Page 10 of Kingpin
Dominic
Friday. Everybody loves Friday, even me, but what I’m even more excited about is that I’m about to see Alannah again. She’s really been going out of her way to talk to me all week long. I don’t know why she does it, but I like it. In fact, I think I like her, but I’m not going to say anything about it. She gets enough crap from people just for hanging out with me, so the last thing I want to do is make her feel uncomfortable by telling her how much I like her. So, when she sits down next to me during lunch—for the fourth day in a row—I just smile at her and keep eating.
Okay, she’s here. Just stay cool, Dominic, I think to myself.
“Hi, Dominic,” she says as she sits. She’s wearing a pink shirt with a picture of NSYNC on it, and I instantly have a new hatred for Justin Timberlake. Her brown hair is so pretty, and it hangs over her shoulder like it was always meant to be there. She smells good, too, like flower scented perfume made just for her.
“Hi, Alannah. What’s up?” I reply, making sure I don’t let my inner thoughts slip out.
“Not much. Nothing but wishing I would’ve packed a lunch today instead of eating this,” she says, gesturing towards her tray. “Seriously, what the crap is this?”
“I think it’s meatloaf,” I answer, smiling. “Or, wait, maybe it’s lasagna. No, it’s a cheeseburger.”
She laughs, and now I smile because she’s smiling and I like it.
“You’re funny, and I think you’re right. It’s a combination of, like, ten different things. So gross.”
“Almost as gross as the picture on your shirt.” She looks down at stupid Justin’s face and gasps.
“Leave them alone,” she jokes as she hits me in the arm. I notice we’re getting some stares from people, but I ignore them. “You wish you had curly, Ramen Noodle hair like JT.” Both of us laugh, and I do my best to think about what my mom was telling me earlier this week. I’m trying to be nice, but the girls a few tables down from us are starting to get on my nerves with their gawking.
Alannah and I finish our food and get up together. We dump our trays and ignore the whole world as we walk outside. Our hands are so close together as we walk they’re almost touching. I really have to concentrate because the closer our hands get, the faster my heart beats. I don’t think she even knows how close we are.
The two of us walk to the center of the playground to a big, dome-shaped jungle gym and climb to the top. It’s not really that high, but it feels cool to be off the ground with the wind blowing around us. We watch the other kids coming out of the cafeteria, some of them grabbing basketballs and soccer balls to play with, others running over to the swings in front of us. Then, out strut the cool kids.
Lisa and Maggie stride in step, surrounded by a few other girls who are looking to get or stay on their good side. As they walk, they look at everyone else like they’re beneath them, like they don’t deserve to be on the same playground as the two of them. It’s annoying. I hate the looks on their faces and the closer they get to us, the more I wish I could make them cry for how rude they are to other people. Some people don’t deserve nice.
“You really hate them, don’t you?” I hear Alannah say. I look over and see she’s staring at me with a smile that looks more nervous than anything else.
“Umm, I don’t hate them,” I start. “They just aren’t very nice to people. Especially me. I’ve seen the way they’ve been treating you, too, since you started talking to me. It’s just not right, that’s all.”
I look at her, hoping my words have made her less nervous about the way I was glaring at the two of them. She smiles and turns her eyes towards the girls as they walk at a glacial pace across the grass like two predators stalking prey.
“Yeah, they haven’t been very nice, but I’m not worried about them,” she says. “I don’t care if they don’t like me.”
“Are you always nice when people are mean to you?” I ask.
“I try to be,” she begins, but she stops herself. “Sshh, they’re coming over here.”
I turn to find Lisa and Maggie glaring at us from below like we did something wrong by just existing. I take a deep breath and wait for them as they come closer and stop right in front of us. We’re looking down on them, which I find ironic. It’s something my mom would say. They’re literally beneath us.
“Are you two in love or something?” Lisa asks, giggling in a way that instantly annoys me.
“You obviously are,” Maggie answers for us. “I just don’t understand how you could like him so much, Alannah. He’s so ugly. Something must be wrong with you.”
Alannah sighs. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” she says. “I just don’t let people like you decide who I’m allowed to be nice to.”
“Shut up,” Maggie snaps. “You’re just too stupid to know that hanging out with Ugly Dominic makes you just as ugly as he is. So, now you’re dumb and ugly.”
“Yeah, you’re actually worse than Ugly Dominic,” says Lisa. “We’re gonna call you Dugly. Dumb and ugly.”
The two of them burst into laughter and lean over at the same time like two ignorant twins. I glance at Alannah, and I can tell she’s upset, especially when another kid comes over and they tell him their new nickname for her. He starts laughing too, then he tells one of his friends, and from this view above them all, I can see it spreading already. Before we know it, every fifth grader will be calling Alannah Dugly. I can’t let that happen. She doesn’t deserve this.
As I watch the tears make their way out of her eyes, I feel a new sense of anger in my belly. I’ve been mad before, but this feels different. I might be madder than I’ve ever been, but I don’t lash out, I control it as I lower myself from the jungle gym and drop to the ground. As I stand up, the two girls stop laughing. They look at me like they’re worried now, even taking little steps back as I approach them. They’re scared, and it makes me feel good. I like that they’re afraid. Theyshouldbe afraid.
“You better not touch me, Ugly Dominic,” Maggie says, spitting her words at me. “I’ll go right to Mr. Bishop and have you suspendedagain.”
I lean in close so that my head is between both of theirs, and I can basically feel them holding their breaths.
