Gas or Ass (24 page)

A
pril wore to a close, then, before I knew it, May was halfway over and graduation was only two weeks away. The guidance counselor stopped me in the hallway. “Have you heard anything about the scholarship competition?”

I shook my head and she frowned. “I don’t understand. Caroline got her letter of acceptance and they gave her a scholarship package. Ask your mother if she forgot to show you your letter.”

“Okay.” I’d almost forgotten the trip to South Carolina and my desire to attend the fancy private college. Racing every weekend, sneaking around with Colt, and trying not to flunk out before I could graduate kept me busy.

I searched the halls, looking for her bright hair. I spied her at my locker. I picked up my pace, cursing my short legs as I ducked around people.

“Slut,” someone said. “I wish your bitch friend’s locker was somewhere else. I don’t like you near me.”

People stopped in their tracks. I recognized the group of senior girls surrounding her. My heart sank. Not again. These bitches seemed to heat up along with the weather.

“Such a whore,” said another. “Why don’t you fucking kill yourself? Screwing your stepbrother’s a sin.”

Tears streaked Caroline’s pale cheeks. Rage pounded through me. Racing had brought me out of my shell and I was over this bitch.

“Being a cunt? That’s a sin.” I grabbed the shirt of the closest tormenter and yanked with all my might. Her feet slipped on the polished floor. I smiled grimly when she landed on her ass. Wading forward, I slung my book bag into the gut of the one who’d called Caroline a slut.

I glared into the shocked, perfectly made-up face of the last one, the bitch who thought Caroline, sweet, intelligent, Caroline who loved NASCAR and giggled like a kid, should kill herself.

“I heard you in the cafeteria the other day, talking about”—lifting my hands, I waggled the first two fingers of both hands—‘your number.’ Two, is it? Two guys have fucked you and you think that makes you all that? You’re a fucking cliché. Buying into the theory that what’s fine for guys makes a girl something less is as stupid as thinking Caroline’s going to hell for a relationship with some guy she’s not even related to, idiot.” I drew back my hand and swung. Her eyes rounded when my palm connected with the side of her face. “Don’t ever fucking speak to her again, you hear me? If you do, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Cat fight!” some guy cried. The girl lifted her hand to her reddening cheek. She just stared at me for a second, then her hand flashed out. She grabbed my hair and wrenched my head to the side. Pain seared my scalp. I punched, kicked, and finally, twisted to sink my teeth into her wrist, because that seemed the only way to break her death grip on my hair. When she relented, I shoved both palms against her shoulders. She fell and I sprang on top of her.

I was still driving a fist into her gut when one of the assistant football coaches wrapped me in a bear hug.

“Roberts, stop!” he ordered. “You’re going to the office, all of you. Mason, Lunsford, Nixon, Hayes, move it. Straight to Principal Barnes’s office.”

“Caroline never touched anyone,” I yelled, kicking harder, infuriated by the way he held me. “Goddammit, Coach Tindall, she’s the victim! Those mean bitches pick on her every damn day.”

He clapped a hand over my mouth and strode through the crowded hallway.

The principal was a tall man, but his girth outstripped his height. He rose from his desk chair and glared at each of us in turn while the coach recounted what he’d seen.

“This one,”—the coach pointed to me—“started it. She threw Casey to the ground, then she hit Rachel with her book bag. She slapped Marie and then knocked her down, too. Before I could get between them, they were fighting like... like... cats in heat. But to tell the truth, Marie looked to be defending herself.”

Marie had edged Caroline out as valedictorian by two fucking percentage points, but she’d beaten everyone in the ‘I’m a sanctimonious cunt’ race by a country mile. This school had a few of those self-righteous bitches, so the field was crowded. 

“No.” I lifted my head, chest heaving. “I didn’t start this. It probably started back in kindergarten, long before I moved here. But by God, I finished it. These hateful, spiteful girls pick on Caroline all the time. You can post all the anti-bullying posters you want, but I’ve never seen one damn teacher take up for Caroline. Everybody just looks away and lets them get away with their sh—act.”

“Miss Roberts.” The principal raised his voice. “You’re expelled.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, if I’m expelled, they damn better well be expelled, too. I bet five or more people had their cell phones out.” I rounded on the coach. “How about you do something more useful for once, like go find those damn phones? Fifty people can tell you how they torment her, if you’d bother to ask.”

