Mean GIRL
Vroom! The canary yellow school bus came to a fast stop. People were screaming. Mr. Duvall bolts out of the large brick school and into the street.
"Call 911!" someone is shouting. Ms. Norbury ran, arms flailing back inside to call an ambulance. Soon sirens came blaring from the distance. The EMT's load Regina George onto a stretcher and lift her up into the ambulance, all the while she is blabbing on her cell phone to her attorney. The ambulance doors slam shut and the sirens turn back on as it pulls away from the school, leaving all of the students standing in the street. That's when the gossip starts.
"…You'll never guess who did it"
"…I heard,"
"… Cady Heron did it"
"… How mean!" That was the latest gossip, accusing me, Cady Heron, of pushing Regina George in front of a bus. Of course I didn't do it. What kind of person do you think I am?
"What happened?" my mother calls out the window as she pulls up in our car to take me home.
"It's nothing," I reply "Regina got hit by a bus, but she'll be alright."
"What do you mean it's nothing? Regina's one of your best friends!?"
"Not anymore she isn't. I don't want to talk about it okay Mom?"
Later that night the phone rings, "May I speak with Mrs. Heron please?" says a sullen voice. I toss my mother the phone and she ambles into her bedroom. Through the walls I can hear her gasp, followed by a few "Mhm's," and then the phone clicks off. "Cady, we need to talk."
"Ok mom, what's wrong?" I respond taking a seat on the couch next to her, she sighs then begins.
"Cady, did you push Regina in front of that bus today?" Mom asks as she looks down at her feet.
"No!" I shout, jumping up ready to defend myself. "Why would you ever think that?"
"I just got a call from Regina's attorney. She's taking you to court, in a week." I didn't know what to say. So I cried, partially because I felt bad for Regina but mostly because I felt bad for myself. Why do things like this happen to me? The next morning I decide not to go to school, for fear that everyone would hate me. My mother said that was probably a good idea and that we should go meet with a defense attorney. He drills me with questions about my relationship with Regina and then starts looking for witnesses to testify in my defense. Fortunately, Janice, Damien, and I are friends again. They were outside when it happened. My attorney calls them and they agree to testify in my defense.
A week later, I am resting on a cold, brown, wooden bench in the local courthouse. "Now Janice," my attorney was asking, "tell us exactly what happened last week between Regina and Cady."
"Well," Janice began, "Regina was being dramatic and stormed out of the school because she was angry at Cady for something silly that I don't remember."
"Mhm, please go on." My attorney pushed. Rolling his wrist as if to say "Keep it going, I want to go home."
"As I was saying," Janice continued, "Regina was being dramatic and hurried out of the school, as Cady followed, trying to apologize. Regina turned and screamed something nasty at Cady, as she was standing in the middle of the street, just when a speeding bus came by. The bus hit Regina and she blamed Cady saying that she pushed her in front of it."
"Thank you Janice, you may take your seat." Damien was next; he had pretty
much the same story. Now it was Regina's attorney's turn. Regina took the stand and told a sob story about how I've always hated her and how I shoved her just as the bus was coming with intentions of killing her. Regina hobbled off the stand, and Karen was sworn in. Karen gave pretty much the same story; her eyes met mine a few times. Almost as if she was apologizing. But I didn't give it much of a thought. In my eyes she was a traitor. Soon Gretchen was sitting up in front of the jury. Preparing to tell the same exaggerated story as Regina and Karen had. She started out fine, but then something slipped.
"Are you good friends with Regina George?" My attorney asked her during the cross examination.
Gretchen paused, thought about it, and then responded. "No. I'm not good friends with Regina George." Regina gasped. "Regina bribed Karen and me to come up here and tell lies. I like Cady. But Regina told me that if I testified in Cady's defense she'd spread a rumor about me. I couldn't take that risk. But now I've realized what really matters. Cady is a true friend, Regina isn't." The courtroom was in awe, jaws dropped and people gasped and covered their mouths. No one saw this coming. Regina stood up and screamed, and then she stormed out of the courtroom and slammed the door behind her. After a while, the jury packed up their stuff and went to debate. They came back very quickly and gave the judge their verdict. I was innocent. I smiled and stood up to hug my mother and father. They told Regina that she was being sent to an all girls academy for girls that tend to "act out". The bailiff came and led Regina out of the courtroom.
School on Monday was not an easy task. Walking through the hallways, I would get dirty looks from Regina's fan club. Although, Aaron Samuels was very compassionate to me and bought me lunch and we did our calculus homework together under the tree where the back building used to be. I was Gretchen and Karen's new best friend. They followed me everywhere and offered to fetch me things all through the day, like little ducklings, following their mother. I have to admit it was kind of nice. Janice invited Damien and me to her art show, she had entered another painting of the three of us together. It took first place in her category. Damien and I went shopping together and he helped me pick out some more pink shirts. Mom and Dad are still mad at me. They say I've "changed" in the past year. Though both of them are happy that I didn't get sent to prison for the next 60 years of my life. Hopefully things will get back to normal sometime in the next couple of weeks. But for now I'm just going to be myself and not try to be anyone that I'm not.