Page 24 of The Tattered Gloves
Now, who’s the jerk?
Again.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this.”
“What? Talking? Friendship?” she asked, a bit of amusement in her tone.
“Yes.” A small smirk appeared on my face. “All of it.”
“That’s okay. Not all of us can be perfect like me,” she quipped, adding a dramatic hair flip for effect.
I actually found myself laughing at her antics.
It was so unexpected, my hand instantly flew up to my mouth.
“Well, please do think about the dance. If it makes you more comfortable, it can just be the two of us at my house. My mom would love to meet you. And—”
Her words died as I watched her usual bright and happy features fall to the floor.
Following her gaze, I turned to see what had upset her so swiftly.
There, in the middle of the hallway, was Sam and a girl I recognized from my gym class. He stood over her, smiling wide, as his fingers brushed her cheek. She batted her eyelashes, swinging her hair in a ridiculous fashion, as she laughed at something he’d said.
The whole scene made me kind of sick.
But, for Allison… it was obviously soul-crushing.
“I’ve got to go,” she said suddenly.
“Allison, are you okay?” I asked, turning back to find her already darting down the hallway.
My eyes swept back around to find Sam still making a nauseating scene in the hallway with the girl from my gym class.
Feeling braver than I had in months, I stomped over to him, surprised when he noticed me right away.
“Hey, Mittens.” He smiled.
“You know how you said I shouldn’t judge a person by my first impression?”
He began to respond, a lazy grin on his face, as his fingers stretched across the waist of the girl in front of him. I didn’t let him get a word in.
“I’ve had the time now to get a second, third, and even fourth opinion of you… and you know what? You’re still a jerk.”
As I stormed off, I tried to ignore the onlookers and whispers that followed in my wake.
Sam might have been wrong about a lot of things, but he was right about one.
I couldn’t be invisible.
Not here and certainly not anymore.
HE DESERVED IT.
Sam is selfish and callous, a pathetic excuse for a human being, and what I did in that hallway was totally justified.
Those were the thoughts running through my mind as I made my way to the bookstore that afternoon, a little slower than normal. I wasn’t scared of confronting Sam after my public lashing at school this morning. I was just taking my time to admire the scenery.
Yep… that didn’t sound like a lie.
