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Chapter 1: Unsavable
It as sickening to Alex to see Sam there, his arm around Norma acting as though he actually cared. He wanted to step in, to go over and tell Sam exactly what he thought of him. Not now though, not while everyone was gathered. This was important to Norma and he couldn’t upset her any further.
He solemnly stood there, his eyes going back and forth between a nearly hysterical Norma and the casket being lowered into the ground. His heart ached, but he couldn’t allow everyone to see the true amount of pain he was feeling. The last thing he needed was for people to start growing suspicious. All that would do is draw negative attention to Norma, and he couldn’t do that to her, especially while she was trying to mourn the death of her own child.
He shifted uncomfortably, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he witnessed Sam pulling his wife in for a hug. His attempts to comfort her were nothing more than a show. The only thing that made him feel slightly better was the fact that Norma was not returning any of the “affection”. She was cold towards him, distant. She too was merely putting on an act to avoid the questions. Now she was finally allowing herself to see just how truly awful that man was.
As much as he hated to admit it, this was something that Alex had seen coming for a while now. He never liked Sam, not because of jealousy or anything stupid like that, but because he knew what type of person he was. Norma just wouldn’t see it, she refused to think that Sam could so much as harm a fly. But seeing this, and knowing that he was right all along, it made the pain even worse. He could have stepped in and prevented this. There was always a way to do things and he simply didn’t try hard enough.
Norma never listened to him when she should have. That was a well known fact, one that he had learned back in high school when they were friends. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t have found a different way to intervene. He could have found something to arrest Sam for or call in an anonymous complaint stating that it sounded as though there were foul play going on in the Bate’s household. Something, anything.
Briefly closing his eyes, he thought back to when he found out that Norma was going to run away with John. At the time he knew there was more to the story, she was distraught and anxious as if she were running, possibly from someone. He had his theories, but not enough evidence to really put any stock into them.
“You can’t tell anyone, okay?” Norma begged, tears filling in her eyes.
Alex sat there on his bed, looking to her with concern. Everyone at school knew of her home life, how angry Ray could get, her mother's drugs, the sudden disappearance of her brother. Things were rough for her. That was kind of the premise of their friendship, the fact that they could understand each other’s pain on a level that most people couldn’t.
He always felt though that there was something more going on with Norma, that she was hiding stuff from him. There was this darkness that seemed to follow her, that dwelled within her eyes and lingered behind that smile of hers.
“Okay,” he replied, slightly taken aback.
“I mean it, Alex! No one can know. I need you to promise me that everything I tell you never leaves this room!” She cried, her cheeks turning red with frustration.
“I promise,” he firmly stated.
She had been a lot moodier lately. He attributed it to stress, possibly things getting worse at home. He reasoned that if it was bad enough to chase Caleb out of there, things must have escalated. He had been worried about her, but he didn’t think that it was anything too serious. At least, he didn’t up until now.
Norma nodded, fidgeting with her hands as she calmed herself. His eyes followed her as she approached him and took hold of his hands.
“John and I are planning to run away after graduation. I uh, I found out that I’m pregnant.”
There was a lot about that that didn’t sound right. Her and John hadn’t been a thing for more than a couple weeks. Yeah, that was enough time for that to happen, but she had been acting different for a little over a month. And running away? Why didn’t they just get married here? There were plenty of other couples doing that. It wasn’t like it would draw any attention to her.
Alex sighed, keeping hold of her hands. “What’s really going on?” He plainly asked.
She withdrew her hands, offended. “What do you mean? I just told you!” She argued.
That was all he had to see to know that this was nothing more than some excuse or some story. She wasn’t actually hurt that he didn’t believe her, she just seemed a little upset. It was that reaction however, that scared the hell out of him.
“There’s something wrong. I can tell when you’re hiding something from me, now what is it?” He questioned, a little more firmly as he got to his feet.
He began to grow sick to his stomach as he started trying to think of what was actually happening. He didn’t think she was lying about being pregnant, it made sense. But John being the father? No. It had to be someone else. It could have been a one night stand, or it could have been….
No.
“I’m not hiding anything, I just told you everything,” she defiantly told him.
Alex grabbed her shoulders, anger filling his veins. He wasn’t mad at her, but he wanted her to see that he was upset. He wanted her to know that he cared, that there was someone for her here that will help her if she needs it.
“Listen to me, if you need to get away from your home, you can stay here. We can move out together if you need to. You don’t have to throw your life away on someone you barely know just to get out.”
Norma paused at his words, stunned. “You have no right to tell me that I’m lying or to tell me that I am throwing my life away,” she said before turning and leaving the room.
He had run after her and he had continued to try and dig and find out the truth, but he essentially got nowhere. That was the day that he learned that perhaps she couldn’t be saved. She didn’t want to be saved. This was different though, this was a child, paying the price for both of their sins.
Looking back up at Sam, he felt his entire body tense. He was going to get back at him someday, somehow. This man was not about to get away with what he had done. He wouldn’t stand for it.