The bright purple bruise in the shape of a handprint was impossible to hide. No matter how much foundation and blush Aubrey had applied to her swollen cheek, the painful mark alone was a deeper shade than either. She slipped into her seat, head down and failing to hide behind her backpack and its broken strap. For a second, she reminded me of myself when I was younger, huddled in a corner and pretending everything was fine.
Was this my fault? The fact class was ongoing washed over me; I could only hear one thing.
"Grant, I'm being serious." Luke's voice played on repeat in my head. "I don't know what she's going to do next, but I'm starting to think this isn't just jealousy anymore."
Over and over again it played until my chair scraped against the floor before I realized I was already moving toward her. I placed a pale hand on the edge of the desk. The pink bangs that hung low over her eyes did not cover the streaks of her ruined mascara. They were faded but not gone, no matter the number of times she must have dabbed at it with her sleeve.
“Luke?” I moved close enough to her ear that the rest of the class wouldn’t hear it, although that didn’t stop a few mutters about me being her newest plaything. “Did he say anything to you?”
The dull ache in my stomach persisted at the slight shake of her head, but I forced myself to stare at her other unblemished cheek. Would it have mattered if I had told her about the warning he had given me? I wasn’t sure, and that was eating me up inside.
“Grant, go stand in the hallway. I’ll call you back when I’m ready.” Miss Halsey pointed the chalk at the loudest individuals. “And the rest of you need to shut it, or you can figure out how to do this assignment on your own.”
I trudged toward the door without complaint. The snickers at my expense were muted thanks to Miss Halsey’s already foul mood, and I slowed my pace near Nicole. She paid me no mind, openly fixated on the girl she proclaimed to hate the most.
“Do you need to see the nurse, Aubrey?”
“I’m fine.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.”
Any other snippets of conversation, and any idea of how to finish up our project, were lost on me when I closed the door behind me. Miss Halsey wasn’t one to raise her voice, so the hallway was quiet except for the occasional noisy person passing by. I slumped against the wall, getting comfortable since I wasn’t sure when I could rejoin the class.
Damn it. I shouldn’t even have to feel bad here. If Luke knew things were going to escalate, why come to the arcade, be vague, and dump it on me? If he was such a little chicken shit, he should’ve just gone on a date with his new girlfriend. Then, at least someone would’ve been happy. And what was Aubrey’s issue, anyway? Why couldn't she just leave him alone instead of becoming another one of those obsessive freaks still orbiting around him?
I softly bumped the back of my head into a locker.
The curtain was pulled away from the wide window of our clubroom, allowing the harsh sunlight to filter into the room and spread around the place. Nicole held out a hand, elbow planted firmly on the table as she strained to examine her pink fingernails under the intense glare. The two of us were alone together since Aubrey had gotten permission to leave early. Serena hadn’t shown up either, and I assumed the two of them were probably together. After all, her membership seemed contingent on Aubrey being here.
“I didn’t expect that little stunt you pulled. Pretty ballsy to whisper in her ear in the middle of class like that.”
“Do you know who did that?” I asked, not in the mood to dance around the issue.
“Not a clue. Luke attracted some real crazy bitches, and he’s a coward. Never bothered to put those bimbos in their place, so it looks like they took matters into their own hands. One of them at least.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Could’ve been worse. Looks like she got off with a little warning.”
I gripped the starchy fabric of my jeans in my clenched hands. “That was a warning?”
“Whoever did it could have beat the living shit out of her. She got off with a little slap.” She let her hand drop onto her thigh. “Why do you even care so much? It’s not like you're friends unless that little trip to the arcade changed that overnight.”
“Luke told me to keep her away from him.”
The second hand on the clock ticked, the rhythmic sound beating into my eardrums while I waited for her to say something. Anything. It was weird how now I was missing how much noise those two would have filled the room with.
Her response didn’t come with any of the accusations I had expected. Rather**,** it was subdued, like she had predicted this. “It wouldn’t have made a difference whether you told her. She didn’t want to listen to anything I or the midget had to say either. All you would have done is pissed her off.”
“Is that so…?”
“It is.” Tipping back in her chair for a moment, she rose to her feet. “Now, I’m going to find that woman and ask why we still aren't recognized as the Literature Club yet. You coming? And don't get any ideas. This is the sole exception to being seen outside this room with you.”
Really didn’t seem like much of an invite, considering how she worded it, but I stood up and followed her through the door and down the hallway. She turned right when she reached the office, and we passed a junior who was a few inches shorter than me. His biceps strained against his tight-fitting varsity football uniform, and he was smirking at the disinterested girl in our grade beside him. If I wasn’t wrong, she used to hang out around Luke a lot.
“I really did fuck that bitch’s face up, like god damn. That bruise on her was way darker than her hair dye!”
The brunette said something back to him, but it was lost on me. All my forward momentum halted, and I swiveled around to face them, my hands balled into fists. They carried on, not noticing us as they were so engrossed in retelling how cruel they had been.
Nicole slowed, glancing over her shoulder. “You’re not going to punch him, so get a move on.”
“What would you know?”
“I know if you do, you’ll get suspended, and they’ll take it out on Aubrey tomorrow.”
My fingernails dug into my palms, and what should have stung left me feeling nothing at all. Nicole was right. Swinging at him wasn't going to fix anything. So why did it still feel like I was making the same mistake?
Let them make fun of Jack? Fine. I'd even help paint the target on his back as long as they stopped looking at me. Let them tear my book to shreds? Fine. Better that than admit it was mine. There was always another excuse. Someone else would deal with it. It wasn't really my problem. In the end, all I ever did was sit there and watch.
Maybe that was the only difference between me and the people I had been so quick to judge. They were more obvious about things, and I was better at hiding.
There was a roar of laughter from down the hallway that snapped me out of my thoughts. “A smack a day will keep her away? I like that! We should go for double or nothing tomorrow!”
Tomorrow.
The bruise hadn’t been the end of it. It had been the very beginning.
But Nicole truly was right. We weren't suddenly best friends. And swinging at him wasn't going to fix anything. I dodged her attempt to grab me and ran down the hall, flinging myself at his unsuspecting back anyway.