The BSC Legacy – Book 2: Student Stratifications
By: CNJ
PG-13
8: Rough Times In The Social Strata
Kristy:
I tossed the basketball from
one hand to another as I waited for Abby. Only a few kids remained in the
halls. I bounced my foot on the wall and pretended to shoot baskets.
"Hey, where're your paint
bucket?" a voice asked. Cokie Mason. I rolled my eyes and ignored her.
"Hey...that's an ugly sweatshirt
you have on," Randy Greenhold's voice joined in.
"What a slob..." Another
kid laughed and I turned and saw Randy, Cokie, Sara Trentwood, Burke Wiley,
and several of the kids from the In clique behind me.
"What...you guys lost something?"
I lowered my eyes and tried to look bored.
"Looks like you lost
your coolness," Burke leaned toward me and I stepped back and bumped into
the wall. My heart started to pound and my palms began to sweat.
"What do ya' expect when
she hangs around with losers like that Mary Anne owl and that Abby freak?"
Sara laughed.
"Hey..." I started, looked
for a way to push out. I debated on punching Burke's face, but it was several
of them and one of me. I stared at Burke and tried to laugh in his face.
I didn't want them to know I was scared. "Did you just get out of the cafeteria?"
I rattled nervously, then forced a laugh. "Looks like you ate their excuse
of lettuce and barfed..." I shrugged, trying to look casual, but gulped
hard instead. Just then a shrill whistle cut through the tension. Like
birds, the clique scattered, thinking maybe a teacher had seen them. I
slumped back, closing my eyes in relief.
"Hey..." It was Abby and
she touched my shoulder gently. "Are you all right?"
"I guess so." I wiped the
sweat off my palms. I still felt a little shaky. "Was that your whistle?"
"Yep." Abby grinned and
held up her hand, parting her two middle fingers. Her own special whistle.
"Thanks," I let out my breath
as we headed to basketball practice. "I don't know what I would have done
if you hadn't come along."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Kristy, you weren't..."
Mary Anne started to wail at that day's BSC meeting.
"No, I'm all right now,"
I told her. I debated on telling my friends how scared I'd really been.
I knew Abby had sensed my fear. But I didn't. And anyway, several clients
called and we booked several jobs for next week.
"Well, on to bigger, more
important things than some In kids..." Claudia quipped during a pause in
calls. "Who's free for New York City this weekend?" Most of us were. Actually,
all of us were for Friday night and Saturday, so we made plans for those
two days and would come back early Saturday evening. We do this every few
months and since last year, when we started high school, we've taken the
train there ourselves. It's an hour and a half trip to reach the outskirts
of the city and another half hour to get into the city where we usually
crash with Stacey's dad and his girlfriend, Samantha. We usually just root
around the city. We've been to most of the big landmarks like the Empire
State Building and the Statue of Liberty several times as well as other
lesser-known landmarks. It's remarkable that most New York City residents
don't even have cars since they can get around by subway, bus, or cab.
And the subway is open twenty-four hours. We're still too young for most
of the drinking clubs, but when we hit eighteen, we plan to try those out
too.
"So my dad knows we're coming,"
Stacey told us.
"So, by our meeting, we've
packed everything and from there, we take the bus to the station..." Kristy
calculated. "We should be there by around eight, eight-thirty at the latest."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey:
"...so there's this huge
sweatshirt hanging by the basket out on the lawn and it's not one of ours,"
Kristy finished as we passed by Ms. Liberty in the ferry. We chuckled at
Kristy's story of the latest escapades of her younger stepsiblings, Karen
and Andrew Brewer and her younger sister, Emily Michelle. Kristy has a
huge blended family with seven kids, so there's always something going
on in that family. We'd mostly coasted downtown Manhattan and eaten at
the Carnegie Deli. Kristy turned and waved at Lady Liberty as if she expected
her to actually wave back. It's easy to do since the Statue of Liberty
almost seems like a person; she looks so real. We all turned to look at
her as we always do when we pass.
"I like that she looks like
a real woman," Mary Anne told us.
