Written by Charlotte
ONE
Taylor
I peeked through the edge of my locker, which was open and covered with pictures, a mirror, and some sparkly stickers. I paid close attention to Faun. There she was: My target, standing alone at her locker and mumbling under her breath. She was the new, weird kid at school, who was as skinny as a whisp. I took a closer look at her. Something wasn’t right. She was standing all alone- no friends. I tried to imagine what her life would feel like. Of course, I always have my friends lounging around my locker. It was simple actually. I was popular, she wasn’t. Done.
I don’t want to act mean, but I’ve always felt uncomfortable around her. One time, a kid called Faun some not-so-very- nice words for a reason that I do not know of, and the very next day.... He was gone. There are rumors that his parents don’t even know where he went. Some kids think that he ran away, a small amount think he moved, and the majority think that his disappearance had something to do with Faun. She’s just so different. She’s a loner, and everyone hates loners. They always hang around in the corners, in the shadows. They don’t even try to make friends. Social health = 0%.
Anyways, there I was, waiting for Faun to leave her locker. She’s so slow. If she could be any animal in the world, she would be a sloth, no, a snail. Weird, slow, different. Exactly like Faun. Then again, I’m not being mean. It’s not mean to keep things in your head. It’s nice. In fact, I’m doing the kid a favor.
For after what felt like forever, she left, late for class. I was going to be late as well if I didn’t hurry up. I quickly snuck over to her locker, and looked both ways, making sure that I wasn’t going to be seen. I was actually going to pull this off. I allowed myself to smirk, then bang on a sign on her locker that read,
“Get a life ya idiot. You can buy one at McDonalds!”
I’ve been planning at this for a while, not very long, but either way, the sweet victory after words would feel great. I couldn’t wait until after class! Because my locker was fairly close to her’s, I was gonna see everything up close! Front row seats!
Remember: This isn’t mean. Hey! The kid might as well be begging for it. If she thinks she can just come into a new school, and literally DITCH anyone who tries to be friendly, she’s gotta be some kind of IDIOT to think that some ‘unexpected’ fate wouldn’t come her way.
Notice that’s in quotes for a reason.
I walked away to my next class, my boots clicking, hinting that today was going to be a great day. I’ve really got to get new boots.
TWO
Jenna
Our school couldn’t care less about bullying. You could do something totally mean, but the principle, let alone the teachers barely care at all. In fact, they couldn’t care less. “Learn to deal with it,” They say, before even listening to the problem you’ve got to report. Apparently they think that bullying teaches good life lessons or something like that.
How the teachers handle their students is unacceptable. Especially if that student is a sixth grader. I mean, mind the jump! In fifth grade, if you called someone stupid, you would be in major trouble. The teachers would call the guidance counselor, and make you apologize. They’d call your parents and everything. That one moment you called your friend stupid could scar the rest of your elementary years. See? They make a big deal out of nothing.
But in sixth grade, just ONE grade ahead, you can curse all you want to someone else IN FRONT of a teacher, and guess what?
NOTHING!
See? They make nothing out of a big deal.
And as for our detention-slip-handing principle, he’s no better.
Anyways, there are a lot of mean people here, like gossipers, rumor spreaders, but the worst of them all are bullies. There are three groups of bullies here at this school:
1) Some kids are just plain teasers. Little teasing here and there, but in all, no real harm done.
2) The next group of kids go hard core, enough to make you want to cry.
3) And others are just pure cruel. They will go to extreme measures to humiliate somebody, so they can advance in their own social placement.
But… there is this one girl who just transferred here to our middle school, and I heard that someone was going to do something really awful to her. I think her name was...Faun? Yes, Faun. Poor Faun. She never really did anything wrong, yet no one treats her kindly.
Now I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t spoken up. Believe me, I’ve tried. We met, always say “Hi” in the hallways when we pass by, but I feel like she doesn’t want to become friends with anybody. Or maybe she just doesn’t like me. Either way, she mumbles to much and never talks to people.
And when I say that she never talks to people, I mean she never talks to any real people. By the way she mumbles to herself, it’s pretty clear she’s got imaginary friends. I mean, she even has some imaginary ARGUMENTS with those guys. Talk about a total obsession.
