Why I Can't Rule The World

No. 8

"Okay..," I said slowly. "What do you want?"

"Saturday, there's going to be a party at my house, and you're invited," she said, crouching down beside me and pursing her lips. "One last chance to come back to us and prove that you are still with us and not those weirdos."

She jerked her head in the direction of Sawyer and Alivia's table. I didn't dare glance in that direction.

"Also, you could make some cash. See, since it's my senior year, I want to remember every moment. All of it. So you take some pictures for me and I'll pay you... Hmm... Three dollars per photo?" she bargained.

I felt my eyes grow wide. Sure, I've had photography gigs before, but this was insane. If I took fifty pictures, I would already have one hundred and fifty dollars in my pocket.

"Think about it, would you? Oh, and in the meantime, don't sit with us. They're all out to get you anyway." She smiled and stood up.

"Hey, back off Shelly."

I looked up to see Sawyer standing in front of me, arms crossed, looking at his fellow classmate with irritation.

"C'mon Sawyer, I was just trying to make peace with him. Wasn't I, Tin Tin?"

I just raised my eyebrows at her and scoffed, "Yeah, real kind of you."

She gave me one last glare then walked back over to her table, putting great exaggeration in swaying her hips. I thought she was going to throw one of them out, walking like that.

"C'mon, Tin, we saved a seat for you with us, just in case," Sawyer said.

He held out his hand to help me up and I took it. After gathering my crutches from the floor, I followed him over to his table.

I sat down beside him and a few other kids gawking at me. Alivia was across the table smiling up at me.

"What did she want?" Sawyer asked in a low voice. I turned to look at him.

"From her point of view, I think it was to give me a second chance."

"But..?" he prodded.

"I'm pretty sure she was bribing me."

Sawyer nodded and scooped some soup from a thermos into his mouth.

"She probably was," was his reply.

"I wouldn't doubt it. I mean, she bribed Jimmy and Marcus to leave me at the movies."

"What a friend."

"I don't even know what to call them anymore," I mumbled.

"Hey, I'll be your friend," he volunteered, grinning like the social person he was. "In fact, do you want to come over tomorrow? Alivia's going out with you-know-who." He said the last part in a whisper.

"I mean, if I have to be there to keep you from strangling the guy," I joked. "Yeah, I'll come."

"I wouldn't doubt that you would need to."

We both looked over at Alivia, who was gazing at her phone in a daze. I could only imagine who she was talking to. It was even harder to think of a reason why.

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The next day, Tuesday, I was driving under the canopy of trees beginning to lose their leaves on a dirt road. I had to drop off Pearl at our house since she absolutely refused to ride the bus again. It wasn't really that big of a deal. I didn't blame her for not wanting to ride the bus.

As I entered the Olson household, I encountered Mrs. Olson in the kitchen. She was sitting at the dinning room table shuffling through papers, seeming a bit overwhelmed. Her hand kept smoothing down her hair as she muttered things to herself.