'Someone' Oh I can't wait till you see what I have in store for our characters haha. :p
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Tj and Spinelli were walking home from school, both were extremely angry about the outcome of their visit to the principal's office. Tj couldn't wipe the scowl off his face and Spinelli was kicking everything that crossed her path; cans, leafs, the occasional road kill. Tj even had to sacrifice his own leg when Spinelli attempted to kick the tire of a parked car...while the owner was still in the car. They were in enough trouble as is.
Tj was the first one to speak up since leaving the school. "Well we have a few hours before our parents get home and we face eternal grounding, what do you wanna do?"
"How bout we find whoever framed us."
"I would love to Spinelli, but I wouldn't even know where to start. I don't know this school as well as I knew third street. I have no plan this time."
"This whomps, I can't believe we just got suspended for five days!" Spinelli went to kick a mailbox but was pulled away by Tj. He led her to the other side of the street to prevent her from trying it again.
"Especially for something we didn't do. Yeah I know our permanent records aren't the cleanest but never have we ever been cheaters."
"I can't believe Mikey actually believes that we stole the test answers. He's one of our oldest friends he should know that we're better than that."
"It is unbelievable, we lost three friends in one day."
"Well we still have one friend left."
"Yeah Gretchen can vouch for us. She tutored us she knows we were ready for that test."
"Maybe she can talk to the principal and Mr. Flynn."
"Well we're going to have to wait till school lets out to get in contact with her. Till then wanna go skip rocks at the pond to blow off some steam?"
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"Ugh I hate the library." Spinelli sighed as she and Tj entered the building.
"Me too, but Gretchen spends a lot of time here with her clubs. Now if I was the smartest kid in school where would I be?."
"If I was the smartest kid in school I still wouldn't spend my precious free time in the library."
"SHHHHH!" Spinelli and Tj jumped when they heard someone shush them. "Please hush your voices, you're in a library." A quiet voice scolded them.
"Oh hey library kid" Tj whispered. "Have you seen Gretchen Grundler around?"
"Hello Tj, hello Spinelli. Yes, Gretchen is here, she can often be found on the third floor in the science section."
"Thanks library kid." Spinelli forgot to whisper and was quietly reprimanded.
The only time Tj and Spinelli grace the library with their presence is if they have a report due, so it took them quite a while to find the science section. Tj got distracted in the science fiction section, apparently they started carrying a selection of vintage comic books. Spinelli looked around for a while and finally found Gretchen on the floor next to a large stack of books with one in her face. Spinelli sat down next to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Gretchen looked up, she didn't look too pleased that she was taken away from her studies.
"Hey." Spinelli whispered.
"Hi." Gretchen whispered back with a slight attitude.
"Sorry to interrupt your learning and junk, but me and Tj are in serious trouble."
"Tj and I." Gretchen corrected. Spinelli rolled her eyes.
"Now's not the time for a grammar lesson Gretch, we really need your help."
"I tried to help you!" Gretchen started to raise her voice. "I tutored you, I gave you study guides, I did everything but give you the answers. Apparently that wasn't good enough."
"What? You don't actually believe we stole the answers do you?"
"How else can you explain the fact that Mr. Flynn found one of your paper footballs in his office on the morning before the test." Gretchen placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "You know you and Tj really shouldn't create contraband out of your signed notes to each other."
"We were framed!" Spinelli yelled and was shushed by everyone in the room. She whispered again. "Tj and I aren't cheaters, you know that."
"Well it doesn't sound too far fetched, especially noting your brothers' past."
That was it for Spinelli. She had never felt so betrayed by anyone in her life. She clenched her fists she needed to punch something right then and there. There was nothing around but books and Gretchen... She un-clenched her fist and pulled Gretchen up by her collar so she was face-to-face with Spinelli.
"You leave my brothers out of this!" She shouted in Gretchen's face, ignoring the rules of the library. "You don't know anything about them!"
Gretchen was shaking, she's seen Spinelli angry before but never at her. For once she found herself completely speechless. She remained in Spinelli's grip with a pair of piercing eyes giving her a death stare. Who knows how long she would of been stuck in that position if the Librarian didn't kick them out. They were banned from the library for five days.
"Funny isn't that the same duration of your suspension?" Gretchen spat out as she walked away.
Spinelli was about to go on the attack again when Tj grabbed her wrist.
"OW!" Spinelli pulled back and held her wounded wrist with her good hand.
"Oh Geeze! I'm sorry Spinelli." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Listen I know you're angry, I am too but we need to..." Tj stopped when he heard a sniffle from Spinelli. "Spin?"
She didn't reply, she was facing away from him with her head down. He walked over to her and tilted her head up revealing a tear struck girl. His mouth dropped in shock. He only saw Spinelli cry twice before; once back in second grade when her brother Joey went to prison, and the second time was in third grade when her other brother Vito went to prison.
"I'm sorry Spinelli!" He wrapped her in a hug. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I forgot your wrist was sprained! I'll run to the store and grab you some ice, stay right here!"
He let go of her and started towards the nearest convenience store.
"Tj you didn't hurt me!" She looked back down at her feet. Tj walked back over to her and stared at her for a minute before wrapping her in another hug. He held her as a few more tears escaped.
Without releasing her, he led her over to a bench so they could sit down. "Then why are you crying?"
"Gretchen thinks that just cuz my brothers have been to prison that I must be a hoodlum too." She continued to cry into his shoulder.
"She knows that's not true, I know that's not true, but most importantly... "He stopped and pointed at her. "YOU know that's not true."
"I just hate when the subject of my brothers come up. No one outside our family has a clue what happend, or what it's like."
He began to rub her back. "I'm sorry Spinelli. I wish I knew what to say, but like you said no one knows what it's like. Whenever you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."
Eventually her tears started to lighten up. She pulled her head away from Tj's shoulder and looked up at him. He flashed her a smile and wiped the remaining tears from her face. He kept his arms around her and they found themselves in a brief staring contest.
"Uh we don't have too much time before our parents get home." Spinelli spoke up.
"Oh yeah... I forgot we are in a lot of trouble." He finally released her and helped her to her feet. "Well let me buy you some ice cream before we meet our doom."
She smiled at Tj "Thanks Teej. And if you tell anyone that I cried and shared my feelings, I will end you."
