This Year at Home (A Short Story) (2 page)

“Hi, Paige.” I stopped walking. The old me would have looked away and kept walking. I always assumed nobody wanted to talk to me.

Paige stopped too and shuffled to the side.

I followed her. “Rebecca Levine. I was in your homeroom last year.”

“Oh yeah.” Page’s lips parted slightly. “Wow, you look amazing! I didn’t think you were coming back. I, uh… never mind.”

“I went on a study-abroad program.”

“Is it true?” She put her hand to her mouth. “Sorry, didn’t mean that. I’m just stunned you’re back.”

“Well.” I kept my tone playful. “My study-abroad program was temporary.”

Paige smiled. “Where’d you go?”

“Israel.”

“Cool. Who do you have for Homeroom?”

“Harris.”

“I have her for History.” Her voice was enthusiastic. “She’s new this year. You’ll like her; she’s really nice.”

“Good. I gotta go; my backpack’s killing me.” I continued on my way, relieved I had to get to my locker. Not that I didn’t want to continue our conversation, but I needed to get rid of my bulky backpack.

“Rebecca,” she called after me.

I happily looked back, pleased I was off to a good start.

“See ya.” She waved, and I knew she’d save me a seat if we had any classes together.

As I neared my locker, I wondered if I was being a pushover. Paige had been a silent bystander before, not doing anything when she saw Derrick hound me. Yet I was acting as if she hadn’t been a bystander.

I gritted my teeth. I was regressing.
Back in the past.
It was an endless mind game. Just about everybody had seen Derrick rag on me regularly. What was I supposed to do? Only friend new kids? Maybe Mom was right. Paige might have wanted to support me.

At my locker, I unloaded my backpack and couldn’t stop myself from analyzing the situation. I always assumed I’d forgive everybody for what had happened. Talking to Paige brought up something I hadn’t thought of: I’d immediately remembered her part. Could I let go of the past? Especially now that I was back to where it had happened?

Once I finished unloading, a low voice said, “Oh, hey. I’ve finally got a locker pal.”

I glanced around. Two lockers down stood a guy I hadn’t seen before. He had longish dark hair.

He closed his locker. “This is, like, abandoned locker land. Today your first day?”

“Sort of,” I answered. No way did I want to elaborate. It was way too complicated.

He approached me. “You got a name?”

He had a broad-shouldered body, full lips, and green eyes.

“Sure.” I blushed. “Rebecca.”

My knees went weak as I took in his eyes. They were quite nice.

“Nice to meet you. I’ll see you around.” I grabbed my books. What better way to start my day? I wanted to smile, but I didn’t. It would have been too obvious. I had been totally inept around guys until my roommates in Israel taught me how to act. Let the guy flirt first, they had told me.

Heading to class, I wondered how long it would take him to start the flirting. One day? Two days? Three weeks? We’d see each other often, no doubt. Once the flirting started, the real fun would begin.

I was almost at the classroom when I heard
them.
Loud. Rowdy. Strong.

My pulse quickened, and for a moment, it felt as though the floor was dropping. I continued looking ahead, as if they weren’t there. I’d be safe if I could make it to Homeroom, as long as the teacher was there.

First I heard the bark. Then laughing. And more barking.

No wonder I had hated school.

“Pugly’s back.” Derrick sounded angry. He was surrounded by his friends. Emmy and Grace were there too. “Pugly got a makeover.”

I blanked for a moment, then remembered Mom’s words.
Stay composed
. I tapped my hand nervously.

Oh! My phone! It was my chance to catch him. I pressed Record. “Don’t call me Pugly.”

“What was that…Pugly?” Derrick laughed.

I hid my phone behind the books I was holding. “I said, don’t call me Pugly. It isn’t funny.”

He started barking at me, just as he had since third grade. Oh, how I hated him!

The old me would cower, hold back tears, and wish things were different. The new me knew wishful thinking wouldn’t stop him. He couldn’t get to me. I wasn’t useless anymore.

I eyed my phone. It was recording.

I looked at him. “I told you not to call me Pugly. It isn’t my name.”

“Pugly’s mad,” he said as his friends chuckled. But Emmy pointed at my arms. “Uh, Derrick, she’s recording you. Behind her books.”

Derrick, who was twice my size, knocked my books out of my arms. “Give me that!”

