Part Sixteen: Down to Size
Kenmore Middle School
Monday, February 12, 2001
3:45 PM
"I'm sure Jenna will be fine, Mr. Stetson," Mrs. Brooks said. Lee followed the
older woman down the hallway, past the rows of lockers and the few students who
remained. "She just had a little incident during her last period--that's her
Algebra class--and given recent events I thought the clinic was the best place
to send her until you came to pick her up."
"What kind of little incident are we talking about here?" Lee asked the guidance
counselor.
"Well it's hard to say." They were standing just outside the clinic--Mrs. Brooks
turned to face him. "When I came into the classroom Jenna was cowering at her
desk with her arms over her head and her eyes shut. She was shaking and
shivering so hard that frankly I was worried about her going into shock."
"Shock--" Lee stared at the woman in disbelief. "Why didn't you call me earlier?
"Mr. Stetson, it was ten minutes before the final bell."
"Oh yeah, sorry." Lee ran his hand back through his hair. It was a flashback, he
thought--it had to be.
"Any idea what brought this on?" he asked the counselor.
"Well actually I was hoping you could tell me," Mrs. Brooks said. "Mr. Soros
feels just awful--he says that all he did was lean over her desk to help her
with a math problem and then this happened."
"I don't think it was his fault." Lee recalled meeting Mr. Soros at
parent-teacher night--a tall, dark-haired man with glasses. Jenna had said that
she liked him--he made learning math fun. What on earth could've triggered this?
Hopefully Pfaff would be able to get to the bottom of this, because Lee didn't
have a clue.
"After Jenna calmed down a little I tried to get her to talk to me but she just
clammed up," Mrs. Brooks said. "Tell me, is she seeing anyone?"
"Yes, she's seeing someone," Lee said. "It hasn't been very easy, though."
"Give it time," Mrs. Brooks said. "And I can assure you that we'll be extra
patient with her."
"That's good," Lee told her. "Just don't--don't single her out or anything--my
wife and I--we're trying hard to keep everything as normal as possible."
Mrs. Brooks nodded. "I understand."
"Dad?" Jenna stood at the clinic's entrance. Her face was pale, eyes puffy and
red-rimmed--traces of recent tears still visible on her cheeks. Without another
word she practically ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him.
"I'm sorry dad." Lee could feel Jenna shaking. "I just--"
"It's okay, munchkin," he told her. "You didn't do anything wrong, you're fine.
Everything's fine." He kept telling her that as he steered her down the hall
and out of the building.
SMK SMK SMK SMK
IFF
4:10 PM
"How are you feeling now?" Dr. Pfaff asked her.
"Okay, I guess." Jenna sat in her usual chair, her knees drawn close to her
chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Dad was sitting in the
chair beside her.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" the doctor prompted. "About what it
was that frightened you?"
"It--" Jenna tried to think of a way to describe the way she'd felt as Mr.
Soros had loomed over her--his hand grabbing her--no, she thought. That last
part hadn't been Mr. Soros at all--that had been--
"Shut up."
The man's large shadow loomed over her, blocking out the light.
His huge hand felt like a steel vise, squeezing the back of her neck--his icy
eyes seemed to look right through her--Jenna could feel her entire body
trembling at his rough touch--a scared-sick feeling that began in her stomach
and spread outwards--knowing that whatever this man was going to do to her she
couldn't stop him--
"What is your name?" Gary asked.
"Jenna!" Someone kept calling her name over and over--she wanted to answer but
nothing was coming out. Her ears rang slightly, everything blurring--
"Breathe, Jenna." Dr. Pfaff told her. "In--that's good--and out--very slowly,
don't rush." Jenna felt her limbs tingling as if they'd been asleep, her
heartbeat slowing down to a more normal rhythm. Dr. Pfaff's face and the office
started to come back into focus.
"Try to tell me about what happened in Algebra class," Dr. Pfaff said. "What did
Mr. Soros do to upset you?"
"It wasn't anything that Mr. Soros--I mean, it wasn't him, because he's nice, he
would never hurt me and now he must think I'm--" Jenna's voice faltered.
"I'm sure he doesn't think anything bad about you," Dad told her. "The guidance
counselor said that you got upset when Mr. Soros leaned over your desk--why did
that bother you?"
"Because he was--I mean--I was sitting down and he was--standing--he was
standing over me--looking down, and--"
"And you don't like when people stand over you?" Dr. Pfaff asked.
Jenna shook her head.
"How does it make you feel?"