Oh no! The bell rang! I’m going to be late to class!
I quickly grabbed the rest of my books, and swiftly walked through the almost-empty hallway. I poke my head to the edge of ‘Book Mountain’ to see my way ahead.
As I was walking though, I noticed a girl hiding behind her decorated locker door, peering restlessly at... Faun? The girl looked like a lion ready to pounce onto her prey. I stopped dead in my tracks.
Is this the bad thing that is going to happen to Faun? What is that girl up to?...
I couldn’t help but wonder over and over again.
Suddenly, the girl who was stalking Faun surprisingly seemed more familiar.
Wait a second… isn’t that the girl who’s part of that group? The one who dared my friend to… The one who posted that online… isn’t she…. Taylor? My throat felt dry, and had a huge, clogging lump. The thought of that evil, merciless group, the thought of how they humiliated me and my friends….. I quickly went from stunned to angry. I couldn’t let them do the same thing to Faun, no matter how weird she was.
I wasn’t sure what to do.
Should I go up to Taylor and stop her?
Or should I just wait and see?
Torn between two choices, I realized that nothing good would come out of waiting. I just wanted to stomp up to her and ask: “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
I took a short moment to give some real thought into this.
Yes, action would be the better choice, and Faun would be safe, but it would be like letting a criminal of the line. Taylor deserves to be punished… for whatever she’s doing. I just need proof she’s doing something first.
I and quietly casually speed-walked into the girls bathroom,(which was luckily really close to Faun’s locker), hid, and waited. I crouched down and tried my best not to breathe so heavily.
Do I always breathe this loudly?
I peeked through the crack of the thick, wooden door as my breath dragged in my chest.
I was disgusted. A normal girl would never lay her head on a cold, bathroom tile looking through a crack in a moldy door. I prayed that no one was still left in the hallway to open the bathroom door. I didn’t want to be caught like this.
After a couple seconds, I heard a locker click as it closed, followed by shushed footsteps.
I waited, and waited, and waited….
The cold bathroom tile started to sting my cheek, and I started to regret my decision.
When will I learn to NOT get involved in other people's’ lives?
After a while, I was greeted by a loud bang. I jumped up in surprise, but hit my head on the door knob.
“Real smooth,” I muttered angrily to myself, rubbing my aching head.
The loud “Bang” I had heard sounded like someone slamming their locker close.
Did Taylor figure out Faun’s locker combination? Did she plant some kind of stink bomb in it? Was that “Bang” just now, Taylor?
Too scared to come out too soon, I waited even longer. Longer, longer, longer.
I must have waited longer than I was supposed to, time seemed to drag by very slowly, it seemed to take an eternity for one second to pass by. As you can see, it wasn’t in my nature to wait in one place for so long.
Finally, I told myself that it was safe to go outside. As the door creaked open, I slid out, and froze. I had only taken two steps forward, when I saw it. In plain sight. A sign, that read, “Get a life ya idiot. You can buy one at McDonalds.”
I read it ten times. Then it hit me. This awful sign wasn’t the horrible thing that was going to happen to Faun. It couldn’t. Why wouldn’t Taylor snoop even lower? I mean, even I could think of worse pranks.
This was only the beginning.
Angrily, I stomped over to the sign, ripped it of, tape and everything, and slammed it onto Taylor’s locker. Then I had second thoughts.
This is too good for her, I thought, She deserves worse. Ideas were starting to bubble up in my mind, but none of them could be done quick enough so I could get to class faster. I had super glue in my pencil case, which was in my arms.
Smiling devilishly, I put my books down, took out the glue, glued the sign onto Taylor’s locker, and left, still thinking that was too good for her. I was five minutes late for class, with a perfectly good excuse for the teacher in mind: I was in the bathroom too long.
And that was the truth.
THREE
Taylor
I’m soooo excited to see the look on Faun’s face when she sees the sign I put up for her, I thought as I sat through the lecture our teacher was giving us.
