Waiting To Exhale

Five

I and Mason have been hanging out a lot lately. He even picked me up from school once. Of course, that earned me a lot of dirty looks from girls that want Mason. We haven't done anything that says we're in a relationship other than hold hands so I guess he's taking it slow with me since I'm so much younger than him.

I like Mason. He's really sweet. He loves showering me with gifts and telling me how beautiful I am. Today we're going shopping. He wants me to have the best. He says I deserve it. I told him I wasn't comfortable with him buying me such expensive stuff but he assured me he doesn't mind. I even offered to pay him back-even though I know there's no way I can-and he said no. Which I'm very thankful for.

I've never had someone to buy me stuff. I've always had to work for it. It feels good to have someone take care of me.

"Can I go to the restroom?" I ask, raising my hand. The teacher permits me. My initial plan was to wait until class was over to go because I don't want to walk past everyone but I have to pee. Whenever someone gets up, the class just has to act like it's more interesting to watch than to pay attention to the lesson.

I hold my head down, ignoring the comment a student throws about my clothes. I'll be so happy when Mason buys me some new ones. The restroom isn't empty like I would prefer. A couple of girls are crowded around the mirror applying layers of makeup to their already perfect faces.

I use the toilet and try to wait for them to leave but they seem to be skipping. I flush the toilet and leave out the stall.

"Excuse me," I say to one of the girls. She has beautiful dark skin and long Brazilian weave. I know it's weave because I heard her talking about it. Her body is nice and curvy. Her lips look soft but her eyes hard. She's a new girl.

"You're hair is really pretty." She says. I look up to make sure she's talking to me. When I realize she is I quickly thank her. I wouldn't want her to think I'm being rude and try to fight me. I've had too many girls try to do that. "I'm Jen." She holds a hand out for me to shake after I finish drying my hands.

"Olivia."

The other two girls laugh. They look me up and down with disgusted looks on their faces. Jen gives them hard looks. They quickly look away. She may be new but it's obvious she's the ring leader.

"Are you going back to class?"

"Yes," I answer.

"Well, we're not. We're skipping. It's the last period anyway." Why is she talking to me? No one ever talks to me. I guess no one has gotten around to telling her about me since she's new. One of her friends taps her on the arm. I can tell she already doesn't like me. Maybe she's heard about me. "You should skip with us."

As much as I would love to. "I can't."

"That's cool. We can hang out some other time."

We say a quick goodbye to each other. I turn to leave but quickly move aside when a group of girls comes rushing in. When I notice it's Bianca Anderson and her friends I make sure to stay out of their way. Bianca has other plans. She shoulders me as she walks past. The other three girls do the same.

"Stay the fuck out my way unless you tryna get hurt, you dumb whore." Her voice is filled with venom. I never really understood why Bianca and her crew don't like me. I never understood why everyone hates me. I guess they just see me as an easy target. I am.

Jen jumps off the counter and the other girls follow as she steps in front of me. "You got something to say?" Jen ask. I can tell she's been in a lot of fights. She pulls her weave back in a ponytail. She takes her hoop earrings out.

I can tell Bianca and her crew is scared. I've never seen them afraid of anybody. I don't understand why Jen is taking up for me. We aren't friends. We don't know the first things about one another. "I hope you don't think I'm supposed to be scared of you. You taking up for her like y'all friends. Don't let this clown fool you."

"Well, she is my friend so you mess with her, you mess with me."

"Let's go, Bianca. They not even worth it." One of her friends speaks up. Bianca assures them we aren't worth it before storming out of the restroom. That was beyond weird. I turn to Jen confused. She's already taking her hair out of its ponytail then brushing it down.

"What?" She asks noticing me staring. She doesn't sound aggressive at all.

"You guys didn't have to stick up for me like that."

She smiles and drapes an arm around my shoulder. She is slightly taller than me. Her other friends, Frankie and Kenyan continue applying makeup since they were interrupted by me and all my drama.

"Look I'm new here so I'm just trying to get in where I fit in. Oh, and I don't like bullies. Don't ask why. Now go on back to class." She gives a light smile.

I make my way back to my classroom. My teacher gives me a hard look for being out so long. The other students probably think I was in there emptying some solid waste. I clearly wasn't.

After school Mason is here to pick me up just like he promised. He gives me a quick hug before pulling off. I still can't put my finger on why he's so interested in me. He should be going after a girl like Bianca.

I don't say much as we drive to get something to eat. I'm still thinking about Jen. She comes off as the big sister type. It wouldn't surprise me if she had a couple of younger siblings. I already think she's a cool girl. She stood up for me. No other girl has. She seems to think I'm worth having a friendship with and her two friends are going to follow her and be my friends too. Jen is one tough girl. She looks like she's a junior. I hope not.

First Mason, then Jen, and her two friends. It looks like things are looking up for me. I'm glad Jen is new and hasn't been exposed to the gossip people make up about me. She doesn't seem like the type of girl to believe that stuff anyway. She seems like she would check the source before falling for stuff like that. Could she be my first gal? I have never had one before. I'm not very social or pretty so girls don't exactly flock towards me. I wish they did. I wish I was popular and pretty.

I know it's going to take more than new clothes to change people's minds about me.