The five of us stand in a line beside each other, quizzically looking at my locker.
“Do you think it’s real blood?” Charlotte asks.
Noah sticks his hand out, swiping his finger on a tampon covered with red liquid, and puts that finger in his mouth. The four of us stand there with hanging jaws, too shocked to process what just happened.
“Just as I thought,” Noah announces. “It’s ketchup.”
“What if it was blood?!” Charlotte exclaims, looking slightly nauseated.
“But it wasn’t,” Noah deadpans.
“But what if it was?!” she repeats.
“But it wasn’t,” he emphasizes.
That concussion seriously messed with Noah’s head. Maybe he shouldn’t even be at school right now.
“Do you really think Kaitlyn and company would touch a dirty tampon?” he adds.
Or maybe Noah’s a lot smarter than we give him credit for.
8
It’s lunch, and the group is at our usual table. I’m sitting between Charlotte and Mason, with Annalisa directly in front of me. I told her, Julian, and Chase what happened, as they hadn’t seen my locker this morning.
“I wish I was there so I had a valid reason to break her face.” Annalisa stabs her pasta with her fork.
“I can’t believe she’s doing this just because she doesn’t like you around Aiden,” Chase remarks from the other side of Charlotte. Aiden’s eyes darken but he doesn’t say anything.
“Well, I did bitch at her a couple of times, but she started it!” I defend myself. “I just hope Charlotte isn’t dragged into this now.”
Chase’s head snaps over to meet my eyes, suddenly very alert. “What do you mean?”
Noah fills him in. “Kaitlyn was all, Ohh, since Amelia and Charlotte are best friends, imma go after both of you.”
No one else notices, but I catch Chase subtly moving a little closer to Charlotte. Aiden’s keen eyes didn’t miss that small action either. He’s perceptive, and I don’t miss the fact that I’m the only one who catches it.
“She’s batshit crazy anyway; she doesn’t need a reason to torment someone,” Charlotte states. “Plus, I was brought into this the second she decided to mess with my best friend.”
“Me too,” Annalisa states, and the others murmur and nod in agreement, and Mason throws his arm around my shoulder.
“No one fucks with my k-bear,” Mason announces confidently.
My heart swells. Never has a group of people stood by me and supported me like this. I’ve had friends before, of course, but not like this—nothing that felt like they had my back, no matter what was thrown at them.
I lean my head affectionately on Mason’s strong shoulder. “Thanks, guys, but there’s no need for anyone to get involved. I just need to think of how to get back at her.”
“Like hell we won’t get involved! Fuck with my friend and you fuck with me!” Noah declares.
Annalisa nods. “Let’s just corner her and break her nose.”
“We don’t hit girls, Anna,” Aiden informs her, putting his phone away.
“I know you guys don’t, but I don’t have a problem doing that!” Annalisa clarifies.
Julian sighs. “You know you can’t do that, babe.”
Annalisa gives her boyfriend an irritated look. “You know just as well as I do that I’m perfectly capable of breaking her nose.”
I lift my head from Mason’s shoulder to look at him when he speaks. “No one doubts that you can break her nose, it’s just that you can’t.”
“Her mom is the principal, which means Kaitlyn pretty much gets away with everything,” Noah explains, more for my benefit than anyone else’s.
“Charlotte told me that the first day of school,” I say.
“Basically, if you touch a hair on Kaitlyn’s head, you’re screwed,” Mason explains.
“You’re telling me I can’t do anything about it? Not even get even?” I say.
Noah shakes his head. “Even the smallest thing she’ll go crying to her mom.”
“Once, this girl Kaitlyn didn’t like accidentally spilt coffee on her shirt.” Julian leans forward. “Kaitlyn ran to her mom and said the girl attacked her and threw scorching hot coffee at her for no reason. Kaitlyn’s followers obviously backed her up. That girl got suspended.”
“It’s so unfair,” Charlotte huffs.
I refuse to accept the fact that I can’t do anything about Kaitlyn. If there’s one thing about me that has never changed, it’s that I don’t take shit from anyone. It’s what’s kept me alive this long. I’m programmed to stand up for myself, and daughter of the principal or not, I will get even with Kaitlyn.
“Amelia?”
Aiden rarely contributes to conversations when Charlotte and I are around, so when he does, he gets our full attention. “What are you thinking?”
He didn’t miss how I was deep in thought, calculating my revenge. And in that moment, I’m struck by how alike we actually are.
“I’m thinking that Kaitlyn’s shit out of luck. I don’t care who her mother is and there’s no way in hell I’m letting her get away with this,” I say.
Annalisa’s diabolical smile fills her face. “That’s what I’m talking about! What can we do?”
“You’ll get suspended!” The always practical Julian tries to talk some sense into us.
“Not if it’s so subtle she’ll have nothing to rat about,” I say, my mind already reeling with possibilities. And then I’ve got it, and a huge grin spreads across my face—my friends look at one another and then lean in …
During our spare fifth period, Annalisa and I drive to the dollar store to get the supplies we need.
“We need one of those big envelopes that you practically have to claw open once it’s sealed,” I tell her.
We grab it and a few other things before paying and driving back to school.
“I love this idea. It’s so harmless yet subtly annoying it’s genius!” she exclaims from the passenger seat of my car.
“Best part is, if she goes crying to her mom, what’s she going to say?”
“She can’t! It doesn’t hurt anyone, just annoys the hell out of you.” Annalisa says. “You have such a way of subtly screwing with people. I tend to go right for the violence, which will get me in trouble one day.”
I laugh. “What can I say? It’s a gift.”
Now that we have the supplies, I hope that Aiden will cooperate for part two; he wasn’t keen when we talked about it briefly at lunch.
When last period starts, Noah and I turn around in our seats to face Aiden and Mason. We’re huddled close. Fortunately, Mr. Rogers is one of the most disinterested teachers I’ve ever had. He just assigns homework and doesn’t care if we work with others as long as we hand it in by the due date.
I’m currently leaning in close to Aiden so that no one will overhear our conversation. When I ask him for help, he flat out refuses again.
“Come on, Aiden! When have I ever asked you for anything?!” I plead.