Her lesson was about… finding the volume of 3-dimensional objects? I wasn’t sure, because it wasn’t worth my attention. I was just waiting for our teacher to diss-
“Class is dismissed.” announced our teacher.
The noise of chairs screeching across the floor, and sudden chatter arose in the room. I didn’t meet up with my friends like I always did. This time, I was going straight to the drama, and was leaving the story a surprise for them.
Squishing myself out the door along with the other kids, I gladly skipped away. The hallway seemed to become more crowded as I walked towards my locker, and screams, and yelps seemed to increase as I made my way down.
I didn’t put much mind to the difference. All I could think about was how fun it would be when everyone was hovering around Faun’s locker.
But when I got there, I was surprised to see that my locker was surrounded by a huge crowd of kids.
“Let me see!”
“Hey, move over…”
“This is so funny.”
“Who might have done this? To Taylor’s locker?!”
“OMG! This is Taylor’s locker?”
“I can’t see!!!!”
“Hey! Forget where your locker is?!!” I exclaimed. No one paid any real attention, they just kept on… snickering? Some kids were even laughing out loud!
“Why…?” I was confused, the kids at school were supposed to be laughing at-
“Faun…” I whispered. I suddenly remembered by prank. My eyes widened with a dreadful fear.
Oh no.
My heart rate seemed to speed up, as I jolted my head towards Faun’s locker, my curly blond hair swinging wildly. My heartbeat raced, faster, faster, then stopped, as I looked at Faun’s locker.
FOUR
Taylor
“Blank,” That was all I was able to croak out. I had a pretty good guess on where the sign was now, and hopefully, my friends and other gossipers hadn’t seen this yet. I tore my way through the thick crowd and screamed out loud:
“Listen up people! Move out of-” Sudden silence.
All chatter stopped as I started walking towards my locker. Everything was literally so dead quiet, that my foot steps seemed to echo through the hallway. All eyeballs were on me- I love attention, but this was humiliating! I must have showed it, because everyone was looking at me as if I were super nervous. I wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, I wasn’t angry either. ANGRY DOESN’T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE IT!!!
I kept on walking towards my locker as some whispers were passed on.
Tap,
tap,
tap,
whisper,
whisper,
whisper.
The click of my boots kept on going, going, then… stopped. I read the sign that was on my locker- not that I needed to. I already knew what it said.
Get a life ya idiot. You can buy one at McDonalds.
A couple words, a million thoughts:
How did my prank backfire?
Who put this here?
It can’t be Faun, can it?
If someone else put this here: Why?
How many people have seen this?
Is my reputation over?
How can I take this - ?
I tried to rip the sign off the locker, but it wouldn’t budge. Some bits of paper got torn off, but the paper itself stayed there, along with most of the words, making my locker look terrible. Making my perfect locker look like an old hobo’s. The locker I spent so much time on decorating.
I turned around, nostrils flaring.
“WHO DID THIS?!!!” I screamed.
No one replied. Big surprise. No teachers came to see what was going on either. Big surprise.
“WHO DID THIS?” I repeated.
Again, no answer, only like, a million eyeballs now staring at me like I’m crazy.
“IF YOU DON’T REVEAL YOURSELF RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR I WILL MAKE FAUN’S LIFE MISERABLE, AND CLEARLY, THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU WANT!”
There was a slight pause, then someone spoke.
“I did it.” confessed a tiny, but stern voice. “It was me.”
The voice seemed strangely familiar, yet was lost in the crowd of kids, who were all whispering, and moving their heads this way and that to catch a glimpse of who had said those bold words, to me. To ME.
“Show yourself.” I demanded, calmer than before. My eyes darted everywhere, trying to catch any sudden movement, trying to spot the owner of the voice.
A girl with dark brown hair slowly stepped out of the crowd, but there was something off about her. She didn’t look scared, as most kids should have when they face me. She looked determined, almost angry.
“You deserved that.” She shot out, her arms crossed.
Suddenly, she became more familiar. Ha! That’s Jenna! Part of that dorky group, I remember!
I glared at her in distaste, looking at her up and down. This look always made others feel uncomfortable. Her determined face stayed the same, but I could see that her eyes showed a slight discomfort.
