“Hey, Macallan,” Keith sang out to me.
I grimaced as I passed by.
“Oh, it must be someone’s time of the month.” Keith snick—
ered. “You’ve got to have that marked on your calendar,
right, California? Can’t imagine you want to be near her
when that hits.”
First, ew. Second, was that the best Keith could come up with for a reason to not be pleased as punch to talk to him? It
couldn’t be that he was a complete tool, so it must be a womanly function.
I stopped in the hallway. I should’ve ignored him and kept
going, but I wasn’t in the mood for his crap today.
“Is that the best you got?” I spat out.
The three of them stopped, and all of them turned around
except Levi. Who muttered something about ignoring me.
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Keith smirked at me. “Oh, I’ve got much more, but I don’t
think you could handle it.”
Keith was used to getting what he wanted. And in that
moment, I wanted to get under his skin. To have someone
else feel dejected for a change.
“Believe me, Keith, I’m sure I can handle it just fine, since
you apparently only know about women from what you find
out in health class. So try me.”
Tim did that “oh” thing guys do when they try to one up each other. “She did not just say that.” He was laughing. Levi remained motionless.
Keith was not as amused. “Honestly, Macallan, I’ve so got
you outnumbered in terms of intelligence.”
That was laughable.
Seeing his smug face infuriated me so much. He’d taken
Levi away from me, and I wasn’t going to be so easy on him
this time.
I leaned in toward him. “You do know that a D on a paper
is not for dope job, yo, right?”
Keith sized me up, and then a smile slowly spread across
his face, like he knew he’d gotten me. But there was no way
Keith was going to get me. As a date, in an argument, ever.
“Well, yeah.” Then he slurred his voice. “I’m not part retard.”
I was stunned for a second.
I walked a few steps closer. Levi took a few steps back.
“Excuse me — would you care to repeat that?” I was convinced that even Keith wouldn’t stoop so low.
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He bent his arms up toward his collarbone and let his
wrists go limp so his hands were dangling. He collapsed
his legs together at the knees and started to walk like he had
a disability. “I don’t know, can I? What’s repeat mean?”
Before I could understand my movements, I pushed Keith.
Hard. He stepped back a few inches. Then he laughed. Which
angered me more.
“Macallan.” Levi grabbed my arm. “Calm down.”
I shoved him away. “No, I will not calm down. And how are you going to stand here like that when he’s making fun of my
uncle, who, need I remind you, has been nothing but kind to
you? Has never said a bad word about anybody? Who certainly would never be so cruel as to make fun of somebody?”
My voice started to crack. I could feel my entire body start to
shake.
“God.” Keith looked shocked at my behavior. “I’m sorry,
Macallan. I thought you could take a joke.”
“Do you find this funny?” I asked, my voice hard. I didn’t
want to cry in front of Keith. I could not let him know that
he had gotten to me. “You’re so pathetic. I can’t wait to see you in ten years when the reality of life outside these walls hits you.”
His face became as hard as my voice. “You think you’re so
tough and above it all, don’t you? But guess what. Just because
your mom’s dead, doesn’t mean you can be such a bitch.”
A rage I could not describe, one that I hadn’t felt in years,
overtook my body. Even though I could see that the second
those words left his mouth, he regretted them, it was too
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little, too late. Keith could say what he wanted about me, but
how dare he bring up my mom.
I wanted to shut him up. And I did that the only way I
knew how.
He wasn’t lucky like Levi to get a kiss from me.
Instead, I tightened up my fists and hit him right in the
kisser.
Keith, Mr. Athlete Extraordinaire, was knocked onto
his butt.
I towered over him. “You say one more word to me ever
again about my family, and I will not be so gentle.”
I turned on my heel and came face-to-face with Mr.
Matthews, the gym teacher.
“Miss Dietz, I think you need to come to the office, and
that goes for you gentlemen as well.”
“She attacked me!” Keith cried out.
“That’s enough, Mr. Simon.” Mr. Matthews stepped in
between us. “Don’t think I didn’t hear what you were saying.”
The four of us followed Mr. Matthews to the office. I was
put in a separate room from them. I knew I was in trouble. I
knew my flawless school record was in jeopardy. But I didn’t
care. I was angry. I was mad at the world. And why shouldn’t
I have been? I’d had the most important thing taken away
from me without explanation. There were times where I was
able to be strong. Many instances where I could pretend that