Down and Out

“Oh my GOD, that hurt!” Pam bent over and tucked her hand between her knees.

“I can’t believe you knocked her out cold,” Carrie wailed. She peered down the dark alley nervously biting her lip. “We’re gonna be expelled.” She grabbed Pam by the t-shirt and jerked her upright. “We’re going to be kicked out of school,” her voice was succinct, cold and accusing.

Pam gritted her teeth. Her hand still throbbed too much to formulate coherent thought.

“I can’t believe you punched our teacher, Pam. What the hell? I mean, she was obviously drunk. She didn’t know what she was doing. You stepped off reality, chicka, you’ve crossed over into some dark place. I’m not going down with you. I’m totally not covering for you. When my parents find out …”

“Will. You. Shut. Up.” Pam ground out between teeth that suddenly tasted like chalk. “My freakin’ hand hurts. It feels like someone backed one of those construction rollers over it. Son of a …”

“Shh!” Carrie held up a hand and both girls instantly froze. “Did you hear that?” The area between the two buildings was silent, save for the occasional rustle of leaves and the whoosh of distant tires. “I could have sworn I heard something,”

“You’re freaked out right now, hell, I’M freaked out right about now. I’ve never hit anyone in my life.”

“Shh! There it is again!” Again, both girls simply froze in their positions and listened. Long seconds passed before the soft roll of thunder grumbled in the distance. “It’s going to rain again,” Carrie stated.

“Yeah, being caught out in the rain is one of our major concerns right about now,” Pam said with a snort and took several deep breaths in an effort to control the steady needles of pain now pulsing up her arm. “I could just spit on her,” she said vehemently at the unconscious woman at her feet.

Carrie sighed. “I have to admit, I didn’t want to believe it. I mean, you hear rumors about teachers being a little too friendly or crossing the line with students all the time, but you know, those are usually just rumors. Crap started by kids who are pissed off about a grade or something.”

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