To my horror, I watched Brent put his foot right onto the side of Joshua's face, pinning it to the cement while his friends continued to laugh. Stop it, I wanted to scream. Why isn't someone stopping this? I turned to look at Rhonda, and what I saw then chilled me right down to the bone.
She was smiling. Poor little Joshua was getting the crap beat out of him, and she was smiling.
No. Can't be. She's a spoiled brat, but she can't possibly have anything to do with this! But then, I'd seen her looking at Brent in the cafeteria before…
I was thankful when the fifth-period bell rang. I turned away from Rhonda and ran straight to the Science classroom. I sat down at our work-table, unable to deal with all I'd just seen. Joshua came in a couple of minutes later. When he sat down, I saw that there were still traces of Brent's shoeprint on his face, and he was trying like hell not to start crying in front of everybody.
It all made sense now. The fear, the loneliness, the isolation, the sadness. I remembered the burns he'd had on his arms last week, and I suddenly identified the other thing I'd seen in his eyes since the day we'd been partnered together.
Pain.
I still had a test to take, though, and as much as I wanted to comfort him right then and there, all I could do was give his hand a gentle squeeze. He was so choked up, I'm not sure he even felt it.
* * *
When I boarded the bus later that day, I took my usual seat, but my eyes immediately went to the back row. Joshua was hunched over in his seat, trying his best to be invisible. He was my age, and only an inch shorter than me, but he looked so small and frail, like a gust of wind might blow him away.
I stared at him for a few moments, and I could feel my heart breaking. Go to him, my inner voice said. Without even thinking about it, I grabbed my backpack and made my way down the aisle.
I sat down next to him, and I could tell he was still trying to keep his emotions bottled up. I felt so sorry for him. This poor guy … how on Earth did this become his life?
“Joshua, look at me,” I said. I could hear his breathing getting shallow. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore me.
“Look at me,” I said again, and finally, he looked me straight in the face. The pain in his eyes was almost unbearable to see. It was all I could do to keep from crying as well.
After a few tense moments, he was able to calm down enough to tell me his story. Every sentence, every detail felt like a punch in my own gut.
* * *
Later that afternoon, I sat in the family room with Kirsten and Sophie, watching TV, but all I could do was stare into space. It just didn't seem possible. Three years, it had been this way for Joshua. Three years, with no friends, no outside help, and no end in sight. How could anyone go through all that and keep going?
“Are you okay, Evie?” Sophie was staring at me.
I shook my head. There just weren't words to say.
She stood up and walked over to me. A sad look crossed her face. “I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“Whatever's making you sad.”
I looked at her. “Sophie …” The words still weren't coming, so I just reached out and took her hand. “I'm the one who should be sorry. For being … such a jerk.”
“Does that mean you're gonna stop?” asked Kirsten, who had also turned to look at me.
Again, I had no answer.
* * *
Before sitting down to dinner, I decided I would keep Joshua's revelations to myself until I'd had enough time to properly deal with it all. On the upside, I was happy to tell my parents that my performance in Science class had improved.
“I did a lot better on today's test, I just know it,” I said.
“So glad to hear it, Evie. Did you get Emily to help you out?” Dad asked, smiling.
I really didn't want to go into that either. “No, it was my lab partner, Joshua.”
Mom made a puzzled face. “The boy you described as 'the creepiest kid in school'?”
Sophie looked up from her plate, smiling. “Is he cute?” She was always doing that.
“Kind of,” I said. “He's a small guy, with glasses, dark hair …” I trailed off. “And he's smart. Really smart. I …” I trailed off again.
“What is it, sweetie?” my dad asked.
“I … heard things about him, bad things. But now I'm beginning to wonder if any of them are true.”
“Well, Eve, you shouldn't form an opinion about someone based solely on what other people tell you,” my mom said. “Only what you can see for yourself.”
My shoulders slumped. “I'm starting to realize that, now.”
* * *
I couldn't sleep that night. Staring up at my bedroom ceiling, all I could hear were Joshua's final words to me: You really don't know, do you? They echoed in my mind.
No, I don't. I don't know anything, apparently.
Chapter 15
DAY 17
JOSHUA
The bus rides to and from school were now the highlight of my day. Eve made it clear on Monday that we were sitting together no matter what objections I had, and, unsurprisingly, I had none.
Over the course of several days, I told her everything I could remember about the last few years, and she took it all in. Turned out she was a good listener too; it felt so good to finally have someone my age that I could just pour my heart out to.
By mid-week, I'd painted her a pretty clear picture of our school's darkest secret: namely, that bad kids could get away with pretty much anything they wanted as long as no one was seriously hurt. Mental and emotional abuse didn't make that list, unfortunately, and that had taken its toll on me. I don't think I realized just how bad it had gotten for me before Eve and I had been thrown together. The black cloud that followed me everywhere I went was starting to clear.
By the time Thursday rolled around, I felt our relationship had finally transformed from mere lab partners into something resembling actual friendship. I didn't want to say or do anything to risk that friendship, but there were hard questions I needed answering.
