by Jo Ramsey
“Yeah, right.” He glanced at me. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Not bailing on me. Trying to fight back. Being in here with me.” He reached over and put his hand on mine. “You’re the only one who cares. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you around.”
I swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in my throat. Sometimes being Rob’s friend took a lot of effort, but when he said things like that, it was worth the work.
“You help me a lot too,” I said when I could speak without sounding sappy and emotional.
“I don’t do anything except whine at you and keep you awake at night.” He quirked the corners of his mouth. “We’re friends. Someday I hope I’ll be able to pay you back for everything you’ve done for me.”
“We’re friends,” I repeated. “Which means you don’t have to pay me back. Friends do things for each other. They don’t expect anything in return.”
“You saying that kind of thing is one of the reasons you’re my friend.”
I didn’t know what else to say, and Rob apparently didn’t either, so we sat silently until Ms. Cramer came back.
She closed the door and sat at her desk again. “Craig and Seth are claiming Rob insulted them before they grabbed him. Even if he did, a verbal insult wouldn’t justify their actions.”
I sat up straight, tense and ready to fight again. She’d damn well better not be saying they believed Craig and Seth over Rob and me.
“Rob didn’t say anything.” I spoke slowly so I wouldn’t go off. “Neither of us said anything until I yelled at them to leave him alone after they grabbed him.”
“I didn’t say a word,” Rob said.
Ms. Cramer nodded. “I believe you. They admit they grabbed you.”
“They had to admit it,” I said. “They still had hold of him when Mr. Shorey and the teacher showed up.”
Ms. Cramer narrowed her eyes. “Be that as it may, they’ve admitted they got physical with you, Rob. This time, Craig and Seth face more serious consequences than suspension.”
“Huh?” Rob sat up. “What do you mean?”
“Bullying is a crime, and anything physical might be considered assault.” Ms. Cramer picked up a pen and tapped her desk with it. “When we spoke to your stepmother the other day, we told her she and your father should press charges. She refused, but it isn’t really up to her at this point. Officer Stanley filed a report the other day after the boys broke your nose. Since the police had already spoken with them about bullying you, what Craig and Seth did today only made things worse for them.”
“So they’re what? Going to jail?” Rob shook his head. “No. If they get arrested, they’ll come after me out of school. They aren’t going to smile and say they’re sorry and they’ve learned their lesson. They think they have the right to do these things to me, and it isn’t going to matter if the police do anything about it. They’re going to keep doing it!”
Ms. Cramer tensed. “Lower your voice. I understand what you’re saying, Rob, but it isn’t up to us either. Craig and Seth have committed crimes. Shouldn’t they be punished?”
“Not if it means I’m going to end up dead on the side of the road.” Rob slumped forward again and covered his face with his hands. “I can’t win. If I don’t do anything, I get pummeled and yelled at. If I do something, I get pummeled and yelled at. If I sit back and wait for someone to take care of it for me, same thing. Nothing ever changes, and I’m still the one getting pummeled.”
Ms. Cramer folded her hands on her desk. “If they’re charged for bullying and assault, you’ll be able to get a restraining order to keep them away from you.”
“If they’re charged? If?” Rob’s voice rose again. “Are you kidding me? You said they would face charges. Now you’re saying ‘if’? So I’m still screwed, because they might not even face a damn thing, and then they’ll still come after me.”
His voice broke, and he started wailing. No words. Only loud, hoarse sobs and cries that sounded as if someone was ripping out his heart.
I reached out to touch him but stopped myself. I couldn’t comfort him. It would be a lie. He was right. He might be able to get an order to keep Craig and Seth away from him, but that wouldn’t stop their friends from coming after him.
Ms. Cramer looked as helpless as I felt. We couldn’t do anything except listen to Rob cry.
Rob’s Journal—September 21, 9:40 a.m.
THE NURSE’S office is way too familiar. I spend more time here than in the school library. Maybe they should let me have all my classes here.
