90s Queen Bee #Wattys2016

Chapter 13 - Detention

                  

1998

Robin and I circled each other like sharks on opposite ends of the oval as we hurtled milk cartons and aluminium foil into our garbage bags. As she passed Blair, Mudsey and Jason, they threw empty coke bottles and screwed up balls of paper at her.

'Oi maid! Clean up our mess!' I heard Jason shout. Wow, not even Robin Lewis was immune to their teasing.

As she was bending over to pick up a bottle, she looked over at me. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to stretch her tattoo-look choker as far as it could go and then let it snap back on her neck.

Bec, Mei-Ling and Penny gave me a sympathetic look as I plodded past them. I waved feebly and drew a deep breath as I approached Blair and his crew. I kept waiting for the wads of paper to hit me, but they didn't come.

All I heard was a remark from Blair - 'Totally bad-arse.'

****

Robin kept pouting as I tried not to fall asleep folding parent-teacher meeting letters in detention. Had she even changed her expression today?

'You know, if the wind changes your face will stay like that,' I warned her.

'If the wind changes, your face will stay like that,' she repeated in a dumb sounding voice.

I had to remember that I really was dealing with a juvenile here. Principal Sutton, for reasons that escaped me, had left us in the care of Ms. Benson, a student teacher. Ms. Benson had already left us to go for a smoke and a coffee. Now she was in the next room talking on the phone to someone she was obviously annoyed at.

'I already told you, I don't want to go there on Saturday night.' Pause. 'Yeah, but the drinks are overpriced and watered down.' Pause. 'He didn't say he'd be there.' Yeah, she was really making sure we weren't getting into any more trouble.

My stack of letters was twice as high as Robin's. Maybe she was a quicker envelope stuffer.

'Hey Robin, how about you start putting these letters in envelopes and I'll keep folding?'

She gave me a sideways look of contempt and ran her fingers slowly along the fold of the letter. She whacked it down on her pile and proceeded to pick up another letter.

'Fine, I'll start stuffing.' I opened the box of envelopes and took out a wad. A smile played on her lips, as if she'd won.

'Robin, why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?'

'Um, helloooooo?' She jabbed a finger at her bruised wrist.

'I mean before yesterday. You hate me so much and for no reason.'

I wasn't expecting miracles here. Certainly not an apology. I just wanted some sort of answer. Instead, the little brat kept her eyes on me as she licked her finger and picked up another letter from the pile.

'No one's here,' I pointed out. 'No one's going to see you talking to me.'

'You're just such a goody-goody.'

Ha! What I'd done in my life would make her head spin. I wished I could tell her some of the stuff I'd done in my life, if only to wipe that smug look off her face. I wondered if adult Robin had ever trespassed onto private premises and gone skinny dipping or hitch hiked from Barcelona to Valencia. Or taken a pill from a woman wearing a strange hat. Or fooled around with a 'stranger' in a dark room full of hundreds of people.

'What's wrong with being a goody-goody?'

'I don't know, it's just nerdy.' She shrugged. 'And it's not like you're my biggest fan.'