"Me too," I added. Our hair
blew in the cold wind and I could imagine Ms. Liberty's hair actually blowing
too. Brown, I thought. Her hair would be brown. Actually, I vaguely remembered
reading somewhere that she was based on the artist's mom and she really
did have brown hair and brown eyes. We've also climbed up the steps inside
of her to get a view from her crown a few times. Compared to most of the
buildings in the city, she's really not that tall; many of the buildings
are over a thousand feet tall while Ms. Liberty's only a hundred feet tall.
It's funny, though, how a lot of visitors, especially those from small
towns gawk and think it's the hugest thing in the world. But we the BSC
know her better. We did that last spring when we visited Ellis Island.
Even though I lived in the city for the first twelve years of my life and
come back here every so often to visit, Lady Liberty still takes my breath
away. Once our ferry docked back on the Manhattan shore, Mary Anne told
us that she definitely wanted to live here as an adult.
"I'm going to apply for
college here too," she told us. "I've even looked up a few on the net and
there's a Staten U. that's supposed to have a good teaching and psychology
program."
"Hey, sounds good," Claudia
put in. "I guess it's not too early to start scouting around colleges."
Hard to believe it was just two and a half years before we'd be ready.
In another year, we'd be taking our SAT's.
"Who feels like taking a
hike through Greenwich Village?" Kristy called. "Or does anyone feel like
hiking the subway to the Roosevelt museum?" Greenwich Village won out,
so we headed there. Seeing the different group of people there from punk
to bohemian to business-suited reminded my of the groups at SHS. Probably
in real life, groups are more complex. And once we grew up and out on our
own, we'd run into group dynamics in workplaces and everything. All in
all, it was a fun afternoon and we ended up shopping for a lot of little
knickknacks that we lugged in little bags all the way home that evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby:
I'm so happy the cast came
off my arm the second week in February! It's so good to be able to use
my arm again. I hadn't been able to move since November, when I broke it
in a soccer game against our rival, Burkeview High. I flexed my arm and
hugged Mom. She smiled softly and stoked my arm. "Give it time to strengthen
and you'll be back in the field next fall," Dr. Johanssen told us. It was
such a relief to have my arm free that later in the week when the BSC were
sitting at lunch, I asked, "Think I can still beat out Sosa and that bunch?"
"I don't know," Kristy peered
over. "There's still purple marks at the pit..."
"WHAT!" I howled. Then I
saw my friends cracking up and I had to laugh, too.
"I'm so glad it wasn't more
serious," Mary Anne added in her quiet, earnest voice. "It was awful seeing
you hurt."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That afternoon, we had the first fun assembly in a while. A band from Connecticut International Rounds came and played, then afterwards let us try the instruments. A lot of kids blatted, blew, and wheezed instruments, making everyone laugh, including teachers. I tried one of the guitars and got into it, singing this old song about war being so stupid and people who started wars being idiots. The rest of the BSC loved it and other kids sang along. I ended it with a finale of, "don't be an idiot, too and start a war..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kristy:
I was at my locker the next
day after school when I heard somebody laughing."...God, can you believe
the idiot Abby made of herself yesterday..." I froze, listening and saw
two kids from that In group at school, you know the ones that think they're
so cool.
"She always makes a fool
of herself," the other kid added. "I wonder why Kristy and Mary Anne aren't
embarrassed by her."
"Simple...they're as unhip
as her. That whole baby-sitting bunch are all wierdos..." They moved down
the hall, leaving me fuming. I slammed my locker shut and toyed with the
idea of grabbing them and dragging them to the cafeteria and dumping greasy
spinach sauce on them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby:
I wonder if I got carried
away at that assembly? My friends reassure me that I didn't, but I hear
kids laughing at me in the hall and pointing. I even heard somebody chanting
that anti-war theme in a singsong kind of voice. I was the last to arrive
at the cafeteria and we all were eating and talking.
"Heeey, seaweed Stevenson!"
Randy Greenhold called two tables down.
"Ignore him," Stacey whispered.
We tried, but it was hard...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
I'm worried about Abby. Kids are ridiculing her. She's trying to take it in stride and laugh it off, but I think it's getting to her. I think the In crowd at school targets some kids and the BSC is one of their targets. A few weeks ago, Kristy had a scary incident with some of them and Abby scared them off just in time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby:
I was at my locker when Randy
called, "Hey, seaweed...made an idiot of yourself lately?" I tried to ignore
him, even though my heart was pounding. I felt a push on my shoulder.
