by Chloe Smith
When they were ready, we backtracked to the room that I loved the most. The penguin men who were serving us, followed with drinks.
I smiled. It seemed more homey this way. And Whaddya know. We had more fun than I thought we would!
Until the dreaded question came up. "So Monica. Are you going to the dance?" Hilary asked.
I tensed up, taking a quick look at Clinton. Sure enough, his hand froze. "Yeah. My friend asked me to go."
Hilary must not have noticed the tension because she kept going. "Oh! So have you gotten yourself a costume?"
"No. I was going to get one later."
"Oh! Okay. So do I know the young man?" She asked.
"Well, no. I don't think you do." I said, putting down my fork.
"Try me. What's his name?"
"Jackson." I heard Clinton's fork fall to his plate, but I ignored it. "Jackson Robinsons."
Suddenly, with a loud bam to the table, Clinton stood. "Please excuse-"
"Miss. Duff." A different penguin man, this one wearing more black than the rest bowed when he came in. "There's a call for you."
Hilary excused herself, telling Clinton to keep me company. She rushed out, leaving me sitting, Clinton standing, both tense.
What to say What to say? "Um. You can sit." Was the first thing that popped into my head.
"I'd like to stand, thank you very much." He said, looking like he was forcing himself to unfurl his fists and he crossed his arms.
"Fine." I picked up my fork. If he wanted to fight, I would just keep my mouth shut.
The bite I was raising to my mouth was slammed out of my hand, and it flew to the other side of the room and landed with a dull, thud. "What's your problem?" I said after recovering from the initial shock.
"Why? Why that guy? That morose, sullen guy?" He said, his palms flat on the table as he leaned towards me.
"He's not morose! Neither is he sullen!" Why? Was he so concerned about it? And to insult Jackson? The guy could be infuriating! "Just because he's quiet and a little anti-social-"
"A little?"
"Yes! If you talk to him, he'll talk back!" I jabbed at his shoulder.
"And yet, he shoots everyone looks that would kill when they try to approach him. If that's the talk-back you're talking about!"
"Why are you so worried about me and mine?" I yelled into his face which was inches from my own.
"Why are you going with someone like him? He just doesn't seem to be the type you'd want to go to a dance with!"
Silence met his last statement. IT hit me as hard as someone slapping me… "Are you…jealous?"
Clinton's eyes went from angry to complete astonishment. Before either of us could recover, black penguin came back. "Mr. Duff, Mrs. Duff beckons you."
Clinton didn't even look back as he stalked out of the room.
I sighed, throwing my head back, and stared up at the mixed sky. As much as the clouds and stars mixed, it was the same with me. There were things that shone brightly. That I understood clear as a diamond, but other things…they were so cloudy to me, so unclear that it was making me pull out my hair.
But that's just life, wasn't it?
Chapter 46
"Alright." The next day brought homeroom, and noise from all around, Mrs. Sarah attempting to quiet them. Although I didn't like half the stares directed my way. Like I had a disease. But hey, That just brings back the past, doesn't it? Funny how I felt I was going through the same thing as I did in my first few days at this school, but I felt like a completely different person. Where I would've averted my eyes, my hands curling up nervously in my lap, I glared straight back at the offending eyes. They looked appalled one moment, then shot me one more look of disgust before looking away. "Quiet down! I'm only giving you one more chance! Tony, sit down! Girls, girls, get away from Mr. Stevenson and Duff's desk!" The conversations dimmed a little. A few people meandered to their desk, but barely anyone listened to Mrs. Sarah as she smiled. I could see her straining to keep her smile as she surveyed the class. Finally, she snapped. "QUIET DOWN!" She bellowed. Instant silence rang through the classroom. "Thank you." She smiled widely. "Shall we get started?"
I snickered. Man, she really could get scary when she wanted to be.
"This announcement pertains to the Dance this Saturday. For the safety of this school, and a little more… organization, you will be required to sign up your character that you'll be dressing up as. Remember, masks are mandatory!"
The room went into chaos as everyone rose up in conversation.
Of course, that included Gaya and I.
"Ah! I can't wait Monica! I'm gonna be the best Cinderella anyone has ever seen!" The soft blonde hair glittered and shone as she shook with excitement. "Have you decided what you want to be yet?"
"Umm…" I looked at her hopeful eyes. "No."
"Monica!"
"But I'm definitely going!" I said, as I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
Gaya looked at me with narrow eyes. "You weren't this happy when I talked to you about his before."
I finally broke out on a full-out smile, leaving none of my pearly whites covered. "I've got a-"
"No!" Gaya eyes got wide. "Don't tell me…"
I giggled (actually GIGGLED!) "Yeah. His name is Jackson."
