Tommy
It was already way past 3 and that woman hadn’t brought Diana back. Were tryouts really that long?
I tried to be optimistic. Maybe she made some friends and decided to go out with them. But there was an underlying feeling, a nagging itch in my gut that told me something was wrong.
My phone started ringing, scaring me. Shirley’s ringtone always made me anxious. I let it ring for a few moments, not wanting to answer, but eventually did anyway. She’d call me over and over again until I gave in.
“What took you so long?” she snapped.
“I was in the bathroom,” I lied.
“I just wanted to check on you. I figured little psycho twin would give you trouble today,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, with her panic attacks and all that ‘stuff’, she probably had a whole meltdown, right? Can’t say I really blame her. Then again, that’s what she gets for ‘messing’ around in the locker rooms.”
My brain split in half from confusion. “What?” Harry, lying on his bed, looked up from the book he was reading.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know. Lucas didn’t send you anything?”
“I…” I logged into FamiliarFaces on my computer. My inbox was, once again, full of messages. “I didn’t check.”
“I think it was pretty harmless, all things considered, but yeah… pretty mean. Well. She wanted to come back to school knowing no one liked her, so she walked into it. Lucas was just kidding around. It’s pretty funny when he tells the story.”
“Shirley, what are you-” I paused. “Wait, why were you talking to Lucas?”
“Just check our chat. I’m sending you a video.” Her chat moved to the top of the list when the video loaded. I clicked on it and opened the file.
Diana was being dragged by Lucas, her body limp. She had a bra and leggings on. The video continued into the men’s locker room. There were black markings all over her face and arms. My jaw dropped as Lucas dropped her on the floor. She curled up into a ball, her arms covering her head. The camera zoomed in on her as people taunted her.
“Did she do dope?” someone laughed.
“Come on, ghost girl, don’t be shy! Say hi to the camera.” The girl recording leaned in, trying to get Diana’s face. Her voice screeched with laughter.
The camera spun to the left, where a girl was trying to get through the crowd. More than ten people surrounded Lucas and Diana. “Lucas! Stop it, you sick piece of-”
“Roberta, chill, it’s just a joke.”
Rick appeared, pushing through the crowd and facing Lucas. His eyes widened at Diana, then traveled to Lucas, who laughed.
“Thatcher! We found your-” Rick slammed into him before he could finish. They collided against the lockers harshly. Rick punched Lucas a few times before he retaliated, busting his lip. He reared back, licking off the blood, then grabbed Lucas again and threw him on the floor.
“Wh-who sent you that?” Harry asked. I gasped slightly, not expecting him to be next to me.
“Lucas didn’t say anything? That’s weird,” Shirley said, now on speaker. “Doreen sent me that. She’s the one recording.”
“What the heck is this?”
“I dunno. I guess they were trying to mess with her. Pretty sick, right? Although, Rick’s a little sus for playing Prince Charming, if you know what I mean.”
I was going to kill them. I was going to kill him. And we were all treating Rick to dinner or something. “I gotta call her.” I took Shirley off speaker.
“Good luck dealing with her. She’s gonna be hysterical,” I heard her chuckle. The tone made me pause, and I put the phone to my ear again.
“What?”
“What?”
“Shirley… you did see the video, right? They just assaulted our… our… her.”
She scoffed. “You were just about to say she was your sister, weren’t you?”
“No,” I lied. For a moment, I’d forgotten. Either way, I was livid. Harry was visibly the same. I was going to make all of them wish they weren’t even born.
“Yup, she’s got you in her little web.” She scoffed again. “Oh-my-God, I don’t know how you put up with her. Always the victim; ‘wah, wah, I hate my life’. She’s so toxic.”
I sat down, not believing what I was hearing. “I don’t think I understand what you mean,” I said.
“It’s obvious, Tommy. People like her? They need the attention. I’m starting to think those… cuts… were something she made up. It got everyone’s attention, right? Being another Amy wasn’t enough. It’s all a little plot of hers. I know the type.”
I remained silent, listening to every word. Every shred of hope, tenderness, and sentiment I had left for her crumbled away inside me. Harry approached me, concerned.
“And look at that, she tried to cheat on Tony. Why else would she try out for track? She knew Rick would be there. Probably thought he’d think she was pretty just because she looks like his girlfriend. Makes sense she was in there with her shirt off. That’s what she gets for being… her.”
“Tommy?” Harry said. I held up my hand to silence him.
“Hello? You’re not saying anything,” she then said.
I desperately needed to punch something. I desperately needed to smash Lucas’s face in. And I desperately needed to break up with Shirley.
“We need to talk.”
There was silence. Harry stared at me, shocked. “What?” she finally said.
