5: Everyone Is Crazy

Kali:

“Bel, is it?” Aiden asked, looking directly at the prettiest blond among us.

“Yes,” she said in a voice that sounded as if she would start crying. She was looking up at him like a crazed fan, whose idol had called her name.

“Are you coming?” He asked.

“Sure,” she said, visibly swallowing. “Let me just get my…”

Before she was done talking, he had already turned back on us and was walking away.

The millions of questions I had about what had just happened, were completely silenced by the sound of the girls giggling excitedly and looking up at Bel like she had just won a rite of passage.

“Wish me luck,” she said, taking her bag and leaving.

The cafeteria soon went back to normal after he left, with everyone talking among themselves, no doubt about the guy who had just walked in and walked out for absolutely no reason.

“I can’t believe it’s her,” Lenora squealed.

“I always knew it would be,” Tricia said, although her own smile seemed a little forced.

“Why do you look mad?” Roxanne asked. “Were you thinking he would pick you again? Things didn’t work out the last time…”

“Will you just shut up about it?” Tricia snapped.

I cleared my throat and they all turned to me. Somewhere along the line, my fear of being rough handled by Aiden had been replaced by a very giant question mark in my head.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what the hell just happened?” I asked.

The girls looked among each other like they were making sure my question was worth being answered.

“Aiden and Bel matched,” Lenora said.

I blinked twice, waiting for more explanation, but that was it.

“Matched how?” I prodded.

“Ugh. This is why I was so against us having new members,” Roxanne groaned. “We’ll have to teach her everything. Guys I’m not ready for that.”

“Aiden rarely goes out with any girls at this school,” Lenora chimed in. “There are rumors he only goes out with college girls, but he once had a thing with Tricia and now, he chose Bel.”

I blinked, waiting for the part of the story that was supposed to make me as excited as them. When Roxanne saw I was not impressed at all, she snorted and popped a fry from Lenora’s plate in her mouth.

I ignored her.

“Is he like the president’s son or something?” I asked. “Why is everyone acting like he is? Is there something else I need to know? Like why everyone treats him like a god when he has proved to be nothing but a jerk so far?”

Tricia and Lenora gasped like I had just said a forbidden word. Roxanne chuckled.

“Maybe the new girl is not so bad after all,” Roxanne said, looking at me. She inched closer and beckoned me with her finger, as if she was letting me in on a secret. “Rumor has it that he has hooked up with almost every girl at this school. There’s this hidden signal. You just give him that signal, he sets a time and place and the rest is history. So you’re right, he’s just an immoral jerk.”

“Can you just shut up?” Lenora snapped. “Why are you acting like you weren’t just drooling and wishing it was you he picked instead of Bel?”

Roxanne pursed her lips and said nothing.

“She’s just jealous because everyone thinks she’s a man and that’s why Aiden will never pick her,” Tricia said and Lenora chuckled.

Roxanne blinked, looked at me for a moment and stood up from the chair. I saw a tear almost slip out. As she stormed out of the cafeteria, the sound of Lenora and Tricia’s mocking laughter only grew louder.

Roxanne had been a thorn in my flesh, but no one deserved that.

“I know it’s not my place,” I said quietly, “but that wasn’t fair.”

“Oh please, have you looked at her shoulders?” Tricia said. “If you remove the thick layering of all the big clothes she wears, and see her naked, I promise you’ll think she’s just a guy with long blond hair.”

They began to laugh again, but all I felt was a heavy feeling in my chest. If these girls could be this hurtful to their own friend, how would they be to me? If they could use such a sensitive thing that clearly made her insecure, then what would they do with the many insecurities I had if I refused to agree with them at some point.

I suddenly felt stuck.

My chest was heaving and my breathing had become shallow. This couldn’t be happening. This was not worth having a panic attack over, was it?

After what felt like ages, I had finally managed to stop the feeling from escalating. Lenora and Tricia were still discussing and laughing, completely unaware of what had almost happened to me.

My eyes suddenly locked with the witch’s own. The emo girl was still alone on her table, staring at me with an expression that either meant she felt sorry for me or was willing to kill me in my sleep. I couldn’t place my hand on which one it was, although I had a strong idea it was probably the second.

The bell rang finally, which meant it was time to go back to class. Fortunately, I didn’t have any other classes with any of the girls and especially not with the devil himself, Aiden. I’d sure had enough drama for one day.

After my last period, I packed my things together to go back home. Outside, my shoulders sagged because I didn’t know how to get back home. Josh, my neighbor had driven me to school in his car that morning and since we didn’t share any classes together, I hadn’t seen him after that morning.

I was too aware of the eyes boring into me, the obvious stranger in their school that I couldn’t bring myself to ask anyone for help, so I stood awkwardly, silently hoping some miracle would happen, like my mother showing up.

“Howdy there neighbor.”

I gasped excitedly when I heard the familiar voice with the fake accent and looked up to see Josh. Like the answer to my prayers, he was standing in front of me with his keys dangling in his hands.

I had a ride home after all.

My smile became strained when I noticed the others around him. There were three other boys standing next to him, all wearing the same varsity jacket he was wearing and looking down at me with an expression I didn’t want to dignify with a name. I hadn’t seen any of them that day, so I suspected they were seniors.

I crossed my arms over my chest, berating myself for wearing such a tight shirt that made my boobs look like they were about to pop out of the shirt.

“You need a ride?” Josh asked, heading toward his car.

“Yes please,” I answered quickly.

“I could give you a different kind of ride,” one of the guys said while the others laughed, including Josh.

I ignored him and opened the passenger door to enter the car. Much to my horror, the back door opened and the guys I had just escaped entered the car.

“I usually drop them off,” Josh explained when he saw my discomfort.

I nodded and shut my eyes, but they flew open when someone kicked my seat. Before I could say anything, a hand enclosed my shoulder and slid down, rubbing as it went.

“I’m sorry,” the owner of the hand said while the others chuckled. “My long legs can’t stay in place.”

“It’s fine,” I said, slipping his hand away.

This was going to be a long ride.