Under the Radar

Attitudes and Smeared Makeup

Andrew, May, Molly, Charlie, and I sat at the lunch table. Pizza Friday: where the pizza is made of old bread and moldy cheese, and the toppings are left over scraps from the days before. I played it safe by eating a salad, but of course, Molly being Molly, ate two slices of that nasty pizza. Andrew, Charlie, and I have stayed quiet all day. Molly, although she was there and she was upset, nothing could ever break her happy go lucky attitude.

"Oh my god Molly, you're going to get sick!" May screeched.

"Nah, I've eaten worse," her voice was muffled by the pizza plaster.

"Whatever. Get sick. Get fat. Have it your way." May rolled her eyes and continued picking at her fake pink nails. Molly pouted.

"Excuse me, don't insult my sister like that. You're not any better. You haven't eaten a thing all week!" Andrew's face grew red. "What's your problem today, May? I don't think you've ever been so bitchy."

I gasped. "Oh shut up, Mia. We all know you've heard and been called worse before," May sneered. My eyes widened in shock. "And Charlie, honey, you might want to lay off the hair dye. You'll be bald by next week."

"What the hell is your problem, May? Are you super-PMSing or something?" If Charlie was a looney toon, smoke would have been coming from her ears. May just rolled her eyes, pulled out her phone, and texted someone.

Molly and I sat in awkward silence, not used to May's behavior while Andy and Charlie were fuming. Moments later, two of May's friends came over to our table. "Hey, May!" Dollie screeched. Her name was ironic, seeing how plastic she looked. "Why are you sitting here?" My face scrunched in confusion.

"Honestly, Dollie I have no idea." Molly grabbed my hand from under the table. Something you would never see, is Molly looking for the comfort of someone else. She is usually the one to comfort others. So, Molly obviously felt hurt and uncomfortable by the situation.

Karina, the other girl, spoke next. She glared directly at me, "Yeah, May. Why would you still bother being friends with that lying slut anyways?" Molly squeezed my hand as tears welled my eyes. "I mean, look at her! She's pathetic! Why would a hottie like James ever go after her?"

"And who knew, the little bitch was fake enough to send him to jail." Dollie smirked. May just stared emotionless at my face the whole time. By now, the whole cafeteria was listening. Watching as tears rolled down my face, while Dollie and Karina continuously called me old names I never wanted to be called again.

"Listen here, bitch-" Charlie started.

"He deserved what he got! She did not deserve anything he did to her! Do you even know what he's done to-" Andrew was cut off by the cafe door slamming open.

All eyes turned to the culprit only to find a oblivious, (like usual) smirking, Daniel. After a millisecond, all eyes were on my crying figure, even Daniels. I let go of Molly's hand before grabbing my bag and running out of the cafe.

"That's right! Run, you ugly coward!" Dollie yelled, followed by a bang and her loud scream.

I kept running until I couldn't breathe. I collapsed onto the hallway floor, leaning against the lockers as I sobbed into my knees. Why would they do such a thing? They knew what they were saying wasn't true.

"Sweetheart?" I lifted my mascara-smeared face up to see Daniel. He sincerely looked worried as he crouched down to my level. "What happened?" He reached towards my face but I flinched away. "Mia, I'm not going to hurt you. What happened?"

I broke out into shaky sobs. "I don't know, I-I just don't even know. First it was May, and we are friends. At least I thought we were. And then, her friends ganged up on me. I didn't know what to say, none of what they were saying was true, but it hurt. It really hurt, Daniel." I let out a sad chuckle, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

He gave me a soft chuckle and held out his hand. I didn't want to, but I hesitantly took it. He pulled us both up before grabbing me in for a hug. I stood there shocked, but reluctantly hugged back. "C'mon, let's go back." He smiled.

I laughed, "I can't, I look horrible."

He grabbed my hand, looked straight ahead, and began walking. "You don't. You always look beautiful." I watched the side of his face, shocked, as we continued to walk.

We went back into the lunch room, casually. May was now gone from our table, but so was Charlie. Daniel had left my side to go to his friends. "Guys, where'd Charlie go?"

Andrew and Molly shot up for, the table to hug me. Molly spoke first. "Charlie, Karina, and Dollie went to the principals office. After you ran out, she punched the two of them and told May that if she didn't leave the table and fast, her face would be twice as worse than Dollie and Karina's." I gasped.

 "Yeah, but when the bell rings, I'm going to the office. I recorded the whole thing, so I could tell the principal that the two were harassing you and Charlie stuck up for you. It may or may not help the situation, but it's worth a shot," Andrew shrugged as he put his 'evidence' into his pocket.

"Why did May act like that?" Molly pouted.

"I don't know, she was fine yesterday." Andrew replied.

"Oh, Mia. Did you just walk in with Daniel Storm?" Molly raised an eyebrow before winking.

Oh, that isn't going to get past anyone, is it?