Spencer's Face (Buckeye Hawks) (9 page)

“It was fun.” Spencer
defended me against the guys playfully.

Zane laughed. “Nothing about
milking is fun. Dude, you are warped.”

Everyone laughed at Spencer,
but he took it all in stride, laughing at himself. There were several more
jokes about cows after that. Everyone laughed at our expense. Spencer simply
smiled at me, trying to show me that he didn’t mind.

Vicky walked up about that
time, and pushed my shoulder. She pushed me so hard that she threw me off
balance. I stepped back, surprised that she would be so physical with me.

I looked at her, shocked.
“What the heck, Vicky?” I asked her to explain herself.

She was almost twice my size.
She was a big girl.

Dwayne stepped in front of me,
as if blocking Vicky from touching me again. “I told you. It wasn’t Taylor.”

Oh boy. She must have found out
that Dwayne was with someone Friday night. Darn it.

“It had to be Taylor. I
couldn’t find her either, and you’re still pining for her.” Vicky retorted.

“It wasn’t me. I was with Spencer
all night.” I told her quickly. Dwayne still asked me to go make out with him
occasionally at the parties when Vicky wasn’t there, but I never did. I would
never cheat with a guy. I didn’t think Dwayne still liked me, he just liked to
make out with whatever girl he could find at the moment.

“Yah, like I believe that
one.” Vicky said rudely.

“She was with me.” Spencer defended
me to her. “All night long. She never left my side.”

About that time, Sandy walked
up, smiling, then her smile faded when she saw Dwayne with Vicky. She was hurt.
Obviously she thought their make out session meant a bit more to him than he
did. I could always read her face. She’d been my best friend for a couple of
years now. I felt badly for her.

“Hey Sandy?” Vicky said
rudely to her. “Was Taylor with Spencer all night long at the party Friday
night?”

“Yes.” Sandy said, but she
didn’t say it very convincingly. She was confused as to what the heck was going
on.

“I knew it. It
was
Taylor. You cheated on me with Taylor. You sorry bastard.” Vicky slapped Dwayne
across the face as everyone watched.

Everyone made an ouch face as
Dwayne grabbed his face. “It wasn’t Taylor.”

Just then Vicky grabbed the
sides of my face with both hands and started shaking my head. She could almost
pick me up off of the ground.

Dwayne tried to pull her away
from me, but she had a death grip on my face that she wasn’t releasing any time
soon. Spencer pulled her hands apart, releasing me. Oh crap. What the heck just
happened? I’d never been in a fight before. Was I just in a fight?

“Vicky. We’re finished.” Dwayne
yelled to her. “I am not going to date some lowlife white trash girl that
starts fights in school.”

“That means a lot coming from
a cheater. Don’t be pointing fingers, you sorry bastard.” She screamed the
words out.

The crowd was getting
thicker. Everyone had heard the commotion so far, and they were gathering for
the impending fight. Holy crap.

“Leave.” Dwayne ordered Vicky
as he physically turned her around away from us, then he turned toward me. “I’m
so sorry, Taylor. I didn’t tell her that I was with you. She just assumed that
it was you.”

“That’s okay.” I said to him.
My face still kind of hurt where she had grabbed it, but I didn’t want to look
like a baby.

“I’m sorry.” Sandy said. “I
didn’t know what was going on when she asked me.”

I laughed at her. “Yah.
Thanks Sandy.”

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked
as he turned my head to look at my face. “It looks like she dug her fingernails
in. There’s some blood.”

Zane tilted my face up so he
could see it. “Yes there is blood. Look what your white trash girlfriend did to
Taylor, Dwayne.”

“I’m fine.” I told them all.

“I’m so sorry.” Dwayne
apologized to me again. I knew he was sorry. I knew he’d never stop cheating,
but I knew he didn’t want me hurt because of it. He smiled at Sandy. She smiled
back at him.

The crowd thinned out when
the first bell rang. Spencer rubbed my shoulder then headed to his Calculus class.
I headed to my History class with Zane.

“That was exciting.” He joked
with me.

“Maybe for you. That girl
scares me.” I confided in him.

“Do you want me to teach you
some moves in case she attacks you again?” he asked.

“No. My dad has me covered.
He shows us his army moves once a week, whether we want to do them or not.” I
told him.

“Oh yah. I forgot about that.
Those might come in handy with Vicky. She was suspended already this year for
fighting.”

“Damn. I didn’t know that. I
might be in trouble then.”

“I’ll be your bodyguard. I’ll
get all the guys to chip in. We won’t leave you unguarded.” He offered.

I laughed at him. “That’s not
necessary. And I don’t want her to think that I’m scared of her.”

We walked into History class
together and sat in our seats in the back as always. “She’ll cream you, Taylor.
Let us watch you.”

“You can’t hit a girl.” I
told him.

“I don’t have to hit her,
just keep her from hitting you.”

I waved him off. I didn’t
want to talk about it any more. I was kind of scared that this wasn’t over for
her. I didn’t understand why she refused to believe that I wasn’t the one Dwayne
cheated with the other night.

