Sold For Eternity

Chapter 5

I was nervous as I followed Mr. VanMeter out of the office. I slowly walked behind him trying to calm my racing thoughts down. I had never had such a strong mixed reaction to another person before. He was just a damn man. Sam, get it together, I told myself.

“Is there something wrong with your hearing”?

It was spoken, so harshly I jerked my head up quickly. Again, he looked angry or at least perturbed. I shook my head no.

“Is there something wrong with your voice”?

His tone had not changed.

“No, sorry I am just nervous. New town, new school. It won’t happen again.”

I tried to stop my voice from shaking, and it seemed like I had myself under control.

Jackson turned around and started walking down the hallway again. Where are we going, I wondered out loud.

“I will take you to your locker to drop your things off, then we will head to my classroom to go over your schedule and rules.”

He never even turned around, just kept walking. His voice was back to velvet, so I relaxed a little.

My locker was at the very back of the school around a corner all by itself. There wasn’t a lock, so I quickly opened it to deposit my backpack. I was on a mission not to inconvenience him anymore than I already had. When I turned around to face him again, he was extremely close. So close that I stumbled back to keep from colliding with him. His arm shot out to catch me before I fell. Jackson didn’t release me right away. In trying to keep me upright, he had pulled me against his chest. He never moved from his position leaning against the wall beside my locker.

“Us new people get stuck back here in the dark corner.”

“Oh” was all I could muster, trying to take a step back. His eyes never left mine. His hand did not leave my waist for at least a solid three minutes.