“We need to talk, Shirley,” I said coldly. “We’ll talk later.” I hung up, cutting her off, and went to my closet for my jacket.
“You okay?” Harry asked.
“I will be.” I put my jacket on, heading for the door.
“Where are we going?”
“Kyle, Jack!” I turned off the light and answered him: “To Lucas’s.”
~~~
Kyle
Mom and Dad were waiting in the foyer with crossed arms when we came back. I stopped short, hiding my bruised knuckle behind me. My brothers bumped into me. “What happened?” Jack asked.
I smiled innocently. “Hey, guys.”
“Hello, Kyle,” Mom said silkily. “May I ask why you took our car without permission, or without telling us where you were going, or what you were doing?”
“And what are you hiding behind your back?” Dad added.
“Um…” I looked back at my brothers, who peeked out from behind me.
“We… went to a… party.” Jack smiled.
“A party?”
“It was a… small get-together,” I said.
“I see. Where?”
“At Mildred’s.” Harry stepped forward. “She was… she wanted to show me something, so I asked Kyle to drive me, and Jack and Tommy wanted to come, too, so we all went.”
“And you just up and left without telling us?” Dad asked.
“We figured it was fast and that you wouldn’t mind.” Tommy scratched his neck. “It was just a… new game.”
They glanced at each other. As long as they didn’t find out the real reason, we would be fine.
“Where’s Diana?” Harry asked.
“She’s upstairs in her room.”
“Is she okay?”
Mom frowned. “Yes…? Why? Did something happen at school?”
I kicked his shin as discreetly as I could. “We’re just… making sure she’s okay. You know, with everything going on with her.”
Dad checked his security app. “She’s been reading. She was actually pretty quiet when she came, but Ms. Howells didn’t say anything, so…”
“Did you ask her anything?” I asked.
“The usual, if she was feeling okay. She said today was boring, but she had a good time at tryouts. She wasn’t in the talking mood, so I let her be.”
I headed to the stairs. “I’ll go and say hi. I haven’t talked to her.”
“Wait, you-” Mom stopped, letting me go. “I’ll let him talk to her, then we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I knocked on Diana’s door and she let me come in. She was sprawled on her bed, reading Pride and Prejudice. She seemed pretty peaceful…
“Hey. How’s everything?” I sat on the bed. She didn’t look at me. “Um… Tom and Harry told me what happened.”
Now she looked. “What?” Her eyes were puffy.
“They… showed me a video. Of what happened at your tryouts.”
She remained silent, then glanced at the camera glaring at us.
“You want to talk in my room instead?” I asked quietly so they wouldn’t hear us. She nodded and slid off the bed, leaving the book face-down on the mattress.
As soon as we went into my room, she collapsed on her knees in tears. I quickly embraced her, kneeling on the floor, and rocked her back and forth. Her body was trembling violently.
“I’m so sorry, Diana.” I shook my head, trying not to get angry again. “I can’t believe…” She cried for a few more moments until she was tired. She sniffled and pulled away. I went to get a tissue box for her.
“I was so close…” she sighed.
“What?” I gave her the tissue. She blew her nose and shook her head.
“I don’t get it…” She wiped her reddened eyes. “I really don’t get it. I just… I’m so…”
“Hey, relax. It’s okay.” I hugged her again. “You don’t have to go back to school. We can tell Mom and Dad.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
She shook her head again. “No.”
“Diana-”
“Please, just don’t say anything. They’ll make everything worse. It’s not worth it,” she said.
“Diana, what they did…”
“I know. But don’t.” She looked down at my hands and frowned, looking at my knuckles. “What happened?”
“Oh, uh… I… fell.”
She looked up at me in shock. “Did you get in a fight?”
“No. I fell. On my… knuckles.” I smiled.
She gave me a look. “Kyle. What did you do? Is that why you guys took the car? Oh, God, what did you do?” She covered her mouth.
I sighed, rubbing my neck. “Okay, we weren’t gonna let it go.”
She stood, pacing. “What did you do?”
“You expect us to see something like that and not do something?”
“Your knuckles are black, Kyle! Look at these!” She took my hand again and inspected the ugly bruises. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“Oh, come on, Di.”
“I’m just asking! You need some ice.” She rushed to the door.
“What are you so worried about me for? You’re the one who-” I stopped, noticing one of her PJ pant legs rolled up. Below the fuzzy, soft fabric with flower patterns was a bandage. “What are those?” I pointed.
She looked down and paled. “Nothing.”
“Diana… please don’t tell me-”
“I said they’re nothing!” She ran down the hall to her room. I chased after her, but she locked her door. I sighed, leaning my forehead on the wood. Downstairs, I heard Mom talking.
