24: I hear Spike cheer about my "vicious right hook"
"That dipwad!" I yell, chucking my phone at the sofa. Clarice pops another piece of popcorn into her mouth. After my little spat with Trevor I hightailed it to Clarice's for a sleepover. Her parents were surprisingly chill with it.
"You're the one who's like 'oh, let's let Trevor find out she's a bitch on his own.' I mean, that was dumb,” she tells me. I sit up to glare at her.
"Who's side are you on?" I growl.
"Did you even explain what really happened?"
"Yes! And he brings up this trash Christa and Janice told him and when I ask him if he really believes that he just says ‘whatever.’ Who says whatever to that?!”
"You know what this means, right?" Clarice says. I reach my arm out to grab a fistful of popcorn.
"What?" I demand. Clarice shakes my shoulder.
"It means that Janice and Christa teamed up to screw us over. Christa hates you and Janice is pissed at both of us, so they teamed up!"
"You mean that they locked the doors to distract me so they could get Trevor mad at me? How would they even know if it would work? What if you'd gotten out in five minutes?" Clarice shrugs.
"They got lucky."
"Then what about Corey not being at tryouts? And I saw him there afterwards, too. He said it went well!"
"Did you tell Trevor?" I pause, thinking.
"I don’t….know. I think I yelled it at him as I was leaving. I doubt he heard it.”
"You must really like him," Clarice says. "I've never seen you this animated about anything before."
"I don't!" I yell loudly, ignoring the blood rushing to my cheeks. "He's a full-blown idiot who doesn't know who his friends are and he's not worth the ground he walks on!"
"Yeah...you like him."
"Maybe just a little. But he's still infuriating!"
"Oh yes, because you've given him such a reason to trust you, betting on that date and all." I snatch the popcorn box away.
"That doesn't count. We both bet on it!"
"Well, don't worry about it. Tomorrow's that field trip. You don't have to see him all day."
"I better not."
Thursday is worse than I thought. First period is okay, but since neither Trevor nor Matt are there, the table is unusually silent. In second period, I find that someone coated the bottom of my usual seat with glue.
“Oh good grief,” I mutter as I feel the wetness squeak against my jeans.
“That was an odd noise,” a voice next to me says.
I turn around to catch sight of Miranda Blue staring at my seat in amusement. I sigh and the class clown looks up at me.
“I think it was an Elmer’s Glue noise,” I explain with a sigh. She scrunches her nose up.
“I have my gym shorts in my locker. Want to go get changed?”
I nod and Miranda goes up to talk to the teacher, gesturing at me every once in a while. Mr. Hudson stands up, his face serious.
“Go ahead, Haley,” he says, his voice deep and stern. Any giggles at my pasty white rear are suppressed by his gaze. Miranda follows me.
“Gotta love Mr. Hudson,” she chuckles as his voice booms out from behind the now-closed door.
I don’t bother replying. I hate it when jeans get wet and sticky, and the possibility of changing into someone-else’s gym shorts is less than appealing. Miranda picks up on my bad mood and doesn’t say anything else, just whistles some nameless tune as we walk to her locker.
“See you in class, Haley,” she calls as I head into the bathroom. I just grumble a reply and she laughs.
If the glue in my seat wasn’t enough to put me in a bad mood, the next period I find that a teacher “needed my desk for a test” again. There are no plastic chairs in the classroom, so I head next door to grab one, only to find Christa smiling and wiggling her fingers at me in some demented wave. Janice doesn’t even bother to look up. And the next period? I get a spitball in my hair.
"Do you need help?" Spike calls. He's standing outside the girls' bathroom while I attempt to get the spitball out. Then we'll go to lunch.
"I don't think you want to come in here," I call back. Then I come to a realization. "Shit! It's spit and gum!"
A few seconds later Spike strolls into the bathroom, a peanut-butter sandwich in his hand.
"Where'd you get that?"
"I swiped it from some chick sitting out here smirking at you." I laugh. Spike peels the bread away and starts working the peanut butter into the gum. At first I try to help, but he just swats my hand away.
"Submit to The Way of the Peanut Butter."
"The what?"
"Just chill. You've had to deal with enough today." I let out a sigh and relax.
"Thanks, Spike." He nods and keeps working, eventually dunking my head under the sink to rinse the whole concoction out. And just like that, lunch is over.
"Damn, I'm hungry," I mutter as we leave the restroom. Spike nods and snags a burrito from a girl walking by.
"What do you feel like eating?" He surveys the people around us. "I think there's someone eating a salad over there. Or...a burger." I laugh and shake my head.
"No thanks."
Fifth period my seat is still there. In fact, someone’s put a little post-it note to the back, declaring my desk a “whore-only zone.” My seat is too far back for anyone to notice but me, but it still stings.
