Page 180 of As the Rain Falls
“No,” I insist, standing my ground. “You relax. Back off.”
“It’s not like we’re doing what Alice does.”
“Well, at least Alice would make it a point to say it to her face,” I argue, but the girl next to me reaches out and pulls me back, which makes me stop talking.
“It’s okay,” Angelina says, her expression unreadable. “I don’t care. Whatever. Let them talk.”
“It’s not okay,” I mumble, reluctantly turning to face her but feeling pouty. “You shouldn’t allow them to walk all over you like that. They’re being really cruel, Angelina.”
She lets out a short, humorless laugh. “You called me a freak too, remember?”
I blink hard. “That was different.” I roll my eyes when she doesn’t budge, crossing my arms over my chest. “Come on, you know it is.”
Her brown eyes soften, something sweet and delicate, just in time for her to reveal the tiniest smile. “But you still said it.”
Her words aren’t angry, more so amused, which makes me hesitate. Maybe I should apologize anyway. It wasn’t very congenial of me, either.
“Well, I take it back, then.” I wet my lips and turn my nose up, proudly ignoring the other girls. “You’re not a freak, Angie. I’m sorry for making you feel like you were.”
Angelina doesn’t say anything, but she seems surprised that I’d go there. I get it. Not a lot of people here like to apologize and admit they’re in the wrong.
I pick up the scalpel, cutting the poor frog, refusing to look at her again. She stays quiet for the rest of the hour, a little too stunned. But when the bell rings again, at the end of class, Angelina Cardoso still waits for me to gather my things up before walking out of the room.
“Do you ever…” I hesitate, pressing my books against my chest. “Do you ever want to grab lunch together or something?”
Angelina rolls her eyes at me. “I’m not sitting with Zacharias.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s a fake.” She pulls her hair to the side. “And I don’t hang out with people who talk shit about me behind my back.”
“Okay.” I pout. “But we could go eat somewhere else.”
“What about Kayla?”
“I can ask her to come.” I wet my bottom lip, considering whether Kayla would enjoy having lunch at the library or not. She’s very talkative, so maybe finding a spot in the garden would be best. “Or not, if you don’t want to.”
Angelina hums, which seems neither positive or negative, before she rolls her eyes and groans.
“I’ll think about it. See you tomorrow, I guess.”
“See you.” I wave a hand, watching her walk away.
We might never become the closest of friends, but I think it could be fun to try to talk to her sometimes. Caleb’s opinion of her shouldn’t become my own; besides, there are always two sides to the same story.
At least I got to apologize and make amends for being a bitch to her when she caught us kissing. And if anything, I guess it’s a start.
LEARNING ABOUT HYPOCRISY
Beckett
DECEMBER, 2016
Part of living ina small town means that you can’t escape gossip. No matter how hard you try, the truth—or some warped version of it anyway—always finds its way back to you. If you don’t have good people on your side, things can get a bit tricky.
Angelina: We need to meet. Like ASAP.
Tony: I Have Class Until 3.