I held onto my phone and pointed it at him. “I told Derrick not to call me Pugly twice. He’s still doing it, and his friends are laughing.”

Derrick’s friends froze. Emmy, who was almost my height, kicked at my hand. Her black miniskirt rode up, exposing too much leg. Realizing her underwear was about to be on display, she pulled down on her skirt and lost her balance. Her ballerina flats hit the air and missed my phone.

Derrick grabbed at my phone. “Drop it!”

“No!” I switched it to my other hand.

Emmy kicked again and hit my hand.

My phone dropped.

I bent down to pick it up, but Grace—who was next to Emmy—snatched my phone like a vulture seizing a fresh kill.

“Pugly,” Derrick said as if nothing had happened.

“Give me my phone back!”

Derrick barked again.

My arm swung up, and a crack sounded.

His face turned radish red.

Did I just do that? My hand was shaking.

Derrick seemed to be in shock. While the redness faded, there was still a small splotch on his cheek. He stood there in silence, waiting for something to happen.

“Damn, Derrick. She slapped you! You got smacked by a girl!” It was the same boy who had worn the baseball cap during the driveway incident at my house. The incident Mom witnessed, after the first harassment complaint.

Emmy scowled at me. “You weren’t doing anything wrong, Derrick. You were just walking down the hall when
she
went psycho.”

“What’s going on here?” Mrs. Walker had taught Freshman Biology for the past five years. “Why is there a crowd?”

A small crowd had formed behind Mrs. Walker, their heads craning outside the classroom door to catch a glimpse of the commotion.

“Nothing,” Derrick answered.

“We were just walking down the hall when she freaked out,” Emmy piped in.

“I didn’t freak out.” I steadied my voice. “They were calling me names.”

“We weren’t,” Derrick said. “We wouldn’t do that. She’s lying because she hit me.”

I kept my eyes on Mrs. Walker. “Grace has my phone. It has a video of Derrick harassing me. They knocked it out of my hands.”

“Is that true, Grace?” Mrs. Walker asked. “Teasing is against our no-tolerance policy, as is hitting.”

Grace didn’t say anything. She looked to Emmy, her forehead slightly creased. I knew that look. Grace was my ex-best friend.

I eyed Grace’s hands. They were empty!

I scanned the crowd for some sign of my phone. Paige was watching Derrick and Grace, her eyes squinted in disgust. What a dummy I was, for assuming Paige and the other kids didn’t care.

“Grace, answer me,” Mrs. Walker said. “Class is about to begin.”

Nobody said anything.

“Then go to the office. Derrick, Emmy, Grace.” She pointed to me. “Rebecca, you too.”

Mrs. Walker looked past me. “And you, behind her, did you see what happened?”

Somebody was behind me? I hadn’t heard anyone there.

“I did,” said a low voice. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“What is your name?” Mrs. Walker asked.

“Collin Meyers,” he said. “I’m a senior.”

I turned around. It was locker guy. His green eyes met mine, and I couldn’t look away. Did he see me get ragged on?

The bell rang.

Mrs. Walker handed him hall passes. “Thank you, Collin. Go straight to the office.”

Emmy tossed her blond hair, eyeing Derrick. Derrick aligned himself next to her; they stepped over my books, and began to walk. Grace paused for a moment then followed them.

Collin picked up my books and handed them to me.

“Thank you.”

He shrugged, as if he hadn’t done anything special.

The old me would have died of embarrassment. Hope sputtered inside the new me’s heart. He might be willing to back up my harassment complaint.

The hallway got quiet as classroom doors shut. I had to talk to Grace. She was my only chance for tangible evidence. I took off, picking up my pace, until I caught up to her. Collin kept up with me. Several steps ahead, Derrick and Emmy were whispering.

“Grace.” I kept my voice restrained. “Tell Principal Nelson what really happened. Show him the video on my phone.”

She didn’t answer.

“Please, Grace.” I put more power behind my tone. “Don’t let me down again!”

“Emmy,” she called out.

Emmy and Derrick stopped and turned around. Derrick folded his arms across his chest while Emmy glared at me. Grace hustled up and caught up to them. She reached into her jeans pocket, took out my phone, and gave it to Emmy.

Emmy immediately turned her back, and Derrick said, “You’re going down.”

“No, she’s not,” Collin answered. “I saw you taunt her.”