I had her right where I wanted her… Not really, but almost.
Still angry, I stomped up to her. We were face to face.
“You. Me. Afterschool. Local park. Or you, Faun, and your pathetic little friends get it.”
FIVE
Jenna
Those words seemed to sting the air for what felt like an eternity.
Or you, Faun and your pathetic friends get it.
I remember trying to stay brave, trying to act calm, even when Taylor gave me that nasty look.
Now, everyone was staring. Looking from Taylor, to me, to Taylor, then to me again.
I knew what they were waiting for: They were waiting for one of us to say something, to start the action again, like this was some TV show. That made me very angry. This is none of their business, I thought. All of the kids were staring at us with so much intensity, it was probably possible for it to kill me. I didn’t show it though. I couldn’t afford to show it, not here, not now. Then Taylor spoke:
“And come alone…”
She trailed off as the lunch bell rang.
Everyone left in a hurry, talking and whispering about what had just happened.
“I bet you five bucks she’s a no-show.”
“No way! I can’t believe she spoke up to her like that!”
“Who does she think she is?”
“I wonder what will happen to that girl.”
“That girl’s name is Jenna, I think.”
“No, it’s Julie.”
“Wait, you mean that dorky, straight A student? God, I hate snooty kids like that.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s got some nerve…”
Different conversations seemed to be overlapping each other. I clutched my lunch box and by books tighter in my arms. I wonder where Taylor is right now… Did Faun see that? I wonder where Faun is too.
I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me, but whether I showed up or not… It was a lose- lose situation. I was trapped, and there was truly no way out.
SIX
Jenna
I remember what I had told my mother when she asked me over my cell phone at school, “Why won’t you be home at the same time as usual?"
I had said, “I have an after school activity- don’t worry mom, I’ll use the after-school bus.”
Then I had hung up, and let out a nervous, high pitched sigh… If you can even call it that. It sounded more of a panicky squeak. It surprises me that my vocal cords could even pull that off.
My palms were sweaty, and I had butterflies fluttering in my stomach- no, scratch that. I had elephants heavily stomping around in my stomach as I walked off the school bus, and onto another random stop. I knew where I was going- all I had to do was head north, then take the next left turn. Next thing I know, I’ll be there. Next thing I know, I’ll be facing my doom. Yet, I was willingly walking.
I started walking towards the park, with Taylor’s words ringing in my head, the only thing that refrained me from heading back home.
Come alone….. Or you, Faun….. will get it…..Your pathetic little friends….
Finally, I stopped. I had reached my destination. I looked around the park. The sun was high in the sky, as always. And there were quite a few younger kids playing on the park equipment. There was also many benches spread across the park, along with many trees.
I dragged my backpack and my shaking, fearful body over to a bench and slumped down. Because I had come straight from school, I had to bring my backpack with me. Although it was a burden, it had a cookie in it that I could eat if I got hungry.
It was a bright, and sunny summer day. There were birds tweeting and some quiet chatting in the background. I tried to relax, to act normal.
As you know, that’s impossible.
SEVEN
Jenna
I must have waited for hours!
The sun was starting to set, and I was getting really hungry (The cookie was already way past gone). I had thought about leaving several times, but the ringing in my head of Taylor’s threat kept me waiting in the park.
Come alone….. Or you, Faun….. will get it…..Your pathetic little friends….
I couldn’t risk it.
My mom had also called a couple times, I gave her a couple excuses, like:
“Oh mom, the, uh….rock-climbing meeting ran long.”
“The after-school bus is running late…”
“There are a lot of people on the bus, and my stop is the last stop, so yeah.”
“Oh mom! Uh…. The bus broke down! So, I’ll be even more late, ok? Ok, bye.” That had been a close one- my mom had offered to pick me up herself, but I managed a way around.
I kept on waiting. I wonder if this is a prank…. Again, I couldn’t risk it.
Hmp. People thought that I was going to be the no-show, but instead, it’s the other way around. But if Taylor was going to show up, then I’m sure she would have brought her friends. They always do everything together.
