Sometimes I make stupid choices. There I said it. You don’t need to
gloat over it. I’ll be the first to admit it, you know. I feel no
shame in doing it.
But today, well, I just seemed to be making loads of them. The first
mistake (and most serious, if you ask me) was asking my sister Gina
to pick me up after school. “Why do you want me to pick you up,
Jay? You’ve never asked me to do that before.” Trust Gina to
point out that glaring fact. “Can’t a fella hang with his sister
if he feels like it?” I asked. An eyebrow quirked up, how she does
it, I’ll never know. At that point, I knew lying would be futile.
So I tried another approach. “Ok, ok, I want to show off your new
car. Hey, if a fella can’t drive, might as well ride, right?” I
gave her my best showman smile. My reward was a small smirk and a
sigh. “What time?” she asked, wearily. “3:30, on the dot.
Thanks, Gina girl. You’re the best!” I raised my fist for a fist
bump that wasn’t exactly forthcoming. Gina looked at it for a
second like it was some dog about to bite her. With obvious
reluctance, she returned my fist bump and went back to her partially
eaten breakfast.
My
second bad decision was to take the bus to school. Normally, I walk
but it looked like it might rain. So, I just headed straight for the
bus stop because I didn’t feel like getting wet. I jumped on board
and sat in the first available seat I came across. That was my third
stupid choice.
Of
all the seats I could’ve chosen, I had to choose the one that
“belonged” to Sam Reed. My sister says that pugs are so ugly,
they’re cute. That’s Sam, minus the cute part. He’s a pug with
the temperament of a pit-bull. Not a very good combo. Just saying.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” he asked rhetorically.
“Hey, twerp, you keepin’ my seat warm for me?” He grinned as
his three buddies hooted in laughter at his lame comment, as if he’s
actually funny. At that point, my mind told me to say “Yes, here’s
your seat. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting”. But my mouth
said, “I’m keeping my seat warm, yes”. While my mind tries to
kill people with kindness, my mouth keeps trying to get me killed
with it’s rudeness. My big mouth made my fourth mistake.
“What did you say?” huffed Sam, turning an ugly shade of red.
“It’s a free country and I don’t have to give up my seat if I
don’t want to. I’m pulling a ‘Rosa’” I said quickly. Hey,
what’s a few more feet to my already sizable hole. Sam grabbed the
front of my shirt and lifted me off my seat. “Rosa who?” he
growled. “Rosa Parks, the Civil Rights Activist. Wow, I know
everybody says your dumb, but I never really believed them til now”
I said rather loudly. Like loud enough for the whole bus to hear and
start snickering.
Sam literally turned purple. I think he was one step away from either
passing out or killing me. It’s a bit of a toss up at this point.
If I had to put money on it, I’d say I was very close to death’s
door at that moment. Sam pulled his fist back right as the bus driver
yelled, “ Eight seconds is all I’m going to give you to find a
seat before I go back there and throw you off my bus”. Giving me a
glare, Sam threw me down and headed to the back of the bus with his
crew. Tossing several nerds out their seats, they proceeded to glare
at me the rest of the way to school.
I
spent the whole school day blowing pop quizzes and avoiding Sam.
Haley O’Dell, my one and only friend at W.L. Harmon High, thought I
was being a coward. “Just face them and show them you’re not
scared of them. They thrive on fear” she said as we walked out the
doors together, another agonizing day of torturous education over.
“That’s the thing, Hales. I am scared. You didn’t see him on
the bus. He looked absolutely murderous.” Haley rolled her large
blue-grey eyes and gave her red-brown hair an annoyed flip. “I
don’t think he’ll kill you, Jay. Rough you up a little, perhaps,
but killing you means jail time. He’s not dumb.” Her voice
sounded as annoyed as her face looked. “Haley, I insulted his very
intelligence. Bullies don’t let you live after that. Common
knowledge” I said, shrugging. Sometimes she can be so clueless.
“Um,hm. Fine, believe that. Whatever. Look, are you going to come
over to my house so we can go over our Spanish assignment that Mrs.
Martinez handed out?” she asked as we stood the sidewalk near the
buses. “I’ll try to come by later. Right now, I’m going to wait
for Gina to show”. Haley raised a skeptical eyebrow. How on earth
does she do that? “Really now?” she asked. “Yes, really. She’s
got a new car. Wanna stick around and see it?” I asked in turn,
giving her a smirk. She’s one of the few girls I know who is into
cars. “I’d love to but I’ll have to pass today. Catch you
later” she yelled over her shoulder as she hopped on to her bus. I
waited for her to get into her usual seat by a window and waved to
her before walking toward the school entrance.
Only Sam and his gang were at the top of the steps scanning the
crowd. I quickly turned around, but not before I heard Sam shout,”
There! There’s the ‘Rosa’ dweeb!” At that, I took of running
deep into the throng of exhausted teenagers. “Good luck getting me
now” I thought. That is, until I realized that the crowd was
parting like the Red Sea in front of Moses, giving Sam and Company
good access to me. Nervous, I looked around for a place to hide.
Noticing some bushes, I made for those and dove into them.
You know, bushes aren’t made for comfort. I should know. I sat
there for two hours. For half that time, Sam and his gang hung around
the school grounds, looking for me. The other half was spent there
merely as a precautionary measure. Then as my poor luck would have
it, the sky opened up and drenched me. Right as I ran for the skimpy
shelter of the school steps, Gina drove up, looking distraught.
“Jay, I’m so, so, so sorry” she said, wringing her hands as I
slid my soaked body inside her new car. “It’s cool, Gina. Are you
alright? I was starting to worry” I asked and meant it too. I had
been trying to call and text her for some time and got no answer. I
was about to start checking for accidents. “My phone died. I forgot
to charge it. Please remind me to get a new car charger. Mom took
mine. And Mrs. Delaney kept me longer than usual. She, uh… was
running late” she replied as she turned in to the road.
Now, I would’ve believed her, really I would’ve. But I knew she
was lying for several reasons. One, her ears turned red the way they
do when she lies. Second, her boss is so punctual she can make an
atomic clock look super slow. Third, her phone rang. I picked up her
fully charged phone. “It’s just a text from Mom. I think it’s
time you tell me the truth though” I snapped. Gina’s shoulders
slumped. “Francine and I went to lunch after work and did some
stuff after. Oh, Chris proposed to her and she asked me to be her
Maid of Honor.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Hmm, that’s nice.
What kind of stuff?” I pressed. I don’t know why I bothered.
Gina shrank into her seat and mumbled something. “What was that?”
I asked. “Francine and I went to go see the new Jason Andez-Garcia
movie, Okay?” she shouted. And I thought my day couldn’t get any
worse.
