Saying nothing to her, I reached out without even bending over and rolled the trashcan right in front of us. However the girl didn’t drop it in, much to the amusement of her friends. They were holding on to each other, fighting back giggles. One of them even had her cell phone out as if I were some circus attraction.
“My hand is getting tired,” she said.
Sighing, I bit my tongue, snatched the trash from her perfectly manicured hands, and dropped it into the trashcan.
“Thanks.” She whipped her hair over her shoulder and went back to her friends in her five-inch heels. She made the courtyard look like a runway.
“God, I thought about dropping out once, but I would never want to end up like her,” one of them whispered as they took my picture.
“Pretty face and no brain. It’s pitiful, actually.”
“I can’t believe Josh and the other guys think she’s hot.”
“You think she understands English?”
“She’s white, Ashley.”
Wow.
I glanced at them, but they weren’t even ashamed of themselves. They laughed as if I were the one who’d lost my mind.
“I guess she can understand.”
“Ladies, classes are over. Don’t you think you should go home?” I asked, focusing myself to keep calm.
“We’re waiting for the baseball team. And I don’t think a janitor should be giving any type of advice,” the blonde with pink tips snapped as she crossed her arms.
“Sorry. My job is to remove the garbage, and your attitudes are really stinking up the place.”
“Excuse you!”
“Here is a piece of unwanted but necessary advice. Grow up. This spoiled brat act you’re putting on where you tear down other girls you feel inferior to isn’t going to make Josh or any other person like you more.”
She stepped up as her friends stopped smiling and stared at me in shock. “Do you know who I am? I can get you fired.”
“I bet. But at the end of the day, you’re still going to feel worse than me.”
“AH!” She kicked the trashcan, knocking it over and spreading garbage all over the ground. “Screw you. At least I’m not picking up garbage at thirty.”
“At least I’m not sixteen and throwing a temper tantrum.”
She rammed her shoulder into mine as she stormed off to what I could only guess was the baseball stadium.
Do not engage, Felicity! That was the number one rule for surviving here. For the most part, it was easy because I worked after classes. Mostly everyone was gone by then. But on game and practice days, shit like this happened.
My cell rang. Removing one glove, I answered without looking at caller ID. “Hello.”
“You thought it was him, didn’t you?” Mark said.
“No,” I lied.
“You’re lying.”
“Mark, did you call for a reason?”
“Nope. I just wanted to hear your voice get all high and excited—”
“Goodbye.” We hung up, and I placed the phone back in my pocket. I picked up the trash and fixed the dent in the can.