Cupid's Daughter

Chapter 7~ Saving Sam

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out briefly, reading a message from Sam that asked me to meet in the cafeteria instead because it was Fajita Friday-- the one day of the week where the cafeteria food was actually moderately decent.

I spun around on my heel and pushed open the double glass doors, easily spotting Sam at our usual table with Tommy and Avery. I quickly bought a bottle of water and joined my friends on our table, squeezing in beside Sam.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?" Tommy asked me, his blonde hair tinged with purple hair chalk today. I grinned and leaned over to smooth a strand down, ignoring his protests.

I thought of telling them about the note on my locker, but I knew that Sam would take it more seriously then it actually was, so I decided to keep it to myself. "Not much," I shrugged, "what about you guys?"

Tommy and Sam exchanged a look, and Sam set down her fajita. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a commotion near Noah and JC's table. I looked over and spotted Sabrina clambering up to stand on her chair, calling for the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. She clapped her perfectly manicured hands, and on cue two nerdy-looking guys from the tech club brought in a plasma screen television on a rolling trolley. .

"Fellow students, I need to tell you something about a student sat amongst us. Something many of you will not like." Sabrina called out, and instantly a hundred pairs of eyes snapped to her face. Everyone was looking at her with intrigue, drinking in every aspect of her while they could. Briefly, Sabrina's eyes flickered to mine and she smirked, before turning her attention to the TV.

"What I am about to show you is something I believe you should know. I do this not out of cruelty, but out of compassion. Surely, it must hurt to keep such a huge secret inside. It must just kill Samara Bermudez to not be able to tell her own best friend, Isabelle Conway, that she is gay!"

As soon as Sabrina spoke, a video clearly shot on an iPhone popped up on the screen, revealing what appeared to be Sam in the park with another girl. I peeked over at Sam in shock, and when I saw how red her face was and how small and defeated she looked, I felt something pang in my chest. In the video the two sat on the swings talking, their hands intertwined. There was thirty seconds or so of this, and then, backing up Sabrina's words, the girl leaned over slowly and kissed Sam. Sabrina paused the video on the kiss and glanced our way smugly. "And here we have exhibit A, everyone. Do what you may with this information, I just thought that you should know." Sabrina smiled like she was doing the world a favour, and then continued to grin as a teacher shooed her from the table.

I turned to Sam, who looked like she was going to burst into tears, and tried to speak. "Sam?" The word came out brokenly due to my surprise, and Sam shook her head before slapping a hand over her mouth and pushing out her chair to allow herself to run away. I swallowed hugely as I tried to take in all the new information.

Sam was gay? Why hadn't she told me sooner?

I stood up to follow her, and found that Noah was behind me, his eyes wide and concerned.

"Isabelle. Is she okay? What can I do?" He urged me, and I pushed him aside as I started to run.

"Go see your girlfriend, I need to find Sam." I spat nastily, even though I knew that this wasn't his fault. How could he love such a monster?

I chased Sam all the way to the second floor bathrooms, where she shoved herself into a stall and sobbed violently while I stood outside the cubicle.

"Sam?" I asked quietly some time after her cries had eased. Silence. "Sammy? Why didn't you tell me before?"

I heard a sniff and then the winding of toilet paper from the dispenser as before Sam blew her nose. "Because. Because... I was ashamed. I thought you'd think I was a freak, or that..." She trailed off slowly, and I slid myself down the wall to a seated position so that I could slip my hand under the door.