The Circle of Friends

I - The Incident The bell sounded and Lori heard the other girls stampede from the locker room. She finished brushing her hair and contemplated tying it up again. Now hanging past the top of her jeans, it tended to get caught on objects if she didn’t control the waves. She had maintained long hair since childhood, and despite her swimming, Lori entertained no thoughts of cutting it. The waves became very prominent when short and made her hair even more difficult to manage. Electing to leave it free, she placed the brush in her locker and slammed the door. The last to leave the girl’s locker room, Lori discovered the halls crowded with students rushing to reach the next class. She still had plenty of time but needed the calculus book from her hall locker. Taking the back stairway, she bounded up to the second floor. Several friends said hello to her along the way and Lori responded with a big smile. She arrived at the same time as her friend, Maria. She appeared flustered, but smiled at Lori before opening the adjoining locker. Shy and nervous by nature, Maria was having a difficult time adjusting to the new school year. She became upset so easily. Lori decided to speak with Maria later and pulled out her math book. Suddenly two boys brushed past her and stood menacingly over Maria. Lori recognized Joe and Devon from the previous year as bullies who liked to physically dominate others. Apparently, Maria had unwittingly placed herself in their path, for they began taunting Lori’s friend. “So what’s the problem? Afraid to speak up now that there’s no one to protect you?” Joe snarled maliciously, grabbing Maria’s locker door. Lori slowly closed her locker, fearfully watching the scene unfold. Her friend tried to ignore the boys, keeping her head low. Devon spun Maria around and forcibly pushed her against the lockers. Maria let out a cry of distress and dropped the books in her hand. Aware of the danger, but determined to assist her friend, Lori reacted quickly. Clenching her fist so that the middle knuckle protruded, she resorted to a basic self-defense move learned from a swimmer friend. Both boys had their backs to her, providing Lori an easy target, and she delivered her kidney punch. First Devon, then Joe, howled in pain and bent over double. Lori stepped in front of Maria, who gasped at her friend’s boldness. She had no idea what to do next, but they would not hurt Maria if Lori could prevent it. Devon straightened first and lunged forward as if to seize Lori. Joe grabbed his shirt and held fast, preventing Devon from reaching his target. His eyes were not on the girls and Lori followed Joe’s gaze. A teacher walked rapidly toward them, obviously drawn to the commotion. “Is there a problem?” demanded Mr. Jacobs, stopping directly in front of the boys. Joe and Devon stood to their full height, chests out threateningly. The teacher did not appear at all intimidated, though. Joe glanced at Lori, hate pulsating from his eyes, and shook his head. “No problem,” he said through clenched teeth, slowly dragging Devon from the scene. Lori anxiously watched their retreat. The angry backward glances promised trouble later, but for now, Joe and Devon were gone. She knelt to assist Maria with her books and paper. “Are you girls all right?” asked Mr. Jacobs. “We’re okay,” said Lori, looking up and nodding in appreciation. “Thank you.” Once alone, Maria took a deep breath and covered her eyes. “Oh my God, Lori, thank you,” she gasped, her voice quivering. “You’re okay now,” assured Lori, helping her friend to her feet. Maria still trembled. “Those guys are just jerks. Don’t let them scare you.” “You really surprised them!” cried Maria, straightening her books. She pushed the dark hair away from her face, revealing wide brown eyes. “Can you get to class by yourself?” Maria assured her she would manage. Lori left for her next class, still trembling from the adrenaline rush. Upon reaching the classroom, she did her best to put the incident out of her mind. Lori’s other close friend, Sarah, joined them at lunchtime. She made a big fuss over the brave defense of her friend. Lori downplayed the praise, still upset she had resorted to violence to solve the situation. It went against her nature. “Lori, what else were you gonna do?” asked Sarah, finishing her drink. “I don’t know,” Lori admitted. “Hopefully they won’t do it again. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.” “I know you don’t believe it, but there are evil people in this world,” said Sarah, pointing her finger at Lori. “Joe and Devon deserved far worse!” She leapt from her chair, a wad of trash in her hands. Lori felt amused by her friend’s tough attitude. Had she been present, Sarah would have been right in the middle of the tussle. A loud outburst of laughter emanated from another table. Lori glanced over her shoulder and noticed the football players laughing. They represented some of the most popular kids in school, involved in many sports as well as with many girls. Several young women were currently enjoying lunch with the boys and everyone appeared in on the joke. “Eyeing the football players,” said Sarah in a singsong voice as she returned to the table. “They were laughing,” said Lori, quickly averting her gaze. “Hey, some of those guys are cute! You’d look really good with one of them,” Sarah replied, flipping around her chair. She straddled the chair and leaned forward. “Sarah!” Lori softly protested. Two boys from her history class approached, forestalling Sarah’s response. Neither young man would survive a day on the football team, or do well at any sport for that matter. However, they were very polite and always acted friendly toward Lori. She smiled warmly at the boys while Sarah just rolled her eyes. “Hi Lori,” the shorter of the two nervously stammered. “Um, what pages were we supposed to have read?” “Up to page