by Amy Brown
When I reach Art History, Paula is waiting at the door for me. “You’re my fucking hero,” she says, hugging me.
I laugh, and hug her back. “I don’t understand.”
She widens her eyes. “Are you serious?”
My face is hot as I follow her into the classroom. We sit, and I try to ignore the stares. “I just taped up some pictures and text messages. He was going to do it to me. I was simply protecting myself, not saving the world.”
“I know.” She grins. “That’s why it’s so perfect. The little shit not only failed to humiliate you, he’s now being ostracized by his own kind. It’s perfect. You didn’t just flip things on him, you crushed him. You got his buddies pissed at him. He’s alone. No one wants him.”
Little does she know just how much I want Mason.
“I had no idea what I did would blow up in his face this big.” I chew my bottom lip, still avoiding the staring students.
“It was beautiful. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.” She smiles as she opens her book. “Rumor has it he’s out for thirty days. He won’t survive five alone.”
An uneasy feeling creeps up my spine. “The kids won’t actually hurt him, right?”
“What do you care?” She shrugs. When I don’t speak, she glances over and frowns. “Charity, he deserves this.”
“I know.”
Her expression softens. “You still like him?”
“No,” I lie. “I just don’t like it when people get bullied.”
“He’s done it for years to others. He deserves what’s coming.”
“Yes.”
She’s right. I know she’s right. If I hadn’t got him first, he’d have done it to me, and he wouldn’t be sitting here feeling bad for me either. I need to grow up and stop feeling sorry for Mason. “I’ll try to be colder, like you guys are.”
Her face flickers. “We’re not cold… we’re just glad he’s getting a taste of his own medicine.”
“I know.” I focus on my book. “But does one wrong make a right?”
Her silence is long, and when I glance up, she looks ashamed. I touch her arm, “I’m sorry. I know he deserves this.”
She nods, but doesn’t speak. Class feels tortuously long. Once it ends, I follow Paula out of the room, and we head for lunch. She talks cheerfully about nonsense, and I smile and nod, but I can tell both of us are awkward with each other now. I’m afraid I’ve put my foot in it.
When we reach the cafeteria, all the kids start clapping when I walk in with Paula. My face is beet red by the time I get in line with Paula. Scott and the others are grinning at us, and high fiving each other. I sneak a peek at The Elites table and find them sitting in silence, looking uneasy.
There’s no sign of Mason.
“You’re like a celebrity,” Paula whispers.
“This is nuts. I don’t deserve this attention.” I keep my eyes on the ground.
“No one has had the nerve to stand up to The Elites ever,” she says softly. “We were all too afraid they’d turn on us and destroy us.”
I’m surprised instead of doing that, and coming after me, they’re turning on Mason. I think their pride at being fooled by him is making them stupid. All they did was lose one of their own, and let the regular students feel powerful. Now the regular kids know The Elites are vulnerable. By turning on Mason, they’ve opened themselves up to a full on rebellion. If they’d just privately chastised him, and not shown us how easily they fractured, the regular kids wouldn’t be feeling so empowered right now.
When I get to the head of the line, the girl at the window won’t take my money. I’m not sure that’s allowed, and I give an uneasy glance toward the older women who run the food court. They aren’t paying attention.
I push my money at the girl again. “It’s okay. I want to pay.”
She shakes her head. “No way.”
Paula laughs. “Just take the free meal, Charity. I’m sure it won’t happen very often.”
“I don’t want you to get fired,” I whisper to the girl.
She lifts her chin. “It would be worth it.”
She pushes my food toward me, and I have no choice but to move along without paying. I slip my money in my pocket, and follow Paula to our table. Lisa hugs me and so does Paul and Scott. Gregory just sits where he is, but he gives me a warm smile.
“You’re the talk of the school.” Lisa sits and takes a big bite out of her sandwich. Her cheek bumps out like a chipmunk as she watches me.
