I was more than relieved when I saw Skye at school the other day. I was close to hugging her when I stopped by her locker, but I maintained myself. I didn't want to be an overprotective friend.
"How was the walk?" I asked her
She took a few minutes to answer.She was waiting for a clique of popular girls to walk away. They exchanged whispers with confused looks on their faces, looking at Skye and I.
"The walk was good," she finally replied
I shook off the looks on those girls' faces and examined her locker. Marcus was right; his sister was dark. On the inside door of the locker hung artwork but they weren't so happy. They were breathtaking, but I could feel a wave of depression pass over me the more I looked at them. The whole inside of the locker was painted black and there were white sticky notes that expressed some really deep stuff. With a first glance, you could almost mistake these for suicidal notes. Skye caught me staring.
"Scary huh?" she asked
I hesitated. I wasn't too sure how to reply. " Scary is not the word. Intriguing is more of a better one" I pointed to one of her paintings "Did you draw that yourself?"
"Yeah" she beamed
I was about to ask her to walk with me to English until Kathleen came and stood between us, facing me. I haven't made any contact with Kathleen after that little meeting in the bathroom. I was a little surprised that she came up to me with a smile on her face as if we were best buddies.
"Jay, do you think we could somehow talk today? Maybe at lunch?" she asked, in what could be mistaken as a sincere tone
I looked at her skeptically. She was up to something. "Wasn't it like a month ago when you looked at me and labeled me as a problem?"
She laughed and touched my shoulder. "I'm really sorry about that. I guess I was pmsing that day. Just have lunch with me. But only you."
When she said that last part of her sentence, she looked at me straight in the eye to express that it was a rule meant to be followed.
I was hesitant. She could be planning a surprise attack on me or could publicly humiliate me. Then my mom's voice came in my head. "What would Jesus do?" I was thinking that Jesus would have walked away because the Devil a.k.a Kathleen was trying to tempt me into something that could lead to me being trapped. But I knew the real answer. I rolled my eyes and let out a big sigh. "Fine. Lunch it is"
She walked away with a confident smile on her face, her head high. Shows how arrogant she is. Everybody in the hallways was clearing the way as she walked. I noticed Skye was gone and I started to feel guilty and a little confused. I didn't mean to abandon her like that. But then again, she's the one who walked away.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I entered the cafeteria I looked around for Skye but she was nowhere to be found. Before I could go and search for her, Kathleen called me over. She was holding open a door and waving for me to come in. I walked across the room to go inside the separate lounge they were eating lunch in. The room was blindingly bright and in the middle was a glass table with pizza, salad, Chinese food, and gallons of soda.
They must be planning for a feast, I thought
"Everyone, this is Jay."
There were three other girls here. From left to right Kathleen introduced me to all of them. "This is Melanie, Suzanna, and Layla"
Not everyone was made exactly the same-thank God- but these three girls obviously could not accept it. They were like Kathleen's wannabe look-alikes. They all had that black hair, but I could pick out hints of their real hair color. They were bigger than Kathleen but they were close to her size. Were they all planning on throwing up all this food?
"Sit down Jay" Kathleen urged
I sat down on the seat opposite of Kathleen. I was thinking of being careful of what food to pick in front of them, but then again, what did I have to prove to these girls. I don't live up to people's standards. I devoured the Chinese food in the most mannerly fashion while they all did the same. Kathleen ate the least of all of us.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" I asked
She shook her head and smiled "I'm a size zero. I don't want to lose that"
"I wish I was your size" Melanie said. She was the biggest one of all. Well not big as in fat. She actually had the best body here.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, if you want to be flat as a board"
The sky must have opened because all three of the girls were looking at me with shocked expressions and Melanie was frozen in her seat.
"I didn't mean that Kathleen. " I really didn't. I did go too far " But Melanie, you have the best body here. You have more butt, bust, and curves than all five of us. Why get skinnier?"
Melanie sheepishly shrugged. "Because I think that I'm a little fat"
I was close to laughing at that one. Suzanna and Layla were getting up with their purses.
"May I ask where you guys are going?"
They looked at each other and then to me. " Umm.....nowhere. Just the bathroom. We can wait for you if you want to come"
I cocked an eyebrow. I was very confused by these girls. Kathleen was still frozen in her seat with her head rested on top of her hands.
"I'm sorry for saying that Kathleen. That was way out of line. You're not a board. You have a nice set of curves. " I said.
She started to smile after I complimented her. She must love being praised. "It's OK Jay. Now girls, all of you must sit down for this"
Her eyes were focused on me. Her mischievous smile showed no signs of further comfort. "Jay, we saw you hanging out with that Skye girl. Well let me tell you.....she's trouble"
I was very confused"Trouble? How"
"The girl is a disgrace. She is a slut and a follower beyond compare. Unbelievably clingy and I bet you she's gay"
Kathleen was giving me some great entertainment lately. This is a day I would look back at and laugh but I guess I could start early. "How do you know this?"
"Because last year, she used to be part of this group and after abandoning us to hang in the wrong crowd...she sort of earned a reputation. So Jay...we want you to take her spot"
They all looked at me, pressuring me with their stares. "If you hang with us, you will experience the best years of high school. Parties with upperclassmen, trips to the best resorts, all you can imagine. If you just say yes"
I had experience with peer pressure. I knew exactly how to handle this. "No"
They're faces dropped. "Why not?!?!"
"Because your leader is a bully. She wants to make you guys into her. She's making you feel bad about your bodies; making you throw up your food-which was delicious by the way, thank you. She doesn't even like you guys. Why persuade me to be part of your in-crowd with such bribery when you could have just asked me to hang out with you another time? And why trash Skye like that. At least she's real."
I made my way towards the door. "You're going regret doing this Jay. So you better take that back right now!"
I turned to look at her "Take back what?! The truth?! I think you really need it Kathleen. And to you three girls, be careful of who your true leaders are because when she leaves, who will be there to take care of you guys?"
I exited the cafeteria and went to the library. Luckily Skye was there, reading a book. I sat next to her.
"How was lunch?" she asked
"It was good"
She scoffed "So are you here to say good-bye?"
"No. I said good-bye to them"
She dropped her book on the table and looked at me, her eyes wide. "Why? You had your chance"
"I told them I wanted a real friend" I said, smiling at her.
"Jay, you're getting in way over your head" she warned
"Don't worry about it Skye. I'll be fine"
"I hope so"
It wasn't the reaction I was expecting. I thought she was going to be happy that I chose her over some porcelain dolls. I wonder what this meant about our friendship. Did she even want to be friends? Or was it a one day thing?
