Prince of Gulbrania

by Lauren M. Flauding

  A girl whose name I think was Jennifer walked up to me, and I braced myself for a rude comment.

  “Hey, I really liked your song at the talent show last night,” she said quietly. “I wish I could have heard the whole thing.”

  I blinked. This was unexpected. “Um, thanks.”

  She gave me a small smile and walked back to her friends. I let the interaction sink in. Maybe things could turn around for me. On all accounts, I had completely botched my performance, but the upside of the whole situation were the things that Kayla texted me afterwards. I had probably read through them a dozen times before I went to bed. I didn’t know if she was being sincere or if she just felt bad for startling me, but in any case, they gave me some hope.

  Mr. Woodworth entered and ordered us all into the pool. I gladly complied. Being halfway hidden in the water was far more preferable than standing out in the open. He had us swim some laps and do some tasks while treading water, and the whole class passed without incident except for when some guy briefly pushed me under the water. When it was time to get out, I rushed to the locker rooms but all the showers were being used, so I had to wait there uncomfortably until one became available.

  “Go ahead and use that one, Frog,” Brian Gibbs said jovially as he came out.

  “Thanks,” I replied, and ran in.

  Looking back, I should have been suspicious, but I was just too eager to get washed off and back into my clothes. I hurriedly lathered the soap all over myself, rinsed off and got dressed, then quickly headed out to the cafeteria. My plan was to grab some food and take it out by the maintenance shed because Milo wouldn’t be back yet and I hated eating in the cafeteria alone.

  I pushed my way through the crowd of students and grabbed a tray. I was just about to get a burrito when I heard the laughing. I turned around slowly and saw that I was surrounded by students pointing their fingers at me. I looked down at myself and saw that my skin was bright green. It must have been the soap. I saw Brian Gibbs high five one of his friends.

  “It’s even better than I imagined!” He shrieked.

  I tried to leave, but I was trapped. I was able to deal with most of these pranks because I could always escape, but now, each time I tried to break through the circle of my peers, they closed in, not letting me pass. This seemed to entertain them even more. At that moment, I felt hopeless. It didn’t matter if I performed in the talent show or saved the chemistry lab from blowing up. To the people in this high school, I would always be a loser, someone to be made fun of and picked on. There was nothing I could do to break the cycle. Maybe my dad had seen me this way too, and that was why he left. I felt tears prick my eyes and started to panic. If I cried, it would officially be the most humiliating moment of my life. Just then, I heard a familiar voice over the school speakers.

  “Hey everyone! Remember to come cheer on the football team at our Homecoming game tomorrow night!” Kayla’s voice was distorted as it came through the speakers overhead, but I knew it was her. While everyone was distracted I slipped through the crowd and ran out of the cafeteria.

  I went straight out to the parking lot, not sure if I was grateful or angry that Kayla had come to my aid. I was seventeen years old, I shouldn’t have to be rescued. And yet, if she hadn’t made that announcement, I don’t know what would have happened. I was at my breaking point. I drove home, not caring that my mom would get a call about all of my missed classes. I just wanted to get away from that stupid school.

  *****

  I was in the middle of learning a dance video when my mom came home that night.

  “Frederick! You’re green!”

  I didn’t even look at her. “Am I? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “What happened?”

  “There was some...” I felt a wave of weakness come over me. I couldn’t tell her. The emotions were still too raw, too fresh. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’ll come off. I think.”

  My mom walked toward me. “Here, let me try these wipes I found,” she said, pulling a packet from her purse. “They’re supposed to work miracles. Now hold still.”

  “Mom, don’t, I’ll be fine” I said, pulling my arm away.

  “Frederick, just let me try,” she insisted, grabbing hold of my arm again.

  “Mom, just leave me alone!” And that’s when I lost it. The tears started streaming down my face, built up from all the times I’d held them back, all the times I had convinced myself that it didn’t matter. I sat down on the couch and sobbed, and my mom sat next to me, holding me close in a way she hadn’t for years.

