Wiccan Ch. 7

         Bailey woke to the steady sound of rain splashing against her window pane. Groaning, she rolled over to glance at her clock. 6:40 am. Ugh, she thought as she pulled herself upright and swung her legs over the side of her bed. Running her hands through her hair, she wondered what had possessed her to agree to an early morning meeting with Mr. Haese. Oh, yeah, she thought disgustedly as the answer came to her. LIAM.

         Lurching to her feet she dragged herself over to her closet, yanking open the door of her lilac accordion doors. Glancing through, she pulled out her favorite and most provocative top. A silky soft green tank adorned with light emerald jeweled straps, it flowed with the shape of her body. Add to that her light denim hip-hugger jeans, and a slightly darker green macramé pull-over to keep warm and she looked defiantly sexy. Bailey applied a little blush, green eye shadow, and lipstick then prowled down the hall to her brother’s room. Not bothering to knock, she swung the door open, allowing it to slam into the wall.

         Taylor opened his eyes sleepily, saw his sister’s quite livid face and jumped out of bed exclaiming, “I’m up, I’m up! Be ready in 5 minutes!”

         Bailey nodded silently, stalked downstairs, grabbed her backpack, and went to wait in the car. Slamming the door behind her, she let out a frustrated scream.

         She’d been thrilled when Liam had been assigned her partner. She’d secretly had a crush on him and this presented a chance to spend time alone with him, which turned out to be a horrible idea. Liam was a lazy goof off, whose roaming hands had probably skimmed themselves over her entire body! Even after she demanded he keep his hands to himself and OFF HER. It wasn’t his fault, he had said, his hands had minds of their own. Right.

         Bailey knew she had to talk to Mr. Haese, there was no way she could work with someone who was constantly feeling her up. However, she didn’t want to do all the work by herself and let him get credit for it either.

         Taylor opened the driver’s door and climbed in, allowing Bailey to take his backpack and place it at her feet. Looking at his sister anxiously, he apologized, “Sorry, it took a little longer. I couldn’t find my shoes.”

         He looked so worried about this fact that Bailey had to smile.

          “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a crank; I just need to talk to Mr. Haese this morning. It’s important.”

         Taylor nodded and started the car, backing out of the driveway and heading towards school. “What do you need to talk to him about?”

         Bailey hesitated to answer. If her brother knew about what Liam had been doing, he would probably kill him. Not that Liam didn’t deserve it; she thought darkly, he just wasn’t worth the time.

         Taylor glanced at her inquiringly, somehow managing to watch her and the road closely. Sighing, she decided she wouldn’t get away with a lie.

          “I need to talk to Mr. Haese about Liam, Taylor. It’s not working very well,” she replied in a tight voice.

          “What exactly isn’t working?” Taylor asked suspiciously. Bailey had that tone in her voice, the one that signified that something was very wrong.

          “Liam,” Bailey answered, “Liam isn’t working, or researching, or anything. He’s not interested in our project; only in running his hands up and down my body in places I firmly told him not to go! I can’t work with someone who’s constantly feeling me up!”

          “WHAT?” Taylor exclaimed, enraged. “Bailey, he’s been groping you?”

         Bailey sighed and nodded, “Yes, but I don’t want you to get involved right now! I’m a big girl and I can handle this. I’m going to talk to Mr. Haese, and then if something else needs to be done, I’ll let you know.” She finished in a stern voice.

         Taylor nodded. “Alright, but he hasn’t done anything else, right?” He questioned.

         Bailey managed a genuine smile, “No, Taylor. I made sure to give him a firm smack across the face to discourage him.”

         Taylor looked relieved. He turned into the school’s parking lot. Parking in the first available stall, Bailey and Taylor both headed to the school’s front doors. The sky was even darker than it had been earlier and the rain was coming down harder now. The twins dashed inside together, and then shook off the rain. Even the hallway looked dreary, as some of the lights hadn’t been turned on yet. Bailey nodded at Taylor, who gave her an encouraging smile, then headed off down the hall.

         Taylor stood in the hall for a few minutes then strolled towards the school’s library. He could get some work done on Aisling and his project before school started. Somehow, Taylor knew that Aisling wouldn’t be in school that day anyway. It was the exhaustion that had been on her face the day before that had clinched it. As he entered the library, he promised himself he would go check on her once school was done.

