Page 240 of As the Rain Falls
JANUARY, 2017
The crowd slowly disperses.
Some kids are taken to the principal’s office. Others escape, but their parents are called. The police drop by shortly after to make sure another fight doesn’t start.
In the middle of all this, Cassandra gets dragged to the nurse’s office while she’s still having a panic attack, and I follow her, unwilling to leave her alone with the staff.
They ask her questions, trying to figure out what happened, and she explains through rushed words that all she wanted to do was leave the bathroom. I deduce Laura must have forced her to stay before cutting her clothes.
Before I know it, I’m being asked to leave the room.
“I won’t,” I answer firmly, watching the nurse with doubtful eyes. The blonde girl grabs my hand tighter, her crying now subdued to soft hiccups. “Where were you? Where were any of you?”
“Beckett, I’m just trying to do my job.”
“I don’t fucking care!” I snap, bringing Cassandra closer. She climbs into my lap, still wearing Antony’s shirt. “How did nobody see her being assaulted? And why is this still allowed? This is a school; she’s supposed to be safe!”
“There are more than three different buildings here. Mr. Fernandez can’t watch everything alone,” Lilian explains. She’s the nurse who’s having a shift this time around. “Besides, we were having end-of-term meetings. These things happen, Beckett.”
“But she’s hurt!” I insist, disbelief flooding my system.
If this happened to the daughter of the principal, what could happen to the rest of us? To Lucia? To Angelina, who just got out of the hospital?
Cassandra makes a soft, wounded sound before clinging to me. She’s holding on for dear life, trying to get me to stay.
“Please, don’t go!” I hear her beg, clutching the fabric of my clothes.
“I won’t,” I say as I press my lips to her forehead. “I won’t leave.”
I turn to Lilian, who is still watching me, annoyed that I won’t do as I’m told. Fuck them. Fuck this school.
“You can tell Principal Rivera and his team to go to hell!”
It takes the young nurse another minute or so to realize that I’m being serious. She leaves the room to inform Principal Rivera as much, I suppose.
The room’s temperature drops as I look for a glass of water. I grab a water bottle and try to give it to Cassandra, hoping to get her to calm down. She rejects it, focused on keeping me tied to her.
“I just need you to hold me.”
“Okay. But I need to clean you up,” I ask, picking up a tissue and applying pressure to the scratches on her arm. I have no idea if she’s done them to herself or if someone got to her while we were being shoved. “You’re staining Antony’s shirt. He’s going to kill you.”
“I don’t care,” she mutters, shaking her head slowly. I’ve never seen her so lost in her own mind, and it feels worse than last time, in my car. “Just stay.”
“I will.” I wince when she flinches, my touch making the fresh wound sting a little. “Hey, Cass. I won’t leave, okay?”
“Okay.” She swallows hard. “Don’t.”
Cassandra allows me to work, her gaze dropping to the floor. By the time I’m done stopping the bleeding, her breath has slowed down considerably. I bring her to my chest, holding her tight, and not letting her go just like I promised.
***
Some time passes.
Cassandra has now settled into some kind of haze, with her head perfectly resting against the curve of my shoulder. Shelooks so small, so tired. I can’t bring myself to pull away, even though I probably should.
“For you.”
I freeze, brushing her hair back gently to get a better look at her face. “What did you say?”
