Chapter Twenty Four

It was still early enough in the evening that the back door to Covington House was still unlocked. I slipped in unnoticed and climbed the stairs to my room. Before anyone could see me, I grabbed my bathing supplies and toothbrush from my closet and knew I needed to take a shower. I turned to leave and noticed the vase full of roses on Lacey's desk. Jealousy burned inside of me. I walked over and picked up the card that had the top half torn away and read the inscription, 'Love you dearly, Owen'. The words fueled my resentment into a simmering rage. I tossed the card back onto the desk and stormed over to Lacey's mirror. Carefully, I examined my neck for any signs that I had been off in the woods necking with the maintenance man. When I was convinced I was evidence-free, I headed to the bathroom.

With my short hair I could shower at night and be ready to go in the morning without much primping. I enjoyed the seclusion of the bathroom in the evening, and I was anxious to eliminate any scent of where I had been and what I had done.

When I was clean I slipped on my pajamas and walked out of the bathroom. In the hallway, I noticed my roommate and her friends out of the corner of my eye. I looked away and heard Tucker's voice call out from down the hall. "Lacey, those flowers Owen Jasper brought you are gorgeous."

"Aren't they?" Lacey spoke louder than she had too. "They are from my new boyfriend."

Many of the Covington House girls came to their doorways and stood out in the hall to see and hear what all the fuss was about.

"Owen Jasper? You mean the boy that Charity Case said she was dating?" Tucker yelled out to antagonize me.

It worked, but not in the way that I ran to my room in tears. It pushed me to respond in a way that would have made Dallas proud to call me his friend. I set my laundry and bathing supplies down against the wall and strolled down the hallway towards the girls with a tuff stance and a look on my face to match. A few of the girls gasped and readied themselves to watch the approaching heated exchange. Seeing my displeasure, Lacey fell quiet and stepped away. I smirked at her, amused by her fear. I walked up to Tucker, whose eyes were wide in astonishment, but she seemed to feel the need to have to stand strong in front of her peers.

"Have you got something you'd like to say to my face, or would you prefer to just keep talking behind my back?" I looked up at Tucker, because she was about two inches taller than me.

Tucker's face grew as tough as it could and she tried again to verbally hurt me. "I was just trying to figure out why Owen Jasper would come all the way here from Tulsa to be with Lacey if he was really your boyfriend."

I glared at the girl with an unexpected confidence. "Was, he was my boyfriend."

"Yeah, I could tell." Tucker got cocky. "I didn't figure he was interested in you the way I saw Lacey and him snuggling on the park bench and holding hands and such. I'm not surprised though, Owen Jasper's got class and I recently heard you're not only a charity case, but an orphan too!" Tucker grinned as a slow murmur from the other girls rapidly filled the hall. "I guess your parents wanted you around just as much as Owen did!"

My temper flared and without concern for my future I grabbed Taylor by her fancy white shirt and slammed her body up against the wall. "If you've got a problem with me, why don't we settle this outside? Because I'm ready, just say the word and we'll go?"

Tucker's face grew white with concern as she glanced at Lacey, no doubt looking at the remnants of the black eye I had given to her friend a week before.

Hearing no challenge from my enemy I issued a warning. "This is how it's gonna be, Tuck! I don't want to hear another word about Owen, or orphans or charity cases for the rest of the time I am here. Not from you, not from Lacey or anyone else in your slimy little circle of friends. I'm a lot tougher than I look and I'm in a place in life where I have nothing to lose. So if you think you can beat me, just say the word and we'll settle this like we do back in my neighborhood."

Tucker faintly shook her head no. The murmur in the hall rose again and I heard footsteps on the nearby stairs.

"Miss Curtis!" Miss Lemon demanded, "Unhand that girl this instant!"

I grinned at Tucker to let her know I wasn't afraid of punishment. I let her go and patted the wrinkles I had put in her blouse hoping no one would notice how badly my hands were shaking. Then Sodapop's voice echoed in my head about why he likes fights, 'it's like a dance or drag race or something'. He was right. I was so hyped up I felt like I could take on the world all by my lonesome.