  “Frederick, this will pass,” she said quietly. “You won’t be in high school forever.”

  “But what if it’s not high school? What if it’s me? I just hate being me!”

  She turned my face toward her. “Frederick, you have to understand that you are so much more than this!”

  I didn’t quite know what she meant by that, but I wasn’t in a mood to argue. I cried and let her hold me for a few more minutes until I got self conscious and wiped the tears off my face.

  “I’m going to go to my room,” I said, standing up.

  My mom looked like she wanted to say more to me, but she let me go. I trudged up the stairs and sat on my bed. I needed a distraction. I decided to finish editing the video for the world cultures project. Watching Kayla on the screen elicited a multitude of conflicting feelings, but I pushed them away and focused on fixing and rearranging the footage.

  I was almost finished when my phone buzzed with a text message. My heart leapt when I saw it was from Kayla.

  Hey, are you okay? I didn’t see you in class this afternoon.

  I blew out a breath. What was I supposed to say? That I left because I was about to cry?

  Sorry, I was sick. I lied. I had to go home. I waited a couple seconds and then added: You might have noticed that I looked a little green.

  Yeah, I noticed. She replied. Brian Gibbs is such an idiot. I edited his English paper once and his punctuation was all over the place.

  I chuckled. Brian Gibbs being terrible at grammar didn’t do much to make me feel better, but the fact that Kayla was defending me did.

  I’ve been working on our video. I’ll send it to you when I’m done so you can see it before we present.

  Awesome. Thanks Frog. Hope you feel better.

  Thanks.

  I wanted to keep texting with her, but I didn’t really have anything else to say, and I didn’t want to annoy her. Instead, I finished up the video and emailed it to her. I was still a little frustrated about all the things that had happened that day, but Kayla’s concern for me took a bit of the edge off, even though she was probably doing it out of pity. I read through her texts again, then took my pills and went to bed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kayla

  I was so busy setting up the debate team booth at the homecoming game that I didn’t notice Wyatt come up behind me. I felt a hand on my waist and immediately jumped and spun around.

  “Oh, it’s you,” I said, my defenses melting away as I locked eyes with Wyatt.

  “Hey beautiful,” he said, leaving his hand on my waist, “I’m worried you’re going to be so busy selling T-shirts that you won’t be able to watch the game.”

  My smile faltered for a moment. I was actually glad I’d have something to do. I enjoyed watching the football games, but sitting there for three hours seemed like a waste of time.

  “You don’t need me to watch the game in order to win,” I teased.

  “I know,” he replied, winking at me. “But I want you to. It gives me more incentive to play well.”

  I laughed. “Okay, I’ll be watching you.”

  He beamed and I almost got lost in his smile, but then I noticed that he wasn’t in his uniform yet.

  “Why aren’t you with the team?” I asked. “The game starts in 20 minutes.”

  Wyatt shrugged. “Coach is giving a lecture. I’ll get ready in a few minutes. They won’t miss me.”

 
I raised my eyebrows. I’d noticed Wyatt had a way of disregarding rules that was both exciting and unsettling.

  He stepped closer to me. “Are you all ready for tomorrow night?”

  “Yep. I’m looking forward to it.” That was a huge understatement. I’d been dreaming about going to the homecoming dance with Wyatt in every spare moment I had, and even in some moments when I should have been concentrating on something else.

  “Me too. I can’t wait to spend the night with you in my arms.” He took my hand and brushed it against his lips. I could only manage to smile in reply. He gave me a long look and then turned away and headed toward the field.

  It took me a few seconds to remember what I was supposed to be doing. I shook my head to clear it and continued displaying T-shirts that said things like: Skilled in Conversational Combat and Rhetoric Is My Greatest Weapon. They weren’t the most catchy phrases, but we were trying to appeal to the parents, and it seemed to be working. I sold 26 shirts before the game even started. The funds were really going to help the debate team out for when we had to travel across the state for tournaments.