By the time school ends, I'm ready to snap. God knows how many times I've been insulted or threatened or tripped or pushed or had my hair pulled. The worst is right after fifth. Some absolute retard printed out a bunch of pictures of me and Spike exiting the bathroom with the caption "another quickie for the whore?"
As I round the corner to freedom, I see Christa and Janice standing a few feet away from me, an enormous basket of folded paper in their hands. Colorful paper. And there's a nice big picture of me and Spike taped to the front.
"We've gathered the well-wishes of the entire school for you, Haley." They shove the basket into my hands. It all happens at once.
My fist makes spectacular contact with first Christa's nose and then Janice's. I hear Spike cheer about my "vicious right hook" and a sudden gasp from behind the bruised and broken girls. It's Trevor. I pick up the basket and throw it at him.
"Why the hell do I even deal with this for you?" I scream. I march out the door and don't look back. Trevor doesn't come after me.
"Haley, why did you punch those girls?" Dr. Thornton asks.
Fortunately, Mr. Hudson was the only one to catch sight of the debacle, and only gave me a detention for “rough housing in the hallway.” In concern, Trevor's dad called Dr. Thornton in. Trevor had tryouts (which is why he was at school after the field trip) so we haven't spoken yet. Mom is off somewhere, yelling at Dad for bringing 'that quack' into our house.
"I was being bullied. And it was annoying." I'm still steamed, so I can't make random stuff up. "I'm sorry, Dr. Thornton, but I don't feel like talking right now. Maybe tomorrow?" He nods and gets up to leave. There's not much else he can do, really.
"What about what we talked about last time. Have you found a guy you like yet? Gone out on any dates?"
"Tomorrow, Dr. Thornton."
"I'm not giving up until you find yourself some kind of boyfriend. You need to forget Trina." I just push him out the door.
"Can I call a friend over?" I ask Mom. Clarice has texted me five times since I got home. She nods. She and Dad have figured they really can't punish me. They don't even know all of what happen. Besides, I'm not theirs to punish.
"You finally punched them!" Clarice yells joyously as she jumps through the door. I can see Mom and Dad in the kitchen, eager to hear the reasoning. Clarice jumps up and down, her hands on my shoulders, as she pushes me into the kitchen. "They deserved it, the bitches!!!" She pauses as she catches sight of Trevor's parents. "Um...hi."
"You can talk in front of them," I tell her, opening the fridge. "They're chill." I see both adults straighten up and smile proudly in response to the praise.
"Spike called me and explained everything. I saw that picture they got of you. Why exactly were you coming out of the bathroom with him?"
"I got a gum-spit ball in my hair. Spike was teaching me The Way of the Peanut Butter."
"The what?"
"That's what he calls his peanut butter gum removal mechanism."
"What else did you have to go through?" I list the torture by period.
"Shiiit," Clarice says finally. "And you just let it happen?"
"For a while. Then I punched their lights out."
"Good for you!" We all turn to stare at Dad. O...kay then.
I hear a key in the door and a weary Trevor comes in.
"I need to talk to you,” he mumbles.
"Shower first," I say. He nods and walks up the stairs. Clarice starts slapping my shoulder.
"He wants to apologize and you tell him to shower first?" I shrug.
"Who said he wants to apologize? He's the one who trusts Christa over me." Mom and Dad quickly exit the room. This is a conversation they don't want to be a part of. They're too awesome. Clarice nods.
"Good point. We don't want him all sweaty when you hug and make up."
"Were you even listening to me?" Suddenly, my phone starts buzzing.
"Haley, it's Corey. I need to talk to you. I'm on my way over." I bound out the back door and over the fence. As I pass the kitchen I notice that I have about 10 messages. While I wait for Corey, I listen. They're all from Khalil, the butcher. I call him back and explain to him that I'm living with Trevor. Just as he starts telling me how happy he is and how we should throw a party and how he has some more goat in his store if I ever want some, I see Corey's car pull into the driveway. I hang up quickly.
"Can I come in?" I nod and let him in.
"Haley, I was thinking." I look at him blankly. He takes both my hands. "Haley, do you like me?" Eh? I look over his flawless skin, his bright eyes and the reddish brown hair that sweeps over his forehead.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I really like you. Will you go out with me?"
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Oh, good heavens. There I was, waiting for my 50, 50 votes and then BLIP! I got caught in a worldwind of energy as my family, well, came and we needed to entertainment. I haven't had computer time in a while! But, here are the two chapters as promised. I didn't get the 50-50 votes in time, but I figured that I didn't give you warnings like I normally do, plus I left you guys hanging for so long, that you deserve the double upload.