You, Me, And The Divide

Chapter 12

I looked up at Katie where she stood packing up her make up. I finished my homework, but studying for the test I have Friday is turning out to be a futile attempt at being productive. My shirt was dry and on, but I pulled Danny's extra shirt over top to hold in what little warmth I have left in my body. Besides the fact this corner of the school was permanently arctic cool, I was chilled to the core. I felt the words on the stall resonate in my head. They bounced around like bouncy balls.

"Have you seen Allen this week?" She asked me suddenly.

"He came by the house for dinner with my family last night," I told her and closed the book in my hands. I shoved all my notes into my bag and got to my feet. "He's still selling opposed to what I've been telling him. He just really needs the money right now, but at least he's trying to stay clean."

"Trying?" Katie asked me skeptically. "As in, he isn't clean, but he's trying?"

"He's struggling. Honestly, he needs to go back to rehab, but it will go down on his record that he's relapsing. On top of that, he can't afford it," I told her as she eyed me with a frown pulling her lips down.

"He could pay for it with the money he won't be spending on drugs," she told me as if it were a stupid excuse. "Let's get out of here. I'm feeling a tad claustrophobic after a half hour in this place."

Clearly she was through discussing Allen, so we left the confines of the ditching bathroom with a flick of the light switch behind us. The sound of rain smacking against the school from every direction filled the halls. Katie and I tried a few doors to the classrooms before we found one that was unlocked. It was an old home ec room, but our school cut home ec years ago. Now it was just a room collecting dust. There were only eight desks with connected chairs. The rest of the room was set up as a kitchen. This is exactly the kind of room you should keep under lock and key. There were four ovens; one per each kitchenette. The counters were originally white, but between dust and the dull light they looked grey. There was one counter dead center of the room with a giant mirror above it to watch what the instructor was doing.

The entire room looked like the death of hopes and dreams.

Katie flicked a light switch on giving the room a bright glow. The shell of hopes and dreams was no more whole than it looked with the lights off. Closer inspection showed the desks had no dust, but the counters sure did. The mirror was dirty, and the sinks looked like they leaked. A bulletin board to the left was never cleared. Old recipes and pictures scattered it. Kids with aprons stood with the same woman in each picture. Cakes and cookies with intricate decorations sat in front of them. A recipe for Devil's food cake was pinned on the edge of the board. Ridged tear marks down the side and a cut off measurement of how much sugar told me it was stolen out of a book or magazine.

"What a cheerful place," I said flatly as a huge gust of wind smacked rain against the window sounding more like bullets.

"I kinda like it. I always did enjoy cooking," she told me as she dropped her bag down on a desk.

I walked over to a large storage closet that stood ajar. The metal door creaked as I pulled it open. A stray bag of flour was stuffed into a ziplock bag. Some old cans of pie filling were stacked untouched. Some chocolate chips littered the middle shelf where a bag of them was kept with a hole chewed on one side.

"Oh rats! We've got rats in the school," I said sarcastically as I closed the closet door again.

Suddenly, the door opened and in clicked a pair of designer heels. Tracing up from the designer heels to the boyfriend jeans that were rolled up sloppily on purpose and past the hideous shirt that was the complete opposite of what I'd wear. The face of an eligible contestant for teen mom was staring back at Katie and I with a pink lip sneer. Tessa Martin, aka Danny's ex on again off again fuck buddy, stood in all her fake glory. Two girls shuffled in the doorway behind her. I never talked to the crown Tessa belonged to, so I have no idea their names.