On the bus ride home, I turned to her and said, “Eve, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I … I …” I trailed off. The fear was making me tongue-tied again.
She put her hand on top of mine. “Joshua, you can ask me anything you want. I may not answer,” she said, grinning, “but you can still ask.”
I nodded. “Eve … when the school year started, you wanted nothing to do with me. I'm not mad at you for that, but if I ever did something to make you hate me, I'd like to know what it is.”
Eve looked away, her smile fading. “I … heard things about you. Terrible things.”
“Ah,” I said. “Let me guess … 'creepy little freak,' right? 'Plays with dolls'? 'Eats cockroaches'? 'Murdered his cat and buried it in his backyard'? Things like that?”
“Yeah,” she replied, lowering her head. “Things like that.”
“And you believed every word of it, didn't you?”
“Yes,” she replied. “No …” she quickly corrected, trailing off. “I don't know. I just heard so much stuff I figured some of it had to be true.” She stared broodingly into space. “But none of it is, is it?”
“Don't feel too bad, Eve. Everyone at school believes all that crap too.”
“But if none of the rumors are true, then why don't you deny them? Keeping quiet just makes it seem to everyone that they are true.”
“I used to deny them … until I realized how useless that was. There were so many of them spreading lies, and only me denying them. The more I denied them, the more stuff they made up, and the less people believed me. They just piled so much crap on top of me. After a while, the stink was so bad that everyone just stayed away … and then the bullies had me all to themselves, because no one would come to my rescue anymore. Some people actually seemed to think I deserved every pounding I got.”
She flinched. “And Rhonda's behind all of it?”
I placed my hand on top of hers, nodding. “Brent and Randy aren't smart enough to come up with a plan like that on their own. They're just the muscle. Her private army of thugs.” I sighed. “Oh, I'm sure Rhonda has nothing against me personally … I'm just someone she can make an example of in front of everybody. To show off her power.”
Eve's eyes narrowed. “I … I never saw that side of her … until last week. When I saw her smile while you were getting beaten up. I didn't make the connection at the time, but it makes sense now.”
Time for another hard question. “How did you become friends with her, anyway? You're nothing like her! I know you've tried to be, but you just aren't.”
She told me how she, Emily and Susan, who had been best friends since first grade, had idolized Rhonda for many years. She told me about her chance meeting with Rhonda, and how she'd been recruited and trained for her role as the newest member of Rhonda's entourage. And then came the really bad news. “I … had to tell the two best friends I ever had I couldn't be with them anymore. The look on their faces every day since …”
That explained the attitude Emily was giving Eve. I didn't have any classes with Susan, but I knew she was naturally shy and probably not likely to respond to any questions I could ask her. Emily, on the other hand, had had a chip on her shoulder since school began again, and now I knew why. I also knew Emily's opinion of me was pretty much the same as the one Eve had when the school year started. Not much hope there either.
“There was no going back after that,” Eve continued. “I'm part of the popular crowd now. I get to hang out with the popular girls and the best-looking guys. At first, I thought the sacrifices I'd made had been worth it. Turns out the popular guys are all horny jerks who just want to grope me, and all Rhonda's girlfriends do is kiss her butt the whole time. That's probably why she recruited me in the first place; I practically drooled on her the first time we spoke. What an idiot I was …”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught that fifth-grade girl with the pigtails staring at me again from the front of the bus. No, wait, is she staring at both of us? I looked at her for a few moments, studying her face. She had very expressive eyes, and I thought for a moment she might say something – like I would've heard her over the noise anyway – but she quickly looked away. Nosy kid.
I turned back to Eve. “What are you going to do now?”
She stared into space for a few moments, deep in thought. “I have no idea.”
* * *
I spent a large part of the evening lying on my bed, staring at The Two Towers, which I was reading for the fifth time. It took me a couple of hours to realize that I hadn't turned the page even once. What a mess Eve had gotten herself into.
I was happy to learn that underneath all the painted-on glitz, Eve was still the same good person I'd always thought she was. If she'd been anything at all like Rhonda, she never would've cared about what happened to me, and she certainly never would've taken the time to speak to me. She had a good heart, and I'd come to think of her as a friend, though I had no idea if she felt the same way about me.
Eve and Rhonda in the same circle … No. It'll never last. They're just too different to ever see eye-to-eye. Something's gonna happen between them, and it ain't gonna be pretty.
Chapter 16
DAY 17
EVE
What a week it had been.
I've been so blind. As my mother often said, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. It's one thing when you're a small child and you can't appreciate the consequences of your words or your actions, but when you're thirteen, you should know the difference between right and wrong. Awful things were happening practically every day, and I, like just about everyone else, had chosen to blissfully ignore it. No more, I vowed to myself.
On Monday, I lied to Rhonda just to get a few minutes to myself right after lunch by faking the need for a bathroom break. Instead, I followed Joshua out of the cafeteria, making sure he didn't notice me. He headed straight for the bleachers on the far side of the playground. I also observed him on those bleachers on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. So that's where he goes.