“When did this happen?!” I heard her saying, crying. A pause. “Well- did you do anything? Did you expel them?” Another pause. “Are you kidding me?! Suspension? What kind of ‘incident’ are we talking about?”
“Mom,” Harry said. I heard him play the video. After it was over, Mom was in tears.
“Our son just showed us a video of what happened. They did that, and all you’re doing is suspending them? They should be in freaking JAIL!” Dad shouted.
She was doing so much better, and they made everything worse. Unless… she wasn’t doing better at all. And we were stupid enough to believe it.
~~~
Diana
November 22nd, 2023
t_lowe450: hey Diana
I smiled a bit, feeling some weight lift off my shoulders. I immediately texted back.
Sunflowergirl3482: Hi, Tony.
I didnt see u yesterday, he said. u ok?
I’ve just been sick with a cold. I glanced up at the camera watching me.
It was Thanksgiving break, but I would also take some days off from school to process what happened. Lucas and most of the others involved were suspended and they wouldn’t be selected for the team. They also sent me written apologies via email— fake ones, obviously.
Oh, im sorry ur sick, Tony said. But what i meant was, r u ok after the other day? I heard what happened at ur tryouts
Im so sorry that happened, ppl r so sick
Sorry i missed the beating too, I heard ur foster bros went to the guys house
I took a deep breath. I’m doing okay. I guess I’m just not going for the team.
R u going back online? he asked.
No, I’m staying. At least I can see you guys. I don’t want to give those people the satisfaction, either.
Im really sorry, he repeated.
You don’t have to apologize, I told him, sending a smiley.
He then sent a voice message. I lowered the volume and played it. “I was just talking to the others. We were thinking… tomorrow’s Thanksgiving, and we were planning on having lunch together, all of us, and some other friends. We have dinner with our families. So… you want to come?”
Thanksgiving. Susan and Davis had offered to bring me with them, but I didn’t want to deal with the rest of their family. Nonetheless, I could tell they were just being polite, and didn’t want to take me for that same reason.
I was supposed to go with my therapist, but hanging with everyone sounded better. It was an appropriate goodbye, now that I thought about it.
“That sounds good,” I recorded, telling him my plans. I was basically free the whole weekend.
“Oh, so… you don’t have any plans for dinner, either?” he asked.
“Not really. It wouldn’t be appropriate to show up at the Fields’, you know?”
One sec, he texted.
I stared at the camera again. I knew Ms. Howells was watching, along with my foster parents. I was tempted to make a face at it, but decided against it.
Thanksgiving was always a nightmare. Serving large families, being ordered to sit in a corner with scraps, being locked in my room. The few good families I had always invited me and let me eat with them, but my stomach wouldn’t react so well to the turkey and mashed potatoes and everything.
Tony finally sent a message. “So, uh… I just talked to my parents. Um… I thought… if you’re okay with it— if you’re not, don’t sweat it. Um…” He cleared his throat. “If you’re not with anyone for Thanksgiving dinner… would you like to come over my place? We usually have dinner with the rest of our family on Saturday, so it’ll be just me, my sister, and my parents on Thursday. If you’re not comfortable, don’t worry about it. Just another option if you don’t feel like going with your therapist… but I bet she’s nice. I’m not saying she’s… i-it’s an offer. Heh.”
I paused. On one hand, I was distracted by how adorable he was when he was nervous. I could imagine his face reddening and his hands kneading together. On the other… Thanksgiving with his family?
I felt terrible. He was going so out of his way. He deserved better. But he would be hurt if I said no. Addie was there, and his parents were nice people, from what I could tell.
“Yeah, sure. Um… that’ll be great. Dr. Cawman’s sweet, but… yeah. I’ll go. If it’s not too much trouble. Th-thank you, Tony. That’s really sweet of you.”
The group chat soon started blowing up with plans to get together tomorrow afternoon. I went to my closet, wondering what to wear. It wouldn’t be anything fancy, would it? But I had to look presentable. Especially in front of Tony’s whole family.
ihavetoomanyAPs: u guys want to go somewhere special?
Kate_T_Jacobs536: we cant eat too much, my fam has dinner earlier so I dont want to spoil my apetite
dawsonaction: we can just do something small and casual
ihavetoomanyAPs: theres actually a new milkshake place uptown, i tried it w my cousin and it was great, if u guys want we can go tehre
there*
dawsonaction: sounds good
alma_santiago2860: yea i have to eat something small my mom goes all out on thorax
thanksgiving* autocorrect
idkwtdwml: thorax?? Autocorrect wth?
I chuckled. It would be fun being with all of them. As terrible as I felt, it seemed fair. I could spend enough time with them. Maybe give them a few things… nah, I didn’t have anything to give them. Just the dress and shoes they bought me.