"Lay off..." I said in a
low, shaky voice. Inside, I felt like I was dying. Randy and Burke snickered
coldly.
"Hey, back off!" Kristy
bellowed as she and Mary Anne came up. I closed my locker. Mary Anne glanced
nervously at Randy and tried not to shrink back.
"Hey, here's the owl and
the slob to join the seaweed!" Randy jeered. Mary Anne winced, tears welling
in her eyes. Randy and Alan Gray had pinned on Mary Anne "the owl" and
laughed at her. It had hurt Mary Anne so deeply that she couldn't stop
crying for hours.
"Just SHUT UP, imbecile!"
Kristy barked.
"Who...are you telling to
shut up?" Randy taunted, stepping close to Kristy.
"You...who else...or what
else?" Kristy pointed. Just then Randy's hand flew out and Kristy ducked
and landed a kick on Randy. The whole few minutes dissolved into a fistfight.
Mary Anne gave a scared scream. I reached out as if to break them up, but
decided against it. Just then, Ms. Debois, our geometry teacher, came out
of her classroom, raced down the hall and broke them up.
"What...is going ON here!?"
she demanded. Kristy and Randy glared at each other, breathing hard. Mary
Anne was in tears by this time and I was close to them myself.
"It was Randy," I told her.
"He started...taunting us..."
"Fighting is not tolerated
at Stoneybrook High!" Ms. Debois stated. "Randy and Kristy, both of you
have detention and if I hear about fighting between you again..."
"I understand..." Kristy
nodded.
"Yes...MAAM," Randy panted.
Mary Anne put her hand over her mouth and let loose fresh floodgates. Ms.
Debois handed her a tissue and stroked her. Slowly, the three of us left
the building.
"That..." Kristy mumbled
a string of choice words under her breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia:
It seems like we're one of
the main targets for the IN group at school. It was a scary thought.
"We'd better really stick
together," I told everyone at the next BSC meeting. "If we lose each other,
we're dead." Kristy and Abby had told us about Kristy's fight with Randy
Greenhold.
"How the hell are we going
to fight back?" Stacey asked in a thin, tight voice, her mouth trembling.
"By sticking together,"
Kristy announced. "We have to look out for each other. Let's make sure
we try not to be alone anywhere in the halls or bathroom." We nodded. Mary
Anne, Stacey, and Abby were shaking by the end of the BSC meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They seemed everywhere for
a rather small group. I saw them also picking on other kids as well. Cold
comfort knowing we weren't the only targets. Several times during the next
few weeks, I glanced at teachers, wondering if they knew some of the stuff
that went on. Some of them seemed to, but others seemed out of it. Still,
there were others...
I was headed to math class
when I overhead Ms. Zarroto and Ms. Quebec talking.
"...just an adolescent thing,"
Ms. Quebec seemed to say.
"But it has me concerned,"
Ms. Zarroto put in. "Do we just stand by and let the kids work it out themselves?"
"I've seen cliques in most
schools I've taught at," Ms. Quebec said. "Usually once they get out of
school, they're history."
"I'm still going to watch
out for some of the more vulnerable kids," Ms. Zarroto put her pen on her
clipboard. "We can't let it get too far. I've read the news about school
violence and some of it stems from seemingly innocent groups like these..."
As I continued walking, I just hoped the In clique wouldn't get out of
hand. But they seemed to be pushing limits further every day. Later at
lunch, I was standing in line with Abby, Mary Anne, Kristy, and Stacey
when snickers came up around us. I turned, but no one was there, not near
us. The other kids seemed busy eating and talking among themselves.
Just ignore them,
Abby mimed to me. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet and now was trying
not to be heard. Don't attract their attention. Who just laughed?
Mary Anne mimed, a worried frown knotting her brows. We heard snickers
again, this time close to us and tried not to turn to look at them, although
we knew who they were. Kristy shrugged and pretended to act casual, saying
out loud, "So...did anyone think this morning's algebra quiz was hard?"
"Some," I said gamely as
more low laughter rose around us.
