The next day, Sam was almost happy to go to school. After helping Tala at lunch and after he actually stood up for her, she was excited to see him again. Most of it was that she was very desperate to actually have a friend at that school. She couldn't stand being alone anymore.
And with someone to back her up, maybe she would be able to stand up for herself to Hilary and Michael.
Despite the last few weeks at school, she was excited for Physical Science. She hoped Tala would talk to her again and she hoped she could at least be friends with him.
Just as she was about to sit down in her usual seat, a gentle hand closed around her upper arm to pull her towards the center of the room.
She craned her head to see who the gentle hand belonged to and managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar redhead with that goofy grin on his face.
"After you helped me so much yesterday, you think you're ever going to sit over there by the door again? No way, you're officially my Physical Science tutor, starting today! Well, technically yesterday, but whatever," he told her, giddiness welling up within her as she let herself be pushed into a seat.
She just kept silent, not knowing what to say since he didn't seem to be expecting a reply orany kind of approval.
Today, Mr. Balkov collected all the worksheets and gave everyone a bigger packet full of more ionic and covalent bond practice. He told everyone they could have partners to work on it and Tala scooted his desk over closer to Sam with a huge, enthusiastic grin on his face. Again, she felt an indescribable joy wash over her because of the fact she can make someone smile like that. Of course, her face colored red again.
Sam helped Tala with his worksheet packet whenever he needed it but he actually held his own pretty well this time around. It turned out Mariah was doing pretty well also, so after they finished the worksheet, they chatted quietly while Tala kept going at his own pace. Their relaxed chatter quickly shifted from Physical Science to stuff that really matters. Like their personal life and shared interests!
It seemed like the class had gone by way too fast for Sam's liking by the time lunch came around. Not sure whether they'd want her to wait around, she started walking off with her own bag.
She got halfway down the hall when she heard her name being called out. Turning around, she saw Mariah running up to her,her long pink hair trailing behind her.
"Hey Sam, why don't you come sit with us today?" she asked with a disarming smile.
Sam's face lit up and an eager smile broke out before she could stop it. "Sure!" she agreed. "Let me get my books for my next class, is that okay?"
"Sure! I'll watch out for you and call you over, okay?"
"Okay," Marching off again toward her locker, Sam smiled to herself. She exchanged her morning class books with her afternoon ones, all the while excited and anxious at finally getting some friends.
As she stood up and shut her locker door, she didn't notice anyone else coming up behind her. All of a sudden, she was backed up against her locker, slightly disoriented from the unexpected movement. A shocked expression on her face, she stood facing a blue-haired girl that she recognized as one of Hilary's friends. If her memory served correct, this girl's name was Ming Ming. Hilary and those other two girls stood behind her, backing her up.
Before Sam could react, Ming Ming started talking.
"Listen up here, new girl! I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come here and start flirting with everyone, especially Tala!"
Sam started at her, feeling very embarrassed and very stupid. She was actually flirting with him yesterday? She hadn't known that! Call her naïve, but she really doesn't know the difference between flirting and joking around. Is there a difference?
"Tala is mine, no one else's! I especially won't let a fat, ugly, disgusting girl like you ever have him. Stay away from him!" she screamed, finishing her rant.
For an instant, the fear Sam felt was overshadowed by the sudden desire to scream and put them down for a change, but once she remembered she was all alone against four girls at their nastiest since her coming to the school, she felt like disappearing into the floor until they left her alone.
"What?" Ming Ming demanded, realizing that Sam was about to actually argue with her. "You do know that what we've done so far to you isn't even the beginning, right? We can make your life a hell of a lot worse and make you regret even thinking about taking that stupid test which allowed you to come here. If it were up to me, I would've kicked your ass out the door the moment I laid eyes on you, if they hadn't burned out first! You're a stupid, incompetent bitch who has no right to be here! I wouldn't recommend even showing up to school tomorrow, just go back to your public school."
And with a sneer, all the girls walked off to the cafeteria, leaving Sam standing there. The lump in her throat was so big that it felt impossible to breathe around it and her eyes stung so much it felt like they were on fire. The good day she was having just threw itself off a cliff. It was then she decided there was no way she could handle walking into the cafeteria and sitting next to Tala, Mariah and their friends.
Making sure she grabbed her bag, Sam made her way to the nearest flight of stairs.
