Stop Him

Shorts

“Gertrude Bartholomeu!”

    I cringed, hearing my birth name in full being announced in front of the entire classroom.  Gertrude.  It was my father who decided to curse me with his mother’s name.  “Uh, just Gigi is fine,” I suggested, taking in the surprised look on the teacher’s face.

    “Gigi?”  A small smile crossed her face as she mused, “I like that.”

    Forcing a small smile back, I dropped my gaze back to my desk, raking my hand through my hair nervously.  Everybody was looking at me, or at least that’s how it felt, like they’d stuck a spotlight on me in the middle of a dimly lit room.  An ant being burned by a magnifying glass.  Maybe I’m just being dramatic.  Biting my lip as other names were called, I glanced about the room and noticed a few kids turn away when I glanced their direction.  One kid held my gaze, some big dimpled blonde.  Awkward.

    Doodling absentmindedly in my notebook as the teacher spoke, I thought about the new town, new house, new school—it’s mid-October so of course the late transfer would draw some attention, especially in a school this size in a small town like this.

    “Psst.”  Glancing to my right, I found myself staring up at my table mate.  She had a perfect olive complexion and sheen black hair that fell to her shoulders in ringlets.  “Gigi, right?”  I nodded, offering her a small smile.  She grinned back.  “I’m Ashley but everybody calls me Ash.”

    Ashley.  Must be nice to have a cute name.  “Nice to meet you.”

    “Where are you from?”

    “Pittsburgh,” I muttered, frowning.

    “Oh, the other side of Pennsylvania,” she laughed.  “Why come out to Amish Country?”

    “York doesn’t seem so—“

    A shush from the teacher snapped my eyes forward and I heard Ashley giggle nervously next to me.  Despite the harsh noise that had been made, the teacher had a warm smile as she looked us over.  “Does anybody remember where we left off in the chapter?” she wondered, going back to her lesson.

    Glancing back at Ashley, I watched her tuck her hair behind her ear, making a funny face at me to mock the teacher and smiled.  Yeah, maybe York isn’t so bad.

. . .

I grew up in a city full of rivers and bridges—York is just rolling hills.

    Ash was in a few more of my classes and they called out my full birth name in every single one of them.  It was something out of a nightmare but along the way I also met a guy named Chase and another named Steven and the great irony is that the three of them sit together at lunch alongside a few other people.  There were eight of us at the table and everybody was pretty friendly, all of them vastly different in personality.  It was kind of motley crew, this bunch, but considering it was only my first day, I was thankful to have them.

    “Took you long enough short stack,” Chase said, tossing his arm over Ash’s shoulders as she took a seat next to him.

    She puffed so her bangs lifted out of her eyes.  “I’m not short!”

    “Okay, vertically challenged,” Chase laughed.  Chase and Ashley are dating, I think.  Or on the brink of dating?  I haven’t clarified but they seem too friendly to be just friends.

    The girl who’d been walking with Ash slipped into the seat next to me, all smiles.  She had long blonde hair pulled into a side braid giving her an almost Elsa look—if Elsa were Hispanic.  “You must be Gigi,” was how she started the conversation.  “I’m Kirsten but everybody calls me—“

    “Kiki!”  It was shrill and Kirsten turned, lighting up at the sight of another girl across the way.  She was Asian with short black hair and looked absolutely livid.  “I cannot believe you!” she snapped, storming across the cafeteria.

    “Oh, Addy, don’t be mad—“

    “You told him?!” she hissed, taking a seat next to her, glaring vehemently.

    “I mean, somebody had to—“

    “Shouldn’t it be me?!”

    “Well, you were taking too long and—“

    “And you thought that you’d just—“

    When Kiki kissed Addy, I watched all the anger dissipate, embarrassment filling Addison’s expression.  Kiki leaned over, whispering in Addy’s ear and my eyes shifted to Ash and Chase, I noticed that they seemed unfazed by the two girls kissing each other.  Maybe that’s . . . normal for those two?  Deciding to mind my own business, I went back to eating the cafeteria pizza which was actually pretty good, even if it was a bit greasy.

    “Who puts ranch on pizza?” Steven asked, taking the seat next to me.

    “Me,” I shrugged, glancing up at him.

    “Is that a Pittsburgh thing?” he wondered.

    “It’s just a Gigi thing,” I said, grinning.

    “A Gigi thing,” he said slowly, giving a small smile.  “I like that.”

    I tried not to let the words affect me, moving back to my pizza, but I noticed Ash looking, suddenly too interested in our conversation.  “So . . . Gigi,” she said, grinning a bit too wide.  “I was wondering, why did your family choose York?”

    I smiled but it was kind of an awkward one.

    Truth is, we didn’t choose York.

    There wasn’t really a choice.

    “My folks are thinking about joining the Amish.”

    “Wait, what?” Steven asked.

    Chase laughed.  “You’ve got jokes, new girl.”

    “But really,” Ash said, looking me over.

