That evening after school, I ran into Tinsley, whom I'd just shielded. She was in the woods behind the school buildings, passionately kissing Asher, who'd led the teasing against her earlier.
Her voice was soft and breathy as she called his name over and over again.
As I listened to them, I realized that my act of justice earlier that day had been nothing more than a bet to them. Tinsley had bet that I'd be stupid enough to put on that stained jacket.
I tossed my trash into the can with a loud clang, right as her hand was slipping into Asher's pants. They scrambled like startled birds, but they couldn't see me through the dense trees as I turned to leave.
The next day, I went to the restroom with her and saw her pull out a beautifully packaged tampon from her pocket. I said, "The brand my mom buys for me is good too. It's clean."
Tinsley waved the tampon in my face, and a faint fragrance wafted into my nose,
"But those are cheap," she said with a smug smile. "This one's different, see? It even smells nice."
I thought I was a hero, but it turned out that I'd just been playing the clown this whole time.
"Screw you, Tinsley," I muttered under my breath.
…
That evening after school, Tinsley came to me again. She needed a favor, so she acted as if she'd completely forgotten what happened earlier in the afternoon.
"Please, Gia. I'm begging you," she cooed, tugging on my arm and blinking her eyes at me. Then, she shoved a broom into my arms and skipped out the door.
Someone was waiting for her in the hallway, wearing a pair of limited-edition black-and-white sneakers that cost 2,000 dollars a pair. Mom would have to sell fish for a month to make that much.
Only Asher, the son of the local fishery tycoon, could afford shoes like that.
The wind caught the white curtains in class. I looked around, let out a cold laugh, and dropped the broom. After slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I was ready to head home when I ran straight into Henry, who'd just returned from washing the mop.
Tall and lean, he froze for a second, then quickly snapped out of it and said, "You can't leave, Gia. You have to stay for cleaning duty."
I looked up at his eyes under his messy bangs, which were slightly upturned in the corners. In my mind, I searched my memories of him, but couldn't find a single connection between him and Tinsley.
That was rare. He was good-looking, yet managed to stay invisible around her, while focusing only on his books and studies.
"It's Tinsley's turn today. From now on, I'm not covering for her anymore, so you can find her yourself," I said, pointing to the duty roster on the wall.
He suddenly grabbed my wrist, and there was a strange touch from his slightly calloused palm.
While I was dumbstruck, he stuffed the mop into my hands, like he hadn't heard a word I'd just said. "I'll sweep first, and you'll mop after I'm done, or I won't make it in time."
"In time for what?" I asked.
He glanced at me and hesitated before finally answering, "I have a tutoring gig to get to."
My memories of him were so sparse that I'd forgotten he had decent grades and that his family was struggling, even poorer than mine.
As we talked, he finished sweeping, grabbed his bag, and left.
I was left alone in the huge class, getting more annoyed as I mopped. Finally, I turned around and headed downstairs to the security office and told the guard, who was casually snacking on popcorn.
"Sir, I'd like to report a guy harassing a female student in the woods behind the building right now.
"What? Seriously? I'll check it out right now!"
A balding, middle-aged man at the other end of the desk jumped up in shock. It was the dean of students, Arthur Biggs.
