Troubled Waters, Idled Minds

Chapter 16: Harry

“Is your cousin alright?”

I took a deep breath before answering.

As I expected, the news about Callie had spread like wildfire. I could only assume it was those perpetrators who began to defend themselves early on to free themselves from blame and change the narrative before the real victim could speak up.

“Yeah, she needed stitches but she’ll be fine.”

I hope so.

Kim and her nasty lackeys should hope so or I swear to god, the whole school’s about to see me as they’ve never seen before.

Hannah hummed agreeingly. “That’s great. I hope she gets better soon.”

There was an awkward silence on the line as I didn’t respond. I just wanted her to hang up. I was almost home.

“Um, listen. If you want, I could stop by and…”

Deciding to save her from being so embarrassed, I took initiative to turn her down. “It’s alright, Han. We’re fine. Callie’s parents are with us. And you still have school tomorrow.”

“You’re not going to school tomorrow?”

I had to do a double take. For such a simple looking girl, she’s intuitive.

“Yeah, I need to watch Callie.”

When Hannah showed no signs to hang up, I again took it upon myself to end the conversation.

“Listen, I’m driving. Thanks for your concern but really, there’s no need. Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

A split second had passed before she replied, “Okay. Talk to you soon. Take care, Harry.”

I would have probably felt guilty right now if my concern wasn’t still with Callie.

Hannah sounded like she genuinely wanted to do something to help but I can’t deal with her right now. I don’t need her. Meanwhile, Callie needed me and I’ll be damned if I let her down again.

I parked in the driveway almost the same time as uncle Ted switched his engine off.

Callie ended up having to take a week off and no matter what her stubborn ass did, I wouldn’t give in. Not when it involves her safety.

Uncle Ted left after three days of staying home, doing video calls instead to compensate for his absence, while aunt Mich went ahead of him so at least one of them would be present in giving the presentations.

She lied to her parents about how she got to hit her head.

Technically, she told them the truth about banging it in the ceramic sink, but she left out the part about the incident involving a group of girls being the cause of the accident.

Whether they meant to hurt her or not, the damage was still there and Callie was going to have that scar her whole life.

I took a two day absence from school which Callie didn’t like, but I still attended afternoon basketball practices because of her insistence.

Her best friend Ophelia and her boyfriend Jared were regular visitors, dropping schoolworks and homeworks so Callie wouldn’t fall behind. They do more movie-watching than actual studying and note taking but I don’t really mind. I was glad that by the time I was off to practice, the two of them would arrive ten to fifteen minutes after I had left. It made me feel relieved that Callie wasn’t alone.

I tried hunting down the girls who were guilty of hurting her but when I came back after a two day absence, I learned from Ophelia that all five of them didn’t go to school the day after the incident. I was most especially concerned about finding Kim. She was the cause of all this and I know that she was also the one who urged her friends into bullying Callie.

Unfortunately, the week ended and none of them showed themselves in school. Principal Moores must have spoken to them and have them suspended was what I initially thought but when I went to his office to submit Callie’s leave of absence letter, I found out from him that he did requested for them to meet with him but only four of them came the next day to be properly sanctioned for their behavior.

Kim, the main perpetrator and the person I wanted to have a word with the most, never arrived. Moores called her parents but there was no answer.

One of the girls, I’m assuming the one who came with Abe when he brought Callie to the school nurse, apparently came clean and confessed to everything from the previous bullying to what happened that morning in the girl’s bathroom.

Soon, the rest of them gave in and wrote their testimonies of the bullying, because without their leader to tell them what to do, they were lost and fortunately was persuaded to admit to their crimes.

The next week came and Kim was still nowhere in sight. I’m beginning to think she was hiding, guilty of what she had done and can’t face the judgment she’d sure be getting from the whole student body.

Days later, Moores had informed me that Kim had run off to some friend of hers in a different city and that her parents were both furious hearing what their daughter had been up to.

Kimberly Wills, probably the most popular girl in school who had guys left and right vying for her attention, was as nasty as the rumors say. It was well known that she has such an ugly attitude but it was often overlooked because, well, she was hot.

And it was my mistake for getting involved with her in the first place. I’ve never slept with her, no. I don’t think I could ever stomach being intimate with someone who was mean to other people, especially with Callie. But I did date her and made out with her. I also have gotten to second base with her but when things started heating up and she made a move, I balked. All I can think about was Callie and I felt horrible for getting physical with a girl who didn’t even try to hide her disdain for the most important person in my life.

That afternoon when I saw with my own two eyes how Kim and her group shove Callie around, calling her names, and asking her to lick their shoes, I saw red. I honestly thought I’d commit murder.

I have never hurt a woman before but that moment, I was close to thinking about doing so. If I hadn’t taken a detour because I’d forgotten my textbook, I would have missed that horrible scene.

Then I found out from Ophelia that it has been going on for over a year. Since I broke up with Kim, her harassing evolved from words to getting physical. I was so frustrated I peeled the skin of my knuckles when I punched the closest wall.

It was the first time I’d fought with Callie. She didn’t want my help. Clearly, she still felt the same because she didn’t tell me that after I’d warned Kim not to bother her again, they didn’t listen. The harassment continued on, only, it was subdued and done subtly.

I knew she would retaliate, I knew she could handle herself and that she would fight back but damn it. Why can’t she let me protect her? It was five against one. And those girls have a harem of guys who worship the ground they walked on. What if they got involved, too?

Callie frustrates the s**t out of me more than anyone does.