man, you’re wasting your time,” one of them said to the small guy. “She ain’t worth it and neither is he.”
But the small guy was not so easily dissuaded. He walked up to me and stopped when he was way too close. Putting his finger into my face, he leaned down so we were just inches apart. “You watch your mouth, bitch, or you’ll end up sorry, I can promise you that.”
I smacked his finger out of the way, my voice no longer all goofy. Something inside me took over and helped me sound all badass. I think I was channeling Zena the warrior princess.
“Get your dirty finger out of my face, asshole. God knows where that thing’s been. I don’t want to catch anything nasty.”
He turned partway around. “You saw her hit me, right? You all saw that. That’s assault and battery.”
“Yeah, we saw it,” said one of his friends. “Let’s go talk to Principal Lindberg.”
I started laughing, forced to bend over to the side a little to save my stomach muscles and not bump into the guy’s massive chest. I think it was the adrenaline that was pumping through my heart and veins that made the wrong emotion start emoting. When I should have been quaking in my Converse and crying, I was giggling like a loon.
“Yeah, go ahead, dick cheese. Tattle on me.” I stood up with a big old smile and waved all of them off with one big sweeping gesture of my arm. “Big bad fucking athletes? Pffff , right. Bunch of children is what you are. Good luck making it to State without Jason.” I shook my head, so ashamed of them. “Assholes.”
Bobby grabbed my backpack at that point and pulled me away from the group. “Iiiii think we’re done here,” he said under his breath. “Come on, sweetie pie. Off to class now.” He pushed me around the group of kids who’d gathered to watch the show, but I stared the players down the entire way past them.
“Fucking cowards ,” I spat out, flipping them off at the same time.
The little guy leapt towards me like he was going to tackle me, but his friends held him back.
My responding laugh was fueled purely by the energy boost that surviving that mess gave me, because I was back to sweating bullets and shaking all over.
When we reached the school and stepped inside, Bobby grabbed me by the backpack, spun me around, and slapped me right across the face.
I stood there pressing my hand to my stinging cheek in stunned silence, all the fight in me fleeing for parts unknown. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. It was very possible I was smelling something not very nice from my armpit area too. Suffice to say, I was not in a good place.
“Don’t you ever do that again, do you hear me?!” Bobby’s voice had gone up to levels that I was pretty sure could damage a dog’s sensitive ears. He was crying too, obviously nearing the edge of a full-on panic attack. “You almost got yourself killed!” He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the hallway as the double-doors behind us opened and students started coming in.
“I had to say something ,” I whined, my feet slapping on the linoleum as I unsuccessfully tried to slow him down.
“No, you didn’t. At least not that .” We turned several corners until we were in a back hallway not often frequented by anyone but smokers trying to hide from teachers.
“It was fine,” I said, trying to reassure him and myself at the same time. “I’m fine, see?” I held up my hands and let him assess my totally unscathed body parts. I was only trembling a little by then. He probably didn’t even notice.
Bobby folded his arms across his scrawny chest. “Listen … I get it that you have some sort of bond with Jason or that you feel some sort of responsibility, okay? I get that.” His arms came apart and his hands started flying all around his head next. “What I don’t get is the death wish. Do you think that you’ll somehow start a fight, get arrested, and be able to share a cell with him or something?”
“No. Don’t
But the small guy was not so easily dissuaded. He walked up to me and stopped when he was way too close. Putting his finger into my face, he leaned down so we were just inches apart. “You watch your mouth, bitch, or you’ll end up sorry, I can promise you that.”
I smacked his finger out of the way, my voice no longer all goofy. Something inside me took over and helped me sound all badass. I think I was channeling Zena the warrior princess.
“Get your dirty finger out of my face, asshole. God knows where that thing’s been. I don’t want to catch anything nasty.”
He turned partway around. “You saw her hit me, right? You all saw that. That’s assault and battery.”
“Yeah, we saw it,” said one of his friends. “Let’s go talk to Principal Lindberg.”
I started laughing, forced to bend over to the side a little to save my stomach muscles and not bump into the guy’s massive chest. I think it was the adrenaline that was pumping through my heart and veins that made the wrong emotion start emoting. When I should have been quaking in my Converse and crying, I was giggling like a loon.
“Yeah, go ahead, dick cheese. Tattle on me.” I stood up with a big old smile and waved all of them off with one big sweeping gesture of my arm. “Big bad fucking athletes? Pffff , right. Bunch of children is what you are. Good luck making it to State without Jason.” I shook my head, so ashamed of them. “Assholes.”
Bobby grabbed my backpack at that point and pulled me away from the group. “Iiiii think we’re done here,” he said under his breath. “Come on, sweetie pie. Off to class now.” He pushed me around the group of kids who’d gathered to watch the show, but I stared the players down the entire way past them.
“Fucking cowards ,” I spat out, flipping them off at the same time.
The little guy leapt towards me like he was going to tackle me, but his friends held him back.
My responding laugh was fueled purely by the energy boost that surviving that mess gave me, because I was back to sweating bullets and shaking all over.
When we reached the school and stepped inside, Bobby grabbed me by the backpack, spun me around, and slapped me right across the face.
I stood there pressing my hand to my stinging cheek in stunned silence, all the fight in me fleeing for parts unknown. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. It was very possible I was smelling something not very nice from my armpit area too. Suffice to say, I was not in a good place.
“Don’t you ever do that again, do you hear me?!” Bobby’s voice had gone up to levels that I was pretty sure could damage a dog’s sensitive ears. He was crying too, obviously nearing the edge of a full-on panic attack. “You almost got yourself killed!” He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the hallway as the double-doors behind us opened and students started coming in.
“I had to say something ,” I whined, my feet slapping on the linoleum as I unsuccessfully tried to slow him down.
“No, you didn’t. At least not that .” We turned several corners until we were in a back hallway not often frequented by anyone but smokers trying to hide from teachers.
“It was fine,” I said, trying to reassure him and myself at the same time. “I’m fine, see?” I held up my hands and let him assess my totally unscathed body parts. I was only trembling a little by then. He probably didn’t even notice.
Bobby folded his arms across his scrawny chest. “Listen … I get it that you have some sort of bond with Jason or that you feel some sort of responsibility, okay? I get that.” His arms came apart and his hands started flying all around his head next. “What I don’t get is the death wish. Do you think that you’ll somehow start a fight, get arrested, and be able to share a cell with him or something?”
“No. Don’t
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