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The Trade	By : sandyl666 Category: +1 through F > Coraline Views: 11933 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: Coraline book-verse is owned by Neil Gaiman and part of movie-verse is owned by Henry Selick, I own nothing. I make nothing whatsoever by writing and posting this on.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: Why do I make things so hard on myself and write different crap in the disclaimer every week? Either way – Coraline's plot and characters don't belong to me – it's Neil Gaiman's and some are Henry Selick's.
Chapter 28: Repression

Her mother hadn't spoken to her once since Coraline had admitted to falling for her kidnapper. You would think Coraline would've been more bothered by this, but her mother barely talked to her on a regular basis, so this wasn't really a large change from the usual. She could've done without the angry, disappointed looks her mother shot her way when she thought Coraline wasn't looking. Her father still talked to her, but he seemed more reserved, less affectionate to his only daughter. He hardly joked with her, and didn't talk to her aside from the usual greetings.
She continued to go to school, though the untimely vomiting was something that was difficult to overcome, and before she knew it, rumours had spread like wildfire. The pointing and muttering got worse. People didn't even bother lowering their voices as she passed by.
"It was the kidnapper?"
"I hope so! What, did you think it was Lovat?"
"No wonder she got so hot. Think she'll call me if I need a tumble?"
"You could always try,"
Cruel judgements were made, and other, more sympathetic ones were spread along with it. It became harder for people to separate the facts from the fancy, and Coraline suffered the brunt of it.
Wybie stood by her side, and tried to deflect most of the rumours, and while she was happy for the support, she couldn't help the feeling that it was wrong of him to pay her so much attention as his girlfriend trailed behind him miserably. Kate no longer greeted Coraline in the morning, unless Coraline greeted her first, and Coraline begin to feel worried that her best friend was misunderstanding things.
Through all the confusion and drama of her daily life, the only things that comforted her was talking to her doll. She knew Bel was on the other side of it, hearing and seeing everything she said and did, and this comforted her, even though he had no way of reciprocating.
"Coraline Jones, Coraline Jones, will you please come to the principal's office?" the voice came through the PA system. Coraline was shaken out of her thoughts.
"They're calling for you, Jones," her teacher said, and gestured to the door. Coraline got up, pressing her palm into the table as her knees felt a little unsteady. Wybie placed his hand in the air.
"May I take her there, sir?" Wybie asked.
"They asked for her alone, Lovat, and we're in the middle of class, so no," the teacher responded.
Wybie sighed, but gave Coraline the thumbs up as she left the classroom.
The five minute trek to the principal's office dragged on and she was absolutely weary by the time she got to her destination. The usually kind secretary directed her to the office, though she already knew exactly where it was. But it was the dismissive manner with which the secretary treated her that offended her the most.
She knocked on the door, even though she knew it wasn't necessary. How many people visited the principal's office?
"Come in," came the voice of the principal. Coraline paused for a second as the nameplate on the door caught her eye, and realised she'd never actually committed the principal's name to memory. So it's Mr Greene... she thought to herself belatedly as she entered the office.
A gust of wind blew in the window, causing the door to slam shut behind her. The principal glared at her, and she knew she was in for a hard time. The older man gestured to a seat and Coraline sat gingerly, sinking into the plush cushions. She found it ironic that this comfy seat was what he made students sit in as he gave out harsh punishments and screamed obscenities at rebellious teenagers before sending them to detention.
Mr Greene was silent for a long time, staring at Coraline. "Miss Jones, first off, I want to tell you how sorry we are to hear you had been kidnapped," He paused, and Coraline's heart sank. The formality of his words were not a good sign. "You have been a prime example of a student, with your grades and somewhat acceptable behaviour," Coraline's eyes twitched as she fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Recently, some... controversial rumours have been running rampant about the effects of the kidnapping,"
Choosing his words carefully... shit. Coraline cursed in her head.
"One in particular caught my attention..." He leaned forward, resting his head on this knuckles and looked straight into her eyes, before asking. "Is it true that you are pregnant, Miss Jones?" he asked in a soft, almost pitying voice.
Coraline closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No way out. "Yeah," she answered softly. "I'm pregnant. With my kidnapper's kid," No lies. She felt proud of herself.
"I see," Mr Greene sat back, his old chair creaking as his weight pushed it back. For a long time, there was silence except for the ticking of Mr Greene's old wooden clock. Coraline felt her whole body protest at how tense she was. She didn't even notice she had been digging her nails into the seat's puffed armchairs until she drew her hand back and noticed the fluff caught under her fingernails.
