A blue-shirted employee passed within arm’s reach, and Audrey pounced on her, ignoring her protests. I wandered toward the front of the store while I waited for Audrey to finish.
I don’t know how long he was standing there, but I noticed Adrian Morse on the other side of the store. He was wearing a blue shirt and grinning. I’d always assumed he was rich like Marcus, and it surprised me to find him working in the Apple store. A moment later every demo computer screen, monitor, phone, and tablet blinked, and their displays lit up with the picture of me covered in paint wearing the alien mask. Most of the shoppers were confused, but a few began to laugh. My face was hidden by the mask in the photo, but Adrian wasn’t the only CHS student in the store, and they recognized me immediately.
I drew breaths in ragged jags, my heart raced, and my skin burned. The world went waa-waa-waa at the edges, and the floor seemed to tilt to the side. I tried to find Audrey, to focus on her and regain my equilibrium, but the crowd had swallowed her up.
“Oh my God. Is that him?”
“Space Boy?”
“What a freak.”
“Really thinks aliens took him?”
“The mask’s an improvement.”
I fled the store, not caring where I went. I rounded a corner and blew through a side door into a dark labyrinth that led into the bowels of the mall. It reeked of trash and cigarette smoke. The taunts couldn’t follow me there. I steadied myself against the wall. A kid in a hairnet, carrying a bag of garbage, trudged past, nodding in my direction before disappearing down the maze of walkways.
This part of the mall was quieter. Some doors were labeled with store names, others with numbers. Being in that store with all those shoppers laughing at me dragged me back into the gym showers. I felt my knobby wrists rubbing together painfully, felt my groin ache and the hair on my legs yanked off when Coach Raskin removed the tape. Marcus and his friends hadn’t victimized me once; they did it every time they called me Space Boy or left a mask on my desk or paraded that fucking picture around for the world to see. I was tired of being the victim, but I didn’t know how to be anything else.
I’m not sure how long Audrey had been calling, but I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and answered it. She was frantic, so I rejoined her at the food court. The moment she saw me, she threw herself at me, crying. Her heavy shopping bag whacked me in the back, probably leaving a bruise.
“Sorry for running off.”
Audrey’s tears quickly became rage. “Don’t you dare blame yourself.”
“It was Adrian.”
“I saw him.” An evil grin lifted her lips. “But he won’t cause problems anymore.”
I waited for Audrey to spill, but she was savoring her victory. “Are you going to fill me in or what?”
Audrey pulled me out of the way. The mingling smells of fried rice and pizza and burgers made me hungry. I hadn’t eaten all day. “I may have e-mailed an anonymous tip to Principal DeShields from one of the phones in the Apple store.”
“Wait, what?”
Audrey couldn’t stop smiling the whole time she recounted her story. “I cornered Adrian’s manager and explained what Adrian had done, but he didn’t take me seriously. He’s one of those dicks who calls everyone ‘bro,’ even girls, and he was never going to take my word over Adrian’s.” Audrey glowered, still fired up. “So I confronted Adrian myself.”
A supernova occurs when the gravitational force of a star’s core becomes greater than the star’s energy output. The core collapses in on itself, ejecting the outer layers in a display of light and energy greater than that which the sun will produce over its entire lifetime. Adrian never stood a chance.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“You’re right,” she said. “You should have.” Audrey gave me her Hell-yes-I-did-just-go-there stare, so I kept my mouth shut. “It was easy. I set a display phone to record video and confronted him about the picture. I’d only planned to use it to get him fired, but then the fool blabbed about actually snapping the picture. He went on and on about how much you struggled. I pretty much lost my shit.”
My knees felt weak, like I’d stood up too fast. The blood rushed to my head, and the world turned to static. I leaned against the wall until it passed. “Did you really record him saying that?”
“Yep!” Audrey had never looked more proud of herself. “Then I saved the video and e-mailed a copy to Principal DeShields. I’m sure she’ll know what to do with it.” She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. “Merry Christmas, Henry.”
I knew there would be repercussions, but I didn’t care. Adrian was going to get what he deserved. I wish that made me feel some sense of relief or closure, but the victory was hollow. No matter what Principal DeShields did to Adrian, I’d still be Space Boy. Nothing could change that.
Despite the crowds, neither of us was ready to go home, so Audrey and I grabbed slices of greasy pizza, had our picture taken together with Santa, and each bought toys for the donation tree in the center of the mall. It was nearing closing time, and I still hadn’t found a present for Diego.