         Bailey stalked down the hall towards Mr. Haese’s room. As she got closer, she could hear raised voices, and slowed her approach. The last thing she wanted was to land in the middle of someone else’s argument. Creeping quietly towards the door, Bailey was startled to hear a furious voice, full of hate, yelling, “…to save her! Yesterday should have been a piece of cake for you! I told you to finish her off! Why the hell didn’t you?”

         A quieter, defiant voice that Bailey recognized as Kent’s replied, “I didn’t know Taylor would save her. I didn’t think he could! It was airtight; how he managed I still don’t know!”

          “You still don’t know,” the deadly voice mocked. Bailey was shocked to realize it was Mr. Haese. “Well, you better find out! The plan must go off without another hitch like yesterdays. It must!”

          “Your plan won’t work today!” Kent interrupted. “You do realize that Aisling’s not going to be in school today?”

          “What the hell do you mean, she won’t be in school? Yesterday…” Mr. Haese screamed, enraged.

          “Yesterday took too much out of her! She’ll still be asleep. Probably till tomorrow. Didn’t you listen to what I told you?” Kent stated.

         Mr. Haese took some deep breaths. “Kent, you’re getting on my nerves. Now do you want that free ride this year or not?” He posed in a cold voice.

          “Yes,” Kent answered quietly, in a very subdued voice. “She’ll be back tomorrow, I’m sure. Let’s just do it then.”

          “Alright I guess we’ll have to. But don’t screw up tomorrow!!! Otherwise, I’ll…”

         Outside, Bailey felt she’d listened enough. Her stomach had dropped the minute Aisling’s name was mentioned. For whatever reason, Mr. Haese despised Aisling, making Bailey worry just what this man’s plan was?

         Gathering her courage, Bailey raised her hand and knocked loudly on the solid oak door. Clack, Clack!

          “Mr. Haese has Liam gotten here…” Bailey asked in a loud voice, pretending to have been absorbed in her own thoughts, then trailed off, “yet?”

         The deadly look on Mr. Haese’s face morphed; suddenly he had an accommodating smile. His eyes had softened and the lines on his face smoothed.

          “Bailey, how are you this morning? Kind of dreary outside, isn’t it?” Mr. Haese asked, his deep voice masking his earlier feelings.

         Bailey forced herself to focus on the part she needed to play right then: her and sexual harassment.

          “Well, to be honest, I’ve been a lot better. Could we start talking, I doubt that Liam will show,” she questioned. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

         Mr. Haese shook his head. “Kent and I were just discussing his project as well. However, since we have homeroom together, we can finish our talk later,” Mr. Haese stated, his voice straining a little on the last few words, betraying the tension. Bailey pretended not to notice.

          “That would be great. Thanks, Kent, I appreciate it.” Bailey said, turning to him.

         Kent looked at Bailey a little suspiciously, but then shrugged it off. “No problem. See you in homeroom, Mr. Haese,” he said casually as he strolled out the door.

          “Now, Bailey. What seems to be the problem between you and Liam?” Mr. Haese inquired, seemingly concerned. However, Bailey could tell he was annoyed at the interruption.

         Well, she thought with vengence, I can play this game as well.

          “Well, see Liam…” Bailey began, mentally lengthening her ‘speech’.


         Taylor stared in disbelief at Dana Thompson (from his history class), who at the moment stood with her left arm wrapped around his waist and her right hand resting on his chest. He couldn’t believe this! Dana seemed like the hundredth girl to come on to him and half the day was still left.

         Sighing, he untangled himself from her and stated quietly, “Don’t do that again,” leaving a stunned Dana behind as he walked hesitantly into the cafeteria.

         The room was a sea of people, almost so packed you couldn’t seem to walk without bumping into someone. Great, Taylor thought, with the way this day is going by the time I find Bailey, every female in the place will have accidentally bumped into me. Already he could see another girl approaching, this one a sophomore who seemed to think she was hot stuff. Since the school only had one lunch period, Taylor had gotten used to eating with the younger grades. However, today it meant more females that he just didn’t have the patience to deal with anymore.

         Suddenly, from behind, Taylor felt some wrap their arms around his waist and lay their head on his back. Taylor felt the heat of his anger rising. He’d tried to be nice; he’d tried to be patient, but he’d just been pushed too far.

