The Other Side

Chapter Two

After school on Friday, the girls rushed to the office where the results of who made the cheer squad were posted in the window. While Mindy hung back, Heidi pushed her way through the crowd.

Please, God, let my name be there, Mindy pleaded, and Nolan shuddered.

More than anything, he looked forward to the day Mindy turned her back on the idea of God once and for all. Then he wouldn’t have to be weakened at the constant mention of his name.

When Heidi turned to face Mindy, her eyes were large and veiled with guilt. “Mindy, you…”

“It’s okay,” Mindy said and forced a smile as she swallowed the lump of tears twisting its tentacles around her vocal chords. “I already knew I wouldn’t make it. Did you make it?”

Heidi’s cheeks pinked. “Um, yeah, and there’s a meeting in the gym at three fifteen.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll still give you a ride home if you want to hang out.”

“It’s okay. I can take the bus.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure it won’t take that long.”

Mindy stretched the fake smile wider across her face. “Heidi, its fine. Go have fun at your meeting, and you can tell me all about it later.”

“If you’re sure.”

Before Mindy had the chance to lie again, Clarissa and Ginger and a couple of the other girls who’d made the squad suddenly swooped down on her.

“Heidi, we’re so excited,” Ginger squealed.

“Yeah, you’re one of us now,” Clarissa added as she gave Mindy a cool stare. “Sorry you didn’t make it, Mandy.”

“It’s Mindy,” Nolan snarled while Mindy stood mute in the face of their attack.

Clarissa glanced down at her oversized wrist watch. “We totally need to go, or we’ll be late for the meeting.”

Heidi cast a forlorn glance at Mindy, but this time Mindy didn’t have the heart to manage another phony smile. “Mindy, I--”

“I’ll see you later,” Mindy cut her off.

While Mindy scurried down the hall to get away from them, the sound of their laughter followed. They could’ve been laughing at anything, but she knew they weren’t. They were laughing at her.

“Why didn’t you tell those bitches to go fuck themselves?” Nolan demanded.

As she passed by the band room, Mindy spotted a group from the marching band gathered in front of the closed door. The sight of them laughing and joking together brought fresh tears to her eyes. Even the band geeks had a place they belonged. She was the only one who didn’t belong anywhere.

The weight of her sadness pressed on Nolan’s soul. On seeing the tears slip down her cheeks, he forgot he was angry at the weakness she had. Instead, he was overcome with his own moment of weakness as he contemplated comforting her.

Though there was a large crowd of kids waiting to catch the city bus home, none of them acknowledged Mindy when she joined them along the curb. The way Nolan saw it this was a double edged sword. On the one hand, they didn’t make fun of her. On the other hand, it only reinforced that empty feeling spilling from her soul and pushing its way into his.

When the bus arrived just ten minutes later, it hissed and belched black smoke as it rolled to a stop. Before the doors were even opened, the crowd of kids began pushing their way closer to it. Only Mindy stayed in the background. While most of the other kids flashed their monthly pass at the driver, Mindy dug in her wallet for the change she needed. Panic filled her when her turn to board came and she still hadn’t found enough money.