stories. She is pregnant right now and my brother has put her on house arrest. I am sure a good story would be a welcome escape.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Luna lets out a little laugh. “Really? He has her under house arrest?”

“Oh, yeah, she texts me like three hundred times a day begging me to get my brother to let her out. He even hired a full house of staff. He won’t let her lift a finger. She is only three months pregnant. David has always been a bit of a worry wart.”

“I wish I had brothers or sisters. It’s just me.” She shrugs a little sadly.

“It can be a pain sometimes, but other times it is the greatest thing in the world. Sometimes they are way too into your business, you want to scream and punch them in the face, but you don’t because you know it is out of love.”

There is a knock on my classroom door. I am just praying that it isn’t Alex Saxon. At this point, I might slap him. “Stay put.” I pat her hand and go to the door.

When I open the door I am pleasantly surprised to see William. “What are you doing here?” I greet him with a hug and a smile.

He returns my smile. “I saw all the commotion outside and figured it was lunch. I wanted to see how your first day went.” He peeks in the room and sees Luna. “If this is a bad time then I can come back later.”

I wave it off. “No, this is fine. This is my friend Luna.” I take William’s arm and bring him into the room. Closing the door again. “Luna, this is my little brother William.” He’s in his uniform, so it is clear he is a cop.

She looks a little panicked. “Did you call him?”

“No sweetie, I wouldn’t do that to you. He is just here to visit. Remember I just said that they like to be in your business. Well, this is William doing a family check. I am sure that by the end of the day my whole family will know how my first day is going.” I hate that she thought I would call my brother behind her bad, but she doesn’t know me very well, it’s going to take time for her to get to know me enough to know I wouldn’t do that.

William laughs. “Guilty. Mom already called me. Dad texted. Even Luke texted. Not sure he realized it when he texted it because it was at two in the morning. But yeah, he texted.”

I laugh too. Taking my seat again. William sits on a desk in front of my desk. “So, how goes it?”

“Fine if you don’t count the jerks trying to tell me I can’t do it. I was literally called a kindergarten teacher by another teacher this morning.” I groan. My brother is one I can easily whine to. He knows how it is. He is supposed to be a detective but they keep putting him on beat cop duty because they don’t think he can handle it. Even though he passed all the tests that they did.

Luna nods. “Mr. Saxon.” I am not surprised that she knew that without me even saying anything.

I point at her. “Yeah, he seems to think he is the Lord of the school or something. I think he needs to be taken down a peg.”

Luna shrugs. “I kind of thought he was flirting with you. But I really don’t know.”

William sits up straighter. “What exactly was he doing?”

I roll my eyes. “Relax, he wasn’t flirting. He was irritating. Thought he was being cute, but really he was just being as stupid jerk.”

William laughs. “I thought you knew how guys work. We are always irritating at first.” He shakes his head like I should already be in on the know.

“My last boyfriend wasn’t irritating.”

He shrugs. “Maybe that is why he is your ex. He didn’t care enough to be irritating. Besides, he was kind of lame.”

I can’t help but laugh. I am trying to stifle it, but it comes out. “He wasn’t lame.”

“Oh, yeah he was.” William nods. “He would pick at his food for like an hour and never eat anything, then proceed to try to flatter mom, by saying it was the best food he ever ate in his life. He didn’t even eat it. It was like he was always on a diet that no one but him knew about. Why? I have no idea, because he was a stick with no muscles.”

I wave him off. “Alright, you said your peace.”

Luna is laughing too. I like to see this side of her. An hour ago she would barely say three words. This is good for her. I’m glad I could make her feel comfortable enough to come out of her shell a little. This is why I wanted to be in high school. Luna is the reason I want this job. I will do whatever it takes to prove it. Even if that means dealing with the pain in the ass named Alex Saxon.