The entire time, the threat that Taylor had raised up against me was on my mind. I even had the whole line memorized, there hadn’t been a second passed when I hadn’t thought about it: Or you, Faun, and your pathetic little friends get it. Just thinking about it gave me the creeps! And imagine, I was thinking about it the entire time.
All of the kids in the park were gone now. It was just me. The sky was turning a darker shade of blue, and my phone in such a condition that it was of no use (out of battery). This was just great (Sarcasm).
. . .
I must have gotten too tired, because the next thing I know, I wake up at home in bed, and it’s the next day already! I’m doomed, a gonner. This is going to be the end...unless… I wonder if Taylor showed up at all yesterday.
EIGHT
Taylor
Right after school, I made sure that none of my friends heard about the, um, incident that had happened during school that day, by mailing everyone a threat. If anyone dares to mention that ever again, I would organize a huge group of kids who would make that one person be severely punished, teased, bullied and harshly pranked until they’ve got nothing left to lose. I even specifically included some pranks I would do if they did mention the incident… but I won’t say now. You do not want to know.
I left Jenna waiting at the park… just to let those mosquitoes near the benches bite her. I had originally decided that I would be there with my friends (Telling them that I was doing this to Jenna just for fun), and wear her down with a little teasing, pushing around, and smear a little something in her hair (let’s just say that my cat uses the litter box a LOT, and wow, does it smell! The stench would have never come off!), along with a warning that this wasn’t over.
But I decided that in order for those things to feel even the least bit embarrassing, they had to be seen in public. And I also felt that she needed something worse, something that would stain her for a long time.
I wasn’t sure yet. A plan that horrible needed to be thought out carefully.
Not that I had a plan yet.
Of course, my revenge didn’t have to be pulled now… It just needed to happen.
My hatred for that girl was pure. The horrible thing she did to me with her friends before that ‘get a life’ sign. That had made me cruel.
And angry. I was a walking time bomb, waiting to blow ever since then, and that sign had triggered it. I was now a doomsday device. And I was coming in slowly, then faster. Innocent, then murder.
NINE
Jenna
This. Was. War.
That girl has got some serious problems.
The next day I come to school… BAM! My locker is covered with long, thick scribbles of marker.
I hope this marker isn’t-
The marker was sharpie.
If this had happened to me about a year ago, I would have panicked completely.
Oh gosh no! Oh no no no no no! I’m gonna have to pay the damage bills! This is the end of me...
But of course, those thoughts would have been formed a YEAR ago. Now, It’s all different.
I was merely annoyed, no where close to scared, as if it this ‘revenge’ prank was just a pesky fly.
As we all know, flies are easy to take care of.
Sighing, I reached into my backpack and grabbed a huge, transparent bottle of Hand Sanitizer, and a smooth tissue. I plopped a handful of sanitizer onto my hand, and smeared it onto my bluish locker. Then, the tissue rubbed at the slimy sanitizer, and the sharpie disappeared, along with it’s sharp smell. And for the remaining ooze that was left on my hand- I just rubbed it away.
I took a short moment to stare at my locker. Taylor’s locker was still minorly damaged, no matter how hard she tried to rub it off. The paper was pretty much gone, but there was this sticky, visible remaining left. You know when you tear the cover off a plastic water bottle? And there is this goo left? It looked like that.
I then went along to my normal routines. I opened my locker, collected my books, and left. But, to tell the truth, this prank had to be the lamest Taylor had ever come up with, so I knew this was only the beginning.
I mean, Is she MENTAL? This prank she played on me is NOTHING. I can’t believe this was her light- weight prank.
A light-weight prank is sort of a pesky, not-so-damaging prank that’s used as a starter prank in a long series of pranks.
And plus, she hadn’t gotten me and my friends back completely from the last time...
Seeing that angered shock on Taylor’s face had made my day. She must have been spying at me, because she was hiding behind a tall kid, peeking at me. Then, she leapt from her hiding place, and passed by, obviously wanting to admire her master piece, to look me in the eye, when she noticed that my locker looked as good as new. After gasping loud enough to wake the dead, she had stormed off, ignoring my smirk, and my question:
“You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?”
