I can feel the tension between us physically, like centipedes running down my spine. None of my friends interact with each other for the rest of the school day. I barely see Rosie for the rest of the school day. Chase was suspended, Johnny was sent home with an icepack. It's not until the final bell rings do I see Rosie waiting by street corner, I went up to her
"Hey," she waved, speaking quietly.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Look," she pointed across the street to, where I spotted Ramon walking by himself. "We should go see if he's alright."
"Yeah," I agreed, "but how are you doing?"
"They're just words to me Gwen, I know who I am, I know how scummy Johnny can be. That's all he is to me." It was strange hearing so cold a sentence come from so warm a person.
I bit my lip, and opened my arms to give her a quick hug, "Just in case." She patted my back, and I knew she was okay.
Ramon's head hung low when we caught up with him. His head snapped up when I called his name and I caught sight of his red, puffy eyes. He looked away quickly and rubbed his eyes, his wavy auburn hair fell over his eyes. We walked beside him, quietly for a few moments, I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Don't apologize," I insisted.
His face twitched slightly, "s- I mean, ah... I'm not sure what to say."
"It's okay," Rosie comforted him.
I noticed he seemed to be leaning away from us ever so slightly, like he was trying to hide his face, "you can talk to us if you want, or not. We just figured it'd be cool to walk you home, if you're okay with that."
He sniffed and smiled weakly, "yeah, it's really nice. Thanks."
"You okay?" I asked, letting my voice go soft.
He shrugged, "I shouldn't be surprised, I don't know why I'm reacting so badly. Johnny does this sort of thing to everyone. I don't know why I thought I was different."
Rosie and I shared a look.
"Do you guys think I'm blind sighting myself to all the horrible parts of him because I like him?" Ramon blurted out before we could say anything.
"Uh, well you know he's not the best kid, so you're not in denial," I attempted to explain, "Right?"
"Yeah of course. I know he's someone I should stay away from, but I also want to stick by him because I don't think anyone else does. I think...I think he needs me now more than ever now that Chase has blown up at him. She might have been pretty and listened to all his problems but I don't think he'll let her embarrass him like that. Actually... can I tell you something?"
"Of course," I promised.
"Anytime," Rosie seconded.
"He used to tell me things to," Ramon bit his lip, "he used to talk to me all the time after school and on summer weekends and at camp. There was one time...I'll never forget it... it was the middle of the night a year ago. He texted me, and I realized he was upset, and he talked to me about it, and then he said I was his best friend. It drives me crazy."
Rosie smiled gently, "if it makes you feel any better, that's definitely denial."
"You think so?" Ramon looked up for the first time since we'd been walking.
"I know so," she gave him two thumbs up.
"What's that on your face?" I asked, breaking the flow of conversation. There was a faint purple mark on the side of his cheek, a line, following a trail where his tears might have fallen.
Ramon's weakly happy expression instantly went cold and his hand flew up to the exact spot, "what do you mean?"
"Have you got concealer on?" My heart hammered in my chest.
"N-no."
He tried to duck away from me as I licked my thumb and smeared it across his face, taking off the makeup in streaks. Ramon covered the spot his hand and turned away from me. Rosie and I stood there in shocked silence for a bit, as the cat was out of the bag, and demanded an explanation. Ramon looked up at us, his face was red with embarrassment and shame. He slowly removed his hand from his cheek and revealed what was obviously a small bruise under makeup, washed away by tears.
"Did Johnny do that to you?" Rosie asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Ramon's eyes widened, "Oh, No! No he wouldn't, I'm positive. Not me. He... he threatens a lot of kids but they're hollow I can tell-"
"Ramon," I grabbed him by the shoulders, "who did this?"
He glanced nervously at the ground and then over his shoulder, "Oh look, it's my house. It was nice walking with you two, see you tomorrow-"
"Ramon." Rosie put her hand on his shoulder and he stopped backing away, "it's okay, you can tell us."
He paused, caught between the sweet promise of safety and the void of solitude. I could see the prey-animal look in his eyes, like he was small bird looking past the saliva dripping off a wolf's fangs. He looked back at his house, then reached up one hand to grip his arm.
