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Chapter Thirty-Five
Friendship between girls is all about having each other’s backs. There’s way too many bitches out there ready to take you down. Sometimes you just need to have the biggest bitch in your corner.-Sam
Ronnie
“Really, you don’t have to go. It’s not even a big deal.” Sam’s voice wavers on the last word.
The problem is her trumpet solo at halftime of the last football game of the season is a big deal. For her, it’s a huge deal, so therefore it is for me too. Sam is finally first chair in band, and we had both been excited about her performing this amazing solo for months. After the last week though, she knows I’m scared to go. The last few days have passed in a whirl of insults thrown at me from the other kids at school, some subtle and some not so subtle. No one was happy that the star quarterback had been booted out of school right before the biggest game of the year.
Sam is trying her best to save me from more pain, but I’m on to her. I know it would mean the world to her if I came to watch her at halftime.
Right then one of Brad’s best friends, Lucas, knocks into me from behind and my books scatter. “Slut,” he says under his breath.
My eyes tear up and I kneel to pick up by books. I feel Sam tug on my arm. “No, you don’t girl. Don’t you don’t dare pick those books up.”
“Lucas Oliver Holmes! Come get this girls’ books off the floor which you so rudely knocked out of her arms. And I believe you owe her an apology for the word that just came out of your mouth.” Sam may be small, but she knows how to project her voice. It booms down the hallway and everyone turns to stare.
Lucas stops and pivots around. “What are you going to do if I don’t small fry?” His menacing tone makes me back up a little but Sam stands firm. She’s over a foot shorter than him, but she narrows her gray eyes with absolutely no fear on her small face.
She puts her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell your mama exactly what you said to my girl. And I’ll tell the secret you know I know about you to everyone here in this hallway. What’s it going to be hotshot?”
I have no idea what secret Sam knows, but whatever it is it must be awful because Lucas moves like there’s a fire underneath his ass. He picks up my books quickly and hands them to me.
“Sorry,” he mutters when he hands me my books.
“Louder, asshole.” Sam growls at him and he winces.
“I’m sorry,” he says loudly and a bit more sincerely this time.
“No problem,” I say even though I’m shaking.
Sam eyes everyone else in the hallway. “This stops now. Ronnie is my best friend and she has done absolutely nothing wrong.” Before I know what she’s doing, she whips off the scarf that’s around my neck.
“You see what your precious quarterback did to my friend? You see this mess? You think he doesn’t deserve to go to jail?” I hear gasps and my eyes tear up again. People look at the purple and pink marks around my neck and I see the looks of sympathy and the flinches of guilt.
“Every one of you owes her an apology for your stupid gossip. She’s a good person who got stuck in a bad situation, and I’m proud of her for how she’s kept her shit together around all of y’all assholes.” Her voice is now full of tears and I look down. This girl is truly my hero.
She reaches back and squeezes my hand. She hands me my scarf, and turns around again. Quiet resonates in the wide hallway as everyone watches her. “Now, you may proceed with your silly lives and your stupid gossip, but just know this. I know secrets about a lot of you shits and I will use them if I need to. Don’t mess with my girl.”
It takes another minute, but people resume their talking. A couple of girls come up to me and pat me on the back. I put my books in my locker, while Sam stands next to me playing guard. I hear someone clear their throat behind me.
“Ronnie?” Lucas’s voice is small and nervous. I feel Sam tense next to me.
“Yes?” I turn around to face him.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea that he…that he did that to you.” His voice is full of regret and I let out a tiny sigh.
“It’s okay, Lucas. You didn’t know.” He nods and walks away, but his shoulders are hunched and I can tell he feels real shame.
I feel a hand on my shoulder as we start to walk down the hallway. “Ronnie, Sam?” A small, sweet voice calls our names and we turn around.
I smile down at Lily. She’s not quite as diminutive as Sam, but close. She dances ballet, and carries her tiny frame with grace. “I wanted to say thanks. Thank y’all for standing up to Brad and to all of the people here. He’s a bad guy, but people let him get away with stuff because he’s rich and he’s the quarterback. It’s not right, and well… I just wanted to say thank you.” Her quiet Southern drawl cracks on the last words.
One tear tracks down her cheek. She hastily wipes it away and I get the feeling that Brad was more than a little mean to her. I don’t want to pressure her to talk about anything, but the thought of this beautiful girl being hurt by him shakes me to my core.
I glance over at Sam and I can tell she’s thinking the same thing. “No problem, Lily. It was about time he got what was coming to him. No guy should be able to get away with trying to force a girl to do something she doesn’t want to do.”
Another tear slips down Lily’s cheek and she wipes it away quickly. “Yeah, well thanks again. I’ve got to get to the library, but I’ll see you guys around soon.” She’s running down the hallway before we can say anything else to her.
