Disclaimer- they aren't mine.
"You could have gotten fired."
"I know mom."
"You should have gotten fired."
"I know mom."
"Think about the bad example you set in front of those kids."
"Jesus mom I know."
"I wouldn't be raising my voice at me if I were you."
"Well what was I supposed to do, Mom. You should have heard what he said to Sharpay, 'I see you're still a screamer' what a fucking dildo. You should have seen the look on her face, she was about to cry just at the sight of him. And Xavi ran over and pushed him the second he saw him, which only makes sense because Sharpay refuses to talk about him. Literally Mom, refuses. The girl who will talk about anything, who is afraid of nothing, has absolutely nothing to say about her ex boyfriend who everyone else mysteriously hates and literally cowers in his presence. And I am supposed to do nothing when he makes a comment like that towards my friend, Mom? I know I was wrong but I am in no way shape or form sorry for what I did. If anything I wish I got a few more hits in." I physically shake with anger and my Mom surprisingly doesn't comment on my language. She just silently pulls me into a hug and leaves the room.
"You know I don't condone violence."
"I know, Dad."
"And it was really stupid to act like that in front of children."
"Yea, I get it Dad."
"But, the way you stood up for your friend, Troy. If that's really what he said to her? I can't be mad at you. And I certainly can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing."
"Really? Finally someone sees where I'm coming from. Sharpay slapped me when we got back to the center and made me walk home. I did it for her."
The only reply I get is a small chuckle and a pat on the shoulder. "Girls are complicated son."
"Every time I try to show her that I care about her, something happens like this."
"Every time?"
"Yea, before when she brought up Kyle and all but said he used to hit her she shut down and got pissed at me."
"If something was happening, and trust me I will personally break this kids' legs if it was, she probably won't freely discuss it Troy. People tend to do everything in their power to forget bad things that happened to them. If they don't have to think about it everyday, than it doesn't have to hurt them all the time."
And with that I'm alone in my room, going over the afternoon's events in my head. After getting yelled at by Mike for a good, it was decided that I wouldn't be fired but I would have to present a presentation to my class about violence and the pointlessness of fighting. I also got cleaning duty and have to go through the camp's old milks and replace them with the new shipments. I couldn't be grateful enough; I'd never forgive myself if I lost this job.
A loud knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts.
"I told you I'm not hungry, Mom"
"How dare you." An angry blonde blur storms into my room and my eye is met with a fist.
"What the hell, Sharpay?" I scream grabbing my eye which will definitely be black and blue tomorrow.
"You could have gotten hurt. You could have gotten fired. In front of the fucking kids, Troy. You've only known them a week, but do you realize how much that week has meant to them. How much you mean to them?" You angrily push me around my room, very much becoming the ice queen you pretend to be in school.
"Forgive me for caring about you Sharpay."
"This isn't about me, Bolton, it's about those kids."
"Don't come at me like I don't care about those kids, Sharpay, I care about them just as much as you do."
"You tackled him, he didn't say a god damned word to you, and you tackled them IN FRONT OF THE KIDS." You push me again.
"He didn't have to say anything to me, not after what he said to you. And did you see the way he was looking at Xavi when he stepped in there, I wouldn't be surprised if he hit him."
"He would never hit a child, Bolton."
"Yea just like he's never hit you." Umpf a fist once again goes crashing in my eye. "Dammit stop hitting me." I scream as I tightly grab hold of your arms.
"Go ahead, Troy, what are you going to do now?"
"Nothing, I'm going to do absolutely nothing, cause every time I try to show you that I care about you, you get pissed. Fuck this."
"Getting yourself fired is not the way to show you care about someone Troy."
"I'm not fired; luckily I'll get to be spending the rest of my time with you this summer. Fan-fucking-tastic, but then again its not about you is it, it's about the kids."
"He didn't fire you?"
"What do you care?"
"You're right I don't sorry for asking."
"If you're done yelling at me and punching me in the eye I'd appreciate it if you got the hell out of my room."
"Be in your driveway at 745"
"I don't want your help."
"Yea neither did I, but that never stopped you." You yell walking down the stairs with me hot on your trail until suddenly you stop, turn around and crash into me. "And I swear to God if you fuck up in front of those kids again, I'll make you wish you were never born. The girls were crying, you should have seen Julian."
And with that you're gone. It's only then that I realize the severity of what I'd done.
"I made them cry." I whisper as I fall onto the stairs, forgetting about the throbbing pain that surrounds my right eye. My mom finds me on the stairs and I look up with tears in my eyes. "I made them cry, I made her cry, how do I fix this?" I whisper willing the tears from falling.
