Almost There

- 22 -

"That depends on who you ask," said Zack. Mackenzie shot him a dark look, and he shrugged, a helpless expression on his face. "I'm just sayin'. You hear what you hear."

"What do you hear?" Amy turned on her bench to look at him, frowning. "Zack? What do you hear?"

He held up his hands. "Hey, you know what? I don't choose who I have football practice with. Those guys are dicks, just like Mackenzie said."

"Are they talking about Tisha behind her back?" Tess asked.

"It all started last year when she was with Isaac. Just before he broke up with her, everyone was talking about their relationship. Their physical relationship." Zack reached out for Amy's hand; she snatched her hand away from him, thunderclouds in her expression. "Amy, come on. I'm not the one spreading rumors."

"So what, they're talking like he's still with her?" Amy asked.

"That's ridiculous," said Mackenzie. "Tisha hasn't gotten so much as a text message from Isaac since last year—and everything they said about her then was just rumor. It was really hard for her. Tess, she isn't mad at you. She just really liked him a lot, and it turned out badly. Some stupid jerk started telling stories, and then the whole school was calling her a slut. It wasn't true."

"Hey."

The sound of Tisha's voice sent a chill through Tess's body. Horrified, she looked up to see Tisha standing behind Mackenzie, her features carefully expressionless.

"I forgot my phone," said Tisha quietly.

All of them immediately searched the table, pushing aside lunch trays and books. Amy was the one who grabbed Tisha's phone, which was lying near where Mackenzie. "Here," she said, obviously embarrassed. She held it out to Tisha.

Without replying, Tisha took the phone, turned, and walked slowly away.

"Somebody please just kill me," Mackenzie said, putting her face in her hands. "I wish I hadn't reminded her of that."

"You didn't know she was there," Amy said with a sigh. "Poor Tisha."

"Poor Tisha," Tess echoed. "People are so mean." She glanced back at the table where Isaac sat with the guys, laughing at something one of them had said.

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Welcome to high school. The real news here is that they're recycling old garbage."

But maybe it wasn't old garbage. Tess recalled what the boys had said: We know what she's up to after school. What if they were talking the same way about her as they had about Tisha last year?

"It's just guys being horrible," Mackenzie said.

"Hey." Zack waved a hand at Mackenzie. "Still here?"

"Yeah, well, you're gonna be here without me if I hear about you letting those rumors fly," Amy said. "Come on, Zack. You can't let them talk like that. It's so disrespectful."

He shrugged one shoulder. "I try not to get involved. But I'll say something if I hear them talking like that again about Tisha. Or about you, Tess."

"You don't think it's Isaac spreading those rumors, do you?" Jacqui asked, looking from Zack to Tess. "That would be a terrible way to treat his girlfriends."

"It can't be Isaac," said Tess. "He's really sweet. He'd never spread lies like that, even among his friends."

"He better not. I was wondering if Tisha was just shy, but I guess I don't blame her if she's been the headline around here." Jacqui gathered up her lunch tray. "The bell is about to ring. I'll tell you one thing: if those jerks say anything about her when I'm around, they better prepare themselves for a piece of my mind."

Tess felt like she had an insight into quiet Tisha's perspective that she hadn't had before. She'd been embarrassed enough to hear one sly, rude comment in the hallway. She couldn't imagine dealing with months' worth of vicious rumors and the weight of the entire school's judgment. With everything else going on in her life, it would be too much for her to bear.