Page 16 of Bullied By The Bad Boy

A smile splits my lips. “Asher loved his gift. Thanks for the money. I owe you one.”

“Please, don’t start that owing BS today,” she says. I laugh, and she pokes my side. “How’s Asher?”

Her feet drop to the floor. I stand and help her up.

“Cool. He’s inside.” We start for the front door. “Do you want anything? I think Asher has some leftover ice cream from yesterday.”

“Excuse me?” Olivia rears back like I hit her. I don’t understand how we have maintained our closeness for this long. “No, thanks, Benny boy. The queen doesn’t do leftovers or ice cream.”

“You are such a bitch.”

“Sometimes,” she replies in a singsong voice. I unlock the door without opening it. From here, we can hear the sounds coming from the TV. “Do you think parts of our parents rub off on us?”

I’m not like any of them. “Na, we only share DNA with them. They can’t contaminate us.”

Olivia’s eyes crease at the corners, and I offer her a smile. “Good. I don’t want to be like him.” She slides her hand into mine and pushes the door open. “Thanks for coming to get me, Ben.”

Eleven

Something is wrong.I feel it as soon as I step into the hallway.

My hands tighten around the straps of my backpack. I’ve been extra cautious since the pranks began. It started with the itching powder sprinkled on my books. Goosebumps cover my skin at the memory. I don’t want to remember that episode or the swelling it caused. Mom panicked. Dad made me stay at home for a day. Cheap pranks don’t seem like Ben’s thing, but I can’t say.

The jam on my locker came next. It took Maria dipping a finger into the thick, red mixture to convince me it wasn’t blood. The tampons glued to the locker door made it look natural, and I know a certain she-devil who might have had a hand in that. Maybe it’s all in my head, but things changed after Ben dragged me into that class. Everyone is unleashing their reserved hate.

Students are everywhere as I meander to my locker. I cast backward glances at intervals, half-expecting someone to appear behind me. Someone named Maria. I am avoiding her and Daniel; they have made it their job to walk me to all my classes. I can’t let them continue babysitting me. It won’t stop the pranks. The loud conversation around me makes it easier to stay hidden. I arrive at my locker without any drama or outlandish stunts as the bell for fifth-period rings. Literature class is next. I need to get one of the two novels for the class, but I am afraid to open my locker.

What will be inside this time? I take a deep breath and yank the door open.

Nothing happens.

I sigh and reach for the novel,The Old Man and The Sea,inside my locker. That’s when I feel something rough and sparkly on my hands. I retract my arm to stare at my glitter-covered palms, and a frown drops to my lips. How? I step back, but it’s too late. The small-sized buckets of glitter held together by a string roll forward. In my hurry to escape, I slip and fall to the floor.

Glitter rains down on me, sneaking into my shirt, hair, and mouth. Someone screams my name from the end of the hallway. I jerk my head in their direction to see Maria mouthing words and pointing at something above me. My eyes snap to the bucket dangling from the top of my locker, shock glues my butt to the floor, and I shut my eyes as I’m bathed in glitter for the second time in less than ten minutes. Up on my feet, I toss the bucket hanging from my head like a helmet.

Olivia will pay for this. I’ll gouge her eyes out and fill her eye sockets with glitters.

Giggles from behind have my head spinning. I storm toward the three girls in matching outfits crowded at a locker with their phones clutched in their hands as they record my embarrassment.

“What? You think it’s funny?” I bark at the unfamiliar faces. People will never offer help when needed, but they will be the first to make a video of you. The girl with dimples visibly shrinks. Her phone slips to the floor, and her friends lower their hands with their phones. “Get out of here.”

An arm snakes around my shoulder, and my scowl fades when I realize it’s Maria. I relax slightly but stiffen almost immediately at the murmurs that float around us. I can’t wait to be done with this place.

“Easy tigress. Smile,” Maria says with a toothy grin. Right. As if she will remember to smile when someone empties buckets of glitter on her. “You look like a unicorn threw up on you.”

“Unicorns don’t exist,” I reply with a frown.

Hiking my bag up my shoulder, I rummage through my locker for hidden buckets of glitter, anything shiny or sparkly I can use to slap some sense into Olivia’s thick skull, but my search comes up empty. Maria helps get some of it out of my hair, but when I look in the compact mirror she passes to me, I have to admit, I look like a sad rainbow. I kick the bucket out of my way and return her mirror.

“Where’s your prince charming?” I ask.

Her cheeks flush as she transfers her bag to the other hand. “Absent.” So, why is she happy? Her eyes light up, and she leans so closely that she gets glitters on her black tank top. “We have a date.”

A high-pitched scream follows from Maria. I slap a hand over her mouth to keep her shut, but she licks my palm. My best friend is a baby goat, and I love her with all my heart. Some of her excitement eventually transfers to me. I forget I’m covered in glitters for a moment and grab her arms. We jump, squeal, and perform a two-second happy dance that ends in boisterous laughter.

“When?” I ask.

“Friday night.”

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