Better off Red – Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Eve? Are you all right?”

She was staring out the window. She looked pale, even sick. Katharine Brewster had been worried about the girl since the beginning of the semester. She worried about all of her students, to some degree, knowing full well the experience of being a teenager. How harrowing it could be. She herself had not been a teenager all that long ago, given that she was only twenty-five and by far the youngest faculty member at the Herrington Public High School.

But this girl, this one she worried about more than the others. She knew real pain, also from personal experience. She didn’t know what was going on with Eve Redding, but she knew that whatever it was, it was far beyond the normal teenage problems. Abusive boyfriend? Abusive parents? Teenage pregnancy? Attempted suicide? Katherine couldn’t guess. Whatever it was, she had a feeling it was far more complicated than even that.

Eve said nothing. Katherine tried to approach her. “Eve?”

“Huh?”

“Class is over, you know.”

Eve jumped up, grabbing her books and stuffing them into her bag as quickly as she could. “Oh! I’m… I’m so sorry. I’ll just go. I’m sorry.”

“No, Eve, that’s not what I meant. In fact, what I meant was… I’m here. If you want to talk to me, we could do it now or you could come in, you know, whenever you feel comfortable. But I’m always here, Eve. Whenever you need me. If you’re comfortable.”

Eve’s face went white. Katherine couldn’t read it, but suddenly felt a rush of embarrassment and wished she hadn’t said anything at all.

“Again, I’m sorry,” she said, trying to backtrack. “I just notice that you’ve been distant and I want to make sure that everything’s okay before your grades slip any further than—”

“I have to go,” Eve said and hurried out of the room.

Katherine stared at the empty doorway for a long time before going back to her desk.