Despicable, p.13
Despicable, page 13
“What’s our timeline on this,” Ella asked, “Because I have a voice lesson tomorrow afternoon.”
Trevor chuckled.
“Amina, seriously, is any of that true?”
“Which part? The part where I’m the n-word or the part where I fucked half the school?” I snapped.
Alcohol on an empty stomach was always a bad idea. Trevor shrugged. He put on some music I didn’t recognize on tiny portable turquoise JBL speakers. Trevor bobbed his head in rhythm with the music, and Katrina joined along.
“Babes, I’m black. I get it. I just meant... Well. You fucked Devin. It’s not like you’re slutty. I just wanted to know what we’re working with,” Trevor said.
Vi shook her head in disappointment. We all sat on the floor together and she rested her head on my shoulder before sighing in frustration,“It’s the new millennium and we’re still talking about who women are having sex with.”
“You’re not having sex with anyone,” Katrina muttered.
Vi scowled at her. So far, women’s empowerment and sexual liberation hadn’t ended with Vi getting any dates, a sore subject for her that Katrina repeatedly dug at.
“Stay focused, people,” Vi said, eager to change the subject from her sex life, “We need to get revenge for Amina.”
“I have two revenge plots,” I said, “I need to get back at the football guys too.”
“What, did they make you shag them all?” Trevor said.
“Trevor, stop!” Katrina hissed.
Trevor took a swig from Violet’s flask.
“No. They were just dicks today. And I think they could get worse.”
“Right,” Vi said, “But I think we can all agree Dani’s the bigger threat?”
“August kissed me and tried to touch my boobs.”
They all looked at me. Vi wrinkled her nose.
“Does everyone at this school just non-consensually touch you all the time?”
“It’s not like I’m asking for it,” I replied impatiently.
Vi replied haughtily, “I didn’t say you asked for it, but it happens a lot to you, doesn’t it?”
My cheeks got warm and bile rose at the back of my throat. The cranberry juice and vodka felt suddenly unsettled in my stomach.
“I’m not asking for it,” I answered, my voice getting sharper. “I’m not. And if you think I am then don’t bother helping me get revenge.”
“Amina,” Katrina said quickly, “She didn’t mean it like that. I think she meant like... they’re targeting you. It’s not fair.”
“It’s not,” I whispered, settling back. My stomach felt a little better.
“We can get revenge on Dani easily,” Trevor said, “I’m... friends... with one of her minions.”
“Are you friends with everyone evil at this school?” I snapped.
Trevor sounded befuddled when he replied, “Who else is evil?”
“Sarah Clifford?” I mumbled. I wondered if Trevor sat around with Sarah and gossiped like this too. I didn’t feel entirely safe opening up thinking that they might be hanging out together in secret.
“She’s not evil,” Vi protested, “She’s misunderstood, really.”
That stung. I tried to keep my opinion as tempered as possible.
“She told Professor Doukas I was a slut.”
“Ouch,” Trevor said with a chuckle, “Maybe she’s jealous.”
“Why would she be jealous?” I said, folding my arms.
“Because Crispin likes you,” Trevor blurted out. Great, like my day couldn’t get more embarrassing.
Crispin Barclay didn’t like me. He didn’t like anyone. He’d hurt me physically and his few instances of kindness didn’t translate to liking me. Crispin thought I was despicable. He said so himself.
“That’s ridiculous,” Katrina said huffily, “Crispin doesn’t like her. He’s obviously trying to use her because everyone thinks she’s a slut. We need to save her reputation. Revenge will do that.”
Ouch. How bad was my reputation? Katrina could be harsh sometimes.
“Let’s hear your idea then,” Trevor answered dubiously.
“We embarrass Daniella. Publicly. We find dirt on her.”
“Her sister died,” Ella said, earning disapproving stares from everyone.
“Too far, Ella,” Vi cautioned.
Ella shrugged. Trevor stroked his chin and then flipped his head wrap over his shoulder before saying, “I have an idea.”