"Sooo, what's the secret
mouthing message signal this time?" Sara sneered, leaning close to us.
She glanced back at Randy, who sneered at us. Burke snorted with laughter.
Mary Anne tried to squirm away.
"Heyy, we're just curious,"
Burke came up and stepped so close some of us moved back. "Gonna let us
in or make us guess?"
"'Cause then we think you're
all wierdos," Randy sneered.
"It's their REAL names,
of course, like Seaweed and Owl!" Burke laughed. Several kids turned to
look at us and Abby started to shake. "How 'bout some real food to show
the real Baby-sitters?" He leaned over toward the counter.
"Touch us with that food
and we'll kill you," I snarled. "Come on, let's find a table." We darted
over to the nearest table, feeling like we were being watched and laughed
at.
"Rain check for another
tiiime!" Randy taunted. Quiet tears ran down Mary Anne's face and all of
us were quiet. We were going to eat, but most of our appetite was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey:
We'd been trying to stay
together at school, but later in the week found myself unexpectedly alone
in the hallway when Kristy, who was in my last class, had to see the teacher
about something. I told her I'd meet her at the locker and headed there.
Most of the kids seemed to be gone, so I went there, got my books, then
slowly paced between the classroom and the locker section. I heard a door
slam, the someone streaked out of the gym so fast it was a blur. It was
a sophomore and she tore down the hall like she was fleeing hot lava.
"You won't be doing that
again!" Toni Marks' voice trailed after her and she, Sara, Randy, and several
other In clique kids tore down the hall after her. To my horror, they caught
up with her down the hall at the stairwell and grabbed her jacket.
"Get her purse!" Randy crowed.
"I got the shampoo..."
"We oughta get her locker
too...where is it?"
"There..."
It was just a few minutes,
but it seemed like an hour that I watched this awful scene unfold as they
dumped the shampoo in her purse, then into the slats of her locker. I turned
and ran to get Kristy. Thank the stars she was coming out. I told her what
was happening. Unfortunately the teacher was gone by then, so we headed
back into the hall, where the poor girl was crying and trying to wipe the
mess out of her purse. The In clique was standing by, laughing. Some of
them bumped into her, knocking her soaked books to the ground.
"Hey, knock it off!" Kristy
and I yelled. They turned to stare at us.
"You losers again," Randy
spat.
"You're the losers," Kristy
told him. Randy stepped up to Kristy and for a terrified minute, I thought
they'd get into another fistfight. But then he snickered again.
"Just look at this...the
slob and doughgirl on display," he taunted. Just then, the sophomore scrambled
to pick up her things and ran out of there. We stood in a silent standoff.
"Let's go..." I whispered.
"I think we told them..."
"There they go with those
idiotic pantomiming again," Toni laughed cruelly. I turned and walked down
the hall, pulling Kristy with me. Their laughter bounced down the hall
after us.
"Look at them ruuun!" Burke
bellowed. "They pull a good samaritan for the underdogs of this school,
but they themselves wimp out when it comes to facing us!"
"Hey, it's all right," Kristy
unclenched her fists and wiped my face, which was streaked with tears.
"Oh, K-Kristy, how are we
going to deal with those snobs?" I sobbed.
"I'm not sure," Kristy muttered.
"But we won't let them run over us." She put an arm around me as we walked
home. But I got the sinking feeling that they were already running over
us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia:
They say February is the
shortest month of the year, but it seemed long to us. Maybe it's because
we would head to school each morning, thinking out way to avoid humiliation
by the In crowd. We tried to make sure we walked to school together and
at least two of us headed home together. We'd be damned if they'd drive
out of after-school activities, so if one of us had an activity, someone
else would volunteer to wait for her. Since Mary Anne and I had yearbook
and newspaper on Thursdays, we were fortunate there. March came and we
had our monthly sleepover. Once away from school, we could relax more.
Our BSC meetings become the rock in our rocky social standing at school.
At Aster and Dusker's, so many kids from so many different schools went
there on weekends, so we went over there on Friday before our sleepover
and got drinks and chicken legs.
"Wellll, well..."a voice
came up to our table as a shadow fell over our booth. A group from Burkeview
stood over us, Randy Kirwan, Jana Morgan, Melanie Edwards, Beth Barry,
and another guy we didn't know seem to have materialized out of nowhere.