"I'm afraid to inform you, Miss Jones," Mr Greene continued as Coraline picked the stuffing out of her nail. "-that our school is very strict when it come to things like drugs, sex and especially teenage pregnancies," He paused, as if giving her an opportunity to object. She didn't. Just watched him numbly as he dolled out a punishment she knew was unjust, but inevitable. "I understand that the circumstances of your pregnancy is different. But other people don't know that. If prospective parents were to come, and see you sitting in class with the rest of your classmates, they might think that we condone such behaviour. Which we don't,"
"Even though I was raped?" Coraline felt her mouth form the words, and hear her voice asking the question, but she was so numb she didn't even know what part of her had made her ask the question. Maybe she just wanted to show him how unfairly he was treating her, how she had suffered, and how he was making her suffer even more because of their school's stupid reputation.
Mr Greene squirmed uncomfortably, and she was glad. She was stretching the truth here, making Bel who she now loved the criminal, and would've been upset if her efforts had not been rewarded with at least some discomfort.
"I am sorry, Miss Jones. Please understand that we only wish the best for the sc-"
"To hell with this," Coraline got up, and kicked the chair over with her shin. It was surprisingly light for such a fluffed up chair. "I'm so sick of getting judged and pushed around just because I was assaulted and forced to fuck someone I didn't want to. If your damn reputation is so important to you, then you can keep it. This school doesn't deserve someone like me, anyway,"
She ignored the stunned look on the principal's face and stomped to the door, flung it open before slamming it behind her, causing the secretary to jump in her seat and the office to shudder at her force. She didn't need the wind to help her this time.
"I never should have left the Other World," Coraline whispered. Her parents were both out, her father possibly trying to sell their latest manuscript, and her mother accompanying him.
"No, he never should have raped you," Wybie said curtly. He had come to visit her after school, to check that she was alright, only to find a pale, weary, sobbing mess.
"I had no control over that. But I should have stayed. I never should have returned," Coraline said adamantly.
"You did the right thing. This is where you belong,"
"Is it?" Coraline questioned, more to herself than to him.
"Yes," he said. Something in his voice drew her attention and she looked up from the spot on her bed she had been staring at and found Wybie's brown eyes focused on her, gazing at her intensely.
It was suddenly really hard to breathe.
Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She froze, unable to reciprocate or to push him away. "Coraline... I love you," he told her honestly. "It took me losing you to realise how I felt. I'm sorry about that. But I can't stand by and watch you be so down on yourself like this, not when I love you this much,"
He waited, tensely, for her reply. It took her a long time to be able to form the words that represented how she felt.
"I'm sorry, Wybie, I can't," she looked into his face, her heart breaking at the hurt that was evident on his face. "I love him," Coraline whispered.
"No, you do not!" Wybie insisted, slamming his hand against the kitchen table to punctuate his statement. "You have stockholm syndrome! You only think that way because he captured you, held you there against your will, and you only had him to rely on! Wake up, Coraline! The gratitude you feel isn't love!"
"So what, Wybie?" Coraline shouted back. She seemed to realise what she had done then, and lowered her voice. "So what if I fell for him because I was his prisoner? I'm not anymore... And I still love him. To me, it doesn't matter if the reason I have these feelings are stockholm syndrome. The bottom line is that I have these feelings. And they're not going away, no matter how hard I try,"
"You're even more stupid than I thought, Coraline Jones," Wybie said stiffly, and promptly stomped out of her room. Her heart sank as she watched her greatest ally walk out on her. But she had made her decision. But when she heard him slam her front door, the steady beat of her heart faltered.
"Wybie, wait!" she called, rushing to her front door. She felt her stomach drop when she spotted a girl standing frozen further down the hallway, standing so still she almost didn't notice her, and was pretty sure Wybie hadn't.
They stood in silence for a long time. Kate never once looked in her direction, instead she continued to stare at her feet.
"He kissed you, didn't he?" she asked in a flat, dead voice.
"Kate..."
"I heard him tell you... that he loves you," finally, Kate looked up, and Coraline could practically see her reflection in Kate's glistening wet eyes. Then Kate bolted down the stairs.
"Kate, wai-"
"SAVE IT!" The normally silent girl screamed at her ex-best friend as she ran out the door.
Coraline hugged the banister of the stairs, her legs felt boneless.
How the hell did she manage to lose everything in so short a time?
A/N: I know these parts are pretty angsty, but I swear, a relatively good ending will follow! Really! There's a method to my madness - I'm not just torturing Coraline and Bel for the fun of it!
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The Trade