While taking in the school when it was filled with people during her first few days, she noticed that with the student lounge on the third floor and the cafeteria and the vending machines on the first floor where the kids mostly spend their time, the bathrooms on the second floor weren't used that often. There wasn't any reason to go to the second floor to use the bathroom during the few times of the day when they could use the bathroom at all. She found the women's bathroom and walked in, only realizing right then as she saw her hand shaking that she was trembling all over.
She felt so humiliated.
Walking past the ten or so stalls, she finally let her tears fall. She slid down the far wall to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. She let her forehead rest on her knees and she started sobbing. Those awful comments just hurt her so much and there wasn't anything else to do but cry.
She just sat there, by herself, until she heard the only door open. A jolt of fear shot through her, thinking that it may be one of the upper classmen or, even worse, Ming Ming or one of her friends.
To Sam's relief, it was only Mariah, with a concerned expression on her face. Sam looked to the side, rubbing her eyes and cheeks with shaking hands to try to wipe off her tears, but Ming Ming's comments kept running through her tried not to make any noise, but miserable, choked sobs still rocked her frame.
Mariah sat down next to her and Sam didn't struggle as she guided her into her arms while Sam cried into her shoulder. Finally, Sam managed to stop crying long enough for Mariah to ask what was wrong, tone laced with worry.
"M-Ming Ming and Hilary and those other two girls came u-up to m-me and st-started y-yelling at me. M-Ming Ming w-was saying how Tala was h-hers and to st-stay aw-away from him. Th-then she called me a b-b-bitch, and st-started saying ho-how I was ugly, and incompetent, and-and how, how I shouldn't be here at this school at a-a-a-all!" Sam explained through her hiccups and heavy breaths.
The memories came back andonce again, she had tears rolling down her hugged her tighter and tried to calm her down, all the while feeling so much anger toward those girls.
Sam obviously hasn't had to deal with jealous girls before and she had no idea how to come back and get them to leave her alone. Mariah, however, had lived with them all her life and figured out exactly what to say to get them to storm off in their $150 shoes.
Now that she thought about it, Sam probably didn't deal with a lot of stuff at her old school. Mariah watched them both yesterday and noticed that Sam was flirting with Tala, without realizing it. She knew that Tala noticed too, but he had obviously let it slide.
It didn't take as long for Sam to quiet down again, but Mariah could tell that she wasn't even close to finished, judging by the way she was still trembling. She still hiccupped and sniffled but kept her head buried in Mariah's shoulder. Mariah's hand gently moved up and down her back, comforting her.
"It's okay. I know exactly how those girls are. I've had to deal with a lot of crap from them in the past. They've been out to get me for a long time. I've also figured out what I need to say to get them to stop," Mariah tried to cheer her up with a warm smile. "It also helps when you're friends with some of the most powerful kids in school."
"I-I know," Pulling away from Mariah, Sam wiped away her tears with her jacket sleeve as she continued. "I know that if I just stand up, they'll get tired of trying to beat me down and go away. B-but, I'm scared. They obviously know what they're talking about. They, they also threatened that they'd get a lot worse if I kept talking to Tala. And I'm outnumbered. They wouldn't be afraid of me, especially when they know they're more powerful than me and that I'm all alone."
"True," Mariah agreed. "But I won't let you be alone anymore. You're definitely a sweet girl and they don't have the right to treat you like that. I'll help! And I know Tala will help also, he practically worships the ground you walk on for helping him all the time. I'd help him, but I barely understand it all myself. And then the rest of our friends are really nice. They won't object to you if Tala and I like you."
Sam smiled gratefully and nodded. She was so happy someone was willing to talk to her. She hated being so weak that she couldn't even stand up to a few girls, but she could deal with it if she had someone to back her up.
"All right, let's get you cleaned up and we'll see if we can get you introduced to everyone. You'll like Ray," Mariah stated, standing up and pulling Sam up too. The name Ray briefly rang a bell, but it was forgotten when she looked at herself in the mirror.
She really was a mess.
With red eyes and puffy cheeks, someone could definitely tell she had been crying. A pang of hurt washed through her again as she remembered why. She washed her face with some water while Mariah was taking a paper towel and trying to dry off her wet shoulder.
"Sorry," Sam mumbled, drying her face off.