  The football game got under way and I really didn’t have a lot of time to watch Wyatt because of how busy the booth was. I did see him make an impressive catch and then later he made a great block that led to a touchdown, but otherwise I was occupied selling T-shirts. Sales started to slow down by halftime, and I saw Miranda approaching the booth in her cheerleader uniform. I winced. Lately it seemed that things between us were getting more and more strained.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said.

  “Now is really not a great time.”

  She disregarded my comment and stepped into the booth with me. “You have been acting like a big jerk lately.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “First you steal homecoming princess from me-”

  “Miranda,” I interjected, “I had no control over that.”

  “Oh really? Why didn’t you tell all the people who were planning to vote for you to vote for me instead?”

  “I didn’t know anyone was planning on voting for me!”

  “Whatever. And then there’s that,” Miranda said, wrinkling her nose as she pointed to the back of the bleachers. I craned my neck and saw Frog sweeping up trash. His skin was still a light shade of green.

  “Okay, what about Frog?”

  “You’ve been so friendly to him! I know you made that announcement yesterday to help him get out of the cafeteria.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I just remembered at that moment that I needed to remind everyone to come to the game.” Miranda gave me a skeptical look and I sighed. “Fine. Yes, I did. But everyone was being so awful to him! It was terrible!”

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “But it wasn’t your job to save him!”

  I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Then what is my job, Miranda?”

  “To not associate with losers like him!”

  I raised my chin. “I don’t think he’s a loser.”

  “Well, everyone else thinks he is. If you keep acting like this, you’re going to lose your status.”

  I didn’t respond. Instead, I turned away and straightened some T-shirts.

  “Honestly, I don’t know how you ever became homecoming princess,” Miranda whined. “At least I get to be best friends with the homecoming princess, so I guess that’s the next best thing. Always in your shadow.”

  I whipped around and stared at her. She had pushed me too far. “Then why don’t you do something to get out of my shadow instead of always using me?” I snapped.

  Miranda gasped and then narrowed her eyes at me. “Maybe I will,” she hissed, then turned and stomped away.

  Another person came to buy a T-shirt and it took all my resolve to appear cheerful. Miranda had really angered me. What did it matter if I was nice to Frog? He hadn’t done anything to deserve the treatment he constantly got, and what was more, he was a very decent, funny, talented human being. I watched him as he dutifully swept up trash by the bleachers, wondering how it felt to be picked on day after day, wondering how he found the courage to keep coming back to school knowing that people were going to be awful to him. Something akin to admiration sparked in me as I watched him, and then my attention was drawn to some movement at the top of the bleachers. Huge pillars painted in our school colors were at each end of the bleachers, and a muscular man with scars on his face appeared to be pushing on the one above Frog. As I looked more closely, the man lunged at the pillar, then backed off as the column began to teeter and fall.

  “Frog!” I yelled, watching in horror as the pillar came toward him.

  He looked up and dove out of the way with surprising agility just as the heavy structure came crashing down.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Frog

  Stunned, I looked over at the huge, fallen pillar three feet away from me. That thing could have killed me. But that wasn’t the only thing causing shock and confusion to reverberate through my brain. I was amazed at how quickly I had been able to get out of the way. It was as if something had grabbed a hold of my feet and forced me to move. I glanced around at what it might have been, but all I saw was the trash I had spilled and some kid’s toy car.

  I got myself off the ground and noticed that people were gathering, gawking at me. Great, I thought. Another unintentional spectacle. I saw Mr. Woodworth and Mr. Zonkowski rushing toward me.

  “Vonnegan! What have you done now?” Mr. Woodworth yelled.

  His accusation was so ridiculous I almost laughed.

  “What’s going on?” Mr. Zonkowski asked. “How did this happen?”

  I put my hands up. “I have no idea. I was just sweeping up trash and suddenly this thing was falling on me.”

