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I nodded and Cal pushed me off to the side where Miss Hillard had a desk for me that I could slide into easily. He gripped my arm and steadied me then he guided me into my desk. Cal sat right behind me as the bell ran
g for English.
I was happy to be back in school.
The day went on. Either Tyson or Cal took me to class. Nothing was different. I still was snubbed by some. The six were charged as accessories to aggravated assault. They agreed to testify against Delia for probation until they were twenty-one. Five years’ probation for the girls who were sixteen years old. Longer for the freshman who was a year younger.
Once a month, they had to be drug and alcohol tested. They couldn’t go away to college. They couldn’t return to White Oak Creek High School. They were all expelled. The principal was fired because she had ignored the complaints from other parents. She was a close friend of Delia’s mother. The assistant principal was filling her job until a new principal could be hired.
Other exciting things had happened I discovered when I went to gym class that afternoon. I sat off to the side in my wheelchair, messing with my phone. Coach Mac sat next to me on the bleachers.
“How are you kid?” He asked.
“I’m getting stronger,” I told him. “It’s a slow process.”
He nodded as he leaned on his knees. “Miss Hillard tell you that I asked her to marry me?”
“No.” I was excited for the couple. They were a perfect pair. I glanced across the gym floor at Cal shooting baskets with Aiden, Luke, Johnny and my brother Tyson.
Coach looked where I looked. “You have plenty of time,” he told me.
“I do. We just want to be together forever. Is that such a bad thing?” I asked. Then I showed Coach the ring that Cal had put on my finger while I was unconscious.
“It’s beautiful Abby. No, it isn’t a bad thing. Miss Hillard is the only woman I’ve ever told I love you.”
“That’s sweet Coach.” I smiled at him. His cheeks turned pink.
“I like you kid,” he said then he rose and headed for his office.
“Coach,” he stopped and turned to look at me. “I like you too.”
He winked at me then moved on.
Cal stopped by me after gym. “Let me shower and I’ll take you home. Tyson has something going on after school today.”
I nodded.
If Delia didn’t plea soon there would be a trial and I would have to testify. The prosecutor kept reassuring my parents that it was open and shut. With my testimony and the video tapes from Johnny’s house if she didn’t take a plea deal, she would be convicted of Aggravated Assault.
I should be angry. I should want her to rot in jail. She had taken time from me that I could never get back. She could have taken my life but something inside Delia was broken. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her life being ruined by going to juvenile until she turned eighteen then possibly being transferred to a women’s correctional facility to serve out her term.
I had heard her dad was holding out for his pull to get her off with a slap on the wrist. The prosecutor had informed him he needed to watch the assault on me if he had any ideas about Delia getting a slap on the hand. They said he wasn’t too pleased.
Mom and Dad said he approached them. Wanting their assistance in convincing the judge and prosecutor not to go after Delia. She was his baby. Mom had told me it was all she could do to hold Dad back.
Speaking of broken things. They are trying but things are different. There is an underlying tension in my home. Like they are afraid at any moment one or the other is going to crack and say, I don’t love you anymore.
Cal touched my shoulder startling me. I glanced up into his face. So handsome and strong. “I love you,” I told him.
He bent down and kissed me. “I love you too. Ready?” He asked.
I nodded. “What is Tyson doing after school?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Trying out for the school play.”
I glanced over my shoulder thinking that Cal was kidding. He wasn’t. “Why? I might do something like that, but he wouldn’t.”
He grinned at me. “That girl from Math class, Sinead is trying out.”