Man, I wish I had a camera then.
Later that school day, Taylor ignored me. But she’s a really bad actress. I could see right through her plan. She was just pretending to be upset that her plan didn’t work, and that she would just give up, because that prank was the best she had. She just wanted me to be surprised when she attacked again.
Of course I had known that the marker revenge plan Taylor had pulled couldn’t possibly be the plan to get back at me. What I had done to her was too awful… in her world.
If that had happened to ME, I would have just shrugged it off and assumed that it was just some lame middle school prank. But apparently, Taylor just HAS to take everything so seriously. In her paradox, if anyone trips her in the corridor, it seems like murder.
TEN
Jenna
“What should I do?” I asked my friends desperately that day. We were at my house. After school, I had asked them to all gather at my place.
One of my friends- Jack- rolled his eyes at me. “You shouldn’t have freaking ticked her off in the first place!”
Natalia- we call her Nat- shoved Jack in the ribs, “Language!”
Jack laughed quietly. We all knew what he was thinking, ‘Oh, I could have...’
I eyed all four of my friends. Jack was bouncing on my bed, Anna was looking through my closet, Nat was standing next to me, rocking on her feet, and Matt was bouncing with Jack.
“Hello? Is anyone listening?” I called through cupped hands.
All of my friends stopped to look at me. Finally, breaking the silence, Matt asked, “So, what’s up? I mean, why did you call us all together here?”
“Well,” I started, pausing. “If you’d been listening, Taylor-”
A low growling escaped Anna’s throat. We all turned to face her. “I’ll tell you all some’, that girl’s more rotten than a three year old, worm infested apple pie!”
Everyone nodded angrily in agreement. What she had done to us before was was just awful. There simply was no other way to explain it. Anna still hasn’t recovered. We even tried to get back, but we sorta- kinda failed a bit.
It’s a long story.
I continued my announcement. “As I was saying, Taylor’s striked again. She's made Faun-”
“The new kid,” Matt pointed out.
“She’s made Faun, the new kid, her target.”
The group erupted into an angry overlap of outbursts.
Finally calming down, Jack asked me, all pumped up, “What did you do about it?”
“Did ya give her what for?” asked Anna, a fist clutched in her other hand.
I sighed. Trying to tell them was going to be impossible. I couldn’t get out one sentence without an interruption of some sort.
“I tried…” I said, looking at the ground.
Nat looked at me sympathetically. “But…” she continued for me.
I looked up. “She’ll be after us now.” I told them what had happened.
Matt burst, “So she’s after us again? Oh no, this time’s gonna be worse, I know it. That girl was angry enough the last time we tried to seek vengeance… She’s crazy! She’s mad! She’s- She’s...”
Moans and groans were all I could hear.
Nat shifted her weight uncomfortably.
“Come on guys, don’t be that way! She’s just another-”
“She’s not just another girl! She’s a shark raised by the Devil himself!” Argued Jack.
I had put them all in danger. This was my fault. None of them deserved this. I couldn’t help but feel angry at myself. I knew everyone else was angry at me too.
Nat looked guiltily at her feet. We paid no attention to her.
“Look, instead of whining over it, why don’t we just plan something out?” Suggested Anna, stealing my thought. I knew that she knew I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to say so.
“Oh, suuure. Like that’ll help. You know we’re gonners in the end, right? Even if we try to tell somebody, she’ll just use you-know-what against us.” Matt pointed out.
“Uh… guys?” She whispered.
As if by magic, the gang hushed down immediately, their heads jolting to her direction. They had grown quiet as if they had expected it.
So they listen to her, huh? I thought annoyed.
We all waited for her to speak once more.
“What is it, sugar?” Urged Anna, twisting her messy blonde hair, wrapping it around one finger.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Joined Jack.
“Um…” Nat looked like an innocent puppy who had just participated in a heist.
“I… I think I may have instigated her as well. Part of the blame is mine,” she admitted.
We all stared blankly at her, taking it in. What did she mean? Is she saying that she did something to make Taylor angry as well? Is that why Taylor had overreacted when I put that poster up on her locker? Or was she just always that way…?