I don’t remember how I got in here. I was in Cramer’s office with Mira, and Cramer said the dickheads were getting arrested, and I flipped out. I started crying and yelling, and I don’t remember anything else until I was lying in here on the cot staring up at the ceiling.
I hope I didn’t hurt Mira. She was right beside me. I hope all I did was yell. I don’t remember.
People are talking out in the other room. Probably the nurse giving girls hygiene products or painkillers or something. That’s mostly what she does here. The girls always need stuff. The guys mostly only come here when they’re hurt or puking.
I don’t even know what I’m talking about.
I should have been able to get to class. So should Mira. But once again, just because we happen to exist, people decided to go after us. And they’re going to do it again because of the dickheads facing charges. Because of course that couldn’t be their fault for pushing me around. It’s my fault for being here.
Doesn’t surprise me that my father and his wife refused to press charges. They don’t believe anyone’s doing anything wrong. They think I’m the wrong one because I don’t fight back, so whatever happens to me is my fault.
Everyone blames me except Mira. I’m glad the guys didn’t do anything to her when she tried to stick up for me. They would really have hurt her if they’d tried. I don’t want anything to happen to her. She’s the only one who cares, and that’s important.
I don’t understand why Talia and her friends got involved. Talia must be trying to get back on Mira’s good side. I guess it’s a good thing. Because of them, the dickheads got caught in the act, and nothing worse happened. I’m still not forgiving Talia for ratting me out to Reynolds, though. She’ll have to do a lot more than that.
Here comes the nurse.
Chapter Six
AFTER MS. Cramer and Mrs. Chaffee took Rob to the nurse, I figured someone would send me back to class. I wasn’t the one who’d been hurt, I hadn’t hurt anyone else, and I’d told Ms. Cramer everything, so there was no reason for me to stick around as far as I could see. Leaving without Ms. Cramer telling me to probably wouldn’t have been a good idea, but surely she wouldn’t need me to stay.
When she came back, though, she said, “I’m going to have to call your father, Mira. Please have a seat out in the waiting area.”
My chest tightened. She didn’t have any reason to call Dad. I wasn’t the one in trouble. Hearing from the school would only tick him off, especially since his boss would give him a hard time for taking a personal call. “He’s at work. You can’t pull him out of work.”
“I don’t have much choice.” She sat down and clicked something on her computer. “This was a serious incident, and the police are involved. Even though you were only indirectly part of it, I still have to notify him. We may need to make a plan in case someone tries to retaliate against you for Craig’s and Seth’s arrests.”
“You’re kidding me.” She’d acted as if Rob was overreacting when he said he was afraid of someone trying to get revenge, but now she was dragging my father into this because of the same thing. How did that make any damn sense at all?
“Wait outside, please.” She motioned me away and turned back to the computer.
I didn’t have much choice other than listening to her, so I went out to the waiting area. Fortunately, Craig and Seth were nowhere in sight, and neither were the other two guys. Talia was still
there, though. I sat a couple chairs away from her.
“Is Rob okay?” she asked.
A few really bitchy responses came to mind, but she actually sounded concerned, so I decided to go along with it. “I don’t know. He kind of lost it in Cramer’s office.”
“I heard. I think everyone heard.” She sighed. “Maybe this time, people will figure out they can’t just keep telling him to get over it.”
“Maybe.” She knew as well as I did that would never happen. Even though Craig and Seth had committed a crime, people would still say Rob had brought it on himself with the way he acted or by not fighting back. Somehow or other, they would still blame him for getting bullied instead of doing something about the bullying.
“Rance might get suspended for touching Seth.” She sounded disgusted. “He didn’t even do much. He only wanted to make Seth let go of Rob.”
“That’s what I told Ms. Cramer.” I glanced at her. “Am I the one who got him in trouble?”
