Chapter 3 - Serena
1814 Words
The following day Serena sat in her third-floor classroom just gazing out of the window. She could see the trees bordering the school fence and the birds flying high in the sky. The sun was shining and through the open window and she could hear shouts of laughter coming from the kids in the courtyard.
But her mind wasn’t noticing anything outside. She was too much inside her head to notice much of anything that was going on. She had been like this pretty much all day. Even Tina had noticed her mood was different and had taken the lead in most of her classes.
It was lunchtime and all the students were in the cafeteria or out in the yard. But she was sat, anxiously awaiting Chloe to pass by. She had suggested for her to come by, but so far, she hadn't arrived. She prayed that she hadn’t changed her mind overnight. The anxiety was knocking her appetite off, and she was unable to stomach her chicken salad.
At the start of lunch, Jolly Joe had passed through collecting the paper rubbish and scolded her for not eating. To appease him she had simply picked at the lettuce leaves, cucumber, and pepper sticks and promised to make sure she finished it before the end of lunch.
The problem was worry had kept her up most of the night. She had a pretty good idea about what was going on with her student, but she couldn’t do anything until she knew for definite. That would only happen if Chloe came forward. That was the hard part, to open up and tell someone and to trust someone with such a dark secret. Once she stepped forward the rest would be easier. She would then try and help her student realise the support she had around her.
A buzzing noise caught her attention and she realized it was her mobile. She fished it out of her desk drawer and smiled as Ethan’s number and photo appeared on the screen.
The night before, he had called about dinner time to arrange a date. She hadn’t expected him to call so soon. If she was honest, even after the short call on the bus she didn’t expect him to call at all. She was glad that he had done so, they had spent most of the evening texting back and forth about the trip and how well it seemed to go.
They had arranged their date for Friday night, and he wouldn’t tell her where he was taking her. She was excited; butterflies had taken up permanent residence in her stomach. She was also extremely nervous. Her experience with men was limited given her past and she hadn’t been on a proper date in such a long time. It took her a long time to put herself out there, even after all her therapy. There had been a few dates, but she had always had a bad feeling or was unsure of the man on the date, then found an excuse to leave early. She hoped she could get over her nerves by Friday night; something told her Ethan was different.
She had three days to get herself ready.
She wasn't daft; he had seen how upset she had been on the trip after speaking to Chloe. He hadn't pushed the subject since, but she had seen the concerned look in his eyes. She had wanted to tell him everything when he asked at the fire station but ethically it wouldn't be right to.
A soft knock startled her, as she looked up, she spotted Chloe was stood there wringing her hands over and over. Her eyes pricked with tears as she saw the fight she was going through. She could practically hear the two voices arguing against each other; the one that wanted to fight for her and the one who was scared to. Putting her phone away she gave her a warm encouraging smile.
“Come on in Chloe and take a seat.” She noticed Chloe scanned the room to make sure they were alone before taking a seat at one of the desks.
Serena also noted her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were blotchy. The young girl said nothing at first, but she was patient and waited for Chloe to speak. She quietly poured them both a glass of water whilst she gathered her thoughts.
“I-I’m… I’m frightened…” Her voice trailed off and she refused to lift her head and look into Serena’s eyes. Again, Serena waited for her to speak, taking a sip of water. “He said-said he would h-hurt me if I said anything…” She watched tears fall into the girl’s hands.
“Chloe, look at me please.” Serena waited until she lifted her head and looked into her eyes. “No one will harm you. You have my word.” She handed over a box of tissues. “Trust me.”
Letting out a shuddering breath, Chloe nodded and finally opened up.
She told of her mum’s new boyfriend, Keith. How he was nice at first, friendly and caring. He would buy her gifts. He’d ruffle her hair as she passed and tickle her. Hug her. But then it changed. He would hold her hand a bit longer than normal. He would touch her face, her legs even her bum and breasts.