After class, I waited outside
my shorthand class, hoping to run into Spencer as he came into his English
class. He walked up just as I was about to give up on him.

“Hey, you’re still alive?” He
joked with me.

“Yep. For now.” I said.

“I think she’s going to give
up on you. I saw your friend Sandy talking to her a minute ago. Maybe she set
her straight.”

“Thank God. But now I have to
worry about Sandy getting beat up.” I told him.

We talked for a minute, then
went our separate ways. Once inside my class, I pulled out my cell phone. I had
a text from Sandy. “I told her it was me, but she didn’t believe me. Maybe I
should have taken pictures with my phone.”

Darn. That meant she still
thought it was me. And it meant that she was still upset about it. Was it too
late to ask Zane for that bodyguard service? I’d never had an actual fight
before, except with my sisters. We’d come to blows a few times over stupid
things at the house: blow dryers and blue jeans.

After shorthand, Spencer invited
me to lunch. I told him that I usually did lunch with Sandy, but he could join
us if he wanted. He agreed to meet me in the parking lot at lunch. Sandy and I
waited for him by my car at lunch.

“So you like him?” Sandy
asked, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“I do.” I told her with a
smile. I could always tell her anything. She’d been the closest friend I’d ever
had in my life. “He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure I
could handle the birthmark.” Sandy said.

“I don’t even notice it any
more. Cheryl told him it was pretty.” I told her. “My little sister.” I added
when she gave me a funny look, telling me that she didn’t know who I was
talking about.

“That’s cute. You know he’s
really good looking except for that. He’s got quite a body, and great hair.”

“His face is perfect too.”

“Except for the birthmark.”
Sandy added.

“That makes him more unique,
more special.” I told her. I meant it. He was beautiful.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen
you this caught up in a guy before. Even Jose didn’t have you this clabbered. Or
Jim. If I had to put money on which guy you would have fallen for completely, I
think it would have been Jim.”

I laughed at her. “I can’t
really explain it. I just like him. A lot. Are you and Dwayne going to start
dating now?”

“Nah. He’s an awful kisser. Just
like you said. I had razor burn all day Saturday. It burned when I washed my
face with my acne wash. The guy actually hurt my lips because he kisses so
hard. My lips were swollen all weekend.”

“Tell me about it. I can’t
believe Vicky actually wants to fight for the guy.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t
believe me. I was ready to take a punch for it and she didn’t believe me.”

“I wonder why she’s all convinced
that it’s me.”

“Probably because Dwayne is
still in love with you.” Zane said as he walked up to us.

Zane startled us both. We hadn’t
seen Zane until he spoke. Spencer was right next to him. I was glad they didn’t
show up a little earlier when we were discussing how much I liked Spencer. That
would have been embarrassing.

“Hi.” Spencer said. “Can we
all fit in your car?”

“Sure.” I said to him.

After pushing my gym clothes
to the floor, Zane and Sandy climbed into the backseat, giving Spencer the
front seat. It worked out perfectly. I drove us to Pizza Hut. We all had the
buffet since it’s quicker than ordering. We only had forty five minutes for
lunch. We all laughed and talked and ate pizza. Spencer was getting to be more
fun the more he opened up to me. Even Sandy commented on how much fun he was
now that she knew him a little better.

After lunch with Taylor,
Sandy, and Zane, we walked onto school property from the parking lot. That was
really fun. Taylor definitely had a goofy side to her. The jokes and the
silliness didn’t stop all during lunch. Zane suddenly stopped in front of us,
causing us all to bump into him. He put his hand on Taylor’s stomach. “She
won’t touch you.” he said in a protective voice.

What was he talking about? We
all looked up to see Vicky coming toward us. It was more like stomping. Damn,
she was a big girl. I hoped she wasn’t about to pounce on Sandy or Taylor.
She’d cream them.

“Who?” Taylor asked him,
looking around him to see what or who he was talking about.

“I’ll grab her. You grab
Taylor.” Zane said to me. He made it sound like a football play. He didn’t seem
too worried about Sandy, only Taylor.

“She’s not going to try
anything here.” Taylor told us. “The principal’s office is too close.”

She had a point. Most fights
didn’t happen this close to the principal’s office. Maybe Vicky was going to
say something mean, then be on her way. She was a pro at that.

“You bitch. Someone told me
they saw you with Dwayne Friday night at the party. You lied to me.” she yelled
to Taylor as she closed the distance between us.

“What?” Taylor asked her. “I
was not with Dwayne Friday night. I haven’t been with Dwayne since we broke up
last year.”

I hated it that she’s had so
many boyfriends. That was one reason I was holding off on asking her out. I hated
to be one of many. Not that she was a slut, because she wasn’t. But I felt like
the longer I waited to ask her out, the longer our relationship would last.

“I was with him. I told you
that.” Sandy stepped in between them.

Zane stepped between Vicky
and Taylor. I stepped beside Taylor closer. I didn’t mind protecting her. I
wasn’t sure what I could do; maybe hold her up out of Vicky’s reach.