There was an egg-shaped bump forming on her head, her legs were splayed to the floor in an unflattering position, and her white and yellow cheerleading skirt was flipped up, but fortunately our cheer uniforms had good coverage so no one could see her undergarments.
Everyone, even Jack Carver, rushed to see what was going on. Although Jack seemed to be more interested in trying to look up her skirt. I "accidentally" elbowed Jack in the gut.
"Sorry!" I called out in my most condescending voice.
Jack clutched his stomach, doubled over in pain. His eyes met my venom-filled ones, black whirlpools that were full of sheer, unadulterated hatred and fury. My eyes were normally brown, but when I was enraged, they seemed to turn black.
Quickly, he turned away, rushing to leave the fast food joint. I snickered to myself at a job well done.
After Jack left, my classmates parted for us. I reached my friend, smoothing her skirt down while Mia and Payton tried to comfort her.
"What happened?" I questioned.
The cheerleader girl groaned, slowly raising her head as she attempted to rise from the floor.
She pointed a finger at a speck in the crowd. "She pushed me!" the cheerleader girl roared.
With my eyes, I followed the direction her manicured finger was pointing in.
A tan-skinned girl stood at the periphery of the crowd, her arms crossed, a malicious smirk on her face as she tapped a large ratty-sneaker-clad foot.
Autumn. "Ratty Sneakers". Brooks.
Of course she would be responsible for this. The cheerleader girl had always had the hots for Julian, and Autumn wanted him for herself. Even though Julian had already dumped her sorry ass.
As everyone followed the direction of my gaze, Autumn quickly morphed from a malevolent look of triumph to a sorrowful one emanating pity.
"Oh, is she okay?" Autumn asked.
At that very second, Wes entered the room from the "employees only" section of the store. Seeing Autumn's faux concern, his face softened. I knew what he was thinking. "Oh, Autumn is such a compassionate girl!"
I dug my Dior Palais Royal fingernails into the side of my wrist. Little crescent-moon shaped marks appeared on my arm next to my pink gold Ballon Blanc de Cartier watch. I knew it was an awful habit, but that girl made me so mad, I just couldn't help myself. Pretending to be the "nice girl" for almost 24/7 had taken its toll on me.
I was interrupted from my thoughts as the cheerleader girl screamed, "You pushed me, you bitch!"
Nearly everyone in the room gasped. I bit my lip to hide the smirk that was starting to form on my face. It was about time someone told Autumn what was up!
Wes hurried over to the irate cheerleader. "Now, let's not get too carried away," he warned.
WTF? Why doesn't Wes defend me like that? It honestly seemed like he only did so for Autumn. I dug my long, manicured fingernails into my arm again.
"I was about to enter the store when Autumn pushed me, really hard. You see this?" She gestured to the goose egg that was forming on her forehead. It had turned into the purplish color of an eggplant.
Wes's eyes widened as he turned towards Autumn.
"It was an accident!" Autumn screeched. Her eyes watered, and she began to fake cry. Again.
"We know the truth," another cheerleader girl hissed. "Autumn pushed her on purpose." The jocks nodded.
Ezra left to the back of the store. "I'm going to call a doctor," he announced.
Autumn ran over to Wes. "You can't believe them!" she cried, sobbing into his shirt.
Mia and I exchanged glances. Who did she think she was? Pushing one of our friends, and then playing the victim and crying into my boyfriend's shoulder?
"Autumn." I fixed her with a cool gaze. "It's time for you to leave now." The girls nodded and the guys yelled "yeah!"
"WHAT?!" Autumn screeched, pulling away from Wes to glare at everyone. "It was an accident!" She glared at the cheerleader girl. "It's always the cheerleaders, picking on emotional artists like me." Artist? Bitch, please. You wish you were an artist. She pouted, glancing at Wes out of the corner of her eye.
Julian pushed through the crowd. "What's going on?" he inquired.
Autumn ran to him, clutching his red football jersey, pressing herself against him as tears slid down her cheeks. "Julian, can I sit with you?" she pleaded.
Julian looked confused. "Sure, I guess," he acquiesced.
Autumn and Julian headed over to Julian's table, sliding into the red vinyl circular booth. At the counter, Koh had finished placing her orders of wings and was returning to their booth.
"C'mon, guys," I ordered. "Let's sit back and watch the show." Suddenly, Wings Atomica didn't seem like such a boring place to spend my Friday night…