"Scared--shaky--" Jenna swallowed. "I can't move--and my stomach feels like I'm
going to be sick."
Dr. Pfaff's voice was quiet. "Why can't you move?"
"Because--cause he's holding me there. He's in control."
"Who's holding you there?" Dad asked.
'I don't want to be here,' Jenna thought. 'I don't want to be doing this'--her
head was pounding--in her mind she could see him looming over her, blue eyes
glittering coldly.
"You're in my office," Dr. Pfaff said. "I'm here, your father is here and we
would not let anything happen to you--this is a safe place. All you need to do
is tell us what happened."
'Tell him what happened--trust him.' Jenna took another slow breath in and out.
"It was Gary."
Dr. Pfaff nodded. "And what did Gary do?"
"I told you about the room."
"You told me about the room, yes--you were trapped there."
"Yes," Jenna said. "I tried to get out but it didn't work and then--then I
heard footsteps so I picked up the CD player--I thought about hitting someone
over the head with it, but when the door opened I was startled and my fingers
slipped--it dropped on the floor."
"Then--" Jenna clasped her hands together. "It was Suzanne--she came into the
room and she was holding a tray--she called me Marcie, said I was her
daughter--I told her who I was but I don't think she believed me--she told me my
father would be upset that I dropped the CD player."
"Did you tell her you weren't Marcie?" Dr. Pfaff asked.
"She didn't listen to me--wouldn't listen--I told her my name and address and
she just kept telling me not to do this--the door was open--I tried to walk out
of the room but--he was there--he had a gun--he pointed it at me, at my chest.
He cocked the gun and I thought he was going to--" Jenna's mouth felt dry--her
heart racing againd. The throbbing in her head made it hard to concentrate.
"--to shoot me so I moved back into the room and sat down on the bed."
"I see--and where was Gary at this point?"
"Standing over me--he called me Marcie--asked me if there was a problem and I--I
told him the same thing that I told Suzanne. And then--um--" More tears spilled
from her eyes and ran down her face--she was so sick of tears--
"Munchkin, do you want to stop here? We can if you want to." Dad's voice was
gentle--he took her hand inside his.
Jenna shook her head. "No, I want to finish it--I want to finish. Gary told
Suzanne to leave the room, said that he could handle me. She put the tray on the
floor and left--she closed the door and it was just me and him."
Dad's hand tightened slightly around her own. Looking at him Jenna could tell
how upset he was--the muscle in his jaw was clenched, forming a visible knot.
"Go on," Pfaff said.
"I told him that he could just let me go--that I wouldn't tell anyone--I guess I
babbled a little--I do that sometimes. All he did was tell me to shut up." She
wiped her eyes. "Then he bent down over me and grabbed the back of my neck with
one hand--he squeezed really hard--it hurt so bad--I could smell his
cologne--I-I tried to pull away but he was really strong--he was too strong--so
big--" Jenna felt suddenly cold--her body starting to shiver at the memory. "He
asked me what my--what my name was and I told him--then he asked again--there
was no expression on his face at all, his eyes were--and that's when he hit
me--then he hit me again--he kept squeezing my neck until I--" again she
swallowed, this time trying to keep the nausea at bay--Jenna could still feel
his hand on her neck--the way her head had snapped back with the force of the
blow--a coppery taste filling her mouth.
"Until you what?" Dr. Pfaff asked.
"Until I told him my name was Marcie Ann Johnston--he made me say it three
times." Jenna took one shaky hand and rubbed her face--realizing that her bangs
were damp with sweat--her scar itched. Dad was still holding her other hand--he
was holding so tightly that Jenna wasn't sure if he'd ever let go.
"That sounds like it would've been a very frightening experience," Dr. Pfaff
said.
"It was," Jenna admitted.
"But you do realize that not everyone who stands over you means to do you harm."
"I know," Jenna said. "Mr. Soros didn't--he's one of my favorite teachers--but
when I--when I reacted that way, I really didn't seem to be in control."
"Well that's what we're here to work on." Dr. Pfaff leaned forward. "In the
meantime, how does it feel, you know--being able to get some of that off your
chest?"
"I feel--" Jenna stopped for a moment--thinking about how she did actually
feel--her head still throbbed--her face damp from tears, but there was a
lightness--something that hadn't been there before. It surprised Jenna--she
hadn't been expecting that.
"I don't feel as bad--" she said. "I mean, I don't feel great, but I don't feel
that bad either. I feel okay."
"Okay is a good step, Jenna," Dr. Pfaff said. "I think we'll end this here for
now--pick it up again at the next session."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.