Sitting, I unwrap my chicken sandwich with trembling fingers. I’ve never been in a position where people thought I was cool. It’s actually kind of uncomfortable. I’m not cool. It’s only a matter of time before these kids all figure that out. I concentrate on my food, hoping people will stop pointing and staring.
“I heard Mason left school early today.” Paul watches me as he speaks. “He went to the nurse’s office and said he was sick.”
“Coward,” Scott mutters.
“It must be horrible to be alone,” I say softly.
Lisa laughs, as if she thinks I’m kidding, but then her smile fades. “Charity, you should hate him. From what I heard, he was going to do to you, what you did to him.”
“I know.” I sigh.
Paula nudges me with her shoulder. “She feels sorry for him.” Her tone is tolerant, not mocking.
“Why?” Scott looks mystified. “He’s a fucking asshole. Him and his pals have used and hurt girls for years. He doesn’t deserve your sympathy.”
A guy I don’t recognize moves by and calls out, “You rock, Charity Ballard.” He keeps walking.
Everybody at my table laughs, but I want to crawl under the bench. I don’t like all this attention. My appetite is gone, and I focus on my soda instead. I know no one understands why I feel bad for Mason. They have every right to hate him. They’ve had to put up with The Elites for years. I’ve only been here weeks. They have a lifetime of loathing the way they’ve been treated. I got to see Mason’s good side, while they probably don’t believe he has one.
When lunch ends, I say goodbye to my friends, and I head toward my next class. When Sophia and Jules fall into step beside me, my heart clutches. Sophia grabs my arm, and her long red nails dig into my skin. I stop walking, and pull my arm free.
“What do you want, Sophia?” I ask, hoping I don’t look as scared as I feel. Did Mason send them to beat me up for getting him in trouble? No, that wouldn’t make sense. Sophia is pissed at Mason right now.
Jules pushes me, and I stumble back. “You’re far too big for your britches.”
What does that even mean? “Look, I’m just trying to go to class.”
“Do you have any idea the shit storm you’ve stirred?” Sophia’s eyes burn into me. She hates me. I’ve never had anyone actually hate me before, but I have a feeling if Sophia could murder me, and get away with it, she’d do it.
“I didn’t do anything but defend myself.”
“Right.” Sophia sneers. “You think because Mason fucked you, you’re something special now?”
I notice a crowd of kids are gathering around us. My heart bangs my ribs, and I’m afraid I’m going to be murdered by an angry mob. “I’m nothing special. I never said I was. Mason wanted to hurt me, and I hurt him first. This has nothing to do with you, Sophia.”
“Of course it does.” Her laugh is shrill. “When someone goes after one of The Elites, it affects us all.”
Jules pushes me again, and I glare at her. “Touch me again, bitch, and I’ll break your arm.”
A pulse of laughter goes through the crowd. The weird thing is, they’re laughing with me, not at me. The last time Sophia tried to intimidate me, the crowd was on her side, something about the way they’re watching me makes me think they might actually be on my side.
My suspicions are confirmed when Sophia flicks an uneasy glance toward the kids that are continuing to gather around us. She lifts her chin and addresses me. “You need to know your place.”
That pisses me off. I’ve had a hell of a time at Longhorn Academy. I’ve been targeted since day one, and this entitled bitch is telling me I don’t know my place? Why would she decide where my place is? “Who the hell do you think you are?” I demand, leaning toward her. “Just because your mommy and daddy have money, that doesn’t mean anything. You’re nobody, Sophia. You’re an absolute nobody.”
A cheer goes up from the crowd, and I’m as shocked as Sophia. But she looks more worried than me. She steps back and glares at the other kids. Usually, they’d shrink, but this time they don’t. Instead, they push forward, obvious anger on their faces.
She grabs my arm again, and pushes me. I stumble backward, but the crowd catches me, and rights me carefully. A few of them even pat my head, and I face her. She’s sweating. A lot. I’ve never seen her look anything but cool and collected in this type of situation, but she looks downright rattled.
