The Literary Misadventures of Juniper Rosewood

16- So Naive

"Not now, Stella," Etta said quietly. Stella Hodges and a few other cheerleaders had cornered us both against the mirror. I had been lucky enough to survive the majority of my school years without having to talk to her, until now, of course. It struck me as odd that one person could wield so much social power. I wondered whether she would always have that power, or whether it would become inconsequential once we left school. I had always ignored her since it was much more convenient than either having to suck up to her or be stepped on by her. It seemed to me as if Etta was letting Stella step on her though. She must have been so worn out by all of this. It was like she had just given up.

"That's a nice shade of lipstick. What's it called? Dirty slag?" Stella mocked, and some of her friends laughed. The others just looked uncomfortable.

Etta didn't say anything, but that was the last straw for me. Etta wanted J. B to stand up for her, and he wouldn't, so now it was my turn. I moved between Etta and Stella, trying to look menacing.

"Leave her alone," I said. To be fair, I wasn't very intimidating at all standing at an incredible five foot three and wearing a pink T-shirt with a cartoon bear on it, but I didn't let that stop me. I wasn't exactly surprised when Stella started laughing at me.

"What's this, a little nerd standing up for this piece of filth?"

"Yes," I said.

"Aren't you the girl that Dalton brought to J.B's party on Saturday?" One of Stella's friends asked.

"So what if I am?" I asked. I seemed to be drawing the attention away from Etta, which was good because I could tell from the way her body shook behind me that she was about to start crying again.

"Dalton will be really pissed if he finds out that you've made an enemy of her," The other girl said into Stella's ear.

"I don't care what Dalton thinks," Stella said, "He acts all cool and tough, but really he's just as much of a pathetic little nerd as she is." She pointed at me. I scowled.

"But-" The other girl began, but she became quiet when Stella flung her arm up.

"Shut up, Cressida," She turned to me, then, "I don't want to have a problem with you," She said sweetly, evidently intimidated by the idea of Dalton being angry at her, even if she had said she didn't care, "But we're going to have a problem if you don't get out of my way."

"What is your problem with Etta? She hasn't done anything to you," I said.

"She keeps running her grubby little stoner fingers over my boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Cressida corrected her and was promptly silenced by Stella's hand again.

"So you're being horrible to my friend because of a boy. Wow," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I could feel Etta stand up a little straighter behind me when I called her my friend, "Surely you're above that, Stella."

"What?"

"You probably have more important things going on, right? Schoolwork, homework, cheer practice, spending time with your friends and family, or whatever. That's a busy life. You shouldn't add to your workload by bullying Etta," I said, "And I mean, you're so pretty, you could have anybody you wanted. There's no point in obsessing over someone who's taken."

This was an odd tactic, I had to admit. But I knew Stella would only gain more power if I made the conversation about me or Etta. Complimenting Stella made her think that she was in control, which was always good when trying to defuse stressful situations.

"Whatever," Stella said, she and the other cheerleaders stalking out of the bathroom, "You better watch yourself, nerd. I don't care if you have Dalton's favour, I will break you if I have to." Okay, so maybe my tactic didn't quite work as well as I had hoped, but at least I had taken the focus off Etta, now. Cressida hung in the doorway for a moment.