by Lauren Eason
“Do you think Jason and Ben will even know we’re here?” I asked.
“They know,” Jess replied, holding up her phone with texts from Max.
“How are things going with that?” Raven asked from the other end.
Jess bit her lower lip with a slight blush. “It’s going pretty well. I’m excited about the dance tomorrow.”
“Ugh,” I sighed, bowing my head. “I completely forgot about finding something to wear for that.”
“That’s okay. I can bring something over for you,” Raven said with a dismissive wave. “I have a ton of dresses that Denise used to buy for me.”
The sound of the announcer pierced the night air as the game was about to start. We watched as the cheerleaders rushed out onto the track around the field, waving their pompoms in the air and kicking their legs out. This was my first game since starting back at school, and I hoped to finally see a win.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The crowd cheered as the Madison High Manatees made their way across the field towards the opposing team’s end zone. Jess and Raven shouted beside me as Ben made his way over the line scoring a touchdown within the last few remaining seconds before halftime. We sat down, eagerly awaiting the kick by Max.
We held our breath as we watched him rush towards the football and kick it towards the goal post. A whistle blew in the distance as we watched the referee hold his arms up for a good goal. Another point was added to our scoreboard as the timer buzzed.
The band took to the field as the trucks geared up to drive the homecoming floats along the track. The football team rushed to the sidelines for water as the first float made its way onto the scene. Abby was down below, capturing photos as the girls danced on the trailer, letting flower petals float gracefully to the ground in front of them on the gentle breeze.
I saw Melissa standing beside some of her friends on the float behind the first, dressed in a formal short purple dress with a black leather jacket. Pop songs blared from the radio of the vehicles as the crowd roared with applause. Melissa blew kisses from her perch as petals floated by, catching in her red hair.
I glanced over as Raven scrolled through a long text on her phone. She stood up and brushed past us towards the stairs as she stomped down through the crowd. Jess stared after her before turning her gaze towards me with a puzzled expression.
I shrugged, unsure of what set her off. Standing from my seat, I went after her down the bleachers. Raven stood underneath them away from the crowd, her arms wrapped around herself.
“I want to be alone,” she said, walking away from me as I approached.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, not understanding her sudden anger.
“I’m just so tired of all this high school bullshit!” She kicked a metal post with her combat boot.
“Raven, it’s just a homecoming game. It’s no big—”
“Deal? No big deal?” she asked, whipping around to face me. “I’ve had to deal with this abuse for years from people like Melissa! You weren’t here, Aislin. You just got into town like two months ago. You have no idea what I’ve had to go through with these people. How they’ve treated me.”
“Raven...what’s this really about?” I asked, trying to comfort her. She snatched her arm away as I reached for her.
“Leave me alone,” she uttered before storming off towards the parking lot. I wanted to go after her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I remained rooted to the ground before deciding to give her some space. I turned back towards the bleachers and rejoined the crowds. Walking up to the fence, I leaned over it as the trucks finished their pass. Melissa stared down at me from her trailer as she hopped off, helped by one of the football players.
She walked up to me on the track, placing her hands on the top of the fence. “Where’s Raven? I never see you two apart now.”
“I’m surprised you’re even talking to me. Wouldn’t want to ruin your persona,” I commented.
“Melissa! Come on. The game is about to start again,” someone shouted a little ways off.
“Give me a minute!” Melissa shouted back before turning her gaze back to me. “Tell Raven I—I’m sorry.”
With that, Melissa turned away to rejoin her group. I stood there for a moment, unsure of what Melissa was trying to say. While Raven was no stranger to divulging her secrets to me, I wondered if there were a few she kept for herself. I took out my phone and texted Raven, praying she was alright. My phone beeped with a text back, but it was from Jess wondering where I had gone.
Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I hurried up the bleacher steps towards Jess, taking a seat beside her.
“Where’s Raven?” she asked.
“Maybe the bathroom,” I stated. “She wasn’t feeling well.”
“Oh, should we go after her?” Jess asked, glancing around us.
“I think she’ll be okay. She needs some space for personal reasons. I don’t think it has anything to do with us,” I replied, trying to ease her fears.
“Better hurry and grab your refreshments, folks, because it’s time for the final half of the game!” an announcer said from the booth.
Placing my hands on my thighs, I forced myself to stay still as I closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the people around me. My phone vibrated in my back pocket as I snatched it out, seeing a text from Raven apologizing to me and that she was on her way back with some food. With a small smile, I typed a quick message saying I was glad she was safe.
“Good news?” Jess asked, straining to read the texts over my shoulders.
“She’s okay,” I answered, my heart rate slowing back to normal. Jess took out her own phone and opened a message. She placed her hand on my arm and moved her phone over to me as she did so.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking her phone from her. It was a mass text floating around the school that happened to skip my number of a digitally altered picture of Raven from the girl’s locker room that showed her kissing Melissa's image.
My mouth gaped as I looked out over the field, the football players lining back up in the center, taking their defensive stance. Melissa was down in the front, seated comfortably with her posse. Taking Jess’s phone, I stood up as Jess tried to pull me back down.