I’m emboldened by the support of the crowd, and I wave my hand toward her. “I think the time has come for The Elites to know their place.”
The crowd cheers again.
“You should keep your head down, and be happy we don’t hang you Elites up on the flagpole.” I’m definitely feeling myself right now. I don’t even know why I say that. It’s a weird thing to say. “We’ve taken your shit long enough. We’re done. From now on, we rule Longhorn Academy, not The Elites. You’ll stay out of our way, if you know what’s good for you.”
The crowd goes nuts. They scream and laugh, slapping each other and hugging as if we’ve scored a touchdown and won the game. I’m shaking and buzzing with exhilaration. It’s a heady feeling to have an entire mob cheering you on, no matter what you say or do.
Jules is the first to start walking away. She looks nervous, and she tugs at Sophia’s arm. Sophia is too stupid to know what’s good for her. She actually tries to face the crowd in a threatening manner. “You’ll regret this,” she screams. “You’ll all regret this!”
Jules manages to drag her away, and I watch them go, feeling triumphant. The kids face me, and Paula is suddenly there. She has a funny look on her face, but she forces a smile.
“That was… weird,” she says.
“They were trying to bully me.” I put my hands on my hips, still trembling from all the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I smile at some of the kids in the crowd. “For once, I wasn’t scared.”
“We have your back, Charity,” one of the kids yell. “You showed us the light.”
My face warms and I laugh. “I didn’t really do much.”
“You brought The Elites to their knees,” another girl yells. “We’re taking back our school. Just like you said we should.”
Had I said that? I barely remember what I said.
Paula puts her arm around my shoulder and the crowd parts, and we walk through them. People are touching my hair, and tugging my clothes. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced. Paula should be at her class, I’m not sure why she appeared suddenly.
When we’re away from the crowd, she says softly, “Scott came and told me what was happening.” She gives a gruff laugh. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“You wouldn’t have believed what?”
“That you would be literally taking on The Elites singlehandedly.” Her expression is tense. “This could come back to bite you, Charity.”
“They already hate me.” I frown. “Besides, I’m not alone. Those kids were on my side.”
“For now. But if things get ugly, they’ll probably go back to being scared rabbits. Then you’ll be alone against The Elites.”
“You didn’t see how they were.” I stop walking. “They were looking at me like I was Katniss from The Hunger Games.”
“But this isn’t a movie. You could end up in serious trouble.”
“Why? The Elites are who should be worried. They’re bullies.”
She nods. “Yes.”
“I didn’t really do anything other than tell Sophia off.” I start walking again. “She needed it. She has no right to follow me and try to bully me. She told me I need to know my place.” I curl my lip. “She’s ridiculous.”
“Yes. She is. But I’m afraid that you’re going to get in trouble with the administration for causing trouble.”
I roll my eyes. “No. They love the rich parents remember?”
“Yeah, and The Elites are the ones with the rich parents.” She laughs.
It occurs to me she has no idea who my stepdad is. I told Mason last night, but it isn’t common knowledge. Paula is my friend. Maybe it’s time I told her a little bit about my home life. I clear my throat. “My stepdad is really rich.”
She frowns. “Oh. I didn’t know you had a stepdad.”
“Yeah. When we moved here from Los Angeles, my mom met him.” I’m not sure why I feel shy about admitting who my stepdad is. It doesn’t really have anything to do with me. I just came along for the ride with Mom and Luke. “His name is Fred Cartwright.”
At first she doesn’t react, but then she frowns. “Fred Cartwright?”
“Yes.”
She widens her eyes. “The cattle guy?”
I nod. “That’s him.”
“Holy hell, Charity. He’s like the richest man in Blue Horn.” She looks uneasy. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me who your stepdad was.”
“It didn’t seem important.”
“But, you let The Elites lord it over you, and Fred Cartwright has more money than all their parents put together.”
“I don’t want to be judged on things like that.” I touch her arm. “Please don’t tell anyone else who my stepdad is, okay? I want people to like me for me.”
