Tongue Tied

Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

I massage my hands while I walk through hallways from the breezy winds outside. After the grueling punishment of last weekend, no more chores for me. Well, I still have my original chores and Craig is back to do his own chores. It distracted me from my rambling mind. I need to stay out of the way from now on. I open my locker, getting my notebooks. Mondays. Can't we have four-day weekends and start on Tuesday morning? Or maybe in the afternoon at 12pm? I can't wait for college. I heard a conversation beside me. Well, whispering. Gossiping. I look over at two girls pointing in my direction. The girl in a complete black outfit and frizzy hair saying something in a hushed tone to the girl in a pixie haircut. Pixie's mouth drops open and laughs. I frown and ask, "what?"

"Nothing," the two girls answer, snickering and walking away. Am I missing something? I straighten my shoulders and head to the bathroom. The same thing happens to two guys staring at me. One in a buzz cut and one with shaggy blonde hair. They smirk and nod in my direction. Okay. I'm lost. A boy smirks when he spots me and nods his head. What the hell?

"Seems you are the talk of the school," Quinn says when she strolls beside me.

"About?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You and Sam, kissing at the party."

"Because of the dare?" I roll my eyes. "How?"

"Tyler. He heard from one of his friends that it didn't end with the dare. He took you home and you know." I sputter a laugh, Sam falling for me? That had to come from Jessica. Quinn joins in, holding her stomach. I had tears in my eyes. Actual tears.

"That's good," I laugh, shaking my head. "That's a good one. I'm done."

"I had to hold in my laugh when I heard it. Although Alex heard the same thing." She tilts her head with a knowing look.

I scoff, "Does he actually believe that?"

"I don't know," she says with a shrug. If he does, there goes my luck. "It's all over school."

Sam was talking to some other girl. He brushed her wavy brown hair away from her face, she hid her face in his palm to conceal her blush as he smirked. Why does he do that? I roll my eyes. I guarantee he started the rumor. Or one of his friends. Or Jessica. Whatever. He can do whatever he wants. I don't care. He can confuse her feelings and leave her staying up from his empty words. Ugh. His look made my skin crawl. I rub my arms.

She shakes her head. "I know you and Sam had your issues. But it's factless gossip."

I nod. Why did he have to kiss me? Damn him. I see Alex walking over. He sees me and nods. I nod back and smile. He doesn't stop to say hi and he strides away to the door next to him. Oh, no, he probably believes it too. This is worse than being on stage. All eyes on me, staring. Gawking. Pointing. Laughing. "Don't sweat it. Keep your head high. It's all bullshit and it'll die down." She nudges my arm.

Sam and I make eye contact. I look away, eyes front, looking ahead. It was just a dare. A dare. Don't people kiss all the time? Like our date. It's nothing. "Yeah." I know it's nothing to him. He told me. I sigh as I head to class and sit in my assigned seat.

"You know what we need, girls night! This weekend, no boys, no distraction, no drama. Just mani pedis and facials."

"Yes, I'm in! I'll bring snacks and mud masks!" I say, bouncing my shoulders.

"Awesome. My mom will make brownies, be there at six." I wave bye to Quinn as she heads to her next class. This weekend is needed. All this school, with homework and SATs soon. Sometimes too much focus can hurt my brain. I pull my posture up, eyes forward on the board. I smell Sam's scent, eyeing the back of his neck. I should pay attention. I want to scream at him. Strangle him. However, I refuse to inch into violent behavior.

Class ends, I walk off slowly, letting one of my classmates walk in front of me. A bump on my shoulder makes it sore. "Sorry."

"It's ok." Alex smiles when he sees me. I pull myself up, he looks good today. Black was his color.

He scans my body up and down. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah." I drop my head down, looking at my shoes, I make plans just to get derailed. He must not like me right now. "I know we were supposed to hang out but I was grounded."

"Oh. I thought you didn't want to see me."

"I do. I want to spend time with you. Like hang out, alone?" I nibble on my bottom lip, I hope he says yes.

"Sure. How about this weekend?" He grins. He's so cute.

I nod, and then squeeze my eyes. Girls weekend. "How about next weekend? Me and Quinn are having a girls night."

"I can do that. We can go ice skating on Saturday." Ice skating. I roller bladed once, ended up on my ass. I have no proper balance, no coordination whatsoever. But I can try. He can teach me.

"Cool. Let me get your number." I pull out my phone for him to type in. I grin as I watch him. His long eyelashes, strong hands. Imagining his hands on my waist when we skate together. He hands it back to me and the butterfly frenzy in my gut won't stop when he moves closer.

"I'll text you." I nod and he waves as he walks away. I gotta pee. I head to the bathroom before my next class.

"I can't believe her," a girl says when she enters the bathroom.

"I know, right? Trying to steal her man. Pathetic." What? They had to be talking about me and the rumors. I try my hardest to hold my noise from my mouth behind my hand.

"She should know the girl code." Girl code? We're not friends. And she's the one that stole him from me. Wait, what am I thinking?

"But didn't Jessica want Sam?" I knew it. I gulp and tilt my head to listen better.

"Who doesn't want Sam? He's the most popular guy in school. It's shocking that he wanted to go out with someone like her." The girl scoffs. Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean? I wipe and flush and exit the stall. The two girls in question turn around and stare. It's the same girls that I saw in the hallway that were gossiping. I smile, heading to the sink. I turn on the water, without saying much of a word. They smile back. One of them clears their throat and touches up their mascara. The other one beside me is brushing her straight hair. Fake bitches.

She coughs, "Man thief. Whoa, there must be dust in here." She clears her throat and hits her chest. I stifle my laugh, sucking in my lips. From the fact that school thinks I'm in love with Sam or her terrible way of trying to diss me. I can't be outraged. It's too funny. My shoulders jolt. I cough but it comes out as a laugh. I shut off the water and flick my hands dry to make sure the droplets hit both of them. They gasp as I grab a paper towel and exit. I chuckle. Ridiculous. That's all I can do. I had no witty comeback. Mo tears, minus the ones coming from my eyes right now from my laughter. But what did they mean 'someone like me?'