Just Your Average Girl

Chapter 6: Padlock

“Ricky, why don’t you just ask her to the Summer Formal?”

I hastened my step to keep up with his pace.

“Ricky, the formal is in five weeks. Tammy still doesn’t have a date.You definitely have a chance!”

I grabbed his hand and turned him around.“Ricky! Stop sulking and ask Tammy!” I practically yelled, shaking him by the shoulders. He moved my hands off and cupped my face.“You’re really starting to annoy me,” he pinched my cheeks, “I’ve always liked Tamira, but she’s completely  out of my league.”I pulled him over to my locker and took out a tiny bottle. I placed it in his hand and cupped my hands around his.“What is this thing?”

I started to speak in the voice of an old wise sensei. “This is a powerful charm. Wear it around your neck to give you the courage to ask Tamira out. These are special beads, but you must never look at them until you win her over. Make sure you pray to God first though.”

“Why do you have this charm? It seems pretty stupid to me.”

I tied the charm around his neck and wished him luck.

“Trust me. Pray first and you’ll see.” I giggled as I walked away, leaving him confused. I did a quick prayer and headed to Richelle’s locker. I reached there just as her girls walked away. Fortunately for me, she was the only girl in school who was irresponsible enough to have a padlock on her locker. I looked around and pulled two bobby pins from my hair. I bit off the rubber ends and stuck it into the lock. I shifted the pins until I heard a click, and I yanked the lock out.

Class had started and  Tammy was covering for me. Meanwhile, I clamored through the smelly locker and found the “gold.” I snatched it up, shut the door, and shoved it into my own locker. Tammy and I would have to look through it during lunch. I headed to my Calculus class to be bored into submission. I felt wrong for doing this, but it felt well deserved.

During lunch, Tammy, Enrique, and I sat in the farthest corner of the cafeteria. The diary lay in the center of the table surrounded by our lunch trays. I glanced from Tamira to Enrique. Enrique threw his head back and groaned, “So what now? You’ve got the book and all you’ve done is stare at it! Open it!”

Tammy shushed him. “Could you be any louder?” she tersely whispered,”We’re trying not to get caught by Richy and her squad. She may be weak, but her girls are strong as hell.”

“Besides, how could we open the lock?” I joined in.

“The same way you opened the locker,” Enrique retorted.

“I don’t have anything small enough to fit.”

“Then use your earring!” he half yelled at me in  frustration.

I took out my studs and shoved them carefully into the lock. Slowly but surely, the small pink heart-shaped lock clicked, and I slipped it out of the latch. I flipped open the cover to find a page full of hearts with “Damian + Richy,” “D+R,” and “Damian and Richelle Taylor,” written in them. I looked from Enrique’s amazed face to Tammy’s scrutinizing glare. I sighed as if hoping for strength, and flipped through more pages to find the same result.

Enrique chuckled, “Chica es loca por Damian. They went out once, but I didn’t think she was head over heels for him!” He grabbed a couple pages. “Let’s see some more!”

There were photos of Damian, who seemed oblivious to the photos being taken. We all gave a small gasp when we read the words scrawled under each photo. “Damian is mine and  mine alone. No one else deserves him.”

“She’s obsessed!” I exclaimed a little too loudly.

I got a terse shush from both Enrique and Tammy. Tammy snatched up the diary and flipped through the pages. There was only one real diary entry:

Dear Diary,

Damian’s finally returned to school after some freak accident. Nobody knows who’s the girl that saved him and apparently she has no intention of showing her face. Maybe I should take her place; it not like she even exists. Everyone thinks Damian’s delirious or something. Only a huge guy could cause that damage. Maybe pretending to be that girl will get him to like me again?

Tammy read quietly aloud. She shut the book and looked at me expecting an answer to the question we were all asking ourselves, What will I do about this?

I sighed and glanced over at the table where Damian and Richelle were sitting in the center of the cafeteria. Richelle was leaning on Damian and flirting her brunette hair off. I knew a look of disgust flashed across my face because Tammy and Ricky quickly turned to see the sight.

“I know what I’m going to do. Ricky, Tammy, I want you to meet me by my locker right after school.” I abruptly stood up from the table and walked over to Damian’s table. Honestly I had no idea what I was going to do. I was working on complete impulse. I was just hoping that I wouldn’t do anything stupid.

I focused on my target and started, “Excuse me, Richelle, right?” She gave me an annoyed look and  cocked her head.

“What do you want? Who’re you?”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I’m Marleni, we have French class together.”

“Oh yeah, you’re Little Miss Genius Madison. What do you want?”

“Can I talk to you after school? I don’t want to interrupt you any more than I already have.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come. I’ll come after school. Can you disappear now?”

I totally wanted to kick her rankin’ butt right there, but I held back. I just walked away until I couldn’t feel her stare at my back. I made a beeline for my table when I got through the crowd. I dropped into my seat with a loud thunk and made a quick glance back at Damian’s table. Everyone resumed talking, but he was staring at me. I gave a small wave and turned to Ricky and Tammy.

“Tamira, Enrique, we’re going to have a little intervention after school.” I leaned in and and whispered my plan to them. The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. I took the diary and stuffed it in my locker. Tammy pulled my arm as we rushed to French class.