"Don't worry about it! They gave me, like, ten of these things, and I can always wash it," Mariah said, smiling. Nodding her head, Sam answered with a small grateful smile. Throwing away the paper towel, Mariah led Sam out of the bathroom by the wrist.
"Come on! We should still have some time left to talk to all of them!" Mariah led her to the cafeteria which was still a little under half-full. Glancing at the clock, she saw that there was about fifteen minutes left until class. Mariah shot a grin toward a table where Tala sat at and Tala answered with a concerned look at Sam.
Was it still evident that she was crying?
Mariah mouthed 'Hilary and Ming Ming' to Tala and he narrowed his eyes in response. Some of the other guys turned around and saw both Mariah and Sam coming toward them. Sam felt her face warm up, but Tala gave her a goofy grin as she came closer.
"Hey!" he said, in that carefree way of his.
Sam smiled shyly and mumbled a soft hi.
Mariah sat her down in a seat between her and Tala and introduced everyone. They all smiled warmly and/or waved, sensing the tension in the air and wanting to make the new girl feel better.
The last two boys Sam recognized. Who in the world could forget the Asian hottie who served her the one time she came in with her family and the hottest guy she'd ever seen?
A bit of awkward silence followed before Tala broke it.
"And this, guys," Tala began, wrapping an arm around Sam's neck, causing her face and neck to warm up further. "This is going to be my ticket to getting my car by semester."
"I'm surprised that you can actually even learn anything without the help from someone short of Einstein," Max joked.
"Max! Shut it! I wasn't talking to you!" Tala retaliated.
"Actually, technically you were," Emily, the only girl other than Sam and Mariah stated. "you addressed us all when you said 'guys'."
"You're so freaking hilarious Emily. What is it, Pick-on-Tala Day?"
"Didn't you know? It's always that day around here, Tala!" Mariah said, and everyone laughed. Still feeling a bit down and a little awkward, Sam only cracked a reluctant smile.
"Hey. You're the waitress from Roy's restaurant, right?" Sam heard and she turned toward the voice. As she nodded, Kai turned to Ray, "Hn. You owe her, Ray."
"Oh, are you really? Sorry I never got a chance to meet you, but I got really sick of the inside of that place. I love my brother and all, but it's torture when a guy has to work instead of hanging out with friends during the summer," Ray said apologetically.
"It's okay, I don't mind. It's on my way home and I get some spending money I didn't have before. He's still not getting a lot of customers though," Sam replied shyly, a little more of her usual self showing through. Her face was still a bright red though, since Tala hadn't moved his arm from around her shoulders.
The bell for fifth period rang and everyone rose to their feet grudgingly. Tala finally let go of Sam's shoulders and reached toward the ceiling.
"P.E. Yippee," Tala said unenthusiastically.
"Don't bash P.E. It's practically the only class without homework!" Ray argued.
"You have P.E. next too, right Sam?" Mariah asked and Sam nodded.
"Well, let's go then!" she added, looping her arm through Sam's. Following Mariah and everyone else to the gym, she giggled when Grandpa almost hit Tyson in the head again with that wooden sword he always carried around.
"Grandpa! Do you have to do that every time I walk into the gym?" Tyson exclaimed, an annoyed expression crossing his face.
"Until you can stop it on your own! Don't you remember anything I taught you, homeboy?"
"Not really…" Tyson muttered. Mariah just rolled her eyes and kept dragging Sam back to the girl's locker room followed by Emily while the boys went to their own.
Sorry, sorry, sorry sooooooo much for the wait! It was mostly a bit of laziness.
Anyway, thank you everyone who has favorited my story, favorited me, put this story on story alert, put me on author alert, and reviewed the story with your feedback and suggestions! I am still very much stuck for the next few chapters, so if anyone else has some 'bonding' ideas or even just ideas for the story in general, please don't hesitate to send them to me. You will get credit, some cyber-cookies, and other goodies.
If you're still unsure on some ideas to send me, I was planning on something for Halloween, maybe some school tradition that they do every year, and maybe some kind of Thanksgiving part thrown in there.
I WUV YOU SOOOOO MUCH UNOLAI! If you've noticed a significant change between the sentence flow and just overall better structure, thank Unolai for her awesome grammar skills. XD
Thank you all again, very very much! And hopefully the next chapter won't be so long. I will try my best, I promise!
Please review more my awesome fans and I will Cya at the next chapter! ^^