"My mom...has lots of men over...she likes to uh... party. They drink a lot," his hand brushed against the bruise, "they get blackout drunk a lot." He paused, then added, "But I'm okay... it was only one time. She's not seeing that guy anymore."
"Does she know?"
He shook his head, "She can't know."
I glanced over at Rosie, she read my mind. We couldn't leave him here now. I wasn't about to send him back into the lion's den.
"Do you want to come over to my house and hang out?" Rosie asked.
Ramon smiled and relaxed slightly, letting the tension out of his body, "y-yes, I would like that very much. I uh, don't know if I'll be allowed."
"Oh," Rosie's face fell.
"I suppose I could..." he glanced at the house again, "Ask for forgiveness instead of permission."
"You could do that," I raised an eyebrow.
"Please," he begged, only half-joking.
"You won't get in trouble?" Rosie frowned, "I don't want to put you in a worse position."
"It'll be fine, she'll be glad I've made other friends besides Johnny."
"Okay then," Rosie smiled.
Rosie's house was closer to Ramon's then mind. I phoned my parents I was going over there, which was approved because I was always at Rosie's when the house was empty. The three of us bumbled through the door, took off our coats and backpacks. I plopped down on the table and pulled out school books, Rosie was chatting happily with Ramon and teaching him how to make her world-famous sugar cookies. It wasn't long before we were munching on them while working on homework together.
"Do you have a favorite movie, Ramon?" I asked, "Rosie and I usually like to watch our favorites when we hang out."
"Oh yeah," he laughed nervously and looked down, "I really like The Princess Bride."
Rosie slapped her hand down on the table, "Oh my God, if I weren't gay and if you weren't gay I'd kiss you on the mouth right now."
I snorted, "Nerds."
"Okay just because you don't understand art, Gwen-mmf!"
I leaned forward and kissed her, I felt her frown and smirked back, she leaned into it. Ramon blinked, and I turned back to his confused and wildly amused expression.
"Oh right, we're dating now by the way," I realized.
"Oh!" Rosie blinked, "I forgot we hadn't told anyone yet."
"You are?" he gasped, "That's wonderful!"
We talked about our relationship for a bit, the remaining cookies were divided up with popcorn, and we settled down for the night. Eventually at some point Ms. Jenkins came home, bit us all a good night, hung out for a bit while we watched our movie. That was when Rosie shifted away from me, and made sure we were touching. I couldn't help but notice that.
When Ms. Jenkins decided to leave us alone, Rosie leaned her head back on my shoulder and that's when I decided to pull out my phone and send a very lengthy and strongly worded text message to my buddy Johnathan Laurens.
Hey, I hope you feel terrible because you genuinely suck Johnny. You don't deserve to have us as friends, but you know we're not going to drop your sorry butt because despite what you want to believe, we are still your friends. Especially Ramon, who has been by your side since basically forever, and doesn't deserve anything you said to him. You're a jerk, and you're going to apologize to him. Or I will make you sorry.
A few minutes passed and then I got a response.
Are you trying to bully the bully, Degray
I'm helping you get your best friend back, I replied.
He didn't answer for a very long time.
Fine, I'll do it.
:)
A few minutes later Ramon's phone buzzed. "Looks like my mom finally found out I was gone," he laughed awkwardly, "pray for me."
Rosie make a cross over her heart, miming solidarity. I watched Ramon's face change in the flickering light of the television from a look of nervousness to surprise. His eyebrow flew up, his whole body froze, then his hand went up to his mouth and he started scrolling. I was really hoping that meant Johnny had actually tried and texted him the book of apologies he deserved instead of something superficial. They had known each other for far too long in order for that to be okay.
He was wiping tears from his face, "Johnny apologized... he sent something really sweet. It's been a long day I guess, I'm still processing everything."
Rosie smiled, "That's wonderful."
Ramon nodded, "My... my heart hurts... right in here." He tapped his sternum, "I... I love him so much."
"Ramon!" She exclaimed, "come here."
Rosie hugged him and I patted him on the back. We considered the night a celebration, it was a good distraction from everything that had happened. From Gordon's disappearance, to Chase blowing up in our faces. A lot of horrible things had happened, but this was good. This was our golden drop of sunlight that we could hold onto and remember the sweet taste of the moment in the bitter air that seemed to be everywhere these days. It made be believe that things were going to be okay after all.