Page 7 of Friends Like This

“I think it’d be well deserved,” Sarah says, giving me a wink before she climbs off the bed and leaves the room.

I know this was supposed to be exciting information, but it leaves me wanting to crawl under the covers and hide for the whole stupid day.

When we get off the bus, everyone seems ready for a fight.

But I’m not.

I don’t want that.

I don’t want fighting.

I don’t want to be the center of attention.

I want all this to go away.

Miles is whispering something to the boys.

Sarah and Mackenzie are conspiring.

“Enough,” I say, grabbing for them.

They all stop and look at me.

“No fights. Verbal or physical. No fights. I don’t want that. I want it to stop.”

“Oh, a fight will make it stop,” Miles says.

“No!”

Finally, everyone looks at me.

I press back tears, because them seeing me cry is only gonna make this worse. They always think me crying means I can’t handle things, but it’s who I am. I cry about everything I feel. Right now, I’m feeling anxious and stressed over all of this.

“I don’t want any more attention on me. And if you fight,everyonewill know what it’s about. I don’t want that. So please, please, leave it alone. Unless someone says something right in front of you, I need you all to leave it alone.”

Aaron slides up next to me. “If that’s what you want, we’ll leave it alone. Right?” he asks pointedly.

The boys nod.

Sarah almost protests, but Mackie elbows her.

I nod.

“Good. Then let’s get this over with,” I say, looking up at the building, which feels extra scary today.

Aaron slides his hand into mine.

“Come on, pretty girl. We’ve got this.”

I squeeze his hand tightly and we head inside.

Thankfully, I make it through the day without hearing anything or noticing any weird looks.

Until lunch.

As I walk into the cafeteria, I notice two girls see me and quickly break eye contact, looking concerned. They whisper to the other girls at their table, who quickly look at me then at each other again.

Are they the ones who wrote stuff in the stalls?

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