The Perks Of Being Amanda Summerlyn

Chapter 22: Like A Champion

The whole party takes a dramatic pause as Lindsay slowly steps into the room. Someone has cut off the music so the house is silent. Terrifyingly silent. Everyone is staring at her. People who were in the kitchen and dining room have come to see what the hold up was.

Lindsay turns her head from the right and to the left like an angry bull and shouts in a loud voice that makes almost everyone in the house jump, "Where is she?!"

I look at Oliver who looks back at me like he knows. And I think he does. She's looking for me. He grasps my hand, shaking his head, but I nod. I'm going to have to confront her one way or another. Even if confronting her means putting my fist in her face.

Oliver slowly lets go of my hand and I carefully walk down the stairs. The people at the stairs' attention has turned to me as I slowly walk down the last stair towards Lindsay who's back is to me. "I'm right here," I say loudly.

Everyone has parted, giving us plenty of space to fight if we need to. Lindsay whips around to face me, and her face takes on an angry snarl. "You bitch," she says. "This is all your fault!"

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Everyone thinks I'm a slut now," she says. "Rose, Lily, Eleanor, and Ally? They all left me. I have nobody now! I'm a loser now because of you and your big ass mouth! And you know what the worst part is? Ricky broke up with me."

My eyes widen in shock.

"Yeah," she says. "Unbelievable, isn't it? He got a call tonight, saying that he was kicked off the football team. He told me he's a total loser now and thinks it's because of me and he broke up with me over at his house tonight. I had to walk home in the freezing rain. But then I realized that Oliver's party was tonight and I knew that you would be here, so here I am."

I lick my lips, suddenly super frightened of this brokenhearted, angry girl in front of me.

"And what do you see in Oliver?" she asks. She actually looks confused. "You like him? The nerd? The weirdo? The faggot? The guy who wore porn on his shirt that one time? The guy who called Jake gay? He's...he's nothing! Absolutely nothing! I mean, you can't go to the prom next year with...with that!" She points at Oliver who's at the bottom of the stairs, standing tall and strong.

I decide she's gone way too far talking about him this way and get up in her face, ignoring the sounds of gasps. "You know what, Lindsay?" I say. "I don't give a rat's ass about what you think. Or about what anybody else thinks, for that matter. You don't know him and you sure as hell don't know me. He's the sweetest, hottest, smartest, most considerate guy ever, and if he wants to wear that "porn" shirt, which by the way is just a drawing of the original villainesses of Batman, and wear glasses to the prom or to the Valentine's Day dance or to any kind of party, I'd be proud to go with him."

I look at Oliver who looks breathless and surprised, but he's beaming, his dimples showing completely. I give him a smile and turn back to Lindsay who looks like she wants to kill me. "And at least he's not an ugly, pot-smoking, coke-sniffing jailbird like your "ex"-boyfriend," I say, finger-quoting "ex" since she has yet to break up with David, "or a rude, obnoxious, slobbering jerk like your new "boyfriend". So why don't you just crawl into a little cave somewhere and just leave us alone?"

A line of gasps goes around crowd. I catch sight of Ally and she gives me a proud smile along with a little thumbs up. I look back to Lindsay and nearly miss it when her hand suddenly comes out and smacks me across the cheek. Louder gasps comes from around the room as I stumble back, holding my burning cheek. "You're a bitch," Lindsay hisses. "You're a loser. You're nothing but dirt. Not even that. You're nothing. Just like your little faggot boyfriend. You're nothing!"