On Thursday's bus ride to school, I asked Joshua if he'd help me study once again for Friday's science test. Even though we were on better terms now, I was sure he'd say no … but he didn't. Rhonda had shown no signs of knowing about our study session, so he felt safe that we could meet in the library again, though he would be taking extra precautions.
During the trip home, he asked me questions I'd been trying so hard to avoid asking myself. After all I'd just learned about Rhonda, I knew deep down that a confrontation with her in the near future was inevitable. If even a fraction of what Joshua had told me about her was true …
I found myself telling Joshua details about my personal life that I'd kept from everyone, even my own family, which surprised me a little. There was just something about his personality that made me want to confide in him. He was kind, and gentle, and sweet, and so undeserving of the life he'd been handed. He'd been knocked down so many times, but he just kept getting back up again. So much strength in such a tiny body.
The more I got to know him, the more I wanted to help him. One thing was for sure: I wasn't going to ignore him again, like everyone else in our class was doing. For the first time since the school year started, I felt like I was doing something right. Part of the solution.
It was ironic … for months, all I could talk about around the dinner table with my family was Rhonda. Now, all I could talk about was Joshua. “He's going to help me study again tomorrow,” I told my parents.
“That's wonderful, sweetie,” said my dad. “If you get a good grade on this test, you can consider your grounding over.”
Music to my ears. I glanced over at Sophie, who was grinning from ear to ear. “What?” I asked her indignantly.
“You liiiiiiiiiike him,” she teased, giggling. Kirsten was chuckling under her breath too.
My face turned red, but somehow I couldn't deny Sophie's taunt. Because, unbelievably, it was true.
Chapter 17
DAY 18
JOSHUA
I made sure to get the table in the corner of the library again, piling up as many reference books as I could in order to obscure the view of anyone who might look in our direction. No one was going to see us unless they were only a few feet away.
Eve and I reviewed the chapter, and now that we were both communicating freely, we'd aced Wednesday's lab project. She was really starting to get the hang of it now.
As we were wrapping up, I asked Eve a question that had been on my mind all week. “Eve … are we friends?”
She glanced at me with a worried look on her face, which then transformed into one of her gorgeous smiles. She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she just nodded.
My mind was awhirl with possibilities. The black cloud was starting to drift over the horizon. There were a hundred other things I wanted to say at that moment, but we had only a few minutes before the bell rang. Besides, I figured it could wait until the bus ride home. Still smiling, she said, “See you in a bit,” and walked as quietly as she could toward the main exit.
I decided to wait a full five minutes before leaving, and I wasn't going to use the side exit either. I peeked out the library windows, hoping like hell the coast was clear. I thought about waiting for the bell to ring and then making a mad dash for the classroom, which was only one flight of stairs up. I figured I was just being paranoid, so I put my head down and went outside.
I hadn't gone three steps out the library's main doors before I was grabbed from behind and hustled around the corner. Stupid Fridays. I was still batting a thousand three weeks into the school year.
Brent was there, of course, along with all his idiot friends. He shoved me up against a brick wall, pinning my neck with his forearm. I looked to my right and saw Rhonda, who had come down from her ivory tower to take personal action. She was holding Eve's arm
tightly. Our secret was out.
Rhonda was glaring daggers at Eve. “This is who you've been spending your Fridays with? This little freak? What the hell is going on with you?”
I locked eyes with Eve, realizing with a jolt that this could be a turning point in both of our lives. I only hoped I would be conscious to witness it.
“Well?” Rhonda asked.
“He's my lab partner,” Eve said, “in Science class. I've been having a hard time, and he's helping me study for tests. That's all.”
Rhonda looked surprised. “He's your partner? You told me it was somebody else!”
“I know, and I'm sorry,” said Eve, bowing her head. “Please, Rhonda, let him go. He's done nothing wrong.”
Rhonda nodded her head once at Brent, who delivered a hard fist to my stomach, followed by one to my jaw that sent my glasses flying off. Luckily, they didn't break, but I wouldn't be retrieving them anytime soon. I felt the faint taste of blood in my mouth.
A look of horror crossed Eve's face. “Stop it!” she screamed. “Please stop it!”
Another nod, and two more punches, both to the stomach. I collapsed to the ground, my lunch making its way back upward.
Eve was nearly hysterical. “Stop it!” she screamed. “He's not who you think he is! He's a good person! He doesn't deserve this!”
But Rhonda was in her element now. These were the moments she lived for. “You like that little freak? Haven't you heard about all the nasty stuff he's into?”
“Yes I have,” Eve said. “Mostly from you.” She wiped her face and pushed Rhonda's hand off of her arm. “And it's all lies!”
Rhonda brought her face close to Eve's. “You just don't get it, do you, you little skank? There's a natural order to things. He's on the bottom, we're on the top. It's that simple.”
Joshua's Island (James Madison Series Book 1) Page 5