Always a Friend

Chapter 42

I walked into Math class, keeping my head down, hoping some of my hair covered my face. I knew what few strands were hanging down wouldn't cover much. I hurried to my seat, taking my book out of my bag. 

"Is it true?" Ava whispered. I peeked at her through the tops of my lashes. I shrugged, trying to play dumb. "You know about Ashton and Rhys." She nodded her head in Rhys's direction. I peeked around her at him. By the look of Rhys's swollen, black eye, Ashton did beat the shit out of him. Ashton's eye was black and purple but not swollen. I turned back to face Ava and shook my head yes. Her mouth fell open, gawking over at Rhys. 

"All right, class! You all know the rule!" Mr. King strode past the front of the class to the corner where his desk sat, facing us. He set his drink on the desk and his backpack on the floor. "Okay, let's get it out in the open so everyone will stop gawking and whispering during class." He walked around to the front of his desk, leaned against it, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Did this happen at school?" He pointed to Ashton and Rhys. The boys looked at him and shook their heads no. "We can all guess who..." He paused before finishing his sentence. "Everyone turn to chapter ten so we can start reviewing for the test coming up next week." He stood up, walked to the board, and grabbed the dry-erase marker. 

I kept my head forward, trying to ignore the periodic glances my way. I wanted to crawl under Mr. King's desk and hide while he stood in front of the board, scribbling equations and explaining what we needed to know for the test. Finally, after an hour of trying to pretend I was the only one sitting in the classroom, the bell rang. 

"Come on, Gem, we've got to get to English." Ava stood up, waiting for me to gather my things in front of my desk. "Don't let people get to you." She pasted a smile, trying to be encouraging. It was easy for her to say because the kids weren't staring and whispering at her. I grabbed my bookbag, clutching my book to my chest. 

"You're not fooling anyone." 

I sighed, staring into my locker. "What do you want, Olivia?"  I closed my locker and turned around. "I've got to go." I went to step around her, but she moved, blocking me against my locker. Her brown eyes shifted from my head to my toes, her mouth twisting. 

"Olivia, don't you have to get to class? In fact, I think it's Math. So unless you want to be marked late and sent to the office, I'd get moving." Mr. King stated, standing in the middle of the hall, yelling at kids to slow down while keeping his eyes on Olivia and me. She raised her eyebrow as her eyes narrowed, glaring as she stepped backward. She turned and headed down the hall, not acknowledging Mr. King. 

"You okay, Gemma? I know I probably made things worse by intervening." He moved closer in my direction. "There's something about Olivia...I can't stand her. Don't say anything. I'll deny it if you do. I'll see you tomorrow for class." He smiled, turned, and headed to his classroom. 

A small laugh escaped. "Thanks, Mr. King." He was right about one thing, though. He did indeed make things worse for me by sticking up for me. He seemed to have a good idea of the kind of person Olivia was. Most teachers would've kept on walking without stopping to say something. Even though it would bring me grief later on, I still appreciated Mr. King stopping to help me out. 

I walked into lunch with Chloe and Ava, scanning the room for any signs of trouble headed my way. Rhys stayed away from me in the library, probably because Ashton walked in at one point, glared at him, and then left. Chloe and Ava tried to start in about Ashton sticking up for me all of a sudden. I told them we were just friends and there was nothing going on. They turned to one another, smiling, then back toward me, rolling their eyes. 

"Let's go get our table before some clueless freshman tries to take it." Chloe took off walking to the right side of the cafeteria. I tried to keep up behind her, hoping to block the stares, but I didn't want to bring attention to myself by heel-toeing it. Knowing my luck, I would've bumped into her, causing one of us to fall. I set my stuff down on the floor beside my chair, then went back to the lunch line to see if anything looked good. 

"What the hell does he see in you?" An annoying voice said behind me. 

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "What. The. Fuck. Now?" I turned to face Hannah. "What are you spewing about?" 

"You heard me." She wrinkled her nose, eyeing me from head to toe. "I'm going to win him over. You just wait and see!" She stormed off toward the back of the cafeteria to be with her friends, who were glaring and talking. I didn't have to guess what they were talking about. Since when did I become the topic of conversation? I grabbed some fruit and a bottle of water before heading back to my table. 

"Just ignore them, Gem," Ashton said behind me. "If you show them, it bothers you. They'll keep doing it." He walked past, raising his eyebrows. It was easy for him to say. He didn't have girls coming up to him being full-blown bitches. My eyes drifted down his fine ass when I realized I was staring; I forced my eyes off him, praying no one could see my blushing cheeks. Lost in my own thoughts, my eyes drifted to the right of me, glancing down at a group of girls sitting around one of the big, long tables. They all turned up their noses at me, curling their lips. I could've ignored them, but something inside me snapped. I put my bowl of fruit and water bottle on the table, then turned and started to walk away. 

"Gemma, where you going?" Sarah asked, stealing a grape from my bowl. 

"I'll be back." I glanced over my shoulder, walking back to the table of bitches. "Hey." I crossed my arms, shifting my weight to my right leg. "You all must have something to say since you're brave enough to stare while I walked by." I motioned my hand in front of me and back to my friends at our table. My eyes drifted around the table of bitches, waiting for one of them to say something. "What not brave enough to say it to my face?" A girl with light brown hair glanced at each of her friends as if she was trying to tell them to say something. "Thought so." I dropped my arms and turned to walk away. 

"Wait a second." An unfamiliar voice called after me. I paused, knowing all eyes were on me now. I turned around to acknowledge whoever it was that called after me. It was the girl from the library with light brown hair.  "What are you holding over Ashton to make him beat up Rhys for you?" 

"Excuse me?" I muttered, my eyes shifted from each of them until I was back to the girl from the library. 

"We all figured you must be holding something over Ashton's head. There's no other reason." She motioned her hand at me, laughing. "I mean...look at you." She scrunched up her face. 

"As opposed to the fake bitch that you are?" I mocked her motion, waving my hand at her, laughing. A couple of her friends tucked their bottom lip in to stop laughing. I also recognized the two friends from the library who had blonde hair. She didn't hesitate to glare at them. 

"Funny..." She rolled her eyes. 

"Your friends thought so." I pointed to the two, who were trying not to laugh. "Well...Since you have nothing more to say, I'm going to go back to my friends." I motioned to all of them sitting with their mouths hanging open. I turned and walked back to the table, feeling rather invigorated that I stood up for myself for once. I had no idea it could feel so empowering. I sat down and popped a grape in my mouth while my friends sat around the table, swapping glances with one another and then at me. Finally, Chloe asked me who I was and what I had done with Gemma. I smiled, popping another grape into my mouth. Sarah agreed with her and commented that she liked this new improved me. I liked this new me as well and planned on keeping her around.