  “You must have knocked it over!” Mr. Woodworth exclaimed.

  “How could I have knocked it over?” I asked, eyeing the massive pillar.

  “How could anyone knock it over?” Mr. Zonkowski muttered, walking over to inspect the damage. He bent over to study the bottom of the of the pillar. “Looks like someone sawed it off at the base,” he reported. “After that, it’d be fairly easy to make it fall.”

  Mr. Woodworth glared at me. “So, trying to disrupt the game, were you, Vonnegan? You could get expelled for this!”

  For a moment I considered that expulsion actually sounded pretty good, but I knew my mom would be so disappointed. Just then, Kayla Morrison came running into the crowd.

  “He didn’t do it,” she announced, giving me a fleeting glance.

  Mr. Woodworth and Mr. Zonkowski turned and looked at her expectantly.

  “I saw some guy at the top of the bleachers pushing it over,” she explained.

  Mr. Woodworth almost looked disappointed. “Well, I guess that changes things,” he said. “But you’re still not off the hook, Vonnegan.”

  “Could you give us a description of the man?” Mr. Zonkowski asked Kayla.

  “Yeah, but could we do it over at the debate booth? I have to get back.”

  The two men complied and followed Kayla to the other side of the bleachers, leaving me alone to sort through my confusion. Was someone trying to kill me, or was it just someone randomly wreaking havoc? There had also been that mysterious dart in the weight room the other day that I may or may not have imagined. It was starting to seem like more than a coincidence.

  And then there was Kayla. She had saved me twice in two days. On one hand, that made me feel kind of lame, but on the other hand, I was glad she was paying attention. The whole situation was baffling and it was starting to make my head hurt. I decided to leave early. I was sure Mr. Zonkowski would understand. I swept up a few more pieces of trash, then put my equipment away and left a note for Mr. Zonkowski and headed home.

  *****

  “Oh, you’re home early,” my mom said, turning off the vacuum.

  “Yeah,” I responded vaguely, collapsing onto the couch.

  “How did the game go? Did they win?”

  “I don’t know.�
�

  “You don’t know?”

  “I left before it ended.”

  My mom furrowed her eyebrows. “Alright. Well, I’m glad you’re here, I had a question for you.” She grabbed a piece of paper from the side table. “I found this under the couch while I was cleaning. Do you know what it is?”

  I glanced at the paper she was holding up and had a vague recollection of where it came from. “I think that was from a solicitor. He measured the windows or something.”

  She frowned. “You let him in?”

  “He was really pushy so I just let him do his thing, and then he left. He said he had a nephew that takes the same pills I do.

  The color drained from my mother’s face. “He knew what your pills were?”

  “Yeah,” I said, sitting up a little at my mom’s strange reaction. “I thought it was kind of weird, but I guess I can’t be the only one with this liver disease.”

  My mom looked like she was going to vomit. “Right,” she whispered.

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she replied, but everything in her expression said otherwise. I decided not to tell her about the pillar almost falling on me at the game. I didn’t want to upset her even more.

  She stared at the wall for a few seconds and then snapped back to me. “I have to go out of town tomorrow,” she said quickly.

  “On a weekend?” I asked incredulously.

  “Yes. Something just came up. It’s really important. I’m sorry.” Then she stood and ran upstairs to her room.

  I shook my head. It was really unusual for my mom to act so stressed. Maybe her work was getting to be too much for her. I figured I’d tell her about the pillar and the dart in the weight room when she got back. I stretched out on the couch and looked forward to a weekend of doing absolutely nothing.

  *****

  I sat next to Milo in his car and watched all the couples entering the school dressed in their formal wear. My plans for doing nothing all weekend were thwarted when Milo convinced me to go along with him to the homecoming dance. The only reason he was going was because his parents had told him they’d pay him $500 if he went. It was something about how he needed to have these “memorable high school experiences.”