by Sadie Allen
What. The. Hell? I could feel my face turn red. I had to clench my fists to keep from reaching over and snapping Ashley’s effin neck as anger boiled in my gut and my muscles tensed in preparation for action. I wanted to hurt her.
Then I felt a cool, soft hand touch my forearm.
I looked down to see Sunny’s hand gripping it. Then my eyes traveled up her arm to her shoulder, and then to her face that was leaning toward me. It was blank, but there were no tears or hurt in her eyes, or anything akin to pain.
“Judd, relax.”
With those two words, I did just that. I exhaled a huge breath and closed my eyes.
Sunny again had come to my rescue. I barely knew her, but in the span of ten minutes, I felt like she was one of the realest people I had ever met, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her being hurt.
“Like you said, she’s nothing,” Sunny continued. “My dad is Native American, and he is a drunk.” Sunny then straightened up to her full height.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Instead of absorbing Ashley’s hate-filled words and running away, she was doing something better. Something I should have done all along. Sunny was taking back her power.
She faced Ashley down and said, “Why don’t you tell me something I don’t know? I agree with you that he sounds a little bit like a farm animal when he laughs, but what’s your point? Do you have daddy issues, in addition to being a bigot? Because you can’t seem to leave ours alone.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud.
I could feel the eyes of the whole class turn in our direction, but I couldn’t care less.
Then, before any more words could be exchanged, the bell rang twice, signaling the end of class and the end of the school day.
As Ashley got up and walked past us to leave the room, she hissed at me, “If you thought things were bad before, Judd, you just wait. They’re about to get so much worse for you”—her eyes went to Sunny, looking her up and down in disgust—”and your girlfriend.”
I never had a doubt.
Funny that she assumed Sunny was my girlfriend, when I hadn’t even spoken to her before today.
“Bye, Ashley! It was fun chatting with you!” Sunny called out in a too cheerful voice that made me chuckle. The girl had a pair, and they were made of titanium.
“You probably shouldn’t have done that,” I told her as I closed my notebook and stuck it in my backpack.
“Why? She’s a terrible human being.”
I couldn’t argue with her there. Still, Ashley’s threat wasn’t something to ignore.
“If you thought she was bluffing a minute ago, you’re wrong. She’s going to look for a way to make your life miserable. You stood up to her today, stood up for me of all people, and she’s not going to let that go. Not that I’m not appreciative, but why would you do that for me?”
Sunny was quiet for a minute, concentrating on putting away her notebook and various pens and highlighters. My chest started to ache when I thought she wasn’t going to answer my question. That maybe she was thinking going against Ashley on my behalf had been a mistake. Not that I needed anyone to fight my battles, but for once, someone might actually care about my situation. That maybe she thought treating me like the school’s punching bag was wrong since I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. That maybe I was a victim of this mess, too.
I was about to get up and head for the door when she spoke.
“What Asher and Ashley are doing to you is wrong. I was never in a position to say or do anything before since you and I never seem to be in the same place, but I’ve heard. Even a nobody like me hears gossip. Today, Ashley handed me the opportunity to finally say something.”
I couldn’t look at her. Too many emotions were swirling inside me. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry because of this girl. This girl who I never even paid attention to before today, who had had my back against a person I used to think I loved. Someone who should have stood by me when my life fell apart.
Though I had been Ashley’s boyfriend for over a year, I had been her friend long before that since Asher had been my best friend from the time we started Pee-Wee football. I thought she knew me. I thought we were close. However, one thing this whole mess had taught me was that people weren’t who you thought they were, and blind faith and trust were for fools.
You only really knew who your true friends were when you were at your lowest with nothing to offer. After the smoke cleared, that was when you finally saw who was left standing beside you. Unfortunately for me, I found myself alone when everything had been said and done.
“We’re not responsible for our parents’ actions, good or bad. If your friends couldn’t see that, then they were never really your friends. You and your mom are the victims in this situation, not Asher or Ashley, or even the football team.
“For them to treat you this way says more about them than it does about you. All the people who are standing by and letting them do this are no better. We’re not extensions of our parents, or even reflections of them. We’re separate people with minds of our own, who may or may not agree with all the decisions that they make or have made for us. Yet, here you are, shouldering the blame for something you are not responsible for, and frankly, that’s none of their business. It’s not fair.”
By the time she was done speaking, her chest was rising and falling so fast you would have thought she had just finished running a race. I had a feeling that some of the things she said weren’t just about me, and that maybe having “Laughing Lonny” as a father hadn’t been such a great experience. I also learned that Sunny Blackfox was quickly becoming one of my favorite people in the whole world.
“So, pre-law for you after graduation?”
Sunny let out a breathless chuckle, and I instantly wanted to make her do it again. I didn’t think I had ever seen her smile or laugh.
“Why would you say that?”
“Because it seems like you have a strong sense of justice, or fairness--or whatever you want to call it. You were very passionate in that speech there.”
She blushed, which was another thing I hadn’t ever seen her do.
“Shut up,” she said without any real heat. “Actually,” she continued, “I want to go to culinary school. So, no pre-law for me … Which reminds me that I need to get going, or I’m going to be late for work.”
She then turns to her backpack and starts rooting around before finally pulling out a torn piece of paper. Taking a pen from one of the front pockets, she starts to scribble numbers on the torn piece of paper. When she’s done, she hands me the paper.
“Since our planning was interrupted and we still need to go over what we’re going to do Monday, here’s my number. You can text me if you can come up with something better than box cakes or cookies. If not, I will send you my recipe, and we can divide up the supplies.”
I looked at the scrap of paper in my hand and, sure enough, it had Sunny written in loopy, girly print with her number underneath it.
I took my phone out of my pocket and swiped my thumb across the screen, opening my contacts before entering her info. Otherwise, I would probably forget about it and lose that scrap of paper. Then I opened up my text messages and shot her a text.
When her phone dinged, I said, “Now you have my number, too.”
We stood there, smiling at each other longer than necessary.
“Well, I better get going. I’m already on my way to being late for work. I’ll either text you tonight once I finish my shift or tomorrow morning.”
I watched her put on her coat and grab her backpack before she headed toward the door. When she hit the doorway, she stopped and looked back at me from over her shoulder, her face serious again.
“Don’t let those people get you down, Judd. A year from now, this will all be a memory. Not a good memory, but a memory just the same.” And then she was gone.
She was like a teenage Yoda, I could swear. I definitely had a lot to think over this weekend.
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