    “Work,” I lied.  “Dad got laid off and was looking for a good place to start up his own mechanic shop.”  It was smooth, practiced.  Lying comes easily to children who often have to hide their parents’ mess—and my parents?  They’re always making a mess.

    “Oh thank God,” Steven said, bumping my knee with his.  “I was worried for a minute.”

    “Don’t worry,” I laughed.  “If my parents convert, I’ll get emancipated.”

    Hm.  Something about him just smelled like trouble and frowning, my eyes shifted back to Ash who looked . . . she looked upset as she picked at her spaghetti.  Chase seemed oblivious to how his girlfriend was acting, just chomping down his food.  He was classically handsome with that clean cut, good boy look.  Blonde with blue eyes, a stark contrast to his buddy across the table.  Biting my lip, I decided I was probably better off avoiding Steven, especially if he’s the reason Ash is making that expression right now.  Something must’ve happened between them.  I doubted Chase had any idea what.

. . .

I’d skateboarded to school which had been about a two-mile jaunt but after talking to the guidance counselor, I figured out the bus schedule which was much more reasonable for me.  My class schedule was a fairly easy one if I was being honest so this should be an easy year.  Eventless if I’m lucky.

    The only class I wasn’t excited about was the gym/health course.  It’s not that I’m not athletic, it’s just that running isn’t my favorite past time and gym tends to involve a hefty amount of cardio.  I found the locker rooms okay and got changed quickly, marching out only to find Steven walking out at the same time as me.  He smirked, making a bee line for me and I frowned, tugging at my shorts.  They were a bit tighter on me than I would’ve liked.  He seemed to notice, his eyes roving over my body.  I glared at him and he gave me a sheepish grin.  “Hey Gigi.”

    “Steven,” I said shortly, tugging at my shirt a bit now.

    “Were you in any sports at your last school?” he wondered.

    “No, why?” I wondered, noticing how his eyes had shifted toward my backside.  “My eyes are up here,” I muttered, pursing my lips.

    “Anybody tell you that you’ve got a bubble butt?” he wondered, dark eyes shifting back to me.

    Yes.  Unfortunately.  I rolled my eyes, giving a wry laugh.  “I skateboard a lot,” I shrugged.

    “Lots of squatting and leg work,” he said, knowingly.

    I tried not to look at his body, especially since he was making such a show of looking at mine.  Muscular, tall—he was handsome.  “Are you in any sports?” I wondered.

    “Football and baseball.”  He grinned.  “With Chase.”

    “Cool,” I muttered, hearing a whistle blow.  The teacher was calling everybody to get out of the locker rooms and to the gym.  We walked side by side toward a small huddle that was already forming and I noticed some looks I was getting from the other students.  I wasn’t sure if it was just because I was new or if it had anything to do with Steven who was hanging pretty close to me but when he grinned at a group of guys across the way and they grinned back, eyes moving between the two of us, I shifted uncomfortably, pulling at my shorts again, self-conscious.

     The teacher told us we’d do laps to warm up, then we were going to go over some basic basketball techniques.  When she told us to start laps, I started running and instead of staying next to me, Steven fell back with his buddies behind me.  I didn’t think anything of it until another guy came up to me.  He was dressed in a school t-shirt and black basketball shorts, his hair a reddish-brown, but it was his eyes—they were a startling green.  “You should probably think about different shorts.”

    I slowed, color rushing to my cheeks.  “I . . . I know they’re kind of tight on me now.”

    “They’re drooling behind you,” he said, rolling his eyes.  “I mean, the length is fine but you’ve got a round . . . well, you get the picture,” he shrugged.

    “Uh.” I felt embarrassed.  “Thanks?”

    “And Steven . . . he’s got a lot of admirers.”  I glanced behind me, glaring at the boys jogging a safe distance behind me.  “I’m just saying, you’re new so you don’t really know how things work around here just yet.”

    Oh.  Yeah.  “Then why don’t you tell me how it works?” I wondered, noticing how at ease he was as we moved.  Like running was nothing for him.

    “Hey Charles, quit flirting!” I heard Steven yell from behind me.

    “Yeah, leave the new girl alone,” another guy added.

    “Charles?” I wondered, looking him over.

    He grinned, shaking his head.  “Yeah, those pricks.  Back there checking out your ass the whole time, giving me s**t for warning you.”

    “Gigi,” I offered, smiling back at him.

    “Huh?” he wondered, quirking a brow.

    “My name,” I giggled, looking forward, toward where I was going now.

    “Oh.  What’s it short for?”

    I just grimaced.  “You’ll find out during roll call.”

     He chuckled.  “Uh, okay.”  We jogged the rest of the laps side by side and I pretended not to notice the looks Steven was giving me as we started on stretches.

    I wanted an eventless experience this year.

    An easy one.

    Annoyed, I noticed a group of girls whispering amongst themselves as we started shooting baskets, their eyes going to me then back to whatever they were laughing about, and realized that probably wasn’t going to happen for me.

    Day one.

    It’s only day one and I'm already a topic of gossip.

    Great.