sixty-five, Taylor,” she told him. “Okay! Thanks, Lori,” Taylor replied. They stared at her for a moment before beating a hasty retreat. Sarah let out a cry of exasperation. “Any excuse to talk to you! Those guys are dorks!” “Taylor and Hayden are nice,” began Lori. The ringing of the school bell cut off her words. Across the cafeteria, moans greeted the signal. Sarah leapt to her feet and forcefully slammed her chair under the table. “Well, you should be talking to guys like those football players, not nobody losers!” she cried. Without waiting, she headed for the stairs. Moving slower than her friend, Lori followed behind with Maria. When the three reached the bottom of the stairs, they discovered a group of football players surging up the steps. Sarah glanced once at Lori before boldly falling in step with the boys. Maria and Lori waited until the athletes had passed before climbing the staircase. “Sarah means well,” said Maria quietly. “I know she does,” Lori said patiently. “That’s why it doesn’t bother me.” She gathered her books and went to the next class. Lori’s mind continued to mull over Sarah’s words. Her friend had good intentions. Sarah dated many boys and said it bothered her that Maria and Lori made no effort to find a boyfriend. Maria was just too incredibly shy; boys tended not to notice her. Sometimes Lori felt they did not see her, either. She had many male friends, but few had ever asked her out on a date. Sarah always said it was because Lori did not know how to entice them and didn’t even try. Feeling bold after the morning’s incident, Lori vowed she would work on that issue this year. She caught up with Sarah in between classes. On their way to history class, Lori promised her friend she would make herself more approachable. She had no idea how to accomplish this task, but making the decision to do so was a start. “There you go!” Sarah cried enthusiastically. “You need to go out with someone who can match your looks, though. No schmucks!” “Well, right now I need to go to the bathroom. Can you take my book to class?” Lori asked. “Better hurry,” Sarah urged, accepting her textbook. Lori hastened to the end of the hall. The crowd was thinning and she knew she needed to hurry. The bell would ring very soon. As she exited the bathroom, Lori felt someone grab her arm. Startled, she looked up into Devon’s face. Lori tried to pull away, but he held tight and forced her into the wall by the boy’s bathroom. Joe appeared in front of her from the other side. “We’d like a word with you,” he snarled, a twisted smile on his lips. They shoved her into the alcove leading to the boy’s bathroom. Joe opened the door and Devon pushed her into the room, his hand still gripping her arm. Lori struggled to escape, her mind racing. She watched fearfully as Joe pulled an object from his pocket. “We’d like to repay the favor,” Devon hissed in her ear. Suddenly he wrapped his arms around Lori and forced her to the floor. As they hit the ground, Lori let out a startled cry. She found herself on her right side, facing the wall. Curling her knees up to her chest for protection, she desperately tried to free her arms. Joe grabbed her side and brought the object he held to her back, pressing it painfully into her exposed skin. She gasped for air and wriggled frantically. However, her movement only caused the object to scrape painfully across her skin. Devon laughed maliciously in her ear, delighting in watching her entire body shudder. Panic rising in her chest, Lori tried again to pull away before the boys decided to hurt her elsewhere as well. Joe and Devon were so absorbed with Lori that they failed to notice the bathroom door open. The school’s quarterback had watched the scene unfold from across the hall. Impatiently waiting for his girlfriend, Jamie, to retrieve her books, the struggle by the bathrooms had caught Jason’s attention. When Joe and Devon pulled Lori into the boy’s room, he had decided to investigate. Handing his book to Jamie, he had told her not to wait and followed them into the bathroom. The scene before him startled the young quarterback. Snapping into action, Jason roughly grabbed Joe and slammed him against the wall. The metal rod he had used on Lori flew across the room. Devon released her, but before he could react, Jason sent him flying across the bathroom into Joe. They struggled to their feet, Joe holding the back of his head. “What the hell are you doing?” yelled Jason, placing himself between the boys and Lori. Still lying on the floor, she turned herself over to watch. “None of your business!” Devon growled. He glanced at Joe, who appeared very unsteady on his feet. “Well, I’m making it my business,” Jason stated. “What the hell do you think you’re doing beating up on a girl? You want a real fight, I’ll give you one!” Devon seemed ready to go after him, but Joe slapped his chest, momentarily holding back his friend. The bell rang loudly and the boys exchanged glances. Moving slowly, Joe opened the door. He savagely yanked Devon’s sleeve and they departed, still glaring at Jason. He returned their angry stares until the door closed behind them. Immediately his attention turned to Lori, who struggled to stand. “Hey,” he said, reaching out to help. “Are you all right?” She gasped as he placed a hand across her back. Pulling away his hand, Jason realized there was blood on his palm. Steadying Lori against the sink, he pivoted her body to better view her back. Her white shirt revealed a faint smear of blood across her lower back. “Hang on” he said, placing her hands on the rim of the sink. Darting into a stall, Jason grabbed a large handful of toilet paper. Wrapping it around his hand, he returned and placed it just underneath her shirt and on the small of her back. Lori flinched and tried to pull away from the painful pressure. Jason steadied her with his body and she leaned against him.