I watched for a few seconds as Jason ran around in the rain. He looked so carefree now, like the rain was washing off every bad thing that had happened today. He turned to look at me before waving me over to join him. I shook my head, but when he persisted, I dropped my bag in the corner and ran out to join him.
The rain felt good on my skin. I wasn't one to let go of myself and to act crazy or to even dance, but for some reason, I decided it was ok to do so now. Jason brought out the best parts of me I didn't even know existed. Putting my hands over my head, I skipped in time to a tune in my head around Jason.
I grabbed his hands; he flinched, but I didn't let go. I wanted to dance with a partner. I just pumped his arms up and down as we jumped up and down in a circle. We were dancing in the rain in the rehab center's parking lot. We couldn't be more crazy.
My knee twinged in pain as I landed, and it caused me to lose balance, I pulled Jason down to the ground on top of me. His face was inches away from mine. "Sorry, Jason. I guess I'm just clumsy," I told him, still smiling from our small adventure.
"Elijah!" My mother yelled at us, and I tried to sit up. Jason got off me quickly, and I noticed he looked a little red in the face, but I didn't think anything of it. "What are you two doing?"
I ran over and grabbed our bags before meeting Jason at the car and we got in. "We were just frolicking in the rain," I answered her as I passed Jason his bag.
My mom gave me a look. "Sure. Hope it was fun."
"I enjoyed it," I admitted.
"Sure looked like it," my mother commented as she drove off. And I wondered vaguely whey she would make such an obvious comment.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
School the next morning started out the same with Jason and I practicing in the morning, but he woke up on time so we had more time to practice. I headed into the showers while Jason did the same in the boys locker room.
Jason was getting so much better; I was really impressed. He really seemed to like it. At first, I thought he was only playing with me so that we had something to do together, but I caught him practicing on his own last night. He wanted to get better. I wrapped the towel around myself as I headed back out towards my locker.
"So, the new kid. How do you know him, Miss Priss?" a voice cut through. Molly came over and leaned up against the locker next to mine like she was my best friend.
Molly was a senior, just like me, and the starting point guard for the women's basketball team. She was physically pretty with long locks of black hair that she usually wore in curls. She had large brown eyes and light chocolate skin. She was who a lot of the younger girls in the school wanted to look like.
Her personality, on the other hand, was less than desirable. She took every chance she got to make someone else feel inferior to herself. I didn't just stand down when she pushed me, so I was public enemy number one with her. I received my nickname of Miss Priss from her because my family happens to be loaded and I ignore everyone around me.
Molly wasn't always mean and detestable. In fact, once upon a time, we were best friends. But, when we were in junior high, I took her position as starting point guard. And she's hated me ever since, but because I had the position, she couldn't be mean to me. I controlled whether or not she ever got the ball. But, when I hurt my knee five months ago at the end of the school year, she took my place and acts as though she's better than me.
Is she better than me? Not when it comes to my game. But, she's better socially, and she's really good at rallying the boys and the rest of the team to hate me as well. I am not her most favorite person, and she's made everyone else feel the same way about me.
"My family took him in. We're helping him adjust," I told her as I dropped the towel and got dressed right in front of her. One thing I could trump her in off the court was my figure, and she knew it, so she didn't make a nasty comment.
"Well, isn't that just so nice of you guys. But, he'll see, just like we all did, how backstabbing you really are," she smirked at me.
"Molly, I never backstabbed you," I finally commented. "If anything, you backstabbed me the first chance you got." I took a brush through my hair. “And I’m done wasting my time on you.” I grabbed my blow dryer and headed to the mirrors to do my hair.
Molly didn’t follow me, thankfully, but I knew she wasn’t going to stop tormenting. She’d never be done. There was nothing I would be able to do to make her like me again, not like how we used to be. Losing her friendship had hurt the worst. It hadn’t been my fault. Or maybe I had hurt her badly somehow and this was my punishment.
I found Jason waiting for me at my locker. I was relieved to see him. It was a nice reprieve from the assholes here that I had to deal with on a constant basis. Before I could reach him, however, Connor rounded the corner and pushed Jason into the lockers. “Waiting for your lover?” he asked as everyone started giggling around him. Jason didn’t fight back or say anything, just ignored them.
But, I wasn’t going to let them bully him like that, not like they did to me. I ran up and shoved Connor as hard as I could away from Jason, making him trip over one of his friends’ feet and falling onto the floor. “Oops, looks like the big oaf can’t watch where he’s walking,” I smirked at them as I opened my locker and grabbed my books for first period out of it.
Conner was up by the time I turned around, and he shoved me back, his hands on either side of my head. I didn’t let on that I was intimidated by him. He was twice as big as me and could easily hurt me if he so chose. The bell rang then, breaking the silence between us. “You better watch yourself, Eli, this isn’t over.” He brought his hands down and knocked the books out of my hands then left with his posse down the hall.
I let out a deep breath and dropped to my knees to pick up my books. Jason was at my side in a second, “A-are you o-ok?” he asked me, gathering as much as he could into his arms for me. “I-I’m s-sorry about th-that.”
I smiled weakly at him, no longer having the energy to hold up appearances. “It wasn’t your fault Jason. I’m used to his treatment. I don’t want you to have to deal with it, too.” I took my books out of his arms. “But, don’t you worry about me. I’m fine. We’ll be fine. Let’s just get to class.”
“W-What about C-Conner?” he asked, walking in stride beside me.
“Just ignore him. He can’t hurt you because my family is so prominent to this school that he’d be hurting himself. You’ve got that protecting you, at least.” I led us to our seat in the back, ignoring the look Molly and Conner, who were dating, were giving me. I definitely didn’t have luck on my side having the two most popular, most evil kids in the whole school conspiring against me.
It wasn’t me I was worried about. It was Jason, and I was scared they would turn him on me like they had done with every friend I had ever tried to make. I couldn’t handle losing another friend. Not again.
