SAM’S POV
Getting down the bus, she walked the short distance from the bus stop to the school gate. The glow she felt when she was with Luke started fading as every step took her nearer to the school.
Friday, she thought with a sigh. At last.
She ignored the glances and the way students shifted away from her path as if she was a leper. She didn’t care about her (non-existent) reputation anymore.
Her heart had hardened a long time back since the day she had accidently poured soda over Dawn Sanders, the she-devil. Back in middle school.
Dawn had been flirting with one of the hottest boys in school who happened to be Michelle’s older brother. Sam, passing by had slipped and the soda bottle on her tray tipped over and emptied over Dawn. Robert, Mich’s brother had laughed out loud at the sight of Dawn drenched in sticky juice, and had said loudly, “No thanks. I don’t like you in that way.”
And Dawn was convinced that it was Sam’s fault that she was rejected. Even then, Dawn wielded power in the right circles. It resulted in Sam being shunned from people. She was jeered, teased continuously. They made her cry, scream in frustration, but it only fueled their cruel actions. Then she decided they weren’t worth her anger.
She didn’t mind it now. Not much. She had learnt how to cope so cope is what she was doing. Just one year left and she could move away from here or something, and start over again. All she had to do was endure this one year. Not a big deal.
But just as she thought that, by some irony of fate, she fell. Or rather she was pushed.
She fell onto the pavement and winced when loose rocks scratched her palms. As soon as her knees touched the ground, she straightened using the leverage, having practice with stuff like these. She glanced around for the culprit but since everyone was giggling and smirking, she didn’t bother. No, she didn’t feel angry. Nor did she feel embarrassed. She just felt tired. Tired of it all.
She pulled the hood of her jacket down and trudged to the gate, head bowed low, palms stinging painfully, wishing for Michelle to be early today.
Sometimes the loneliness she felt in this crowd was stifling.
Heading to class, she almost jumped in fright when Mich jumped on her. Mich’s dirty blonde hair was pulled into a loose bun, strands freely bouncing around her heart-shaped face, her blue eyes sparkling with the endless energy she possessed.
“SAMMIE!!” she shrieked, “THE DEVIL WAS IN TOWN!!!”
“Huh?” Sam said, her face carefully arranged to blank surprise. “Really?”
“YES!! They were here day before yesterday!!”
“Wednesday?”
“Yes Wednesday,” confirmed Mich. “I heard they were visiting some friends!” then she frowned. “I wonder who they are. I would love to meet them.”
“Wasn’t it mentioned?”
“No. It wasn’t there in the article,” Mich said pouting a little. Sam looked away from Mich’s enthusiastic face, feeling guilty.
“How’s your fever?” she asked wanting to change the subject.
“Down and gone,” Mich said then suddenly hugged Sam to her and said, “I missed seeing that depressed face of yours!”
Sam winced as Mich’s arms tightened around her bruised ribs.
“I…I missed you too,” she mumbled into Mich’s hair. Mich leaned closer and peered at her face. “I heard from Matt that you—”
She broke off and gave an enraged growl. “Dawn! That bitch!” and she poked the fading bruise on Sam’s cheek.
She grimaced and said, “I’m okay now.”
“But—this—this is too much! I didn’t realize—Samantha you have to learn to stand up for yourself!! This can't go on! You have to—” Mich started, her cheeks reddening with anger.
Sam sighed. Here goes Mich’s motivational talk.
“—since middle school!! Almost four years!! How can you let them walk over you?! You don’t deserve it! They can't just—”
“Mich. Let’s just go to class,” she interrupted. It wasn’t hard to steer Mich to class with one elbow while tuning out her lecture. She heard that every time when the Dawn-gang bullied her.
As they sat for the Biology, Sam couldn’t help but wonder the meaning of ‘Stand up for yourself.’
How do you stand up for yourself? By saying what you wanted to everyone? To keep your head up and act bubbly? She winced. Not her type.
She took a sidelong glance at Mich and her lips kicked up at the ends a little. Her friend was glowering at the whiteboard, a frown between her eyebrows, lips turned down as she mentally fumed at Dawn.
Everything felt better, she decided, when her best friend was with her. And that made her happy.
Through out the day, she found herself locked inside a bathroom stall, tripped over twice, her books misplaced, and her gym clothes shredded. Mich, as usual, rescued her. It was just another normal day of her life. And everyone thought it was funny. She couldn’t understand how anyone could think that teasing someone like this was entertaining.
The bell rang, signaling the end of another day. Teenagers chattered around, planning the weekend, laughing, joking, and shouting gladly. Even Sam felt the release. It was Friday and she wouldn’t be seeing Dawn’s gang in two days. It was enough for her to keep a smile in her face.
Another reason for her good mood was the A+ she got for her chemistry assignment on titrations. Yeah whatever, she was nerdy.
“I can’t still understand how you can write such a big essay about sodium thiosulphate and iodine,” whined Mich next to her. Sam flashed her a grin and said, “That’s the best part of being nerdy,”
“And the worst part is to look like you?” a snotty voice said from behind them. “I think I’ll pass,”
They turned around to meet Dawn’s baby blue eyes. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled to waves, her outfit out of the Vogue, a sneer on her red lips.
Sam started to turn away, dismissing the comment but Mich grabbed her arm.
“What did you say?” Mich said fiercely, her eyes trained on the she-devil. The snobby girls in her gang gasped dramatically. Sam stared in horror, wondering what possessed Mich for her to speak to Dawn like that.
Dawn raised her perfectly-arched eyebrows. “No one talked to you hoe.”
“But—” said Mich, stepping in front of her. The hallway grew silent as everyone stopped to listen. “—you shouldn’t be doing this to Samantha. It’s been four years and you have given her enough hell. Why don’t you just cool it and stop troubling her?”
Sam groaned. Damn. Why couldn't she just leave it alone so that they could escape unnoticed?
Dawn’s eyes flashed. And Sam cringed.
“Michelle, I am surprised that you hang out with people like her. Your brother would have been severely disappointed.”
Sam couldn’t help but be amazed by the fact that Dawn knew the words severely disappointed. She suddenly had a mad urge to laugh at this situation.
