Of All the Stupid Things (20 page)

Tara turns to glance at Riley then goes back to Whitney Blaire. “Riley wasn’t the one screwing Brent outside the gym a few weeks ago. I know it was you.”

Whitney Blaire steps back.

I can’t believe what Tara just said. I don’t know what to say, and for the first time since I’ve known Whitney Blaire, she is also speechless. Tara on the other hand is just getting started.

“I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.” She clenches a fist and her eyes flash. “You’ve been after him since we started high school, and yet you always claimed he wasn’t your type. I remember how you screamed when we started going out. I thought you were happy for me, but now I realize you were jealous. That’s all you’ve ever been. Jealous of everyone that’s prettier, smarter, and richer. Or dating a hotter guy than you. And then the second there’s a rumor of him doing something wrong, you’re the first one to tell me. I bet you were real pleased then, thinking that you could finally have him in your clutches.” Tara pushes Whitney Blaire in the shoulder. Whitney Blaire just stares at her.

I want to put an arm around Tara to calm her down, but she is ranting like I’ve never seen her rant. In fact, she is hysterical and out of control. And she scares me.

“But now you can be real happy. Because I’m never going back to that asshole again, and I’m certainly never hanging out with you anymore. Go cry on his shoulder if I’ve hurt your feelings. Go make wild passionate love or whatever it is you call it. You deserve a guy like Brent.”

There are tears in Whitney Blaire’s eyes, but she looks just as angry as Tara. “You have no idea what I’ve gone through for you, you bitch,” she says to Tara, and then turns to Riley. “I was right about you. I know you planned all this, turning Tara against me. Stay the hell away from me and the rest of my friends.” And Whitney Blaire bumps against Riley and then walks away quickly, her heels clacking down the hall.

I look from Tara and Riley to where Whitney Blaire has taken off.

“Oh, Tara, how could you?” I ask. Tara and Riley stare back at me, neither of their faces changing expression. I shake my head and take off after Whitney Blaire.

Whitney Blaire

IT DOESN’T TAKE LONG FOR PINK TO FIND ME AT THE SIDE of the school building. Not that I’m running away or hiding. I just couldn’t take that smug look on Riley the Bitch’s face anymore. As much as I had tried to warn Tara, Riley still wormed her way in. I don’t know how she did it. She’s only been here about a month and still has managed to turn everything upside down. And now she’s got Tara against me too. How? Why? What is it about Riley that has Tara believing her instead of me? Think, think.

Pink tries to hug me, but I push her away. I need to keep moving. There’s something that I’m not getting. If I have to wear down the ground by pacing, I’m going to figure it out. Pink sits down with her knees to her chest, watching me. I wipe my face with my arm.

“I’m sorry about that,” she says.

“What? It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but still. Tara shouldn’t have said those mean things or made those assumptions. I don’t know what got into her.”

“I do.” I break off a tree branch. I hate trees. Ever since I got stuck up that one years ago. I fling the branch as hard as I can. It lands just a few feet away. “It’s
her
. Always her. I just wish I knew how she was doing it.”

Pink rambles on. “It’s not like Tara to lose control like that. I don’t think she’s eating right. There must be some sort of chemical imbalance, some nutritional deficiency. Tara’s always been the calm one, the one in control. What could have happened to make her go at you like that?”

I stop pacing. At first I push the thought away but it comes back. I remember all the looks Riley threw Brent, all the excuses she used to spend time with Tara. I had it all wrong. It wasn’t Brent she was after.

“Oh, that Riley,” I growl.

Pink tries to be patient. “Yes, Whitney Blaire, you’ve said it already. I’ve heard all about how she’s the devil’s spawn and how—”

I hold my hand up for her to stop. “No, I mean it’s because of Riley that Tara—argh, it’s so obvious!”

Pink hands me a tissue. “What’s so obvious?”

I stare at her but ignore the offer. For someone who’s an A student, it sure takes her some time to get it.

“Think, Pink. Who do you choose to believe over your friends?”

Pink squints. “Family?”

I roll my eyes. “Other than family.”

“I don’t know,” she whines. “Just tell me. You know how I hate it when you keep things all secretive like that.”

“Come on, Pink, I know you can do it. If you have to choose between friends and the other important person in your life, the other person is…?”

Pink shakes her head. Then her eyes suddenly widen. “What, you mean a boyfriend? But how does that relate to Tara and Riley? Unless…No way. You can’t be thinking that Tara and Riley are…”

I nod.

“No, no. That can’t be true. Tara isn’t…I mean, they aren’t…No, they’re friends. Seriously, Whitney Blaire, they’re just friends. Good. Friends.” Pink starts hyperventilating. Not that I know exactly what hyperventilating is, but I guess it has something to do with being twitchy and letting out steam, which is exactly what Pink’s doing.

“Good friends, my ass.” I fold my arms over my chest. “You don’t turn your back on your lifelong friends for someone else unless you’re
with
that person.”

Pink puts her hands over her ears. “Stop it. It’s not true. I mean, Tara was with Brent for months. She’s not…And Riley, she can’t be…I mean, she’s so pretty.”