She shook her head. “Seth said it too. And Rance admitted it. He doesn’t lie. He’d rather get punished for being honest about what he did than lie to cover it up. But this is the third time he’s gotten in trouble for putting hands on someone since school started. He only does things to stick up for people, but the school can’t just let it go, I guess.”
“Yeah. Physical contact is physical contact.” I rolled my eyes. In the real world, if you defended yourself or someone else, a lot of times you didn’t get in trouble. Despite adults claiming school prepared us for the real world, schools didn’t do a whole lot of “real.”
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I shrugged. “No one touched me or anything. I’m pissed off. How come you guys stuck up for Rob, anyway?”
“Because Craig and Seth were way out of line. Everyone who’s a dick to him is out of line, and it really needs to stop.” She paused. “You think I’m his enemy because I talked to Mrs. Reynolds, but I’m not the bad guy here. I was trying to help. This kind of thing is why. It keeps happening, and no one’s doing anything about it. That’s the only reason I talked to her.”
“You still shouldn’t have gone behind our backs.” I clasped my hands together and slowly exhaled. Sooner or later, the anger and adrenaline would calm down. Until then, I had to keep control of myself. “Thanks. For today, I mean.”
“Yeah. We couldn’t just ignore what was happening like everyone else.” She gave me a tentative smile. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re all right. I hope Rob is.”
I managed to smile back. “Me too.”
The guy who hadn’t grabbed Seth’s hand, who I figured must be Gregory, came out of Mr. Shorey’s office and sat between Talia and me. “They’re suspending Rance. Two days.”
“That’s crap,” I said. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Gregory looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “He put his hands on another student. Violation of physical contact rule. And this isn’t his first offense. Rance doesn’t like seeing anyone getting hassled for no reason. What do you care?”
“He helped my best friend, so I care.” I leaned back and closed my eyes. “This stupid school keeps blaming things on the wrong people. If they actually took care of anything, it would be a miracle.”
“They are, though,” Talia said. “Aren’t they? Officer Stanley came in and took Craig and Seth with him.”
“He did?” I opened my eyes again. “Ms. Cramer said they would probably be arrested. She said Officer Stanley’s been keeping track of everything they’ve done to Rob.”
“Too bad he didn’t do something about it sooner,” Gregory muttered. “Stupid people. Even when something’s right in front of their faces, they ignore it. They’re supposedly sending us back to class in a minute. They’re comparing notes to make sure they don’t need to talk to us again.”
“They called my dad,” I said. “Ms. Cramer said they might have to have a plan to protect me or some crap because someone might come after me.”
“For Christ’s sake!” Talia banged the arm of her chair with her fist. “Why didn’t they make a plan to keep Rob safe all this time? Then this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. I hate this school sometimes.”
“You aren’t supposed to like school,” Gregory said. “Hey, if they have a plan, at least they’ll protect her, right? They have to stick to whatever they say they’ll do.”
“In theory,” I said. “Who knows if they really will?”
“Good point.”
A couple minutes later, Mr. Shorey came out of his office and handed Talia and Gregory each an office pass. “Go to class. We’ll call you back down if we need to talk to you more.”
“Yay.” Gregory stood up and looked at me. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Talia opened her mouth but closed it again. I turned away. She might have helped Rob today, but I wasn’t ready to completely forgive her. And seeing her still hurt, even after a pretty decent conversation.
They left, and I settled back in the uncomfortable chair to wait for Dad. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too angry about getting called out of work. The construction company paid him by the hour, so any time he missed was money we didn’t have. Olin and I both knew it, so we tried to stay out of trouble and not get sick.
He couldn’t get mad at me, though. I’d tried talking Ms. Cramer out of calling him.
The office door opened and Lee-Anne trotted in on the ridiculously high heels she always wore when she went anywhere. She strode to the counter and spoke so loudly people could probably have heard her in the lobby. “I’m here to see Ms. Cramer.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Stevens,” Mrs. Thompson said in a pleasant tone. “Ms. Cramer is in with Mr. Shorey right now. I’ll tell them you’re here.”
