The Outcast

Chapter 16: Jealousy

Recap:

I opened up the text and gasped at the message.

Like what we did with your locker? This is only the beginning freak. Stay away from Will or else.

Chapter 16: Jealousy

I ended up missing most of my morning classes thanks to the locker incident. River had stayed with me the whole time and I kind of felt guilty that he chose to spend his first day of school with a crying loser. He would also probably end up with a detention for skipping so many classes but no matter how many times I’d tried to convince him to go he’d refused.

After much insisting on River’s part, he convinced me to show him the text I’d received and we had been talking about it ever since.

“It’s got to be from that girl that puked on you at the party” he reasoned.  

“You mean Hazel? Nah, she wouldn’t do that. I mean I know we’re not on speaking terms right now but she wouldn’t do something so extreme. I’m sure it was Tara” I told him shaking my head. Hazel was acting really unfair with me lately but she was my best friend. She wouldn’t betray me that way.

“Or both” he suggested before adding, “Hazel looked pretty upset when Will kissed you and Tara doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

“But Hazel hates Tara almost as much as I do. You think they’d team up just to get back at me?” I inquired doubtfully.

“You’d be surprised what people are capable of when they want revenge, dragonfly” he said in a sad voice.

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience” I mused. He gazed at me as if debating whether or not he should say whatever was on his mind. I guess he decided I was trust worthy enough because he began speaking.

“My dad started drinking when he lost his job and one day my parents were in a heated argument. They always fought with each other but I remember this time it was really bad. My mom was shouting angrily at dad and throwing things at him. He was drunk that night and he got so mad he actually hit her. Things just got worse from there on. Drinking and hitting my mom started becoming a habit for him. She got so tired of him and wanted to hurt him back so she started cheating on him. He finally found out about it and got so upset he just left the house one day without even saying goodbye to me. I was seven years old at the time. They were so caught up in hurting each other that they forgot how much they were hurting me in the process” River said as he plucked random pieces of grass from the ground. I was pretty speechless at the moment. He had just shared the hardest part of his life with me. What was I suppose to say back? So I said the only thing I could think in such a situation.

“River I…I don’t even know what to say. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. You deserve so much better” I stuttered out.

“Don’t worry about it. It happened a long time ago and I’ve gotten over it. What I was trying to say is that revenge isn’t always the solution to problems. People hurt each other all the time, especially the ones they love so don’t be shocked if Hazel was the one who happened to vandalize your locker like that” he said to me. I nodded in understanding. I was about to say something when my stomach spoke for me. It growled so loud I turned red in embarrassment and as if on cue, the lunch bell rang out in the distance. I groaned at the thought of having to show my face in the cafeteria. The news about my locker was fresh gossip material and most likely still circulating around. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to start calling me names when I walked in to get my lunch. Oh well, enduring a couple of hours of hunger was worth avoiding humiliation over.

But as if reading my mind, River offered to go buy me something to eat. I smiled gratefully and reached into my pocket to grab a five dollar bill. I handed it over to him but he threw it back at me.