“Argh!!!”
I grab another branch and try to snap it. It bends, but doesn’t break. I pull it and end up just shaking the whole tree. A bucket of leaves drops on top of me. The branch still doesn’t break. Stupid tree. I kick it. It hurts like hell and worse yet, the tree ruins my shoe. I kick it again. “Will you shut up about Riley’s looks? First David, then Tara, and now you. I can’t take it anymore.”

Pink forgets her hyperventilating to wrap me in a hug. I push her away again. “Whitney Blaire, please. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said. I just…it’s hard for me to believe this, if it’s true.”

I take a deep breath and finally let Pink keep an arm around me. “Of course it’s true. Tara’s been in love with that bitch from the start.”

“I still don’t think so.”

I push her arm off. “Well, I know I’m right. They’re together. Now the question is, whose side are you on?”

“I don’t—”

I start walking away. It’s time to leave school. “You have my number.”

Pink catches up. “Wait, you can’t make me do this.”

I glare at her. “I’m not making you do anything. I’m just saying that I’m not hanging around people that hang out with that bitch. Tara’s made her choice. Now it’s your turn. I’m out of here.”

“Whitney Blaire, wait.” Pink stops. “You can’t go. You have detention.”

I keep walking. “Call me when you’ve made up your mind.”

I shake my head and shift my purse. I give her two hours. Three at the most.

Pinkie

I GO THROUGH MY AFTERNOON CLASSES WITHOUT knowing what I’m doing. I write down everything the teachers say, but I don’t hear a word of it. By last period, I can’t take it anymore. I have to leave. I am only missing PE, a pass/fail class. And knowing the people who’ve passed that class before, I think it’s okay to miss one class. I can’t focus on gym right now. The last thing I want to worry about today is yellow balls aimed at my face.

How could Whitney Blaire do this to me? How can she make me choose between her and Tara? And if what Whitney Blaire said is true, how could Tara do this to me? I don’t know which one is worse: Whitney Blaire telling me to choose between my friends or Whitney Blaire telling me that she thinks Tara and Riley are a…are doing…No, I can’t even think about that. It is too gross. I mean, what if Tara has always been that way? Oh my God! I’ve changed clothes around her. We’ve joked around about my bouncing monsters. What if she was checking me out? And that day we were joking about spying on Nash, she said I should go in drag. Did that mean something else? Like she had a crush on me? Oh God, oh God, oh God.

I pull over to the side of the road because I can’t drive and drive myself crazy at the same time. Breathe, Pinkie, breathe. Inhale, exhale. Okay, now think of something else. Think about something that doesn’t have anything to do with Tara possibly being…Don’t think about Tara, and Tara and Riley together. Think of something else, someone else. Whitney Blaire saying it was her or Tara. No, no stop it. Don’t think about that either. You can’t possibly choose. It’s stupid. There’s no choice to make. You’re not going to choose Tara now that she’s a…But on the other hand, it’s really shallow of Whitney Blaire to even suggest that you should choose between them, so that’s not the right choice either. There’s no one to turn to. My best friends have abandoned me. I need to talk to someone. I can’t do this on my own.

I pull out my phone. Who can I talk to? Mama. No, I need someone who will talk back. There has to be someone else.

A car horn beeps. I look around me. I’m not exactly on the road, but since there isn’t much of a shoulder, I’m not actually off the road either. I wave apologetically at the guy who beeped at me. He gives me the finger. I need to get off the road, but I don’t want to drive. Okay, where am I? I recognize the street and put the car into gear. Ninety-six seconds later, I pull into David’s driveway. I ring the bell. Please be home, please don’t be so sick you’re under quarantine.

His youngest sister, Carolyn, answers the door. Her face is covered with blue eye shadow and red lipstick, but not necessarily in the right places.

“David,” she shouts. “Your girlfriend is here.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I mumble.

Three seconds later, I hear thundering from upstairs and then the thumping of stairs being taken quickly. When David sees me his face changes from excited to surprised. “Oh, it’s you, Pink. Why aren’t you at school? Are you okay?”

“No.” I start crying. I fall into his arms and he lets me hug him without breaking away.

“Eww, smoochy, smoochy,” Carolyn says. I can feel her watching us, even though my eyes are closed.

“Beat it, Carolyn, or I’ll tell Sophie you’ve been in her room.”

Carolyn stomps away. David rubs my back and I hold on tighter.

I pull away from David as soon as my nose starts running. It’s one thing to wet his shirt with tears; it is something else to get snot all over it. I take myself to the bathroom and blow my nose. I grab some extra tissues and stuff them in my pocket. Okay, Pinkie. Pull yourself together. I wash my face and make the mistake of looking in the mirror. Oh, great. Creature from the black lagoon with blotchy red skin. Oh, what does it matter, it’s just David. Still, I run a hand through my hair before coming out and hope it helped just a bit.

David is waiting for me. “Better?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’m sorry, I just lost it. I guess I need someone to talk to.”

David grabs his coat. “Let’s go for a walk.”