Page 41 of Releasing 10
Flushing the toilet, I unlocked the door and rushed to the sink to wash my hands, calling out the wordsorryto my friend as I moved. “I had to go really bad.”
“That’s okay,” Claire replied, still holding my bag for me. “Don’t forget the soap.”
“I won’t,” I replied, pouring a dollop onto my palm. “Hey, do you ever wee red stuff?”
“Ew, no!” Her brown eyes widened to saucers. “Do you?”
“Sometimes.” I focused on washing the suds off my hands. “When it’s stingy.”
“You get stingy wees?”
Nodding, I moved for the towel and dried my hands. “Do you?”
Claire shook her head. “Nope.”
“Oh.” Smiling, I snatched my bag up and weaved my arms through the straps. “Ready.”
Giggling, we broke into a sprint to see who would get to the school gate first. Claire was tall like me, with long legs to make her run faster, but I still touched the gate before her.
“You’re a rocket,” she laughed when she caught up with me. “Like a super-superfast rocket.”
“You’re both rockets,” Shannon offered, as she waited among the crowd of other children waiting outside the gates of the school for their bus. “I can’t run as fast as either one of you.”
“Oh sugar!” Claire exclaimed loudly. “I almost forgot.” Digging inside her schoolbag, she retrieved an envelope and handed it to Shannon before quickly turning to look at me. “You’re getting one later, I promise.”
“I am?” I asked, feeling a wave of excitement wash through me. I had no idea what it meant, but I was happy to be included.
“It’s a birthday invitation.”
“But your birthday is in August,” Shannon and I both said in unison.
“My brother’s birthday,” Claire explained, scrunching her nose up. “He’s stinky and super annoying, but he’s okay, I guess.”
“Okay,” I chuckled, while Shannon pocketed the envelope without opening it.
“So can you come?”
I said yes at the same time Shannon said no.
Claire started to smile and say yay, before it morphed into a sad, “How come?”
Shannon shifted from foot to foot, looking uncertain, but didn’t answer. “I’m not allowed to go to birthday parties?”
“Why not?” we both asked.
“Because she’s a scab,” one of the fourth-class girls sneered before roughly shoving Shannon out of her way. “Now, move,scabby.”
“Hey!” Claire huffed, placing a steadying hand on our friend’s shoulder when she staggered from the force of the bigger girl’s push. “That was mean.”
“Oh, was it?” the dark-haired girl mocked in a mean tone. “Why don’t you go and cry about it,curly sue.”
“Her name is Claire,” I growled, feeling my body tremble with anger as I moved to stand with my friends. “So why don’t you fuck off!”
Everyone around us gasped.
“Holy shit,” one of the bigger boys snickered, while more laughed and pointed.
“You cursed,” Claire whisper-hissed in my ear. “You said the f-word, Liz.”
