Heart

Three

“Here you go,” I replied carelessly, tossing Alan a paper bag containing a bagel and my mom’s famous homemade spread. Alan loved my mother’s breakfast cooking---when he peered inside, his neutral expression melted and he practically started salivating at the mouth. He shut the bag and stared up at me with a hallelujah face.

“It’s amazing how much you get me,” Alan said humorously, shoving his hand inside the bag and pulling out the bagel.

I smiled and held out my hand expectantly. Alan raised his eyebrows.

“What? Like you didn’t have three of these things at your house this morning.”

My smile grew just a tad. “Ah, more or less.” We chuckled and then I sort of pushed him to the side, since he was blocking my locker. While he devoured his breakfast, I pulled open the metal door---and took a startled step back.

Dozens and dozens of white cylinder-shaped sticks tumbled out of my locker and rolled across the floor, over my feet. I stared down in horror, the blood rushing up to my cheeks.

And what were those cylinder-shaped sticks?

Tampons.

Yeah.

By now everyone else in the hallway had spotted the pile of tampons at my feet and were pretty much keeling over with laughter. Jocks were pointing and making fun of me already and girls were covering their mouths and laughing at me, and Alan practically choked on his bagel. I could only stand there, staring with my shoulders hunched up close to my face, almost trembling with humiliation.

I already knew who was responsible for this. And I wanted to kill her.

Alan quickly threw an arm around my shoulders and urged me forward, down the hallway. He kept me closer to the wall so his body blocked me some from onlookers, but a particular group of girls couldn’t be hidden: Gabriella stood pressed up against a row of lockers, watching me with her icy gaze as Alan walked me to a refuge. Her loyal subjects were cracking up on either side of her, but I only saw those evil brown pools of crap. I don’t know what she saw on my face, but in another moment I didn’t have to worry about it; Alan had found a refuge for me.

He shut the door to the women’s locker room in the gym, sealing off the laughter and teasing. He faced me, expression neutral as always, but his eyes were hard.

I looked up at him, cheeks burning and anger brewing. “Will that witch ever give me a break?”

He lifted one shoulder in a small shrug and handed me half of his bagel. Comfort food. “I don’t know, maybe. If she’s taught a lesson.” He gazed at me pointedly.

I sighed and took a vicious bite of the bagel, my embarrassment already fading into fury. My cheeks cooled rapidly as I chewed. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble, Al.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t. Trust me.”

I didn’t answer.

Alan sighed and slowly ran his hand over his scalp, flattening his already gel-smothered brown hair. For some reason he always wore his hair slicked back against his skull, not leaving a strand out of place. The ends curled slightly at the back of his neck, at the beginning of his backbone. To be honest, it was a nerdy do, but what was I gonna say? He liked what he liked.

“Listen, I’m tired of her doing this to you,” Alan said seriously.

“Yeah, me too,” I retorted bitterly, rolling my eyes and finishing off the bagel. Comfort food really is something.

“She has it coming to her, Kara, whether it be by me or someone else. No one really likes her at this school. And her boyfriend’s just with her ‘cause she’s hot.”

My muscles went rigid and my eyes flew up to his face, searing him with my fury. My fists curled tight until my fingernails bit into my palms. “Funny. I think I just heard you say that Gabriella Quintanilla is hot, but I must  be mistaken, because if I have heard correctly, then I would have to seriously kick your butt into the next millennium. I don’t particularly want to have to do that, Alan.”

He threw up his hands and took a step back, fighting a small smile. “Hey, you can’t hide from the truth. It is what it is.”

Blood rushed to my cheeks again, but it was for an entirely different reason this time.

“Look, I never said I loved the girl, but I’m not blind, you know.”

“How could you say that?!” I yelled, glaring at him with all my might. He was supposed to be on my  freaking side, not that witch’s. Maybe my response could be classified as overreacting, but I just couldn’t stand him at that moment; I shoved him out of my way and stomped to the door, half expecting fireballs to spew out of my hands. He usually knew where to stop with me. How could he possibly think that this joke was behind the line?

But maybe that’s just it: it wasn’t a joke. He was serious.

I almost had the door wrenched open before his hand grabbed my arm and held me fast. See, puny, skinny-armed me versus a fit, strong-armed karate student just wasn’t going to work. Even through my blinding anger, I knew that I didn’t have a chance of pulling free until he was ready to let me go.

So, I very reluctantly stayed put.

“Kara, come on. It really isn’t a big deal. Don’t you think you’re being a little bit dramatic?” Alan murmured by my ear, using the soft innocent tone of voice that was annoyingly good at tempering my anger.

“You know how much I hate her, Alan. I don’t want to hear anything positive about her coming out of your mouth again.”

I knew he thought that I was being totally and completely ridiculous. Maybe I was. But it seemed that I was being just the right amount of dramatic to me, given the heinous trash that had just passed his lips.

“Okay, sure. Whatever makes you happy, Kara,” Alan agreed, still murmuring in that gentle tone. He really hated it when he upset me--like any true friend should feel if they upset another-- and whenever he did he became extremely submissive.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I turned my head to look at him. “Alright, so I overreacted.”

His mouth lifted in a small, sideways smile. “Yeah you did.”

I smirked and wiggled my arm in his firm grasp. “Shut up, he-man, it’s time to let me go now.”

Alan obediently loosened his grip, allowing me to pull free and slip out the locker room door. The bell rang just as I did so, which made me irritated all over again at Gabriella. Not only had she humiliated me in front of everyone, but now she had made me tardy for class--me and Alan. I think it was my third tardy already. I was probably going to get detention.