I would've heard Gaya's shriek of disbelief if it wasn't for the loud crash I heard behind me. When I turned I realized it was a chair that was on its back. Its former occupant actually stomped by me, his face totally blank. All except his eyes.
They were like glowing orbs, with a heated passion.
He didn't look back as he stomped out the room.
Even Mrs. Sarah didn't dare stop Clinton because of that look.
I sighed. He must've heard me.
But I put it aside as I turned my attention to Mrs. Sarah and the rest of the announcements.
Besides the sneers I kept constantly getting, no one really messed with me. I went through my morning classes smoothly. I met up with Martin and Gaya for lunch in our dorm room. It was quiet. More quiet than usual. It felt like it was the quiet before the storm. Well, that's the feeling I got. I shook myself. Why was I being so negative? Why couldn't I just accept it like it was? A nice, relaxing, quiet day?
The bell rang and I left for Biology.
"Monica!" Denzel came up behind me, smiling like a buffoon.
"Hey Denzel, why so happy on a day like this?"
"So I heard you've got a date to the ball on Saturday." His eyebrows bounced up and down a couple of times and I couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah. Your brother told you?" I tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear.
"Yup. Actually, he told me before he asked you. I'm glad." He held the door open for me to enter biology.
"Well, I'm glad you're glad." I smiled and took my seat.
Looking up, I realized someone was staring at me. Percy. He looked, albeit, angry. It wasn't the intense angry stare like Clinton, but a quiet simmering. One that made me a little more afraid than Clinton. And then he turned around and I realized I had been holding breath. I let out, breathing a few extra times.
"Hey, you okay?" Denzel asked, seeing the look on my face.
I darted a glance toward the back of Percy's head, before looking at Denzel. "Yeah. I'm fine."
What I wanted to know was why Percy was angry. And he must've been angry with me if he was glaring at me. I shook my head. It made no sense. It probably had to do with Clinton.
The bell rang after what seemed like days. I bolted for the door, throwing out a quick goodbye to Denzel. I waited at the usual spot that I did, but I didn't see Jackson. I waited until the warning bell before deciding to just get to English.
Although I didn’t really want to hear Mr. Tobit's voice, nor even face a certain redhead.
Gela walked in, and the first thing her eyes did was lock on mine, burning hatred in them.
Great, what was it now? How had I made her angry?
On her way to her seat, she gave ex
tra care to make sure she clipped my shoulder with her backpack. Whatever corner of a binder or folder dug in, made me flinch. With an audible huff, she plopped down in her seat behind me.
But besides that, I was surprised she didn't sneer at me or anything else.
Thank God there was a substitute, which made things quieter.
Thank God too that it was the last class of this quiet day. Although, I should've known my day wouldn't go so smoothly to the end.
It happened on my way out of English. Students running past me riveted my attention to their destination down the hall. Students crowded and blocked the walkway from wall to wall. It was chaos with raised voices and kids trying to slip through cracks to get closer.
I stopped a girl running by me with a hand on her arm. "Hey!" She skidded to a halt, her eyes looking toward the crowd like she wanted to yank her arm free and get closer to the crowd. "What's going on?"
She was restless and distracted. "The king's about to get into a fight!" Finally, she couldn't wait any longer, and I watched her run away.
The king? I hadn't heard that in a long time. But I knew who exactly she was talking about.
Clinton.
Before I knew it, I was running towards the crowd too. People were loud all around, goading on the fight.
I pushed myself through, forcing my way through to the front.
Finally I caught a glimpse of his copper head. He wasn't moving, but from his stance, he looked like he was holding someone against the wall… and the face I saw above Clinton's head… the person whose body was pushed against the wall… was Jackson.
I pushed my way through the few remaining people in front of me.
"Clinton! What's going on?" I exclaimed. Jackson looked up, the glare he had in his eyes changed as soon at it landed on me.
He, instead of Clinton, answered, "Monica, just go away. I'll handle this."
Clinton laughed bitterly. "Oh-ho!" You'll handle this? I don't think you see the position you're in."
Jackson smiled. "I can hold my own."
"I haven't seen it yet. I'm beginning to doubt already!"
"Wait!" I didn't think about why I did it, but I ran between them, pushing Clinton away from Jackson. Of course those who were cheering on the fight booed me. I tuned them out. "You'll get in trouble," I looked at Jackson, "and you might not be able to go to the dance." That seemed to calm Jackson down, but one look at Clinton, he seemed more riled.
"So this is your choice?" he seethed.
I was confused. "What are you talking about? Who else was I supposed to pick? You?"
He stood tall, his fists clenched, jaw clenching, his amber eyes flashing. "You could."
Okay. That surprised me. "Why would I pick you?"
That made him angrier. "Well it's better that tall, dark, and ominous over there." He pointed an accusing finger at Jackson.