“It can’t be illegal, Trevor,” Katrina said, scowling at him.
I sometimes thought Rapetti chose the three weirdest black people they could find to stick into our grade. Aside from our skin color, Katrina, Trevor and I couldn’t have differed more. But we felt a type of solidarity, so much that Trevor didn’t mind Katrina always digging into him.
“Relax, babes,” Trevor said, “It’s not illegal. But... it’ll be hilarious.”
Trevor explained what we’d do. Violet needed him to break it down more slowly, so he did. I wasn’t sure if it was the best plan ever, but I wanted my revenge. Badly.
I’d already written a break up letter, all I had to do was write another one.
Dani, I’ve seen the light. Meet me behind the gym after dorm check-in.
I didn’t want to write the note. Daniella already kicked my ass. She’d wanted to do worse. Maybe my friends were right. Revenge would get her off my back.
Trevor explained that he had a dinner date tomorrow night with Misaki, who was Dani’s roommate. She made costumes for the school play and loved Trevor’s fashion sense. He’d use the opportunity to find out Dani’s room number and he’d sneak in with her. Then we’d wait. Daniella would presumably show up at 10 p.m., around the time we had to check in with teachers. Dani would be at the gym late, which we all knew because she uploaded a daily gym selfie to social media.
To get to the gym from her dorm, she would have to walk past our dorm. The room I shared with Katrina had a view of the path once you pulled the blinds up.
“She’s got to have her phone on,” Katrina explained, “I’ll see her and text Vi.”
Violet would alert us and we’d throw water balloons at her from behind the bushes behind our dorm. We could get a good view of the path from the bushes and she wouldn’t be able to see us if we hid well enough.
“This is so silly,” Violet said giggling.
“We can’t get in trouble for it,” Katrina said gleefully. “It would sound so stupid.”
“One problem,” I said, “We don’t have water balloons.”
“Yes,” Trevor said impatiently, “We do.”
“Do we?” Vi curiously asked.
Trevor stared at us like we were slow. Maybe we all were.
“The free condoms from the health center. Didn’t you all listen to the sexual education lecture?”
“I don’t have premarital sex,” Katrina blurted out, “So I don’t need condoms. My husband and I will experience the real thing.”
“And everyone knows Vi can’t get laid,” Ella said, earning a jab in her side from Violet.
Trevor raised a brow at me and Ella. Ella admitted that she didn’t hook up either.
“And Devin?” Trevor asked me.
Katrina glared at him and snapped, “She didn’t have sex with Devin. Wait. Did you?”
“Yes,” I admitted, “Thanks, Trevor.”
“I didn’t know it was a secret!”
“You lied to me?” Katrina shrieked.
“I didn’t want you to freak out.”
Katrina grasped her neck. She would have literally clutched her pearls if she’d been wearing them.
“Did you bring a boy in here without my consent?” Katrina gasped, “Ew! Have there been others?”
“Great. Now you’re calling me a slut too.”
“Did you screw him in my bedroom?”
I snapped, “No, Katrina! I didn’t!”
“Why would you lie?”
“Not everyone likes to get judged all the time.”
“I am not judgmental,” Katrina protested. But no one agreed with her.
“Trevor?” She asked, “Can you tell them I would never judge Amina for being slutty?”
“Katrina...”
“Fine. For expressing her sexual... freedom.”
She said the word freedom like it was a slur. Katrina wasn’t any worse than people in Texas, but she could get under my skin sometimes with her attitude.
“Can we focus?” I said, “If we need to pull this off tomorrow, someone has to get the free condoms from the health center. I have a dumb meeting with Dean Leonard right before they close, so I can’t go in.”
“What about Friday?” Ella said, “But we need to get done by 11:30 so I can do my yoga.”
“Friday works,” Vi agreed.
Katrina nodded, “Friday. Sure.”
“Perfect,” Trevor said, “Now ladies, before I’m caught...”
He hurried away. Ella returned to her room, which left the three of us. Katrina was all huffy.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Devin.”
