Rumor Has It...
"Isn't she so weird? She's just sitting there all by herself!"
"Why is she wearing that hoodie this early in the year? She has to be burning up."
"Maybe she cuts herself!"
"Poor little emo kid! No one wants to be her friend!"
My sandwich sticks to the roof of my mouth as I listen to the girls behind me ruthlessly laugh at Rei's expense. It makes my blood boil, but what on earth could I say to them to make them stop? It's not even my place. As they pointed out, Rei is sitting by herself, sipping quietly on chocolate milk and staring down at the table. She regularly glances around her to make sure no one's coming. Like someone's going to jump her or something.
"She deserves it." Jamie Hammond's voice rises above the others'. "She's a back stabber and a slut. It's her fault she's alone over there, always writing in that same old notebook."
"What did she do, Jamie?"
"She stole my date for the Sadie Hawkins dance last year." Her voice drips with disdain, and I turn around to see her waving her hand in Rei's direction dismissively. The other girls squeal in disgust, muttering obscenities. "She sleeps around a lot, too. She's got all kinds of STDs."
"Who told you that?"
"An eleventh grader. She told me that Rei tried to steal her boyfriend."
The expression on Rei's face darkens. She can definitely hear them laughing and bad mouthing her. She bites her lip, and it looks like she's ready to cry.
"Tatsubon!"
"Bwuh!" I sputter in surprise when Shige bangs on the table. "What?"
"You're spacin' out, dude!"
"So?" I take another reluctant bite out of my lunch. "What do you want?"
"Last night's algebra homework, that's what I want."
"No."
"Why not?"
"You didn't say please." I try focusing my attention back on Rei.
"Tatsubon!"
"What?! And don't call me that!"
"Yeesh, I didn't know you were on your man period." I glare at him, and he shrinks back a bit. "What's with you and Rei, anyway?"
"Nothing," I mumble.
"Are you suuure? You sure are staring at her a lot."
"Positive."
"HIV positive?"
"...Are you going to annoy the hell out of me until I give you my homework?"
"Ayup." Irritated, I slide my algebra notebook over to him, and he flips it open to last night's assignment and copies it down. "Seriously, though. You think something's up with her?"
"I don't know." Sighing, I take a swig of soda and pause for a moment.
"She's awfully quiet," Shige comments. "I've never heard her speak without being called on before."
"Maybe she just likes keeping to herself."
The girls erupt in another fit of cruel laughter, and I can see that Rei's hands are clenched into fists so tight her knuckles are white. If she keeps this up she'll cut her palms open with her nails.
"Watch this!" Jamie's chair scrapes against the tile as she stands up with a water bottle in her hand. "This ought to cool off that hot head of hers." She walks up behind Rei, who turns around just in time for the mouth of the bottle to tip towards her face and drench her in purified water. She scrambles to pick up her books and run away, and Jamie says good bye by tossing the now empty bottle at her head. It hits. Several tables watch, including mine, as Jamie returns to her flock of sheeple, who are in awe. They shower her with admiration, and my ham sandwich fights to come back up. Within two minutes tops everyone else returns to their previous conversations, and I find myself fighting the urge to follow her.
"Wow. Women can be scary, no?" Shige's jaw is dropped. I bite my lip. "What do you think she did that pissed them off?"
At that very moment, Sho enters the cafeteria and shuffles his short self over to our table. His books shake the table when he puts them down.
"Sorry I'm late. My chemistry teacher kept me after class."
"How're you doing in that class?" I ask, not really interested.
"If things keep going the way they are, he'll have to give me a T."
"A T?"
"For 'Travesty.'" Sho slumps into a chair next to Shige. "So what did I miss?"
"A lesson on female social patterns." Shige pretends to sound studious and smart. "We witnessed what happens when a lesser female encroaches on a greater female's territory."
"What happened?"
"She got chased out after some bitch dumped her water bottle over her head."
"Who?"
I jab my head in Jamie's direction. She's looking very smug.
"You have the worst timing, Pup. You could have seen it if you'd scamper down from Bauer's room faster. Slowpoke."
"At least it was just water..." I say it mostly to myself, but the others hear it.
"Yeah, man. Imagine if it was that chocolate milk. That'd suck." Shige passes my notebook back. "If that was me, and she poured anything on my head, I'd beat her ass." He pounds his fist into his palm. "I take too much pride in my hair to let someone do that." Sho chuckles as Shige shakes his head to show off his bleached hair."Nuh-uh, girlfriend! Ain't nothin' touchin' this hair!" We all bust out laughing.
In English, Rei didn't show up.
After school, as Shige and I headed down to the soccer pitch, we saw Rei by the bike racks. Her hair had dried off, but it was no longer straight. It had turned into a coke addict within a few hours. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and even though it was warm outside she was trembling.
"Are you okay?" I call out to her. She looks straight at me with wide, pained eyes, and nods. Without really thinking, I run over to her. "I noticed you weren't in English today." Rei shrugs. "Shige and I saw what happened at lunch today."
Yeah, you and everyone else.
"So..?" her voice cracked.
"So...I thought I'd see if you were alright." My face flushes.
Isn't it obvious?
"I'm fine," she mutters, running away.
"But wait!" I shout after her, but she's gone.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter, but I figure it's getting somewhere. I kind of think I haven't captured the spirit of our boys yet, but I'm getting there. It's not like your run of the mill Whistle! fic, now is it? Any opinions would be appreciated. Updates will be slow going until I can get my computer fixed. Until then, I'll be uploading during my studyhall. -sadfaces-