My heart ballooned into my throat. Nobody had been willing to back up my original harassment complaint. Principal Nelson had asked me for a list of witnesses. I gave him a list of names, but everybody lied for Derrick.

Derrick shook his head. “I was barking at Emmy. We have this inside joke. I called her Pugly, like I’ve been doing for years, and she thinks it’s funny. Rebecca’s paranoid, thinks the joke is about her. Then today, she hit me, for no reason at all. Who knows what she’ll do next?”

Collin curled his lip. “You stole her phone.”

Emmy turned around to see if she heard him correctly. Grace flushed while Emmy looked Collin over, lingering a little too long on his shoulders.

Collin kept his eyes on Derrick. “Mess with her, and you’ll be sorry.”

“Come on, Derrick.” Emmy linked her arm with Grace. “We’ll tell what happened. Everybody knows Rebecca is deranged.”

Hitting Derrick had been a major mistake. People would think I was mental and possibly dangerous.

“They’ll tell about the slap,” I muttered. “I’ll be on trial.”

“How do you know?” Collin turned to me, his gaze intense.

“Why wouldn’t they?” I reasoned. “Hitting is an automatic suspension.”

“Deny it.”

“Look, I get what you’re trying to do, but lying is too hard to keep up.” I had spun enough lies in Israel to know it wasn’t worth it. Eventually I’d get caught up in a huge web that would be too suffocating.

I started walking again.

Derrick, Emmy, and Grace were out of sight. They were probably already in the office, setting up their bogus story.

Collin trailed me. “It’ll be his word against yours. Who’s more believable? Some jerk, or a pretty girl?”

I stopped, appreciating his compliment. “He’s got Emmy and Grace. They’re pretty.”

“The blonde’s vicious,” Collin said. “That’s not hot.”

It dawned on me. He was a new student and had no idea who he was dealing with. “Derrick and Emmy can be convincing. Somebody will back them up.”

“Dunno. Somebody might want to see Derrick get what he has coming.”

I paused, not wanting to get into my history. “Just tell the truth. I can deal with it.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t deal with it.”

But could I? I’d be suspended, and my transcript ruined. And Derrick would become sneakier.

“Play the game his way,” Collin said. “He’ll leave you alone.”

“What makes you so sure? He didn’t stop after I recorded him.”

Collin’s lips thinned. “Do something he understands. He understands lying.”

“It sounds warped, but if I admit to what really happened, then it’s obvious I stood up for myself.” It wasn’t the strongest argument. But maybe I’d gain some respect.

“What are you two doing in the hall?” It was one of the office assistants. She was holding the office door open. “Either come in or go to class.”

I sighed. Collin looked as if he wanted to say more, and I wished we could continue our conversation.

Inside the office, Derrick was nowhere to be seen—probably talking to Principal Nelson. Emmy and Grace were seated where Mom and I had been seated pre-fiasco.

Emmy narrowed her eyes at me.

I held her stare, then turned to Grace.

Grace wouldn’t look at me. She kept her head down as she filled out the complaint form.

The old me would have trembled with fear.

They needed to know I wasn’t scared. Luckily, there was a side table between the chairs, so I didn’t have to sit next to Emmy or Grace. I gingerly plunked down my backpack and sat down.

Collin took the seat next to me. The assistant handed us complaint forms. It was like the first encore, only this time, I wasn’t with Mom. The first time around, Mom had filled out the form. I had been too afraid. When she had insisted on walking into the office with me, I had been partially mortified but also relieved. I had been a mess during the interview several days later, struggling to speak and sick to my stomach, convinced I would get beaten up afterward.

This time was already different. I knew I wasn’t powerless, and I turned my attention to the form, but I moved my arm to the side, so Collin could see what I was writing.

My heart thumped wildly. Besides Collin, somebody else might back up my claim. Maybe Paige. I’d keep filing complaints till somebody did something. As I wrote, Collin began his form.

No, I hadn’t changed my mind about the slap. Mom and Dad would defend me. They wouldn’t be pleased about the slap, but they knew what I was up against.

I had nothing to hide, anyway. No hate list or attack plan.

Grace coughed, and I cringed. It was hard to fathom how we used to be inseparable. It had been a friendship of convenience, between two girls at the same preschool, which had grown into birthdays, sleepovers, and lots of good times together.

The office phone rang.