Her face is tense. “Okay.”
We begin walking again. I’m not sure what comes next. Now that I’ve had my revenge on Mason, I’m at a loss. What comes now? I’m hoping things at Longhorn Academy will change. Calm. The Elites are on the run at the moment, so hopefully they’ll keep their mouths shut while this blows over. If all the students will just respect each other, and accept our differences, there’s no reason for the animosity of the past.
Paula hugs me goodbye, and heads in the direction of her class, and I continue on toward mine. I inhale the honeysuckle infused air, and lift my face to the warm sun. I’m enjoying a gratified feeling of having had a hand in setting the regular students at Longhorn Academy free from the tyranny of The Elites. They have a new found sense of power, and hopefully they’ll use it wisely. We simply need to understand that we’re all different, but that that’s okay.
Still throbbing with self-importance, I walk across the quad toward my class. As I round the corner, I see two guys punching another kid who’s on the ground. The kid on the ground is cowering, his arms shielding his head from the other boy’s vicious blows.
“That’s right. You keep your eyes down when you pass by us,” yells one of the boys, delivering another kick to the prone boy’s ribs.
“Yeah, it’s our turn.” One of the kids scowls, spitting on the guy lying in a ball.
Horrified, I run toward them. “What are you doing?” My heart pounds as the boys face me. They’re breathing hard, and at first, I’m afraid they’ll turn their anger on me. But they don’t. They actually smile.
“We’re taking control. Like you said we should.” One boy wipes blood from his hand. “He’s lucky we don’t hang him from the flagpole, right?”
Jesus, I never should have said that. It was stupid.
My eyes drop to the boy on the ground. I don’t know his name, but I recognize him as one of the lower echelon of The Elites. Jeremy, Travis, and Mason, along with Sophia, Jules, and Chrissy were the top six Elites. But there are lower levels who do their bidding. This kid was one of them. I’ve seen him bullying other kids lots of times.
Whether he’s been a jerk or not, the sight of him whimpering and bleeding on the ground turns my stomach. I move to him, and when I kneel over him, he flinches, his eyes wide.
“Call them off,” he grumbles. “Leave me alone.” Snot is running from his nostrils, and his eyes are red rimmed as if he’s on the verge of tears.
Call them off? What makes him think I control these guys?
I look up at the other boys. “Don’t you think he’s had enough?”
One of the kids nods, elbowing his other buddy. “Probably. He’s whining like a little bitch.”
“Yeah, he’s not so tough now, is he?” The boy laughs.
Not sure how to respond, I grab the sniveling kid’s arm, and help him to his feet. The other boys watch, not looking at all apologetic. “Did he do something to you?” I ask them.
“He exists.” One of the guys snorts a laugh.
Uneasiness flutters through me. “You guys should probably go to class. The bell rang already.” I’m afraid to leave this kid with them. They still have a wild look in their eyes, and I don’t trust they won’t go back to wailing on him.
“Whatever you say, Charity.” One of the kids nod.
They give a weird sort of bow to me, and take off across the campus. I frown, watching them go. What in the hell is going on around here today? It’s like Lord of the Flies.
The kid I intervened for, brushes dirt and grass off his clothes, watching me with a peculiar expression. He definitely doesn’t look grateful. If anything, he looks suspicious. Like I’m trying to trick him.
“Are you okay?” I ask. His injuries look superficial, but those boys did kick his ribs hard. For all I know he could have internal injuries. “Would you like to see the nurse?”
“No.”
I push my hands into my pockets, studying him. “You should keep your head down and avoid those guys.”
He narrows his eyes. “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
“What?” I wrinkle my brow.
“Are we just supposed to go underground now?”
I frown. “I’m not sure why you seem so angry.”
“You think we’re just going to skulk away, and let you run the place? Has that been your plan all along?”
I can’t help but laugh because he’s implying I have some sort of evil master plan. “I just helped you.”