“I didn’t want you to judge me.”
Katrina asked accusingly, “Do you have feelings for him?”
“No! I’m done with Devin. He’s... an idiot.”
“Good,” Katrina snapped, “if you aren’t having sex with him anymore... there’s hope.”
“I have news,” Vi said, “But I can’t tell you until Friday.”
She was so good at surprises. I wasn’t at all, but Violet knew how to keep us all on the edge of our seats.
“Vi, you’re the worst,” Katrina complained.
“Good night, ladies.”
That was it then. We waited until Friday and then, I’d get revenge on Daniella and find out Vi’s news.
Chapter 17
Mole Rat Arse?
The week dragged until Friday. The graffiti partially lingered on the walls. Dr. James gave me a stern lecture about my focus in history class. The football boys left me alone during their next practices except for a few comments.
They mostly ignored me, which I didn’t mind. Crispin ignored me the hardest, which hurt a little, but I couldn’t have expected more. They had a big game coming up against Warwick, our biggest rivals, which meant practices had become more intense than before. After practice, Crispin was always dripping in sweat and so attractive that it was hard to think. But since he didn’t ever talk to me or acknowledge me, his sexiness didn’t matter.
I didn’t care about the school rivalry but the boys cared. A lot. All they talked about was Warwick. They still all made me uneasy so I was happy my check-in meeting with Dean Leonard on Friday would cause me to skip their practice. On Saturday, I’d have to spend hours on a bus with them traveling to Warwick. They’d have plenty of time to torture me then.
After my last class — a snooze fest, despite Professor Doukas’ best effort — I hurried to Dean Leonard’s office. She had a fresh mug of tea on her desk as usual and an armchair for students pulled out already. I didn’t expect her to be so happy to see me, but she greeted me with a warm smile on her face. This is new.
“Amina!’ She said, almost surprised, “Come on. Sit down. You’ve been doing excellently lately.”
I plopped down in the seat and at the last minute attempted to adjust my plop into something more graceful.
“I’ve been trying, Ag—Dean Leonard,” I responded, struggling to remember my manners. I was surprised to hear her sounding so positive and quickly became suspicious after greeting her. No one had hauled me off to the dean’s office over the Daniella issue, so I didn’t know if that could come up here.
Agatha Leonard folded her hands sweetly.
She asked politely in a clipped English accent, “And the football team?”
I glanced around her desk in case there were any clues about how much trouble I was in.
I shrugged, “They’re okay.”
“Good,” Dean Leonard said, “Good!”
Her voice had a sugary sweetness to it that began to rouse my suspicions. My mom was like that. She got very sweet right before she was about to get sour.
“Spit it out, Agatha,” I blurted out.
Shit. I definitely shouldn’t have said that. Dean Leonard turned pink.
“Young lady!”
“Sorry.”
“Yes. I do have something else to discuss with you but it isn’t easy for me. Sarah Clifford came to see me.”
“Oh.”
Right. Sarah Clifford, who went around telling everyone what a slut I was. I couldn’t wait to hear this...
“She was very distraught about the affections of a young man and claimed that... well... you had sex with her boyfriend and several others. I try to stay away from students’ personal affairs, but given your history, I need to ask. Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” I snapped, “And I didn’t sleep with Sarah Clifford’s mole rat ass boyfriend.”
Crispin did not look like a mole rat. He was... a football guy. But I had to hammer home my point to Leonard.
“Mole rat arse? Amina, please. I understand girls have disagreements over boys but you can’t afford a boyfriend right now. Your studies are still in peril, do you understand?”
“Yes, Dean Leonard.”
“Sarah Clifford is a nice girl. Give her a chance. Don’t let a boy get between you.”
“Yes, Dean Leonard.”
“We’ll check in next week!”
I raced back to LR as fast as I could after our uncomfortable meeting. Before going into my room, I took a little detour. Sarah Clifford might talk shit about me all over this school, but would that whiny little brat have the courage to say it to my face. I knocked on the door.