I sure didn't like that tone of voice.
"Look who's here but the
kiddie-co-op," the guy taunted. Melanie, Beth, and Jana laughed. We all
exchanged one long stricken look. Not here too. How had these kids heard
about us? Oh, easy, same as we heard about them in ninth grade.
"What the shit do you want?"
Kristy growled.
"How 'bout your cap?" Randy
reached out and grabbed Kristy's baseball cap.
"Hey!" I grabbed the cap
back and tucked it under me.
"We heard who you are,"
Melanie jeered. She poked Jana, who gave us a menacing stare. Mary Anne's
eyes were full of tears and she tried to wipe them away with a trembling
hand.
"Need some tissues?" Jana
singsonged and tossed napkins into Mary Anne's soda. "Gonna cryyyy?" Mary
Anne just nodded.
"HEY!" Abby snapped. "Just
shut your socially elite mouth!"
"You shut your face before
you make a BIGGER idiot of yourself," Randy taunted. Abby paled and looked
down. They slowly backed into the next table, laughing and pointing at
us. We hoped they were done with us, but as they ate, they pointed at us
and laughed and made hurtful comments that carried over to us. Some other
kids who saw them looked over at us and laughed, too. Mary Anne cried softly.
Stacey and Abby looked miserable. Kristy and I were FUMING! So Burkeview
has their share of assholes too.
"Why don't you leave them
alone?" one quiet voice carried over. The Burkeview clique looked startled
a minute and so were we. We looked up and saw a girl there with dark hair
and a slight overbite standing between our two tables. She was clutching
a soda and staring coldly at the Burkeview gang. "What did they ever do
to you?"
"Hey, we were just having
fun..." the other guy.
"Who died and gave you all
the right to run over others?" the girl challenged, keeping her voice low
and cold. "So you're all popular and the I'm not and maybe they're not.
But you should know...being 'popular' isn't the same as being liked or
respected. Keep that in mind." The Burkeview kids fell silent and I sensed
they were embarrassed.
"I guess..." Jana looked
away, avoiding the girl's stare. "We'd better head to that movie, Randy."
"Yeah..." the other guy
muttered. They shot out of there so fast you'd have thought they were on
fast-forward video tape.
"Thanks," we all told the
girl, who introduced herself as Mona Vaughn.
"No problem," Mona smiled
at us. We invited her to sit with us for a few minutes and we talked. "I'm
getting sick of seeing that BIG crowd run Burkeview," Mona told us.
"Same here," I added, thinking
of SHS. "I mean...at our school, there's a crowd like that...they pick
on other kids and just think they're cool stuff."
"They probably just "hang
out" all the time, right?" Mona asked. "Not really involved in any activities,
except maybe sports or cheerleading and make fun of kids who have an interest
in anything and waste their time acting cynical and just sit around doing
nothing, am I right?"
"Yeah..." Kristy nodded.
It was true. Few of the members of the IN group got involved in any of
the school activities and mostly just...hung out.
"Going to the movies?" Mona
asked. We shook our heads.
"Sleepover," Kristy told
her. "We have one every month."
"Oh, that's nice...well,
my sister Amber has the flu...so I'm headed home to see if she's okay...have
a good time, you all," Mona called as she left our table.
"Hope your sister's better,"
Mary Anne called.
"Thanks again," I added.
We sat for a minute, then paid for our food, wrapped it up and headed over
to my house, where we were having our sleepover.
"We're not so alone now,"
Stacey commented on the way there.
"I guess it's because other
schools are dealing with the same thing," I put in.
"Other kids who are being
picked on probably feel alone," Mary Anne said softly. Fresh tears started
to well in her eyes, but slowly dried. "Maybe if we could reach out to
them..."
"Do you think Ms. Silverbein
could do something about them?" Abby asked.
"Hard to say," Kristy shrugged.
"Trouble is, most of the crap they pull is after school or away from teachers
or her, so we'd have to have proof and it'd be their word against ours."
I just hoped they wouldn't ruin Stoneybrook High for not only us, but for
future students.
Stay tuned for more!
