The Rainbow Patch

Chapter 2

I slam my locker shut and start walking down the hall. As it turns out, I don’t have Emily in any other classes on Monday. I haven’t had all of my classes, though, so there’s still hope that I’ll get to see her other times other than Science and lunch. She certainly will help my Mondays.

I’m still thinking about this when I smack into a group of cheerleaders. Instantly, all eyes turn to me. I try to escape the group, but they’ve closed around me, forming a circle of miniskirts and pom-poms.

The girl who was clearly the leader of the group, tall with hot-pink highlights in her black hair stepped towards me, grinning benevolently. “Well, well, well, look what we have here.” She’s so close to me, I can smell her flowery perfume and see every type of makeup on her face.

Why do girls even wear makeup while exercising? I’m no expert, but wouldn’t it run? Is there some type of fancy sports makeup? All of the girls are staring at me, and I realize that I’d zoned out.

“What?” I asked.

“She said, who are you?” One of the other cheerleaders sneered.

“Oh. My name’s Johanna.” This was not the answer they wanted. Not sure why, maybe they expected me to bow or something?

Leader-girl snorts.

“I haven’t seen you around before.”

“I moved schools.”

“In the middle of senior year?”

“Yeah.” The questions really get on my nerves, so I turn my back on her and try to shoulder my way through the girls blocking my exit.

“Hey, could I just maybe get through here?” I mutter. They spin me around so that I’m facing the lead girl again. “Ah. No such luck then.” I sigh. “You’re not gonna give the new kid a break? Man.” I glance side to side, looking for an exit. For such skinny girls, they really have trapped me here. I’m honestly surprised. I start talking again, for some stupid reason.

“So, what’s with the whole wolf pack thing going on here?” I asked. The head cheerleader scrunches her perfect forehead in confusion.

“What?”

I try again. “What’s with the surrounding me looking like you’re going to tear me limb from limb?” Now she looks disgusted. “Ew. Why would we do that?”

I can’t stand it anymore. The anxiety plus the frustration with the sheer stupidity of the cheerleader just boil over, and I lose my patience.

“Oh my god, it’s a metaphor! You know, a figure of speech!”

The only answer I got was a snort, and an “I knew that”.

“Give me an example.” I demanded, while a tiny voice screamed in my head: ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING. YOU ARE A COMPLETE IDIOT.’ Leader-girl looks like she’s about to answer, but she’s stopped by the same girl as before.

“Come on, Val, the boys are waiting.” She looks over her shoulder and gives the most girly wave I’ve ever seen to a group of guys in football uniforms waiting outside the gym. When they saw the girls, harsh whistles filled the air. That sound must have been like a dog whistle to them, because all of the cheerleaders instantly began to walk over them.

I was disgusted by both the catcalling football players and the actions of the cheerleaders, but it had given me a way out. I slipped away, reminding myself to talk to Emily the next day about the head cheerleader. I’ll probably forget.

Emily and I continued to hang out over the next few weeks. As predicted, I only remembered to ask her about the cheerleader two weeks after she had confronted me.

“Valentine Parkinson.” Emily said. I laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“Just that the girl with pink hair, pink nails, and whose wardrobe seems to consist of entirely pink outfits is named Valentine.”

“True. She was also born on Valentine's Day.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“I’ve known her since elementary school.” Emily told me.

“Poor you.” I sighed

She laughed. “But seriously, I can’t believe that she confronted you. She must-” Emily stopped short. “Oh crap. She must have seen you with me.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, confused.

“Nothing, really. It’s just…” She trailed off, then spoke. “I don't think you should hang out with me anymore.”

“What?” I sprang to my feet. “Why?”

“I can’t explain it.”

“We’ve only hung out for two weeks and now you’re say we should stop hanging out. I think I deserve an explanation. Are you already sick of me?” I asked.

“No! No. Dammit.” Emily hid her face in her hands. “I’m doing this wrong.”

“You really are.” I scooted closer to her. “Seriously, Emily, what’s wrong?” She moved away. Undeterred, I moved closer again. She moved away, but there was no more brick for her to move on. She nearly fell, but I caught her just in time.

“Will you tell me what’s going on, now that I saved you from a cracked skull?” I asked.

“There’s no way to get you to stop bugging me, is there? What happened to the anxious. stuttering girl in science class?” Emily sighed.

“She met a girl named Emily.” I replied, hauling her back onto the wall, and keeping a firm hold on her. I needed to hear her story.

“I guess there’s no getting out of this.” She began to tell me her story.