As she spoke, Serena found herself reliving her horror in some dark part of her mind. She knew exactly the kind of gifts and the touches Chloe was being forced to endure.
When Chloe got to that first night, things went from bad to worse, she watched as her voice cracked and her whole body shook with sobs. Serena couldn’t stop herself as she moved around her desk and knelt on the floor in front of her. She took one hand and squeezed it encouragingly. Chloe explained how her dad had died overseas in the Army when she was a baby and that her mum was a nurse so she was gone most nights so Keith stayed with her and would ‘tuck her in.’ He would touch her in private places on her body she was still unsure about herself.
Tears were streaming down both Chloe’s face and her own when she finally stopped. But the anger coursing through Serena’s body was equal to the horror of what this young girl had to endure. She wiped angry tears from her own eyes and took a moment to compose herself before she spoke again.
“Have you told your mum?”
“No. He said she wouldn’t believe me. He said I wanted it and that she would kick me out if she knew. He said she didn’t have time for my lies and my stories.” Chloe wiped her eyes. “He never touches me when she is there. So why would she believe me?”
“Chloe you need to tell her. I cannot keep this to myself. I need to inform the headteacher and we need to contact your mum and the police. He cannot be allowed to keep doing this to you.”
“I can’t!” Chloe cried jumping to her feet and she could tell she was going to flee the room, so she tightened her grip slightly to halt her.
“Listen to me Chloe, if you do not stop it now it will get worse. He is a monster and he will not touch you again. You are strong and can get through this.”
“I’m not strong…” she whispered covering her face.
“Yes. You. Are. Strong,” Serena insisted, taking both her hands into her own. “You are brave. Brave enough to come forward. You are stronger than I was.” She confessed. Chloe’s eyes widened as her words sunk in and realised the meaning of what she had said, and she sat down again.
“You were…”
Serena nodded and wiped a tear from her own face.
“When I was your age; I thought as you do now. I didn’t come forward for two years. I thought it was my fault. It took me a long time to realize it was not my fault and this is not your fault Chloe. He needs to be stopped.”
She watched the shock flit across Chloe’s face.
The shock changed to something else.
Admiration? Determination?
Standing she held out her hand for Chloe to take and waited as she gathered her courage again. “Come on. I put my bastard in jail. Let’s get yours.” Chloe nodded and together they went to the head teacher’s office.
That afternoon Tina took the rest of Serena’s classes whilst she stayed with Chloe. She stood at the back of the office, arms wrapped tightly around her waist; the headteacher was at his desk sitting opposite Chloe and her mum Maria. The resemblance between Chloe and her mum was uncanny. Chloe was just a miniature version of her mum. They had the same face shape, skin tone, as well as the same nose and blue eyes. The platinum blonde hair was the same shade, but Maria had hers in a tight bun, whilst Chloe's fell around her face. Two police officers were stood beside Chloe, whilst a detective with dreadlocks took her statement.
She watched as Chloe told them everything that had been going on and how it all came about. A surge of pride ran through her, Chloe was so brave for having the guts to come forward. At some point her mother broke down on her daughter, apologizing over and over for what had happened. She filled in a lot of gaps about how she met her boyfriend at a garage when her car broke down. His full name was Keith Saunders and she gave a brief description of the man. She explained about her work and how at nights she hadn’t felt comfortable leaving Chloe alone and that Keith had offered to stay at the house on those nights to keep an eye on Chloe.
After their statements were given, the police escorted them both from the room.
As they passed her, Ms Richards thanked Serena for noticing something was wrong.
“There’s no need to thank me. I’m just glad Chloe was brave enough to come forward.”
Serena then had to fill in her report for the school. She had to log her reasons for speaking to Chloe. The signs she had spotted and also to some degree why those signs pointed her in this direction.
By the end of it all Serena had a blinding headache and just wanted to curl up in her bed and sob into her pillow, maybe with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s to hand.
- Writer
