Chapter 21: Snakes in the Grass
“What?” Mr. Bennett didn’t sound convinced.
“Ask her! She’s an erotica writer!” He argued.
“Pornography and erotica are very different things Mr. McKenna. Get your facts right before you speak.” The remark threw me off guard, but I was more surprised at my defender. Dylan Thompson.
Was this really his plan? Or did he want me not to suspect him? It has to be the later.
“But it’s still all about sex! Who cares what genre…?”
“Enough!” I’d had enough. I tried to stand up, felt Ethan and Nick tugging me up with them. “So what if I write erotica? When everyone here isn’t ashamed to read them then why should I be ashamed to write? And don’t even try to deny it. Imphal is a small enough town and I know where the orders come from. And if you think writing erotica's is such a crime that can only be punishable by rape, then stop reading literature altogether! You guys belong in jail or better yet, in the gutter with the rats! And out of all the writers in the world, you chose to harass me? Why? The others weren’t good enough or did they not have the time to teach you? I’m a writer god dammit and no one here is going to tell me otherwise!” I turned to the four boys. “And you four! Am I the only one on this Earth who has dared to write an erotica? If not, then go after the others if you have the balls to! Your mothers would be damn proud of you today. Congrats! Go on and celebrate in some bar with your fake IDs that you tried to rape a girl because she writes erotica's! Bravo for the biggest achievement of your entire fucking life!” The four looked at me wide-eyed. Almost everyone present here were too shocked to speak or make fun of me. This was the first time I stood up for myself.
I spun to face the person who put a hand to my shoulder, met eyes of molten emerald. Then saw Principal Bennett standing in front of me, his eyes telling me that he understood. “Mr. Whitmore, take Ms. Sanders to the nurses office.” He pointed towards the door. “And you four are rusticated. Gather all your belongings and get out of my school. And don’t go through the trouble of coming back ever again because I'll be filing a restraining order. Your parents and the Sheriff will be notified of this behavior.”
I felt a wave of relief flood through me as the four boys looked ready to pass out. The adrenalin rush subsided in a matter of seconds. It wasn’t long before the black spots dotted my vision. Now that the threat was gone, I simply had no energy left in me. But I wasn’t worried, though, because Ethan’s arms were still supporting me. He’d catch me when I fall.
“Akira?”
“Akira!”
Akira…
I opened my eyes with a start. The night sky filled my vision. At first I didn’t understand if it was the night sky at all. It was so dark, almost black with no stars. I sat up.
I didn’t know why but this whole place seemed so wrong. I was talking to my classmates… Ethan was supporting me… those four boys… not this. I looked around suddenly. What is this? Where am I?
A grass covered field was what I saw, grass that stretched out in all directions endlessly. There was grass everywhere! There was no such place in our school, scratch that, there was no such place in Imphal! It was so cold here. I was freezing to death and this damn icy breeze wasn’t helping at all. The cold, cold wind was beginning to pick up its pace, making the grass sway in a rhythmic pattern, a strange dance move. Back and forth. Back and forth. This whole place gave me the creeps.
“Hello? Anybody here? What's going on? Where is everyone?” Was this some sick joke? Was everyone trying to get back at me for telling them off? “E-Ethan? Nick?”
But no one answered. The wind kept on blowing, chilling me to the bone. Where was I? How did I get here? And why the hell was it so cold in here?
I tried to raise my hands so I could rub my arms to produce some heat, but I was unable to move. Something was pressing me down… something heavy… and wet and why on Earth were my arms bare?
I looked down at myself and my heart nearly stopped beating. I wasn't cold only because of the wind. I looked down… and screamed.
I was sitting in an endless, abandoned grass field, completely naked, but that wasn’t what had my heart pounding in fear. Crawling all over my body were several huge black, oily, and scaly snakes with their forked tongue flicking out of their wide mouths, making aggressive hissing sounds, that weren’t only holding me down, but were also tightening their grip around my body slowly... cutting off my breath, crushing my bones.
No! “Somebody help! Ethan! Nick! Mom! Dad! Eva!”
I called out helplessly but there was no one here. No one to hear my cries as these creatures crush the life right out of me.
But suddenly, the air stood still.
“Akira!”
“Akira!”
“Ow!” I groaned as I turned to my side.
My head was pounding and there was something on my lower lip, preventing me from opening it wider when it got painful to breath.
“Akira?” A hand touched my forehead. “How’re you feeling? Do you need some water? Are you in—”
“I need you to shut up, Nick! God, my head hurts!” I rubbed at my temples to help ease the pounding.
“You’ve got a busted lip. The nurse gave you some painkillers, but she told you to take it easy for a couple days. A few scratches but otherwise, you’re fine. You need rest, though.” Nick said sympathetically. “Oh! And good news is, you don’t have a concussion. A bit of swelling, nothing serious. So no need to go to the hospital.”
“I’ll be fine Nick. What time is it?” I asked, struggling to sit up. I waved him off when Nick tried to help me and managed to do so myself.
“Six in the evening. You’ve been out for nearly four hours.”
“What… ow!” No fast head movements, it was making my headache worse.
“You alright?” Nick asked worried, and before I could say anything, he went off calling for the nurse.
She arrived soon after, along with Principal Bennett and Ethan. The nurse, Mrs. Palmer, checked for any serious bruises and finally let me off after handing me a packet of painkillers and a huge lecture on breathing and cold compress.