“I may have accidentally…”
“Yes?” Asked Matt, leaning forward.
We were all eager to hear what she had to say, but Nat was making it so painful for us, speaking like bubbles forcing their way through rock-hard-honey.
Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes.
“I- I…”
Nat is usually sensitive. She was the quiet one of the group. Sure, she’d add into a conversation here and there, but otherwise, she was dead silent. Nat is soft, so this scene wasn’t really anything new we’ve gotten from her.
Anna must have realized that Nat had caught herself in an uncomfortable position, and hadn’t meant to tell us anything yet, so she jumped to her rescue. Anna’s way too kind, in my opinion. It’s not even sweet sometimes- Just annoying.
“Y’all know what? How ‘bout we head on over to that new ice cream place? My treat.”
Being a guy who’s easily distracted, Matt responded happily. “Sure! Sounds great to me!”
Either Matt was really stupid, or he had caught on that Nat wasn’t really ready to tell us what she had done.
Probably the first one.
Who eats ice cream in winter? I eyed Nat on the way out, and nudged Jack in the ribs.
“Ow!” He exclaimed. “How many times does that have to happen?”
“What do you think happened?” I asked in place of an apology.
“Dunno.” He shrugged, rubbing his chest to smother the pain. “Probably best if we leave her alone right now.”
I stared at Jack incredulously, and yet willingly agreed, “Right.”
Jack had always reminded me of a ninja: Green eyes, black hair, tall, and really flexible. He’s also the kind of person who cannot tolerate waiting in line. Like me. The question: WHY is he suggesting the right thing to do instead of comforting Nat, and telling her that she could tell us anything?
Jack and I caught up with the group, grabbed our winter coats, headed out the front door, and chated away with everyone else. The only person who didn’t open her mouth was Nat.
We all stayed on the sidewalk together and watched our visible breath glide in front of our faces.
“...Anyways, long story short, the only reason she ever went out side…” continued Anna. She’d been moving her mouth the second we left my house. Matt was being his usual goofy self- Just another perk of having a brother- and Jack was accompanying Nat.
Meanwhile, I was doing some serious thinking. I stared at Jack, Anna, and Matt. I couldn’t think of why any one of them wouldn’t want to strangle Nat and choke out what she was trying to say. OK, not literally, but they seemed to let her off to easy.
Once again, as you can see, I’m not very patient . Whether it’s waiting on a bathroom floor, or having to wait for my twenty fifth birthday until Nat says anything on the subject ever again, I need to know as soon as possible.
I sighed when Matt stopped walking to let me catch up. Part of me wanted to ask him, ‘What?’, and another part wanted to stay silent, and stay bathed in thoughts.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something’s always wrong. You-”
“That’s nice.”
Matt jumped ahead to catch up with the rest of the group, while I shook my head. Matt knew when I was going to get talkative down the line. Sure, Matt loves conversation, but not my stress-filled ones.
Just another perk about being related to me.
ELEVEN
Taylor
“6-43-25, 6-43-25, 6-43-25... ”
I repeated the combination in my head as I sluped in my seat. Once again, I was sitting through another boring math class. For some reason, out of all my classes, math seemed to last the longest.
I blew my blond bangs out of my eyes, and looked down at my desk. There was nothing to do, so I ripped of a piece of paper from my worksheet, picked up my pink puff pen, and wrote: ‘Bored. Got my phone, text me. - from Taylor’
I passed the note to Paisley, and asked her so kindly to pass the note over to Brooke, but NOOOO! She just HAD to give me a huge lecture on why I shouldn’t pass notes in class. As you can see, Paisley’s one of those stuck up, bossy girls.
“Just do it, Paisley!” I whisper- screamed in frustration.
She glared at me with her arms crossed, raised one eyebrow, then handed the note over to some glasses-wearing nerdy freak!
The nerd unfolded the note, read the paper, then leaned over to me and said: “Don’t have my own phone. Don’t have your number- but give it to me.”
I pushed the nerd away and moaned. One more minute stuck in this class, and I’ll go crazy.
“6-43-25, 6-43-25....” I repeated in my mind.
