Pencil, Paper, and Passion.

Chapter Seventeen: Near Death.

Mr. Kalebrow dropped me off at the entrance to the high school, saying he'd be in his car in the parking lot.  I almost asked him to come inside with me, out of fear, but held back.  Instead, I pulled out my phone and asked, "Can I have your number?  Just in case?"

            He nodded and rattled it off, then said, "Put it on speed dial.  And be careful.  I want you to stay around as many people as possible, at all times.  You'll be safer if you're not alone."

            "Yeah.  Alright, see you later, Mr. Kalebrow."  I scrambled from the car, trying to keep my face blank.  It wouldn't do to let everyone know just how scared I was.

            I hurried inside, not wanting to linger in the nearly empty parking lot.  When I reached the doors, I wasn't surprised to see Mr. Avery waiting just inside; I'd suspected that he'd be there to escort me to at least my first class, since Mr. Kalebrow didn't come inside with me.  I WAS surprised, however, to see Ben standing next to him.  Didn't he have a class?

            Mr. Avery nodded to me.  "Good morning, Elizabeth.  How are you feeling?"

            "Fine."  I shrugged, trying to keep my eyes from lingering on Ben.

            "Good."  He shared a look with Ben, and then laid a hand on my shoulder.  "I'd like to speak with you in my office."

            I shrugged again and smiled at both men.  "I can't really refuse to talk to the principal, can I?"

            With a quiet a laugh, Mr. Avery began to walk off, gesturing for Ben and me to follow him to his office.  Inside, I dropped down into a chair and watched Mr. Avery shut the door behind Ben.  Ben sat in the chair next to me, but Mr. Avery only rested a hip on the edge of his desk. 

            He spoke almost immediately.  "We've made the decision to change your daily schedule, to ensure your safety until your assailants are caught."

            "I don't understand."  How was changing my schedule going to help?  I'd still be wandering the halls during passing, wouldn't I?

            "We- I've managed to make sure all of your classes will be in the same hallway.  We've had to do some maneuvering and room switching, but now all of your classes are located in the same hallway as Mr. Gallagher's classroom.  I'm aware that you're much... closer with Ben, than you are with your other teachers.  It follows that you'd feel safer with him being near."

            "Oh."  There was that inane word again.  But I couldn't get my lips to form anything else.  I could literally feel the color drain from my face as the impact of his words hit me.  Mr. Avery knew about me and Ben.  In my terrified state, my mind conveniently looked over the fact that Mr. Avery didn't seem to care and I frantically tried to think of something I could say or do, that would repair the damage.  Then it hit me.  I could... 

            I looked from one man to the other and made a decision.  "I suppose I should have mentioned it before, but with all of this... stuff, I guess I never got around to it."  I took a deep breath and dropped the bomb.  "I'm not going to be attending this school anymore, so you really don't have to worry about moving things around."

            The silence that descended in the room was deafening.  Mr. Avery and Ben stared at me with an identical blank look.  It took a few minutes, but Mr. Avery spoke first, "Now, Elizabeth, I don't think-"

            "It's not because of this.  It was actually planned out several weeks ago.  My mother is moving away and I'm going to a private boarding school to finish this year."  If I was moving away and if it seemed like I didn't really care one way or another, maybe Mr. Avery would assume that he'd been wrong.  That Ben and I had a perfectly normal student/teacher relationship, not a romantic one.