          “Look, I’ve tried to be patient,” he pronounced angrily as he started to turn around, “but if you don’t remove your body immediately, I’ll…” Taylor trailed off as the arms dropped from around him and the person moved into his eye line. Sighing with relief, he saw his sister standing there looking quite shocked. In a moment, it would turn to anger (Taylor knew this only too well).

         Taylor smiled at Bailey, and then pulled her into a hug, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was you.”

         Bailey let him hug her, relaxing for a few seconds. Pulling away, she looked at him quizzically. “And who else would it be?” she asked him.

         Taylor shook his head. “Normally nobody, but today has definitely not been normal,” Bailey nodded in agreement as he continued, “I’ll wager that half the female population of this school has in some way shape or form come on to me.”

         Bailey giggled slightly, stopping when Taylor gave her an annoyed glance.

          “I’m sorry, Taylor. I’ve been having an extremely bad day and the image of you with a never-ending line of females waiting to ‘come on’ to you was just what I needed,” Bailey explained.

         Taylor rolled his eyes at his sister. However, he had to admit, the mental picture was pretty funny. Grinning, he asked, “Why has your day been so bad?”

         Bailey opened her mouth to tell him, but was distracted when she saw Kent in the lunch line. All of a sudden, Bailey got the distinct feeling that someone was watching and possibly even listening, to her conversation. A chill ran down her spine as she said abruptly, “Mom called on the cell to tell us to come home. I’ve been trying to find you. She told me Bubba just had a heart attack. They don’t know if he’ll make it. She said to hurry.”

         Taylor looked at his sister strangely. Bubba was the name Bailey used for their father’s father. However, Bubba had died 4 years ago to a massive stroke. He remembered being so mad that their father couldn’t even show up for his father’s funeral. Even though no one ever really quite knew where he was, Taylor and Bailey’s father had called his mother several times a week to talk to his parents. It had been part of deal that Bubba and Grams had made with him on the day that he told them about his intentions to disappear. Bubba and Grams had been very upset that he wouldn’t take responsibility for his unborn children (they were fond of his mom) so since he insisted on wanting no parental claim, they made him agree to financial responsibility. He would have to pay child support and call to let Bubba and Grams know he was alright. He must have figured this was an easy way out.

         Taylor was about to point out that Bubba was dead when he saw a warning look in his sister’s eyes. Frowning, he decided to play along.

          “Okay, go get your stuff, I’ll meet you in front of the office to sign out,” Taylor proclaimed, trying to figure out if there was purpose behind this or if she had just finally cracked.

         Bailey sighed internally. “I already signed us out and unless you need something from your locker, we’re good to go.”

         Nodding, Taylor headed toward the cafeteria’s door. Once in the hall, they headed out to the car and pulled out. Taylor pulled into a park and ride about 10 blocks from the school.

         Parking, he turned towards Bailey and said, “Bailey, you do know that Bubba died 4 years ago, right?”

         Bailey laughed. “Yes, Taylor, I do. It was the first thing I could think of that would get us out of school. So I lied.”

         Shaking his head, he asked, “So what is wrong?”

         Bailey sobered up immediately. “Taylor, I know who’s attacking Aisling,” she stated quietly, looking at her brother intently.

         Taylor was stunned. “How did you know? I didn’t even tell you! Who is it?”

          “I knew something was wrong on Sunday. I mean, it’s not every day you skip church and you seemed nervous when you left. Then when you got home, you were extremely worried and fidgety. Taylor, every time the phone rang you jumped for it, like you were expecting bad news,” Bailey explained to her brother. “I didn’t know what was wrong until this morning and well…” she trailed off.

         Finally, she spoke, “Taylor, its Mr. Haese.”

         He felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. Mr. Haese, why in the world would he want to hurt or kill Aisling?

          “I don’t know why, but he hates Aisling, Taylor. I mean really hates.”

          “How?” he gasped.

          “I was eavesdropping,” Bailey told him, hoping he would give her a small smile. She knew, even though he wasn’t aware that she knew, just how much Aisling meant to him.

         Taylor thoughts were running a mile a minute. Mr. Haese. Why? It just didn’t make any sense. There was no reason that he knew of that would make Mr. Haese hate Aisling. What had she done? What was going on?

         Taylor put the car in drive, pulling out of the park and ride and powered down the road.

          “Aisling’s?” Bailey asked. Taylor nodded.

         They rode the rest of the way in silence. When Aisling’s aunt’s house pulled view, Taylor parked and led the way to Aisling’s room.