Page 30 of Valentine Dare

12

Jenny

Monday morning,and it was time to head to class. Life has a funny way of kicking you in the teeth. Before, going to school was a must, I did it out of routine. After the magical time I’d spent with Prent, I couldn’t get out of my head how different it was to be with him.

Trent was the funny one. He would make me laugh all day long. Brent was somewhere in between; he could be funny, but at times he was dead serious. As for Prent, he was the sensitive one. The one I knew I would be making love with and not fucking. They were the same on the outside, even if they did wear their hair different and dress completely differently, but inside they were completely unique. I didn’t know what was going to happen once I moved out, something I had to think about when the time came, which wasn’t now. Claire had reassured me everything would work out, but I’d hardly seen her in days, and the good news she promised to give ended up leading to nothing.

I was late to class. I didn’t care because I was daydreaming about my time with the boys. The hallway was quiet, as the bell went a few minutes ago. I was just at the door, about to head to class, when someone shouted, “Don’t!”

I was yanked back, just as I was about to open the door to go into class. Someone held me back. As my eyes darted back, I saw who it was even if I didn’t recognize the voice.

“They’re waiting for you in there. Just don’t feed yourself to the sharks,” Tracey said as she moved her hand away from me, a lot gentler than she’d done in the beginning. My puzzled look as I stepped away from the door made her open her mouth and hopefully explain what was going on.

I didn’t get why she was talking to me? Kurt had been cruel to her from the time she matriculated over a year ago, calling her names, not only cause of her size but her race too.

“You’re late, and Johnson came in and said Whyte has been in some accident. Don’t worry, she’s fine. So, anyway, no class. I heard Kurt and Barbie talk about making class fun and seeing as they’ve decided to stop picking on me and you’re the new victim, I decided to come out and wait to save your ass.”

“I don’t deserve it.”

She clicked her tongue. “Yeah, you kind of do. The amount of times he’s called me lard, fattie, Ms. Black Piggie and you’ve told him to stop…any other girlfriend of a bully would join in. You always told him to stop and not be a part of it.”

“But he never listened.”

“You gonna thank me for saving your ass or stand out here until they figure out that you’re out here and whoop it?”

She crossed her arms, squeezing them tightly over her oversized belly and chest.

“Where we going?” I asked as she walked away from me, swinging her arms as if she was in the army. The good thing about it being class time was the hallways were quiet, but we both knew it could change in a couple of seconds.

“You know the back field, right? Saw you sneaking off through it three weeks ago with Brent. Let’s do that.”

I picked up the pace in front of her. “Damn, thought it was a secret.”

She chuckled as she adjusted her framed glasses. “In this place? Damn, they should just put everything on the loudspeaker. I don’t even have friends here, and I know all of your business. How’s that possible?”

I turned to face her. “Instagram. Snap Chat. Take your pick.”

“Exactly, and one thing all high school kids love to do…”

Before she even said it, I filled in the blank for her. “Is bitch!”

She laughed. “You got that right.”

We reached the back door. I hesitated before pushing it, wondering if she was going to change her mind. She didn’t as she pushed past me. Once we reached the fields we walked side-by-side, until we were on the main street.

“What now? We only have thirty minutes till the next class.”

“Enough to get a milkshake and chat.”

This time I was the one holding her arm as she was about to cross the street and head to the diner, Green Gate. I’d been there a few times with Kurt whenever we cut class, which used to be mainly on a Friday. We would head there during English lit, have a shake and then head back. No one said anything about us cutting class. I suppose this was Brent’s point about the rich being able to do anything and getting away with it. We did a lot of things that the teachers turned a blind eye to, and I never really cared or thought about it till now.

“I’m just trying to process this all. I mean, you being nice and us being like this.”

She nodded, and her afro puffs bounced up and down on her head. “I suppose one thing about being here is that this year has been lonely, and I saw an opportunity to have a friend so I took it. Is that so bad?”

I shook my head.

“Seriously, no friend all year round?”

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