I glared at both unsmiling male faces and let my outrage carry me away. “If you don’t, I swear to God, I’ll find that footage myself and show the fucking school board. If they graduate?” I gestured to the three silent, gloating girls. “So do me and Caroline. If we don’t, I’ll make such a stink that the Board of Education won’t let them walk, either. Twitter, Facebook, the local paper. Bullying is a lot more than slapping someone that had it coming. Trust me, you don’t want me here another year any more than I wanna be here.” I moved toward the coach. “And how damn dare you call me a cat in heat? Maybe that’s where these three got the idea they could say anything to anyone, huh?”

The principal and coach exchanged a long look. I took Caroline’s hand. “Come on. We’re leaving.” I led her past the big desk. Pausing at the door, I looked over my shoulder. “But we’ll be back tomorrow.”

No one contradicted me.

My book bag was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t in the hall, and though I knew looking there was a waste of time, it wasn’t in my locker. I banged my head against the inside of the door. “There goes my laptop.”

“I’ll get Brandon to buy you a new one.” Caroline grabbed my arm and her tears welled again. “Swear to God, I will, Shelby. No one ever took up for me but him and Colt.”

I didn’t want her to pay me for being her friend. “Maybe someone will turn it in to the office.” I figured, with a sinking heart, that one of the mean girls’ friends had taken it. I pictured trying to explain to Mom why I had to pay for four textbooks before I could graduate. And oh, by the way, I need a new laptop.

The trio of bitches came down the hall. “There they are,” one said. “White trash if I ever saw it, both of ‘em.”

“You want some more?” I slammed my locker door and stepped up to her, shoving my nose against hers, even though I had to go on tiptoe to do it. “You can’t stay on school grounds forever, bitch.”

Caroline tugged me away, leading me down the empty halls toward the exit that led to the student parking lot.

“You’re off the chain, Shelby.” Caroline giggled minutes later. We sat in my car, trying to decide where to go, since neither of us wanted to go home and we had to leave. “I swear, Marie went so pale, I thought she’d pass out right there. You know another fight would’ve spelled doom, but you were right in her face.” She traced the ‘Cuda logo on the door. “You’ve changed. This car, it changed you.” She jerked her head up and turned to face me. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. But you’re not the quiet kid who moved here.”

She was right. The only time I’d even defended myself had been when a guy I despised grabbed my breast. I didn’t think it was fair that I got suspended for that, but, if not for the late night drag races, I’d probably have stood by, wanting to help but fearing the consequences. Racing, not the car, had changed me. Colt and Caine and their ‘gas or ass’ mentality had changed me. Meeting Caroline had changed me. The car was just window dressing.

“Caroline, why didn’t you tell me about your scholarship?”

She dropped her eyes to the console. “I was kinda waiting for you to tell me about yours, first.”

“They didn’t offer me one, I guess. I never felt that good about that test. There were so many questions I just blanked on.” I grabbed her arm. “But you should totally go. I mean, it’s all expenses paid, right?”

She shook her head. “Nah, I’m not going.”

“Somewhere else, then. Where else did you apply? Maybe... maybe we can go to UNC-Charlotte together.”

Her laugh didn’t sound like laughter. Especially not like Caroline’s laughter. “You don’t want to go there and neither do I. I’d get lost, that place is so big. I’m not going at all, Shelby. I’m pregnant. Me and Brandon are getting married the day after I graduate.”

I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to say she could get an abortion, that I’d go with her, that giving herself a chance was just as important as giving some microscopic cluster of cells a chance. But I thought I knew what she’d say. Caroline wanted her baby because no one wanted her, so I bit back the words. No one had ever validated her choices.

“Let’s go look at baby stuff, then.” I reached for the ignition. “Meet you at the mall.”

***

“Y
oung lady, I’ve waited all afternoon and half of the evening for you to tell me you got into a fight at school.”

I struggled to swallow the bite of barbequed chicken. Giving up, because all the moisture drained from my mouth under Mom’s glare, I spit the mouthful into my napkin. I sat straighter and met her gaze. All the anger I’d felt earlier came roaring back.

“That’s right. And if any of them open their mouths again, I’ll get in another one. I don’t think those bitches are all that bright, so be prepared for another call from the principal.”