“Where’s my son?” Lee-Anne demanded.
I opened my mouth to correct her but stopped myself. She was well aware of how much Rob hated it when she called him her son. If she did it anyway, it wasn’t my problem.
“He’s with the nurse.” Mrs. Thompson picked up her phone. “Let me buzz Mr. Shorey.”
“Fine.” Lee-Anne folded her arms and turned around. “Mira. What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for my dad.”
“Were you part of what happened this morning?” she asked, curling her lip.
Her “I stepped in dog crap” expression. Usually she only made it when she thought I wasn’t looking. I didn’t really need to answer her question. She already assumed I’d not only been part of the problem, I’d somehow caused it. She and Rob’s dad acted nice when I went to their house, but they’d never actually liked me. They just tolerated me because I was proof Rob wasn’t a complete screw-up. He had a friend.
I answered her anyway. Her being bitchy didn’t mean I would be right to disrespect her. “I was walking to class with Rob when it happened. I tried to make the guys leave him alone, but of course they didn’t listen to me. I saw everything, though. That’s why I’m down here.”
“Maybe you should have tried harder.” She paused. “I don’t understand why things like this happen to Rob. Care to give me some insight?”
As if I had any clue why people chose to be assholes. “I don’t know. I guess they think he’s weak or something. He doesn’t fight back. Not with words and not physically. And most people bully him, so he’s kind of an easy target because everyone else is doing it.”
She nodded slowly. “If he fought with them, they would leave him alone?”
I should have been more careful about what I said. Naturally that would be her first conclusion. If Rob was an easy target because he didn’t fight, all he needed to do was fight, as far as she was concerned. Now I had to dig myself out of that hole.
“I don’t think they would leave him alone,” I said. “They would probably just do worse to him than they already do. He isn’t a fighter, anyway. He doesn’t like hurting people, even when they hurt him.”
“I don’t understand how kids’ minds work.” Le
e-Anne sighed. “There must be something he can do.”
“Mrs. Stevens?” Mr. Shorey walked out of his office. “Thanks for coming in. Ms. Cramer and I will speak with you and Rob together. I’ll get him from the nurse’s office.”
“He’s with the nurse again?” Lee-Anne made it sound as if Mrs. Thompson hadn’t already told her where Rob was. “Does he hide there so people will leave him alone?”
Mr. Shorey hesitated. Ms. Cramer had probably told him about Rob’s freak-out, but he couldn’t say anything to Lee-Anne about it without everyone in the office hearing, and that would violate the confidentiality stuff the school only followed when they felt like it. Lee-Anne was being completely unfair to Rob, though. He only went to the nurse’s office when he got hurt, which happened way more often than it should have.
“Why don’t you come to the nurse’s office with me?” Mr. Shorey said. “She can explain what happened. But no, Rob isn’t hiding. He had a legitimate reason. He always does.”
“I see.”
Mr. Shorey came out from behind the counter. A narrow corridor, which ran past the doors to the administrators’ and guidance counselors’ individual offices, connected the main office, guidance office, and nurse’s office, but only staff members were supposed to use it. Mr. Shorey would have to take Lee-Anne down the regular hallway.
“Please follow me,” he said. “Mrs. Thompson, would you let Ms. Cramer know we’ll be right back with Rob?”
“Sure.” Mrs. Thompson picked up her phone again.
Mr. Shorey and Lee-Anne left, and I settled back to keep waiting for Dad. I couldn’t even guess how long he would take to get from his job to school. For one thing, he didn’t always work on the same site, so he might have been anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or so away. Plus he would have had to arrange to leave and have someone cover for him while he was gone.
He wasn’t going to be happy when he showed up. I shrank inside when I realized that. He wasn’t going to be angry with the school or the bullies. He would be angry with me for getting involved in something that meant the school had to call him.