“Ais, no!” she pleaded as I stomped down the steps towards Melissa and her gang. I could hear Jess’s footsteps clanging on the metal behind me as I approached Melissa.
Shoving the phone in her face with the message, I watched as she glanced at it, her eyes flicking up to mine. “So, this was what you were sorry about?”
Melissa stood from her seat as we faced each other, nose to nose. “It’s not my fault she has a crush on me.”
“From what I heard, the feeling was mutual,” I hissed as her friends watched the exchange.
Melissa grabbed my hand, trying to pull me aside, but I shook it free. “No, you can say whatever you need to in front of your friends. How dare you allow them to treat someone you care about this way!”
“Not here,” Melissa whispered low.
“Why not? You didn’t care about Raven’s reputation having texted the entire student body,” I challenged. “So, why should I care about yours?”
“Raven doesn’t care about things like that—”
“How would you know? She’s worked so hard to come back to school with a clean slate, and you keep making it difficult for her,” I retorted. “Take it down. Now!”
“I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did,” Melissa admitted angrily.
“I did,” a girl said from behind Melissa. She stood up from her seat, flanking her friend. Melissa whipped around with a scowl.
“Take it down,” Melissa commanded.
“Wha—? Why?” the girl asked, surprised by her leader’s words. “She’s nothing to us. We talk about her all the time.”
“And that needs to change. Now. Take. It. Down.” Melissa beared down on her as the girl went through her phone, deleting her social media image.
“The dam
age is already done,” I said. “Maybe you should get better friends, Melissa.”
With that, I turned away to see Raven standing behind me with a drink and some bags of candy in her hand. Her smile was all I needed for my anger to melt away as we walked back up the stairs to our seats. As much as I appreciated Melissa’s handle on the situation, it didn’t change the fact most of the school had gotten that picture sent to their phone. Raven was tough, but I understood how she felt now.
“I didn’t expect that from someone like Melissa,” Jess commented as she took her seat beside us. Raven sat in the middle, dispersing the candy.
“There’s been a lot of things I haven’t expected from her,” Raven remarked, taking a sip of her drink. “Ais, I didn’t think you’d confront her like that. I’m usually the hothead around here.”
“You were busy storming off in the opposite direction. It was the least I could do to defend your honor,” I joked.
“How chivalrous of you,” Raven smiled sadly. My smirk disappeared as she took another short sip of her soda. Even as she teased me, I could tell her anger had dissolved into hurt. Melissa meant something to her, a connection I couldn’t fathom to understand. I could only imagine the disappointment she felt.
We watched as the Manatees made their last touchdown before the end of the game, winning with a score of 32 to 14. It was a sweeping victory as I saw the football team gather together to celebrate on the field, the crowd cheering them on from the stands. We waited for the bleachers to empty as everyone filed out down the stairs towards the parking lot.
We watched the boys race through the fence gate and hop over the bleacher seats towards us. Jess smiled as Max approached her, sweeping her up into a big hug. Jason and Ben stopped short in front of me, glancing around.
“You girls ready to celebrate?” Ben asked as he panted. “We’re going to hit the locker room before we leave and head over to the diner around the corner. It’s tradition.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Of course we can!” Raven exclaimed, nudging me in the side with her elbow. “It’s tradition, Ais.”
“Right,” I smiled nervously.
“It’s a Friday night. We don’t have anywhere better to be,” Jess added, hanging onto Max. I shrugged, knowing that I had no excuse to complain.
“Great. How about you girls go ahead of us and grab a booth before all the seats are taken. We’ll meet you after,” Jason said as he turned to make his way back down the bleachers.
“Sounds good!” Raven shouted after him. “You have him wrapped around your finger.”
“What?”
“Come on, Ais. That poor boy is practically begging to have some alone time with you. You can’t be that oblivious,” Raven declared, her heavy boots clanging on the stairs as we descended.
“She’s right,” Jess said from behind me. “I heard about how he asked you to homecoming in front of Melissa. He’s got my approval just for that.”
“Melissa wasn’t actually interested in him,” Raven stated, rolling her eyes as we started our trek to the car.
“You sound kind of jealous,” I teased.
Raven tried to hide her expression, but the redness seeping into her cheeks gave her away. “I’m just saying, Jason isn’t Melissa’s type. She was only toying with you.”
“I think we both know who Melissa’s type is—”
“Hey!”
We heard a quick shout through the parking lot as we neared my car. Melissa walked briskly towards us, her cronies nowhere to be seen. She wrapped her jacket tightly around her against the coldness of the night.
“Hey yourself,” Raven said flatly.
“Can I talk to you—in private?” Melissa asked, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. Jess touched my arm lightly as we turned to walk towards the car. We hopped in and tried not to stare at them standing in the parking lot.
I turned on the car along with some music, trying to give them the time they needed to talk things out. Jess turned her head towards me in the passenger seat. “Melissa and Raven. They’re a thing, aren’t they?”
“Uh...”