Mom’s eyes rounded. “I don’t know what’s come over you, Shelby. Fighting? It was one thing to defend yourself from being molested. But, this time, you took an actual swing at some girl? Knocked her down and jumped on her?”

“What?” Colt grinned. “Who peed in your cornflakes, Red?”

“This is unacceptable,” Mom cried. “You realize if you get expelled, you can’t graduate?”

Dale sat frozen, his fork halfway to his mouth. Setting the utensil down, he frowned at Mom. “Macy, she sounds pretty committed. Let’s hear her side first.”

“There’s no side. I’m just fed up with a few mouthy people who think it’s okay to tell Caroline she should kill herself because she wasn’t raised with their advantages. So, I repeat, if they start their shit again, I’ll be in another fight. I don’t care if it means I don’t walk with my class. I’ll go to summer school and get my diploma in the mail.”

“And Caroline? Was she in this fight, too?” Dale asked.

I shook my head, but I knew why Caroline hadn’t jumped into the fray. She’d been protecting her baby. Something I didn’t think was my place to share. “They had her pinned to my locker. I jumped ‘em from behind.”

Colt held out his palm. I reached over the table and slapped it. “Atta girl.”

“No! Not ‘atta girl’, Colt. Shelby’s my child and she wasn’t raised to act this way. I don’t know you and your brother resolve your issues, but I raised Shelby to be a lady. I’m telling you, Dale, that girl’s a bad influence on Shelby. I’m not going to wonder every day if she’s getting Shelby into trouble. So,”—she turned to me—“no more Caroline, missy. As of now, you and she aren’t friends.

“It’s not up to you! You can drag me here, but you don’t get to pick and choose who I make friends with.” I shoved my chair away from the table and jumped to my feet. The chair tipped into the barstool behind me.

“Sit down!” Mom shrieked. “You do not get to walk away from this, young lady. You’re in some serious trouble.”

“Wait a damn minute.” Dale brought his palm down on the table. The sound ricocheted through the small room, freezing everyone.

“Now that I have y’all’s attention.” He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his tone was normal. “Shelby, are you saying some girls at school told Caroline she should kill herself?”

I nodded. “More than once. They say it all the time. Today, I’d had enough.”

“And then, to be sure I understand, you cleaned her clock?”

“Pretty much. I slapped the one who said that and she pulled my hair, so I shoved her to the floor and we just went at it. Coach Tindall dragged me off of her, and then, in the office, he said I was acting like a stray cat in heat.” I huffed. “He’d never say that if he’d caught Colt and Caine fighting. Or any guys. How’s that not setting a bad example?”

Dale scrubbed a hand over his lower jaw. “Macy, you seriously think that it’s okay for people to say things like that? I mean, that kid you’re yelling about? She’s sweet as can be. I doubt she’d say boo to a goose, but that’s pretty damn harsh, sayin’ that to her. I ain’t tellin’ you how to raise your kid. Looks to me like Shelby’s just about grown, anyhow, but I’ll say this. If Caine stood by and let someone say that to Colt, even today, I’d whip his ass till he couldn’t stand up.”

Caine bobbed his head, like he’d expect no different.

My mother glared, at Dale, not me, but Dale picked up his fork. “Pass the biscuits.” He gave Mom a grin. “Please.” When she continued to glare, he cocked a brow at me and sighed. “Shelby, you’re restricted from driving—anywhere—until school’s out. Bring me your car keys after you get the dishes done. Colt and Caine and me will take turns letting you out right at the front door. Macy will pick you up in the same spot. In between, if you’re gonna bitch slap someone, make sure there’s no teachers around. Now, sit down and finish your supper.”

“That’s not fair!” I jerked my chair upright, wanting, but not quite daring, to storm off to my room.

“Well, now, honey. You find me the person who promised you life was fair, and no matter how redneck your mama thinks I’m bein’, I’ll clean
his
clock and let you watch.”

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. Colt and Caine joined in. Dale just kept smiling at Mom. She shoved the plate of biscuits into my hand. A minute passed, then she jerked her napkin out of her lap and covered her mouth, but her shaking shoulders gave her away.

The next morning, someone tapped on my bedroom door. “Shelby, you ‘bout ready to roll, hon?” Dale asked.

“Two minutes.” I stifled a groan and eyed the time. I was going to be the first kid at school. Colt was still in the shower, so I darted in the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush and the tube of paste.