"Kids are easy, Troy. We'll make some cookies and brownies tonight, you'll talk to them apologize. They'll forgive you Troy, especially if they like you as much as they seem to. Girls on the other hand, Sharpay will definitely be a different story."
"Forget her." I snap, shaking my head. "It's not about her it's about the kids."
"You don't mean that."
"They like brownies without nuts; do I need to run to the store?"
"Troy, I think we should talk about her, I know, well I know that you like her."
"They also like chocolate chip cookies, their lunches can be pretty gross maybe I'll make them some breaded chicken and mac and cheese too."
"Seriously, Troy let's talk about Sharpay."
"Drinks, something other than milk would be great. I can bring some kool aid."
"Troy"
"Mother I appreciate your help, but we are not going to have this conversation. Now please, if you want your kitchen to be in one piece tomorrow assist me in making this 4 course meal."
"We need to run to the store, I'll grab my purse. Meet me in the Durango."
After a long night of cooking and various attempts to style my hair and cover my black eye, I found myself standing in my driveway with a huge box full of food waiting to be picked up. It's not long until your car speeds into my driveway, braking inches before taking out my legs.
"Good morning to you too." I sarcastically say as I step into your car.
Silence.
"So you're not talking to me?" I question, as you pull out of my driveway not yet acknowledging my presence.
"You're not going to talk to me, real mature Sharpay, real friggin mature. I was hoping that we were better than this."
Silence.
"Ya know for someone whose so pissed at a guy for tackling a guy whose treating a girl like shit, you sure aren't a stranger to violence yourself." I reason pointing at my black eye.
You don't say a thing, just pull into the parking lot, and leave me sitting alone in your car with my large box of food. This is going to be quite the day.
"Its Friendship week, Sharpay. How are we supposed to be preaching about friendship and friends when we aren't talking?" I question as I enter the classroom where you are already moving around cleaning up after the previous day.
"I thought you said that this was about the kids, Sharpay?"
Once again you don't say a word just grab the chicken and macaroni and cheese from my box and carry it over to the fridge. "You barge into my room, punch me not once but twice, scream at me, make me feel like the shit of the world, all because I stood up for you. Chad was right, you are a drama queen."
Today has easily been the longest day of my life. We don't speak hell we don't even look at each other. I spoke to the kids in the morning, apologizing for my behavior I gave a pretty good lecture about how violence will get you no where. Apparently Xavi already spread the word about the reasons behind my actions, so the kids came to camp ready to forgive me. We played like normal, watched a movie, and ate the plethora of food I brought in for the day. But the tension between us didn't go unnoticed by the children.
"I thought it was friendship week." Julian quietly asked while looking at Sharpay.
"Yea, me too little man."
"Alright, we came up with a game about friendship." Wayne and Eli smile as they come inside with the rest of the class behind them.
"It's about trust." Joselyn explains as she walks over to Sharpay and grabs her hand.
"There are going to be two teams." Dorian says, as half of the students walk towards me while the others move towards you.
"Here you two have to sit in these chairs." Alex explains as he and Wayne pull two chairs one in the classroom and the other outside.
We both move towards the chairs, relaxing in them.
"Okay Sharpay you have to wait outside, with these headphones on. We will come get you when we are ready." Blanca says as she goes to close the door. "Julian will keep you company so you aren't lonely."
You smile as he scrambles across the room, I see him jump on your lap as the door closes.
"Okay what's up guys?"
"Close your eyes." Xavi instructs.
"Sure." The second I do, I feel 8 kids move around me. "Now" I hear them whisper. Before I could react, tape is placed over my mouth and jump ropes tie me to my chair. As much as I struggle I am unable to overpower the 8 kids, and I am soon securely tied to a chair.
"It's for your own good, trust us. We'll be right back." Jessica smiles as they run outside. I hear you struggle with them, and it's not long til the door opens and I see 9 kids dragging a very pissed looking you into the room. They place your chair directly across from mine our knees touch and your eyes burn with rage.
"Its Friendship week, and you two are friends. You need to work this out." Dorian states as he stands between us.
"Troy did what he did because he cares about you, Sharpay." Xavi states as he puts his hand on your shoulder.
"And, Troy hitting people is not nice." Julian scolds me as he shakes his finger in my face.
"Now since you two could not work this out on your own, you forced us to take serious measures." Eli explains. "We are going to take off your tape and go outside and play. We will only untie you when you are friends again. Ok?"
With that the girls carefully remove the tape from our mouths and the kids run outside. "Don't worry we'll be good." Alex smiles as the door closes behind him.
"They are strong." I shake my head only to be greeted by two very angry brown eyes. "Well we're going to be here for awhile."