After convincing my parents that I had simply just missed the bus home, the next day rolled around. Immediately, I knew what was in store for me- or rather what was in store for him. I clenched my fists as I gracefully strutted to Sam's locker.
"Really, man?" I ask.
"Really, what?" He responds, pretending not to know a thing.
"Really, you told the entire school what was meant to be a secret?" Cara walks into the conversation, fueled by anger.
"Yo, Aline, chill." Sam says, seeing the anger in the slits of my eyes.
"No, I won't. Man, we were chilling. I trusted you with-" I break my sentence to sob. "- the secret. You- you might as well have sent it across the globe." I can't say any more before hiding my tears from Cara.
"Seriously, dude?" Cara says.
"I don't understand why this is such a big deal. If you two are dating, why wouldn't you want people to know?" Sam says. My veins tense up.
"NOT EVERYTHING YOU SAYS MAKES SENSE TO EVERYONE ELSE, JERK!" I scream, walking away in solemn defeat. Oddly enough, I hear a loud belt from behind me. Blood-curdling. It made my skin shake. I looked back quickly to see Cara unwind a seemingly massive kick to Sam. His hands were clenched over his gut before he fell over in- well, who knows what? Immediately, I stand there in frozen horror, so invested in what's going to happen next I forget that I can move for myself.
"CARA!" I yell, trying to stop what already happened. Her anger is visible in her gritted teeth as she destroyed Aline's former friend. Tears flood from Sam's face like a stream.
"W-What- WHAT IN THE WORLD, MAN?" He asks me as if I was the one who had just pelted him so hard he could have been sent back in time. Soon enough, a teacher scours the hallway and sees the ruckus taking up about half of said hallway. After seeing Sam crying and Cara in a kicking position and me flabbergasted on the sidelines, she put two and two together and bam!
"All of you! Detention! Lunch! My room! Today and tomorrow at lunch!" She yells. I look at her in shock.
"Don't think you're save from this," She says, sternly looking down at me. I'm dead.
I go to homeroom in awe of the amount of freight I feel.
"I'm so sorry, Aline." Cara pleads. "He was just so- but, oh, who cares about that? I'm so sorry! Please say something!" Cara continues, showering my ears with begging. We both walk into homeroom together and I sit down. She lays her cheek on my shoulder and I can feel the blush forming.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry!" She says, hugging me heavily. Truthfully, I'm not a bit mad at her. More mad at Sam than anything. However, seeing her beckoning me for agreement feels wonderful and ending it would be a crime to my very being. Tears start flowing from her eyes. Her loud begging turns into a sad whimpering whisper.
"Please. Please don't hurt me." She whimpers. "Please. I'm so sorry." My eyes turn sharp and I turn to her.
"I'm not mad at you. Don't worry. I'm just a little nervous for detention." I say.
"Oh, thank you. Really, I'm so sorry." She says.
"It's alright. Really. You can chill around me. It's not your fault that he was a jerk." I say to her.
"Thank you," She whispers, opening her still teary eyes and smiling. She gently walks to her desk further back in the classroom. What was that? It felt- oddly- good? I guess? What was that feeling? It felt like a twisted sense of pride- or something. Still pondering my odd emotions, joy washed away the sting of detention and confusion splashed by a while later.
The day goes by and the stinging of detention doesn't subside. If anything, the pain increases. What will I tell my parents? That a random girl stood up for me while in an argument? That doesn't make any sense! Honestly, why do I even have detention? For witnessing a fight? It's not like she saw the stuff that happened before! I should be excused from this!
After lunch, I bump into Cara.
"Hey, Aline. I asked around and, luckily, I got a teacher willing to let your detention for tomorrow to be excused." She said.
"Thanks, I guess." I say, trying to act somewhat mad at her. She simply nods and walks the other way, putting her face in her hands.