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C H R I S T I N A
"Hey, can we sit here?" Mitchie quietly asked as she walked up to the table where Phoebe, Griffin, Corbyn and I were currently sitting. Jonah and Daniel stood behind her, and it kind of made me happy that they (mostly Jonah) have been so supportive to her through all of this.
"Only if I get all of your guys' cake," Phoebe spoke before any of us could, surprising us all. I figured she'd be the last to speak if anything, but everyone else just nodded, as nobody at this table thought of Mitchie the way that everyone else at the camp did.
"Sounds like a deal," Daniel spoke, sitting on the other side of Corbyn, who was next to me. Mitchie sat down next to me, Jonah making sure he sat next to her. Phoebe glanced between the two, her eyes narrowed but quickly took her attention away as soon as three small pieces of cake were sat in front of her already filled plate.
"You know, sitting with the kitchen help is really hurtin my rep," She then spoke, shoving a giant bite of cake in her mouth.
"What rep?" Griffin asked, looking at his sister in confusion. Mitchie chuckled, as she was probably used to this banter. She had a cute smile on her face, but refused to touch her food.
She probably wasn't hungry due to how everyone was treating her, and the things Aubrey would always tell her about her figure. Although I can't see why she's so insecure, she's perfect the way she is. She has the perfect body, I see guys checking her out all the time - especially Jonah and Daniel. Jack when they were friends, too, but Jack's made more than an effort to avoid the poor girl.
The sudden sound of a shockingly loud laugh at the table next to us caught all of our attention, and we looked over to see Heather laughing at something from their table. Mitchie locked eyes with Aubrey, who sent all of us an apologetic look but she just looked down, where I made sure I sent glares her way.
"Trust me, it's probably not that funny," Jonah remarked, wrapping his arm around the girls' shoulders. She nodded, knowing that he was right. She sat with them long enough to know it wasn't fun to sit over there, hardly anything funny happening.
This was one reason why Corbyn came and sat with our group, on top of the fact that he knew that Mitchie didn't do anything and he and I were getting close.
The sight of Heather walking over and standing at the end of the table closest to Mitchie (the side Jonah was sitting on) she barely sent any of us a glance as she sent daggers to the blonde. "The chicken was dry. Could you tell your mom to be at least a little more careful and focus on cooking?"
Something inside of Mitchie set off it seemed, as she clenched her fist. Before any of us could even bother to begin sticking up for her she stood up, pushing herself away from Jonah and I and stopping right in front of the redhead who looked just as shocked herself.
"Stop talking to me like that!" She shouted, catching the attention of others'. Looking around, I noticed everyone with very surprised looks on their faces, even Phoebe who'd drop the cake in her hand on the tray below her.
"Stop talking to everybody like that! I may be the cook's daughter, and I may not have a father figure around, but I'm a much better person than someone who makes herself feel better by making others feel bad. And I would much rather choose that any day." Mitchie standing up for herself was new, but even Aubrey looked shocked. It made me gain a whole new type of respect for the girl, and I couldn't be more proud of her in this moment that she'd learned to not let others run her over.
"If it weren't obvious, you're so out of the group," Heather said, as if that were supposed to upset the blonde.
"You think I care? I'd rather be alone than with people like you." Mitchie crossed her arms.
"Besides, we can make our own group," I spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "She doesn't need you."
"Yeah, she has us." Corbyn then spoke, causing Heather's head to snap his way.
"You too? She manipulated you all, how sad."
"She didn't do anything. If anything, you were all manipulated by Aubrey." Jonah quickly stood up. "She's the one that started this, everyone, think about it!" This caused everyone to pay even more attention, all interested in what the boy had to say. "Have you ever heard any of those lies come out of Mitchie's mouth?" He looked around, everyone either not moving or not shaking their heads.
"Exactly," He continued, "She never once said her mother was rich. She spoke from the beginning that her father wasn't around, and everything she said was her truth. Aubrey was the one to come up with all of the lies, and both Mitchie and I tried to stop her. But she forced Mitchie to do these things- against her wishes. She lost everyone because Aubrey was so caught up in the popularity, she didn't even care what her own best friend was feeling."
It was as if this speech he was giving was a life or death situation, when it was actually the exact opposite. "She told me from the beginning she hated it, the truth, and that she wanted to be herself. Aubrey didn't let her and she's getting the blame for it. It's ridiculous that all you people care about is popularity and being liked, you're shunning someone so beautiful, so amazing who doesn't deserve it."
"We get it, Mr. President, you're in love with a liar." Heather snapped, "I'm not sitting around listening to this anymore, come on girls."
Without another word, the girls were quick to stand up and walk after the redhead, everyone else in the cafeteria immediately going back to their food and their own conversations now that Heather was gone. Jonah rolled his eyes, watching as Ethan stood up, lost in thought as he walked over to Mitchie, stopping in front of her.
Taking her by surprise he pulled her in for a tight hug, the girl looking to Jonah who just shrugged, and she slowly hugged him back. "I shouldn't have listened to them, I'm sorry you're going through this."
"If you're really sorry you'll stop hanging around them," Phoebe finally spoke up. "Come join us, be in our group."
"Really? I've been so stuck up Aubrey that I didn't even realize what was going on," Ethan awkwardly said, and Jonah smiled a tiny smile as he put his arm around the boy's shoulders.
"Don't worry about it, you know now, and that's all that matters."
