High and Dry | miguel diaz

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"DO YOU REALLY have to work all night?" Ivy sighed and looked at her mom. She gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Unfortunately, I pay the bills."

Ivy rolled her eyes, "yeah, but you haven't been home in two weeks. It's all work, sleep, drive me to school; repeat."

"Ivory—"

"Mom," she mocked her tone, "can't you have one of the nurses cover for you or at least not take someone's shift this time? You said we'd catch up on our movies."

"I don't have time for this, Ivory. I'll be home earlier, te lo juro." Veronica kissed Ivy's cheek and waved once her daughter pulled the handle and walked out. Ivy wasn't thrilled to be back at school, not after the dance and how she had found her new found friend. Not to mention the amount of mocks she knew Aisha would receive the moment she came.

As usual, Demitri and Eli were crowded next to her locker with a bandaged Miguel next to them.

"Hey," Dimitri pointed at her, "what's this new attire? Retired hoochie mama now?" Ivy looked at him but didn't bother answering.

Ivy loved to dress up even if it were for school, it made her feel pretty and feminine, two things she never felt when she was with Eli or Dimitri. They were the nerdiest kids she'd ever had the pleasure of befriending and they never saw her as a girl, constantly referring to her as 'bro' and 'dude'. She ditched oversized clothes and short haircuts to make them see her as the woman she was but when Dimitri constantly said, "you're one of the boys," it felt useless. Some days she caught herself becoming one of them — snorting, burping and playing video games and laughing when someone made a fart noise. She wasn't exactly a tomboy but there were times where she had to step back into her feminine side.

So, when she wore her hoodie and shorts, she fully expected Dimitri to make some comment about it, "are those my sweats?" Eli stared at the grey sweats Ivy wore that had been cut into shorts. The cuts were somewhat clean but there was a distinguishable mark on the left side — once in Eli's basement, where the three spent most of their time in, Ivy had the fun idea to play mess around with her hair before a dinner with her parents; she left the curler on the side she'd been sitting on and walked to the snacks table. Before Eli could even get the word fire out, the side of his pants turned red in flames. Dimitri poured his water over it and they threw the sweats in the laundry. There was still a hole on the left side.

"You stole my Dungeons and Dragons shirt!"

"Nothing you're wearing is yours." Eli added.

"You don't need to call me out."

"You play Dungeons and Dragons?" Miguel asked, puzzled and amused.

"No. Shut up asshole." Ivy slammed the locker and looked at her friends who had backed up, except Miguel, he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at them in confusion.

"It was a joke, sorry."

"Not upset over that. Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't eat breakfast, I'm starving," Ivy lied as best as she could, "what's up with you Bruce Lee?"

"Head hurts." Miguel shrugged.

"Is your mom still mad about the fight?"

He scoffed, "not that much, thanks to you," Ivy smiled, "she still won't let me back in the class, she thinks I'll break a rib next time. I just wish she'd understand."

"Let her cool down. I'm sure she'll come to see Johnny isn't that bad. I mean, he smells a little weird and he can't form a sentence unless he throws in a fuck, shit or damn, but he's not that bad." Miguel chuckled and closed his locker.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I always am."

The two smiled at each other and looked at the other two who had started their walk to first period, not interested in their conversation. Ivy assumed the karate kid would fill them in later, for now, she needed to find Aisha and make sure she wasn't attempting to drown herself in the bathrooms sink or something, food was the last thing on her mind, Ivy thought.

Yasmine and some upperclassman walked down the stairs just as Ivy went up, "oh, didn't see you there." Yasmine snickered as she threw her shoulder on Ivy's, the boy nervously smiled at Yasmine, not sure what to do.

"You got something in your teeth, smack in the middle." Ivy motioned to her teeth, sucking them with her tongue before walking away. She could hear Yasmine gasping and telling the boy to back away.

IVY AND HER THREE friends sat around a library table; she was worried about Aisha after seeing her cry in the bathroom. The video had gone viral and any insult and body shame comment on earth was thrown at her. Ivy tried to make her feel better by telling her the kids would forget about it soon, but Aisha shut her down, "you've been bullied for almost two years, you can't tell me they'll forget." Ivy could feel her anger rise but decided not to add more fuel to the fire. She simply nodded and told her she was free to talk to her if she needed someone there. Ivy knew some rumors were harder to avoid or ignore, she was hoping to make her feel better, not fix the problem.

"So that's it, no more karate?" Dimitri asked.

"I guess so."

"It's probably for the best. It was starting to boost your confidence." Dimitri said, looking at each of his friend as if he was letting them know he was right. Ivy shook her head.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Ivy asked.

"No. What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash." Ivy chuckled at him.

"Well, I thought it was kinda cool how you stood up to Kyler." Eli silently added.

"Are you insane?" Dimitri exclaimed, "let me ask you something - what is the best superpower anyone could have?"

"Super strength."

"Super speed." Ivy and Miguel said at the same time.

"Yes and no," Dimitri said, "invisibility. Ivy was right - super speed would be a close second. To run away fast."

"Run away from who?" Kyler said behind Eli.

"Whom." His friend said, Kyler looked at him in annoyance, "it's the object of preposition. Remember English class."

"We were just leaving." The three shot up. Ivy looked at them like they were crazy but stood up seconds later.

"Hey, where you going," Kyler snatched Eli and pulled him in, holding his head up for him and his friend to look at, "oh, look at that lip!"

"Oh, shit!"

"What kinda girl would ever kiss this shit — Ivy might, actually. You know she's a freak, right, Ivy?" Ivy nearly bounced on him but Miguel pulled her back.

"Leave him alone Kyler." Miguel sighed.

"What'd you say? You haven't had enough 'Rhea? Don't tell me you're defending this little freak and this hoe." Eli rushed to Ivy's side and held her arm, pulling her back like Miguel did.

"Get the hell outta here man," Kyler shoved him back, "hey, you don't want this shit."

"No, come on not the trash! Ivy just threw a," Kyler didn't hesitate to throw Dimitri's backpack into the trash, "yogurt in there."

"Now it's double dip."

Dimitri sighed and pulled his backpack out. Ivy looked at him walk out of the library, backpack dripping as he moved. Ivy turned to Kyler, her fists balled, "what, you gonna pull some 'Rhea moves?"

"No, this one's a real ball buster."

"Wha — aw!" Ivy pulled her leg back and kicked Kyler straight in the balls. His friend's eyes went wide and he pulled back, "you're gonna pay for this." Kyler said between groans.

Ivy rolled her eyes and started to walk off but stopped, "you should really talk to your boyfriend. He isn't the charming boy who gives you his grandma's bracelet and agrees to come to the movies and watch some corny dying-teen in love movie. Be careful, Sam." Sam took a step back and looked down at the floor.