Across From Me

Thirty

Lily spoke again, "What's funny though is that Clementine was the original pervert. She thinks she's too good for Elizabeth now that she's got a few ugly ass friends." There was laughter, and Lily wasn't even trying to be quiet now. Clementine took a few mental deep breaths, no point in getting angry now, nothing she hadn't heard before.

"I heard," A new voice said, "That Elizabeth's sister is on drugs, and the reason Elizabeth has been absent so often is that her sister pressured her into it."

Clementine had had enough, "Alright," She said, and the people behind her turned to look at her.

"We weren't talking to you," One of them said, giving her a nasty look.

"Oh sure you weren't," Clementine shot back, "Only talking so loud the entire class could hear you, even with your pathetic attempts at whispering," She scoffed, shaking her head, "I mean seriously? Where do you guys even come up with this stuff?"

Lily sneered, "We heard it from someone else and I don't remember our conversations concerning you. So why don't you go back to being quiet? All of us preferred it that way," She looked at her friends, at which all of them started to laugh. Clementine wondered if her parents paid them in some sort of way, why else would you want to torture yourself with laughing at jokes that weren't even remotely funny?

Clementine stood up, which caught the attention of some of the other kids in class, "I'm not gonna be quiet," She said, "So why don't you tell me? Huh? Where'd you hear this from?" Clementine's body moved on its own as she got closer to Lily, leaning against their table.

Lily didn't seem to want to back down, though, "Why does it fucking matter to you anyway? It's not like you're gonna change anything. Besides, you haven't said it was untrue," Lily was one of those who constantly had a smug attitude as if she was better than everyone else. Not as cruel as Celine and not as much of a liar as Adrianne, but still utterly unbearable to deal with in her own right.

"You think you know everything about Elizabeth," Clementine shook her head and crossed her arms, "You know nothing. And whoever you heard this from is just wrong, that is, if there is another person who told you this," She paused, and no one interjected, so Clementine continued, "I mean, just because we aren't interacting doesn't mean we hate each other or that anything you said happened. You people think you have the right to know everything, and you don't, so why don't you do me and Beth a big favor and mind your own goddamn business?"

There was silence and Lily seemed to be scrambling around in her brain for something to say. When there was nothing, Clementine got up, thinking her message was said and got across somewhat, but Lily always had to have the last word, "Why isn't Beth around then? I mean, there's gotta be a reason for that, huh?"

Clementine turned around, and stared at each of them, a hard look on her face. She shook her head, and clung her backpack on her shoulder, grabbing the papers on her desk. Each one of them waited for Clementine to say something, but there was nothing. Before the bell rang, Clementine stood for another moment in front of them, waiting, until she said, "Why would I tell you? Go ask her yourself."

The bell rang, and Clementine left without another word.

There was nothing to be said, it was not her place to say. For Clementine, that was Elizabeth's story to tell, not hers. Beth really had the right to tell her own side, without Clementine affecting any of it. Only then, Clementine knew that nothing would be done because people like Lily and her friends never heard it from someone else, they never bothered to care about other people's feelings. They just want to cure their boredom without ever thinking of other people. Maybe that's what made Clementine sad, or just angry at the world. People like Celine, Lily, and Adrianne never cared, always thinking of themselves before anyone else. Always putting their problems, even minuscule ones over others. That's just the people they were, and it was most likely who they will always be.

Clementine tried not to think about it, but it still bothered her, even throughout her fourth period. Hanging out with Olivia and Mika was becoming her favorite time of the day. Mika was really starting to open up, make jokes and laugh with them. They definitely noticed Clementine's withdrawn attitude the entire class, but they both opted not to pry. Clementine was grateful.

Needless to say, Clementine was relieved when the day was over. Ready to go home and collapse into her bed and sleep for as long as she could. Unfortunately for her, the universe wasn't as kind to her as Clementine would have liked it to be.

With the breeze flowing and the sun on her back, it was easy to relax walking out of school. It was one of the better parts of the day, finally leaving the prison that is school. However, Clementine wasn't expecting to be stopped by Adrianne, with a sad look on her face. Or a guilty one? Clementine couldn't be sure.

"Can we talk?" Adrianne asked in a quiet voice.

Clementine looked her over for a moment, pursing her lips together, "No." She said.

"Oh please? I know we didn't end off well but I'm here to talk to you about something important and it would be in your best interest to speak with me."

Clementine had started to walk away, but that had her stopping dead in her tracks, "Didn't end off well? Well, that would be an understatement," She replied, venom in her voice.

"Please!" Adrianne begged, "Don't you wanna hear what I have to say?"

"Not at all."

Adrianne let out a groan of frustration. Adrianne had to run to catch up with Clementine, who was walking as fast as she could, in an attempt to run away from all of her problems. Clementine didn't even want to look Adrianne in the eyes, but Adrianne seemed to be determined to ruin the small chance of the day turning out well.

Clementine did not want to talk or hear anything from the person who ruined all of her friendships and subsequently her whole reputation. She was trying to act as if none of it happened, or that it still didn't affect Clementine deeply. Adrianne never seemed to realize anything about the entire situation, and that was why Clementine did not want to have a conversation with her. In the end, what happened happened and Clementine never wanted to look back. Adrianne was making that hard, though.

Adrianne seemed to have enough with the silent treatment, moving to get in front of Clementine and block her from moving forward. Clementine tried to move around her, but Adrianne got in the way every time. Finally, Clementine stopped to stare at her, hoping her judgment would be obvious enough from the look in her eyes.

"What are we, five?" Clementine scoffed, "Move out of the way already."

"No!" Adrianne replied, "We're going to talk about this, in a mature way but you're making that really hard right now!"

"Mature way? Yeah, I think you ruined that already."

Clementine was frustrated at this point. She just wanted Adrianne to go away so she could get on with her life. Finally, she moved past Adrianne, almost pushing her out of the way to do so, and continued walking. For a moment, it seemed like Adrianne wasn't going to follow her, but the hand on her shoulder proved Clementine wrong.

Clementine turned around, ready to smack Adrianne's hand off, but Adrianne spoke before Clementine could say anything else, "This is about Celine," Adrianne said, "And all the others really. I just want to help you. Can you just listen for a moment, please?"

Clementine was silenced. Sure, she wanted to know what Adrianne wanted to say about them. A petty part of Clementine wanted to hear any dirt Adrianne might potentially have. But Clementine knew that it might hurt, whatever she heard.

But then again, Clementine got through some awful shit in the past. Fuck, even the person she was standing in front of gave her hell. So why not, why not another thing?

"Sure, Adrianne, why not?"