The summer we turned thirteen (Published)

The summer we met: The torment continues

Harlee

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"They did what to him?" I asked my friends incredulously as the three of us sat criss-cross applesauce, forming a circle atop my bed inside our cabin. Polly was to the left of me while Hally sat to my right, and they both were taking turns telling me a story about what had happened to James earlier that day. I had a slight fever and had to spend the entire day indoors, so they were catching me up.

"Jasper took a bunch of James' clothes and hid them around the campsite and then forced him to go on a scavenger to find them all," Hally explained, giggling, "He found a pair of his underwear hanging from a tree! It was classic."

"It was really funny," Polly agreed smiling, seeming to forget her role as the nicer twin momentarily.

"We have the whole thing on video if you wanna see. Jasper said he wants to upload it as a prank vlog," Hally concluded.

I pondered over what they had just told me.

It was the week after my encounter with James.

Since then, I had gone out of my way to stay out of his. But I remained friendly toward him nonetheless. I waved any time I saw him, although he never waved back,

I didn't take it personally. I knew shyness could sometimes make a person seem rude, and I understood he was dealing with a lot. So I cut him some slack about the way he'd treated me and decided not to add myself to the list of people that despised or made fun of him.

It was a list that, thanks to Jasper, seemed to be ever-growing. Now, even my friends were joining in on making James the butt of every joke and prank at Fairington.

I felt sorry for James and angry at Jasper.

It was evident James was struggling here; why did he have to make it worse?

At that moment, my crush on Jasper completely disappeared.

No matter how cute he was, the way he treated others was hideous.

And that repelled me from him entirely.

"No," I finally answered them.

"What?" Hally asked.

"No, I don't want to see it." I shook my head rapidly to show them how serious I was. The twins exchanged knowing glances.

"That's okay," Hally said disapprovingly.

We were all quiet for a moment, then she went on, "We both know you have a thing for James and all that's why you don't like making fun of him."

I replied to her dig with a shrug and said,

"Sorry, I'm not a bully like the rest of you."

Hally's face contorted at the remark.

"Hey! We aren't bullies," she argued.

"Oh, are you sure about that?" I said. "You sat there and recorded it as Jasper pranked James. If that's not bullying, then I don't know what is."

"It was only a joke, Harlee," Polly spoke up with a bit more regret in her tone than her twin's.

"It's always 'just a joke,'" I scolded them. "Everyone thinks it's funny, right? Until it happens to them. Put yourself in James' shoes. How do you think he was feeling when all of you were laughing at him? I bet he wasn't laughing with you. I bet he didn't think it was funny."

Neither of them had a word to say to that.

I mentally patted myself on the back for my ability to render people speechless.