School the next day sucked. A lot of the silent treatment was given.
The only person who would sit with Libby at lunch was Delia. Tabitha didn't like to associate with her sister at school, so she and Vern ate by themselves because Andie wouldn't let Tabitha come near her. Andie, Abby, Gordie, Teddy and Chris sat together, which pissed Libby off.
Libby stuck a carrot stick in her pile of mashed potatoes. She said in a low, monotonous voice, "And the potatoes fell on the orange man, thus ending his stupid life."
Delia looked up from her book. She eyed Libby's plate and asked, "What's with the carrot?"
Libby shrugged. "Boner."
Shaking her head, Delia went back to reading her book.
"Your brother is a moron."
"I'm not ver impressed with him either."
"Why the hell would he go back to her?" she demanded, frustrated and furious. "She doesn't even have the decency to stop flirting with Teddy in front of him! Good God, does he think he deserves that kind of fucking treatment?"
"Chris said they're not back together. He just doesn't want to lose her completely."
Libby snorted. "I wouldn't mind losing her. In a jungle."
"Are you going to finish that?"
Vern looked up at Tabitha and then down at his pudding, which she was gesturing to. "Yeah." He did a double take at her disappointed face. "Oh, you wanted it? Oh! What I meant was EW! I don't want it! I hate pudding! Here!"
Grinning idiotically at him, she accepted it and peeled back the cover. "Thanks, Vern." She couldn't seem to stop smiling. "What are you doing after school?"
"Something with you?"
Tabitha giggled. "Oh. Good call."
"Poor thing keeps looking over here," Andie said with a smile. "It's rather sad and pathetic."
"Who?" Chris asked, glancing around.
"Libby."
"Ah. I see."
"Maybe she's finally regretting coming here," she laughed.
"I'd say she moreso regrets meeting you…" Chris murmured.
Not hearing him, Andie said, "Probably wishes she could go back to wherever the fuck she came from."
"I highly doubt it," Chris told her calmly. "She told me about her father back home. Not the kinda guy you'd want to go back to."
"Ohh," Andie said. "Molestation?"
"I'm not telling you, Andie. It's none of your business. I'm just saying, her family is here to start over and get away from their dad."
"Well, if she was molested, it sure would explain a lot."
"Like what?" he demanded.
"Why she's so promiscuous."
"She's promiscuous?" Chris muttered.
"Why don't you just leave her alone?" Teddy snapped.
Chris thought Teddy was talking to him, coming to Andie's defense, but when he looked up in anger, he saw Teddy glaring at Andie.
"Don't condescend to her," Teddy said to her. "She can't help the way her father is. No one can help the way their fathers are."
"How sweet, both of Libby's white nights coming to the rescue."
Gordie stood up. "I'd like to know how you always get what you want, Andie." He shook his head in contempt, picked up his tray and left.
Abby watched, distraught and torn as Gordie walked away. How was she supposed to chose between her best friend and her boyfriend? Maybe she could go sit with Tabitha and Vern to show she wouldn't pick sides. But no--Andie hated Tabitha for not defending her yesterday. She even considered Delia, but then she realized that her last resort was sitting with Libby so that wouldn't work either.
Chris noticed her discomfort. He rose to his feet. "Come on, Abb, we'll go see what's got Gordo's panties in a knot, okay?"
When they were gone, Teddy looked down at the table, and put his hand on Andie's trembling knee. Despite it all, Andie was a sweet girl, a hopeless romantic at heart, whose emotions controlled her. He knew what she was feeling right then: self-inflicted betrayal. The people that mattered most in her life--the people that loved her the most--had just left her. It was her fault and she knew it, which was why she was shaking right now. She was alone. She wasn't used to being alone. Teddy realized then that he loved her.
"I want to stick by you, Andie," he said gently. "But I can't stop using people, and neither can you. Two wrongs don't make a right, so that's why I'm gonna have to go."