Chapter Nine: So, this changes everything.
We had crossed the parking lot and onto the next block to get us some pizza. And it was well, weird. I thought that I could have kept my secret for a lot longer, but I barely lasted forty-eight hours before half of PS 118 found out the truth. That and well, they weren't mad at me. I mean, I've been waiting for the last five years to come back and everyones reaction. I imagined all kind of crazy scenarios, not limited to a crazy mob chasing us out of town and movie producers approaching me for the movie rights. But none of that happened. What happened was us having fun at the pizza parlor. I followed them into a large booth towards the back as the server walked away after giving a hug to Ed. We all settled into the booth, Jason and Eugene sat at one corner, Thad next to Eugene, with Harold on his other side. Ed sat next to Jason, Stinky in front of Thad. Sid was next to Stinky. Arnold was on my right and Gerard in front of him. I was at the other end, my back facing the door. Just then the waitress came back with a tray full of drinks. She passed out two Sprites to Thad and Eugene, while the rest took some Cokes. "Ooh, I'm sorry hon. I didn't see you behind these Behemoths. They practically always order the same thing, like, all the time." I laughed, "No, problem. I'll look at the menu while these guys order." She quickly nodded and made her way down the booth. Thad being a vegetarian and Eugene being lactose-intolerant they had split a large veggie, cheese free pizza. The rest of the guys had ordered three large meat-lovers pizza with extra meat. I choose a small chicken and basil pizza on whole wheat with raspberry iced tea. And trust me, the guys had all stopped their conversation to stare at me. "What?" I asked wiping my face and giving back the menu to the waitress. "Relax, boo. They just don't understand how you could possibly order a pizza with no meat or anything else on the menu." I just rolled my eyes, sharing a smile with the waitress. "Names Gabbee." I said sticking my hand out. She seemed slightly surprised by that, but took my hand in her dainty one. "Sue, With a Z and without the E." I smiled, "Guess I took it, I'm Gabbee with two Es and two Bs." She laughed. "Cool, you new around here?" She asked. "Sort of." I started, but Sid spoke up. "She just moved back after five years. Super happy to have this girl back." "Heck yeah!" Harold called out. "The only girl who can keep up with the Wolfs." Thad said just loud enough. I smirked, "More like I let you keep up." Stinky laughed pointing at Thad, "Man, she got you."
Thad rolled his eyes and pouted and Harold made a move to comfort him only to get a napkin thrown at him. Everyone laughed and conversation broke out again. Zu spoke up, "Looked like you wore missed." I gave her a bright smile as she walked away to put in our orders. The rest of our time at the table was split by random topics, some basketball, sports, cars, motorbikes, summer jobs and how they spending the last two weeks of summer. I was too engrossed in my pizza to add to the conversation. So, I ended up being the tie-breaker in practically everything. From who should have won last saturday baseball game to who was the best superhero. The last one nobody won. We were waiting on our chocolate pizza dessert and talking about Shawn of the Dead when a squad of girls appeared. In front of me. "Um, can I help you?" I asked as they glared at me. What is wrong with them? Although, they look kinda familiar. Wait, is that Phoebe? "Pheebs?" I asked. "She doesn't want to talk to you." The one with the black hair asked. "She doesn't want to talk to backstabbers like you." The one with the orange hair added. I stood up, this is not good. "Look, I don't know what problem you wannabe cheerleaders have with me, but you can shove it where the sun don't shine, because I don't have time for this bullshit. And last time I spoke to Phoebe she still had her tongue." I shoved my way between the two girls and towards Phoebe. What the hell is going on? "Now, Phoebe what the heck did I do." "She doesn't want to talk to you!" A tan blonde said trying to push me away. I quickly side-stepped away and she lost her balance. "I got that. Now, what gives you the right to come and talk to me like I just murdered your puppy?" I said glaring at the four girls. "Because you practically did, Hel-ga." The brunette said. And I was momentarily frozen. Rhonda? And then everything clicked into place. Nadine. Sheena. Lila. "You can't just come back, acting like nothing happened while you were de-ad. You can't act like we are still friends." Lila said.
I glared at her. "You know damn well that you and I were never friends." Lila just glared at me, and then smirked. "Be as it may, you were dead and buried and we became Phoebe's friends and she doesn't want anything to do with you. Especially after you tried to take Gerard away from her." Nadine said. "What?" I said. "I would never do something like that." And just like that, I had fallen into their trap. "We saw you Hel-ga," Rhonda said and Nadine quickly added, "We saw him holding your hand." "Its not like I kissed the man!" I defended myself. "See, Phoebe! You can't trust her! If she faked her own death, what morals does she have?! She had five years to let someone in Hillwood know that she was alive and kicking, but she decided to stay away and laugh at everyone here in Hillwood! Did you enjoy seeing all of Hillwood morning your passing! How long did you laugh at everyone here?!" Lila screamed at me. As the words settled into the room, I noticed how quiet it had become. And how everyone was staring at us. Nobody making a move. And I practically saw the hateful stare in everyone's face. And I felt utterly stupid. Idiotic. I had been to optimistic, thinking—believing—I could come back to Hillwood like nothing had happened. I was not that lucky. And now I was practically hated and this would get around town faster that I could get home.
And it sucked. Forty-eight hours was all it took to come back from the dead, cared about to becoming a pariah. Must be a world record. I turned back to the table, and saw that the boys wore looking down towards the table or their gazed fixed somewhere else. None of them made a move to defend me. Not even Arnold. I grabbed a hundred dollar bill from my phone case and slammed it onto the table making a lot of them jump. Still they remain silent. I quickly blinked away the tears before turning to the crowd. I shoved my way through the girls and stopped in front of Phoebe. "Big Bob would have been proud of you." She took a sharp breath, but I continued. "After all, you knew everything he did to me and how much he hated me, for no apparent reason. But I guess, this, this I deserved." Turning to Lila, "Nice job, turning the whole town against me. Should take no more than half an hour to rally the whole neighborhood. Or better yet, did someone start a petition?!" No one said anything. "Thanks, again. For welcoming me with open arms." I said sarcastically, as I stepped outside and made my way down the block. In all the scenarios that I had made in my head, none of them involved my former classmates trying to chase me out of town. "Great way to end the day." I said to myself as I turned down an alley and away from the more frequented streets.