TWELVE
Nat
Most people are jerks. As for the other small percentage who don’t get carried away with freedom at this school, they aren’t really the ‘friendly’ type. That’s a problem here. Believe me, a lot of us kids would love to make friends and get along, but there’s a huge group of kids who keep us all from each other. You might even say that they run the school.
I mean sure, if you look, you’ll find more than a handful of friend groups, but the other occasional kid is left out.
I hate that.
I used to be that kid, and it wasn’t nice. The only positive side to being a nobody was that I wouldn’t get noticed in a crowd for some bully to find me.
I’m so lucky to have found a group of friends.
And the way we met started in the cafeteria. That was also the day a bunch of nobodys (us) got noticed by… well, pretty much every one.
So, the story begins when I leave my stranger-filled-table to go grab a sports drink from the vending machine.
I walk up, and head straight for the machine, ignoring the unusual snickers, glaring, and pointing coming from a particular table.
Please, I don’t want to be a target!
A ‘target’ is what we call usual bully victims.
Partially suspicious, I casually insert my remaining quarters into the machine, and accept the colorful drink that popped out below. I squated and grabbed the bottle, but when I got back up, what I saw staring back at me was far from friendly.
There, smirking, was Taylor. Before I could react (even though I didn’t know who she was), she grabbed the drink out of my hands.
“Seriously? Next time, remember- Berry Blast. I hate strawberry.”
“Well, actually…”
Just then, Justin, a blond sporty type, walks up from behind Taylor and says,
“Hey, hey-!”
At first I thought he was on my side… But I was way off.
“What’s the matter? Are you gonna cry?”
I froze.
“Uh…” I whispered weakly.
What did I do? Why are they onto me?
“Listen…” Another blond girl comes up in my face and shoots “We don’t need another cheerleader on our squad. Hon, you better back off. Or, tryouts might end up with a broken leg.”
Cheerleading?
For a moment I’m dumbfounded, but soon enough, I realized what must have happened. A rumor must have spread about me trying out for cheer, but it definitely wasn’t true.
I wanted to say that I despise cheerleaders, but nothing seemed to come out right.
“Um, I ...uh… I don’t-”
“What a mess up.” Sneered Justin.
Luckily, that’s when I met one of my friends. She comes out of nowhere like the other three bullies did.
“Hah! She’ll join cheer when she loses 50 IQ points!” Said an unfamiliar voice.
It was Anna. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. Justin and the other two girls glare at Anna as if telling her to back off. She looks a bit scared, but stands her ground.
Meanwhile, about one tenth of the cafeteria has our attention.
Then, Jack pops up out of his seat, (the closest one to our fight) and yells through cupped hands, “Leave her alone, man!” Justin narrows his eyes at Jack, and yells back, “Who are you to say that to me?!”
Justin pokes Jack in his chest, and repeated, “Who are you, huh?!” Jack tries to say something, but fails, keeping quiet. “Stop acting like some fake hero and act like the pathetic loser you are!” Justin spat.
I realized that all the attention was off me, and focused onto a random stranger who was so kind as to risk his life for me! I blinked twice and watched Justin poke Jack repeatedly, making him stumble backward every time.
“Why don’t you just back off, huh?! Who?! I don’t need no-”
“God, you can shut up now!” Shot a voice.
Another stranger (Matt) was that voice. A girl behind him gave warning to keep out of it, but he ignored her.
This has to be the most exciting lunch I’ve ever had!
“Why don’t you just shut up?” repeated Matt, stomping towards Justin.
The girl who was with Matt (Jenna) sighed, and added, “Well, If my brother’s in this freakshow than I guess I am too. But if any of you yahoos get me in trouble, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Then, before my eyes, everything went… gone.
My mind went blank, and refused to make out what everyone was saying, or doing.
All I know is that there was some more commotion, then everyone just left. And I just stood there afterwards like some idiot.
But I was an idiot who had just made some new friends.
fin
Charlotte is a central European translator who is smitten with the beautiful scenery of her hometown in North Carolina. She owns her own Wordpress blog and loves to share her rants on what it is like to be a 13-year-old girl
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