Tension made it hard to breathe. This guy was so cold. Could he stop messing with me? Before, it only bothered me, but now, him talking about Jackson no matter how lame it sounded, pissed me off.
"You know, I really do hate you." I said quietly, hearing the gasps from around me. I didn't care. I even raised my voice and yelled, "I wouldn't choose you even IF you became a totally different person!" With my exclamation, I grabbed onto Jackson's arm. "Come on, I don't want my date getting suspended right before the dance." I glared one last time at Clinton before stalking away.
With all that happened, nothing made sense to me. If I thought about last night, it confused me more. Seriously, after all the teasing he put me through, you wouldn't expect a jealous guy. Not to mention the way he never gave me any kind of respect.
My steps calmed down, and I put whatever Jackson was saying to the back. Not because I didn't want to hear it, but I was encouraging myself to keep walking forward.
Because even though Clinton infuriated me, I was starting to regret what I'd just said.
Chapter 47
The school hated me, except a few, they all hated me for how I treated their precious king. If you ask me, he wasn't mature enough to be a king. He was more like a prince, if you wanted to call him royalty at all.
The days were long and horrendous. More messages left at our eating table. That place had become the shrine to the hatred for Monica Guadalupe Suarez.
But hey. I wasn't really paying attention. Each day that dragged by meant another closer to the Dance. Before, I wasn't concerned, but just thinking about going now excited me. Thursday morning, Ms. Kendra announced the list of people who hadn't given their character they would be for the dance. I waited for my name to be called.
But it wasn't.
My hand went up. "Ms. Kendra. Are you sure my name's not on the list?" I asked.
Ms. Kendra browsed the list, and shook her head. "You're not on here. Why? Should you be? It says here that…oh." She paused. "See me after class." Was all she said as she turned around and set the list down on her desk. "Now, on to other announcements…"
Five minutes later, the bell signaling Homeroom was over sounded.
"I'm told to give this to you." She handed me an envelope. The envelope was actually very familiar. I'd seen it before. They came with the boxes Hilary had sent over for…that guy. And also, I'd seen it that time…when…he-Augh! What was wrong with me? Refusing to just say his name?
I shook my head, stuffing the envelope into my backpack and heading to the next class.
When classes were over, I went back to my dorm.
My phone rang. I already knew who it was before answering. "Hello?"
"Hey Monica! How are you? Did you get my letter?" Hilary.
"I have, but I haven't read it yet." I said, setting my backpack on my desk and plopping down on my bed with a gusty sigh.
"Oh, no worries. Just come by my place Saturday morning. I've got your costume." She sounded too happy.
Oh please lord, do not let it be a princess outfit! "Ah, Ms. Hilary-"
"Just Hilary, dear."
"Well…Hilary. I appreciate the offer, but I can't possibly-"
"Oh Monica. I just want to repay you so much for helping me. Could you just accept it? I mean, it's already bought and waiting for you."
There was reason. Ugh. There was such sound reason behind that. How could I argue with it!
Grudgingly, I answered, "Fine. I'll see you Saturday."
Chapter 48
The next day was quite hectic at the end. Everyone was too excited about tomorrow to actually pay attention to the grudge they held against me. It was a bit of a relief, not being the center of attention.
Every class passed by smoothly.
But then English came around. The look of pure hatred shone in Gela's eyes as she stomped up to my desk.
"You! It's all your fault! All you fault!" She emphasized her latter sentence with stomping one high-heeled foot on the floor.
"What?" I asked. I already knew it had to do with Clinton, since that was all she and I had in common. And Mr. Tobit didn't do groups, so it couldn't possibly be anything relating to class. "I haven't touched your precious-"
"He's left! Went full across the freakin' country to get away from your bumpkin-"
"Ms. Sanders. Please take our seat!"
Mr. Tobit's booming voice was very commanding, yet, instead of the usual, "Yes Mr. Tobit" That Gela usually sweetly said, she glared at him. "Is anyone going to do something about this! ? This abomination," She pointed one of her perfectly manicured fingers at me, "is the reason why our most prized Clinton is gone!"
No one spoke. Their glares-besides the teacher's-were directed at me, but no one dare speak up about it in front of Mr. Tobit.
Gela didn't pay heed to the twitch that told the rest of us he was getting fed up. She turned to me. "Are you happy, Commoner?" She spat out.
"That's it! Get out! Go to the principal's office this minute!" one of his large, beefy hands came up to direct her in the way she should go.
Gela glared at me a moment more before turning on her heel
and exiting the classroom.
Too shocked to do anything, I just sat there and stared off at the door she disappeared through.
Horror and dread washed through me as it actually started sinking in. Clinton? Gone? No way. It couldn't be!