“SARAH! Sarah Clifford, get out here!”
She didn’t reply. I didn’t know if she was in her bedroom. Violet had a meeting with an English teacher after class, so she wasn’t there. Sarah and Violet were roommates, which is part of why Violet would defend her sometimes. Still… I didn’t have to agree with Violet’s opinions.
I got no reply again, but I had to keep trying.
“Sarah Clifford! If you think you can run all over this school gossiping about me, you’ve got the wrong one!”
I slammed my body into the door again and it relented, which was strange because I wasn’t strong enough to open it. I fell forward and shrieked, landing right on Crispin Barclay. Half-naked. Naked from the waist up at least, and grinning.
“Cheers, just woke up from a nap.”
I was still leaning on him. I gasped and jerked away.
“Where the hell is Sarah?”
“Dunno. She left an hour ago. What time is it?”
“You’re late to practice,” I snapped, yanking the door shut. Crispin stopped the door with his foot and grabbed my hand.
“Wait. Come in here, lips.”
“No. That’s creepy. It’s Vi and Sarah’s room.”
He dragged me inside and shut the door. Why were there never any witnesses in the hallway when I needed them?
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“Are you mad at Sarah?”
“That’s none of your business.”
He yawned and stretched. I hated myself for looking. But I couldn’t help it. Crispin was tall. Completely built. He had perfect abs and muscles in all these weird places. He was strong. And his voice sounded so deep and raspy because he’d just woken up.
I backed up against the door.
“Okay,” he murmured, “Whatever. I can talk to her for you, if you’d like.”
“I don’t care what you say to your girlfriend.”
I yanked the door open and stormed back to my room. Crispin didn’t stop me. Katrina sat on her bed flipping through a magazine.
“Hello, Amina,” she crooned, “I’m reading the sexy bits.”
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I need to talk to Sarah Clifford.”
“Um... why?”
Katrina sat up and closed her magazine. Gossip? Far more interesting.
“She told Dean Leonard I was a slut and that I stole her boyfriend.”
Katrina snorted, “Who, Crispin? No offense, Amina but I don’t think you’re Crispin’s type.”
“Thanks, Katrina.”
“It’s a compliment. You’re the complete opposite of Sarah. She’s pale, blue eyes, blonde, horse girl curves, and she’s English. You’re... I dunno... black.”
I wondered if Katrina remembered that she was black too, but thought better of asking her. But she was right. I was the opposite of Sarah. I wasn’t curvy. No hips. No butt. Short as hell, gangly and dark. Mom always used to comment on how black I was compared to her.
“Right,” I said, “I am the opposite of Sarah. I’m not a threat to her.”
Katrina shrugged, “White girls, am I right?”
“Vi’s a white girl.”
Katrina raised an eyebrow like that only proved her point.
A few minutes later, Vi hurried into our room (without knocking) and emptied her pockets.
“Condoms!’ She yelled, “We’ve got condoms.”
“Not on my bed!” Katrina shrieked.
Vi scooped up the condoms and put them on my bed instead. I didn’t mind. Devin didn’t like condoms. But he’d used them sometimes.
We snuck into the bathroom giggling. Someone had added to the hook up list: Devin and Emily Braithwaite. Ouch. He’d been ignoring me since our break up, just blankly staring through me or leaving a room once I’d entered it. I didn’t miss Devin but he’d moved on quick.
Katrina guarded the door while Violet and I wasted a ridiculous number of condoms turning them into water balloons and storing our weapons in a laundry basket.
“I walked in on Crispin in your room,” I said as we worked.
Vi rolled her eyes and groaned.
“He’s the worst. He still bullies me,” she said, “And he’s there all the time now. I think he’s getting really serious with Sarah.”
I didn’t know what Crispin was doing to Violet, but she didn’t elaborate. Knowing Crispin Barclay, he probably couldn’t keep his rude comments to himself. He could be harsh and cold, something utterly at odds with Violet’s softer temperament.