“Ms. Sanders, you have my permission to take the next two days off. Mr. D’Sena has volunteered to supply all homework and projects to you and submit the completed work on your behalf. Use this time to study and heal. I’ve spoken to your mother so she wouldn’t worry. You’re free to go home now,” Mr. Bennett told me and then left the room. But he did leave me in hip-deep shit. I knew I was being rude, he did offer me two days of holiday, but what was I to tell him? “Thanks for informing my mom and revealing my biggest secret to her?” Yeah, no.
“Come on Aki, I’ll take you home…”
“I’ll take her home, Mr. D’Sena. It’s not safe for her to travel on foot or on a bike. I have to explain things to Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, as well.” Ethan cut off Nick’s words much to his irritation. Nick kept glaring at Ethan, but he purposefully avoided looking at him.
“He’s right, Nick. I’m in no state to walk. Go home. Silvia will be worried.” I urged him on. I knew I was being unfair by using his mom, but I needed Ethan by my side when I faced my parents tonight.
“Okay,” Nick agreed reluctantly. “Be safe.” And then he surprised me by giving me a kiss on my cheek in front of Ethan, before running off homeward.
To my surprise, Ethan didn’t question anything… at least not until we were alone in his car.
“What was that about?” Ethan looked at me suspiciously.
“What was what about?” I asked.
“Nick.” He clarified. “Does he like you?”
“Of course, we like each other Ethan. We’ve been friends since kindergarten!”
“Akira, I meant 'like' as in more than a friend.”
I frowned at the ridiculousness of the idea. “Of course not! That’ll be like liking your own sister!”
“Well, he doesn’t think of you as his sister Akira, I can tell.”
“Ethan,” I said calmly. “We’ve known each other forever. He can’t hide such a thing from me. Calm down, you’re giving me a headache.”
“Shit! I’m so sorry!” Ethan pulled up at the side of the road and pulled me into his lap. “Are you okay? Akira, you can talk to me.”
I had no idea why I had the sudden urge to cry, but I didn’t hold back. Because this was Ethan. So I curled up in his lap and cried my heart out at the humiliation I had to face and for what my mom and dad will have to face when word gets out.
“How bad is it?” I asked Ethan as we sat in his car, just outside my house. It had taken me a while to calm down but Ethan had patiently held me through it, letting me drown his shirt in tears while he spoke reassuring words in my ears.
“Mr. Bennett asked to speak with your father first, but your mom said he had to go out of town on an emergency, so she’s the one who received the call.” He said. “How much trouble are you in?” Ethan had driven extra slow on purpose, it gave me enough time to prepare for what might come.
“Mom’s… unpredictable. I have no idea what she’d do, but I’m ready to face her. After all, I didn’t commit any crime, simply wrote stories.” I took off the safety belt. “Wish me luck.” I said turning towards him.
“Wait, I’ll come with you!”
“It’ll only make things worse.” I told him. “I need to explain the whole ‘erotica’ thing first. I can’t deal with two problems at once… especially when I have no idea how she’ll react.” The last part as a whisper but Ethan heard me anyway.
“Akira it’s—“
“Aki? Is that you?” I looked at my house to find the door being opened and my mom step out, looking extremely worried.
Ethan got out quickly and came to my side to help me out. He handed me to my mom once I managed to climb up the porch stairs without much difficulty.
“I’m sorry I have to be rude, but Akira is my first priority right now,” Mom told Ethan as Eva came out of the house at that exact instant to help me in.
“It’s alright Mrs. Sanders, I understand.” Ethan told my mom and then turned towards me. “Get well soon, Ms. Sanders.”
Mom and Eva took me inside the house after Ethan left and took me to my room. They left me alone to take a quick shower, change the Band-Aid on my lip and get into new clothes. Mom was waiting for me with a bag of ice and a bowl of steaming soup as I came out of the bathroom dressed in an oversized green top and black shorts.
“This will sting,” she warned as she placed the ice pack on the back of my head making me hiss.
“Thanks, mom,” I told her later as she fed me small sips of the soup. Eva disappeared but I knew she would be back to hound me to death later.
“Don’t thank me. Akira, thank your fate that it wasn’t your father who picked up the phone.” She kept the bowl on my bedside table when she was done feeding me and came to sit by my side on the bed. I laid my head on her shoulders as she wrapped her arms around me. “Thank God you’re safe, it was such a close call.”
“I’m sorry, for everything…” For writing those books, for worrying you, for the gossip that was about to follow. I wished I thought things through more thoroughly before accepting the contract.
“Oh, honey! There’s nothing to apologize for! You’re an author, and good authors have to face scandals all the time!” Mom said encouragingly while rubbing my back.
“Mom?” I couldn’t find words to express what I was feeling right now. Relief? Excitement? Fear? Astonishment? Like I told Ethan before, my mom was unpredictable, but I didn’t guess to what extent. “You’re not mad at me?”
“People don’t know you by your real name, so it’s fine. Your father’s not going to be so accepting but he won’t be mad either… as long as you switch to another genre.” That had me laughing… and wincing.
“I will! My manager told me that there’s going to be a competition all over the states and if I win, then I get a contract from a famous Publishing House!” I told her.
“That’s great honey! Now, get well soon and show the world what you’re made of!” She encouraged. “But first, get some sleep. I’ll call you when it’s dinner time.”
“Okay.” I lay down on my bed and did exactly as mom said. One hurdle at a time. That was how I was going to move forward, just like I told Ethan.
Maybe I had overreacted. Maybe today’s incident didn’t have anything to do with Dylan after all. But the person who had hung that notice in my school was still out there, and they just lost the biggest ace they had.