Miss Lemon reached my side and pushed me down the hall towards my room. I grinned with joy and called out to Tucker and Lacey over the older lady's shoulder. "Anytime, anywhere."

"Hush up!" Miss Lemon quietly scolded me then she pushed me into my room and shut the door. "What do you think you are doing?"

I backed up a few steps in case my breath still carried the scent of alcohol and replied. "It's called, sticking up for myself."

"It's called threatening another student."

I laughed a little. "I didn't threaten her, I warned her."

Miss Lemon took a second to calm herself. She took in a deep breath, let it out and spoke in a calmer tone. "Scout, we just talked about this last week. You and the other girls must find a way to get along."

"That's what I was doing. Lacey and her friends spend most of their free time teasing and belittling me and if Ashford Academy isn't going to do anything about it, I will."

Miss Lemon shook her head and looked at me in a loving way. "Scout, my dear, violence is only anger and anger is a form of hate and if you let it that hate will eventually consume you and make you a coldhearted and lonely girl. I know you are stronger than that."

I heard the woman's words as if they had come from my mother's mouth to Dally's ears.

Memories of my mother trying to convince Dallas of the same thing made me realize that it wasn't jail or juvenile hall that made Dallas Winston the heated and aloof boy he was. It was the hate that he carried with him. I thought of Dallas's motto, 'you get tough like me and you won't get hurt'. He wasn't right, he was tough and he was hurt more often than he wanted to admit.

I looked back at Miss Lemon. "Yes, ma'am. It's just that I want their teasing to stop, and they weren't going to do it just because I asked them too. I already tried that."

"I know," Miss Lemon said sweetly, "but trust in yourself. You are smarter than they are. You are going to make something of yourself because of your strength, and you don't want to ruin your future over the careless words of a few under loved, overly spoiled girls."

Instantly, I knew the older woman was right. I needed to be stronger and calmer. I had carried myself with poise through so many situations before this and come out triumphant on the other side. This time was no different. "You're right, Miss Lemon. I am sorry."

Miss Lemon smiled and rubbed my cheek with her hand. "Good. Now let's put this little incident behind us and move on, okay?"

"Okay." I smiled and called out to Miss Lemon who was headed out the door. "Miss Lemon? Thank you."

She turned back towards me. "Scout, in good times and bad my door is always open." The lady smiled one last time and opened the door to leave as Maria walked into my room with my bathing supplies and laundry in her hand.

"I didn't want you to forget these." She smiled and set them on my desk.

"Thanks."

Maria hung out a moment then spoke up. "Nice job out there, and I don't mean that sarcastically, I really mean it and so do a lot of the other girls. For too many years Lacey and her friends have ruled this place just because Lacey thinks she is the queen because her dad is President of the Board. I think a lot of us have been waiting for someone like you to come along and put those girls in their place."

"Well, I think I may have gone about it the wrong way." I cringed a little.

"Maybe, but you did get your point across and a lot of us are really glad you did." Maria took a few steps toward the door before she shared another thought with me. "I want you to know that you should be proud of being here on scholarship. It's a great accomplishment and I am guessing that if your parents were still around they would have been proud of you too."

"They're dead." I clarified in a friendly way, trying to do, as Miss Lemon wanted me too. "On their wedding anniversary a year ago, they were killed in a car accident."

Maria's eyes widened in surprise before she responded gracefully, "I am sorry to hear that."

I smiled at my memory of them. "They were proud of me."

Maria smiled and understood that I was finally learning that not all Covington House girls were like Lacey. "Why don't you come on down to my room and talk. The gals I hang out with are pretty cool and I am sure we would all get along just fine."

"I will, but not tonight. I got up pretty early and I have a lot on my mind tonight. I just need some time to think."

Maria frowned. "All right."

"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast?" I offered.

"All right." Maria's frown turned upside down and she walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

I turned off the light and crawled into my bed. I laid there in the dark thinking about everything; Ashford, Maria, Miss Lemon, Jackson, Owen, Ponyboy, Casey, Darry, college, Two-Bit, Steve, my parents, Sodapop, Johnny, Dallas, Kathryn, the vacant lot, court, James, the newspaper and then I drifted off to sleep before my roommate came to bed.