The Boy I Hate

Fourteen.

I was on one side of the commons - Richard on the other - when Charlie burst through the student doors. I always thought it was silly how high school was depicted in movies; the idea that a person could walk down the hall and everyone would stop to stare at them. Yet, that's exactly what happened. There wasn't a pair of eyes that didn't follow his cool stride towards me. It would be dramatic to say students parted like the red sea, but it wasn't too far off. Only a couple whispers could be heard amongst the silence.

I didn't miss the way Richard's chest rose or how everyone's eyes flickered to him, but he couldn't do anything. As far as the school population was concerned... We were broken up. All I could do was meet his eye, and try to convince myself he wasn't as mad as he looked.

When Charlie reached me he took a moment to holler toward the crowd. "Y'all can't at least pretend you're not watching us?" The hustle and noise returned, as if he had pressed the play button. He ducked in close, and I couldn't help but glance at Richard to see his nostrils flare. "Take me to the principle," Charles said lowly. His minty breath fanned my face.

I jutted my head in the direction of the administration office, "come on." I didn't miss the nasty glares being sent my way, or the thud of Richard's backpack hitting the ground. He was probably just now realizing that I was turning myself in. I hadn't spoken to him about it since lunch the day before. I knew he would try to stop me. He didn't have a right to be mad, though. Did he? I was only hurting myself, and well... Charlie.

This time when I stepped in the office I didn't even have to ask for Miss Gonzales; they ushered us to her office on arrival. I didn't make an effort to talk to Charlie, but I did manage to catch his eye a couple times. He was scared - probably even more so than I was. We found comfort in each others glances, a small gesture I would surely deny if asked.

She circled us like a vulture, "I wish I was surprised."

"The fire was an accident," Charlie started.

"So I've been told," she came to a stop in front of us, shaking her head. "You graduate in a couple months. I'm sure the principle at West High would agree that expulsion or suspension would be too extreme for a prank gone wrong. Yet I'm not willing to let you off with just a warning."

"So?" I questioned, fingers gripping the side of my chair.

"I'll have to contact your school's administration, Charles, but I'm willing to propose community service."

We both audibly let out breaths. With eager ears, and the weight of a thousand worries lifted from my shoulders, I asked, "what kind of community service? For how many hours?"

Miss Gonzales winced slightly, so subtly that I would have missed it had I blinked. "You seem to have misunderstood, Mabel," she remarked in a formal yet biting tone. "Charlie will perform approximately ten to twelve hours of community service. You will instead attend detention for the rest of this week."

For a moment it felt like my mind was in a race with her words. What she said was taking the lead, and my comprehension couldn't catch up. The realization that I was getting punished less than he was came over me in waves. "It's Thursday," I stated in disbelief. She nodded, so with unsteady breath I continued, "he has to do half a day's work of community service and I have to go to detention twice?"

Miss Gonzales answered me, "you have to see the big picture, Mabel." She spoke in a tone that reminded me of when she used to babysit me, authoritative but calming. I never noticed how calculating and cold it was when I was a kid. "I spoke to your mother earlier this morning. She says you've been absolutely heartbroken over the breakup. I can't blame a girl for acting irrationally while her heart was hurting." She delicately placed her hand on my shoulder, but it didn't feel warm or welcoming. Rather, it felt cold and robotic. "Charlie, on the other hand, is no stranger to mischief. This fine institution has been the target of his harassment before. You have to understand this decision."

I hated Charlie, but I hated this town more. God, I hated it. I hated being treated like royalty for having money, and I hated being let off the hook so easily while someone else was left dangling. I felt dirty; I wanted to wash the scent of privilege off of me. I couldn't bare to look to my left and see Charlie's reaction. Instead, I questioned, "what if it were Noah?"

"What?" She removed her hand from my shoulder.

Noah Darcey was a boy from East Port Academy; a baseball player with a reputation for vandalizing school property. I was friends with him. In fact, good enough of friends to let him off the hook for shooting me with a paintball a week or so earlier. He found himself in this office often for his harassment of this fine institution. Yet, I had never heard of him doing community service.

"What if it were Noah Darcey who was my partner in crime?" I stood up from the office chair, perhaps over-stepping my boundaries. "Would you make him do community service like some sort of ex-convict, or would his parents get him off the hook like mine?"

Miss Gonzales got a fiery look in her eye, lifting a finger to scold me like the child she saw me as. "Miss Abram I suggest you check your manners immediately before I have to reconsider my mercy."

Before I could retaliate again, Charlie stepped in. I almost forgot he was there, despite the fact that it was all about him. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Thank you for your understanding. I'll take the idiot with me now." With that he yanked me by the arm all the way to the hall. Between classes it was empty, which gave him the perfect opportunity to yell at me. "What the fuck did you think you were doing in there?"

I flailed my arms round, flabbergasted. "What did you want me to do? Just let her screw you over?"

"Yes!" He yelled, as if it were obvious. "I don't know if you've been living under a rock for the last eighteen years but this is the way Sugar Port works, okay? Guys like me get thrown under the bus and girls like you live to tell the tale." He was scowling at me, as if it were my fault - as if I had something to do with it.

"Are you actually mad at me for this?" I pulled my hair slightly out of frustration. "I was trying to defend you in there!"

"Well stop trying!" If we didn't quiet down we were sure to be scolded by a teacher soon. Anyone on our floor would have been able to hear us yelling.

The moment of fury was interrupted by a familiar "ahem." I looked to find my boyfriend wearing a scowl. I wished I could run to him; hug him, and tell him I was sorry for turning myself in without talking to him first. But Charlie couldn't know we were still together, and either way I didn't think he was pleased with me at the moment.

"Rich," I drawled carefully.

He ignored me, instead marching to Charlie, taking him by the collar and pushing him against a locker. "You stay away from her, understand me?"

Charlie, struggling against his grip, smirked. "Why? She broke up with you."

I finally jumped into action, pressing my palms against Richard to pry him off of Charlie. "Stop this! You do not get to have a dick measuring contest right now!"

Richard stepped back, putting his hands behind his head as if it was really that hard to hold himself back from attacking. He looked to me, pointing a finger accusingly, "we're talking later." Then he walked away, heated.

When his reseeding figure turned a hall, I leaned against a locker, and sunk down to sit on the floor. I couldn't believe he had acted so harshly. Whatever he was mad at me for, this was surely an overreaction. Whether or not I turned myself in was my choice.

Charlie straightened his clothes roughly after getting man-handled by my boyfriend. I looked up at him from my position on the floor, which gave him the opportunity to glower at me. "Listen up, east side." He kneeled in front of me. "This town is simple. There's two sides. So why don't you stay on yours, and I'll stay on mine?"

With that he stomped away, and a familiar feeling burned the back of my throat. The same feeling I got when I saw the lock on the treehouse, or when I realized I didn't get a birthday invitation in the mail - rejection. It occurred to me then that I could go to the ends of the earth to prove I wasn't like the rest of the people in this town, and Charles Turner would never believe me. He was just as bad as Miss Gonzalez - shunning me because of my social standing.