“What? Is what true?”
“Are you dating Gabriel Russo?”
“Of course she’s not.” I almost jumped out of my skin at Victoria’s shout. Where the hell did she come from?
Saved by the bell. It rang just as Victoria reached us. “I have to get to class.” I escaped into the room, trying to breathe easy though my heart was racing like crazy, and my knees gave out as soon as I reached my desk. Victoria still made her way inside and leaned over me, getting right in my face. “Find a way to bring me along with you when you go away this weekend, or I’ll make sure you can’t go.”
“What does it have to do with me? I can’t invite you on someone else’s trip. Besides, don’t you always go places without me? What’s the big deal?” I was nervous as hell, and even though my voice shook, it felt good just to say those words. The look on her face is almost worth the hell I’m going to catch. “Besides, the things they have planned don’t sound like anything you would like. The teacher’s coming; you should get to your class.”
I knew she wouldn’t dare show her ass here, not in front of the teacher and the others in the room; she has her innocent reputation to protect. She only shows her true face when amongst her friends, and only because she’d convinced them that I was the monster. Now that I think about it, they couldn’t have been true friends if they were so easily swayed by lies and innuendo.
I never really thought of these things before. I’d always just gone along with life as it came. What was the big deal about losing friends when I’d lost my mother and, to some extent, my one living parent? By the time I realized what Becky was doing, it was too late to change things. Because of my acting up when dad first got remarried, he fell for all of her lies until I was nothing more than a shadow in my own home.
Wait, is that what Gabriel was hinting at with that question? But how did he know? It doesn’t make sense. We only met a few days ago, and I haven’t said a word to him about the things that go on in my life. In fact, no one knows, except maybe my grandma and the aunts. But it’s been years since I complained to them about anything and had learned to keep my mouth shut because things always went south when I got them involved.
All morning I kept replaying his question over and over in my mind. Since no one else had ever put it so bluntly, I didn’t see my part in the things that have been happening to me. I never realized until now that I’ve been playing the victim all this time; though I hate to see women playing that part even in movies, it irritates the hell out of me.
He thinks I’m a wimp. The thought made me nauseous. I don’t feel like a wimp. Especially when I’m daydreaming about revenge against Becky and Victoria, but I can see how I appear like one. But what does he know? In his ivory tower, he never had to fight anyone for anything; I’ll bet. Where was he when Victoria was spreading rumors and lies about my eight-year-old self? When she took every friend I ever had and destroyed the relationships my mother had built for me?
Where was he when my own father believed the lies of the mother and daughter duo, ripping away my only safety net? What the hell does he know? Maybe he’s heard the rumors and thinks I’m an easy mark, just like everyone else around. I felt my anger grow. I’m tired of being made to feel and look like a fool… but wait, maybe I’m getting mad at the wrong person.
Gabriel did save me not once but twice from Victoria and her cronies, and I’m almost certain that he’s the one who set up the tutoring thing. But why? He doesn’t even like me in that way. Though he’s nice to me, and his words are usually gentle when he’s not indirectly calling me an ass or something like it, he’s not shown so much as a hint of romantic interest in me. So why? Does he feel sorry for me because of what he saw? Still, why go to these lengths? And what do I plan to do?
It’s a wonder I got anything done in class since my mind stayed preoccupied with questions. I’ve learned to weigh the pros and cons in all things, and right now, I don’t see anything that can go wrong with forming a friendship with the Russo twins. In fact, I quite like them. They’re not catty or condescending the way you’d expect teenage girls of their caliber to be. Not like Victoria and her friends, who are nowhere near their level.