“It’s okay. I have eyes, you know,” Jess snickered beside me.
“I know. I think Melissa was just as angry with her friend as Raven was. She’s not out yet, as far as I know.” I thought back to some of the things I said out of anger. Shame flooded me as I realized I practically outed Melissa in front of everyone, something that wasn’t my choice to make. Whether they had believed me was a different story.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone, but I’m sure the whole school knows by now. Melissa can try to hide it, but her friend ruined her reputation while trying to ruin Raven’s,” Jess replied. “I think it’s a good sign that Melissa is willing to talk to her about it.”
I watched as Raven came around the car and hopped into the backseat as I pulled out of the parking lot. “So...where’s this diner at?”
“Oh, good. I thought you were going to ask me about what Melissa wanted to talk about. It’s up the street on the left. Can’t miss it. It’s the only place decked out in neon,” Raven pointed out.
“Well, I was going to ask you about Melissa too,” I said with a sly smile.
I heard Raven sit back in her seat as I pulled into the parking lot of the glowing restaurant. She wasn’t kidding about the lights. It reminded me of one of those old school diners you would see in movies with teens wearing poodle skirts and greasers hanging around up to no good.
Raven groaned. “I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re doing.”
“Is it really that complicated?” I asked, parking the car.
“We’re trying to figure things out—do I need to fill Jess in?” Raven asked.
Jess threw up her hands. “I may not know the whole history, but I’m not blind. You two have a lot of sexual tension.”
Raven swung her head to face me, exaggerating the motion.
“Don’t look at me!” I exclaimed. “Jess is a smart kid, and we’re all friends here. I didn’t say anything.”
Raven bowed her head, sighing before swinging it back up and running her hand through her bangs. “I still hate her, but...”
“Yes?” Jess urged. I glared at her.
“It’s fine,” Raven shrugged. “I don’t know what it is. I have a soft spot for her because no one really knows her the way I do—the real Melissa. Not the fake one she’s always prancing around as at school. The one I used to practice rugby with and then go out for milkshakes after, the one who taught me how to rollerblade, and the one who would write me notes to put in my locker when I was having a bad day.”
Raven paused, smiling to herself. “You know, when we were together, I almost forgot about my illness.”
“Does Ben know?” Jess asked softly.
Raven burst into laughter. “Ben and I may be flirty with each other, but we’re not together, not romantically at least. He’s known longer than anyone about the history between Melissa and me.”
“Oh,” Jess said, blowing out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad it’s not going to get awkward.”
“You don’t have to worry about that—”
I jumped in my seat as Ben smashed his face into my driver side window, making funny faces against the glass. With a chuckle, I opened my car door, hitting him in the gut as he feigned being hurt, stumbling backward away from the car. Jess and Raven got out as Jason and Max approached us. Jess let Max drape his arm around her shoulders.
“Shall we, ladies?” Max asked, leading the way with Jess. We paired off as we walked towards the glowing lights of the diner. A few kids from school trickled through the side door as we entered behind them, taking in the row of booths by the windows and the long counter.
Max led us towards a booth near the back where he and Jess slid in, making some space for the rest of us. Raven sat sandwiched in between Ben and Jason while I took the seat next to Max. Jason smiled at me across the table as a waitress pulled up to our booth with a few men
us in tow.
“Nice game tonight,” she commented, eying the letterman jackets the boys were wearing. “I heard you hung them out to dry.”
“They’re not our main prey,” Ben smiled. “It’s those Bay Sharks we’re after.”
The waitress smiled before pulling out a notepad from her pocket and a pen from her messy bun. “What would you kids like to drink?”
We placed our orders as she scribbled them down, giving us time to glance over the menu. Max shifted uncomfortably next to me as he cleared his throat.
“So...Raven—”
“Here you all are,” the waitress sang as she placed our drinks on the table in front of us with a few straws. “You all know what you’d like?”
“Just water for me, thanks,” Raven said with a smile. The rest of our table ordered burgers.
“As I was saying,” Max continued. “We all know what happened during the game. We didn’t get the text until we got back to the locker room.”
“Aislin took care of it,” Raven commented, sipping her water.
“Did she now?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
“Yep. My knight in shining armor,” Raven smirked.
“It wasn’t that spectacular,” I muttered with a soft smile tugging at the corner of my lips. “Someone had to stand up to Melissa. Raven’s done a pretty good job doing that all on her own. I thought I’d give her a break from it just this once.”
“It takes guts to stand up to a girl like Melissa. How did she handle it?” Jason inquired.
“A lot better than I would’ve given her credit for,” I revealed. It was true Melissa’s actions had shocked me considering her track record.
“It’s true,” Jess interjected. “I saw the whole thing. Melissa chewed her friend up and spit her back out.”
“That could be her trying to avoid tarnishing her crown,” Ben replied as the waitress came back with our food. He scooped a fry off his plate and popped it into his mouth. The table was silent for a moment as we gingerly ate our food.
“I’ve seen some growth there,” Raven began again. “She’s not perfect, but I think she’s trying to make some sort of change.”