One last Thanksgiving was worth it.
~~~
“Happy Thanksgiving!” Thelma hugged me tight when she arrived at Shaka-Laka-Shakes, the new place set up at the nearby strip mall.
“I brought you this.” I gave her one of the small packages I brought with me.
“You didn’t have to get me anything!” She took it with care, reading the card I’d taped on top.
“It’s Thanksgiving, and I’m thankful for all of you, so I wanted to show it.” I smiled.
“Aw, Di.” She hugged me again. “I didn’t bring anything.” She gasped when she opened the box, which contained a watch. It was pretty old and precious to me; the Martinezes gave it to me as a birthday present. I didn’t want to ruin it, so I always had it hidden with my other belongings.
I couldn’t really buy anything, so I thought Thelma could have it. It seemed pretty trashy now that I realized. “I wanted to buy you something, but I didn’t get to,” I quickly said. “You can give it back if you don’t like it-”
“Diana, are you kidding me? It’s pretty. I love it.” She hugged me once again. “Thank you.”
I gave Alma a skirt I never wore, but was very pretty— just not on me. It suited her better and it was her favorite color. For Mildred, I saved a ‘Best Friends’ pin I got when I was little, though I never remembered who gave it to me. For Kate, I had a couple of shirts that fit her. They were really pretty and brought out her eyes.
Susan had bought me a couple of new diaries, but I wouldn’t use them, so I gave them to Blanche. She said she liked doodling. Each gift had a card on top telling them how much I appreciated them.
For Tony, I didn’t have much to give him, so I whipped up a small scrapbook with pictures of us, mostly from Homecoming. I worked almost all night to make it, until Ms. Howells called me and told me to ‘get to sleep’. I’d stuck my tongue out at her in the camera with my favorite gesture.
“How’ve you been doing lately?” Mildred asked while we drank our milkshakes.
I stirred the foam around in my Mango-Berry Bubble Delight. “Really good, actually. Better now that I’m with you guys. I was getting lonely.”
“So… you’re not getting on the track team?” Blanche then asked.
Silence fell. I sipped my shake and shook my head. “No, no. I’m not.”
“Blanche.” Alma nudged her.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to-”
“You’re fine.”
After another awkward pause, Tony said, “You know that Lucas guy? I heard he might get expelled.”
“Expelled?” I couldn’t help the shock.
“Yeah, they said he’s done a lot of messed-up stuff in the past and this was the last straw.”
“About time they actually do something,” said Alma.
“A-and I heard the boy that defended you g-got suspended,” Kate told me.
I sipped my shake again. “Yeah, Rick.”
“Rick?”
“Um… Amy’s, uh, boyfriend.”
“Oh, she had a boyfriend? Wow,” said Alma.
“Girl, where have you been? I know that, and I wasn’t even here last year,” said Mildred.
“He sounds like a cool person,” said Tony.
I nodded sincerely, smiling a bit. “Yeah, he really is.” I had to thank him somehow… but I didn’t want to hurt him more than I already had. My existence hurt him enough. And he probably wouldn’t have gotten involved that much if I didn’t look the way I did. Distancing myself from him was the best way I could repay him.
The others came a little while later. We were joined by Josh, Allison from my Graphic Design class, and twins named Theo and Darian. They were all really nice. After we finished our milkshakes, we stayed inside talking for a while until it started to get dark. From there, Tony would drive me back to his place for Thanksgiving dinner.
“Thank you for your gift, Diana.” Alma hugged me tight. “I’ll see you at school on Monday!”
Mildred came forward, hugging me and whispering in my ear: “Make this chance count, girl.” She pulled away, winking, but I answered with a quirked brow. She chuckled at my cluelessness and whispered again. “You’re meeting the parents, Di. Don’t pass up this chance. Be a queen.”
My cheeks tingled. “Mildred, it’s just Thanksgiving.”
“Mm-hmm.” She giggled mischievously. “I won’t be surprised if he asks you out tomorrow, too.” She went to her mother’s car before I could answer.
Kate later left, going with Thelma in a Rideshare. “Have f-fun at Tony’s, Diana.” She winked. Thelma joined in on the teasing, saying, “Yeah, and take lots of pictures!” She leaned in to whisper, “Try to get some alone time.”
I walked with Tony to the car, but stopped when I saw Blanche leaning against the wall of the milkshake shop. “Just give me one sec?” I asked him.
“Sure.”
I trotted over to Blanche. “Hey. Your foster parents not picking you up yet?”
She shrugged. “They’re always late. I’ll just hang out here for a while.”
“You haven’t said where you’re going for Thanksgiving.”
“Oh, my mom’s picking me up tonight. We always spend Thanksgiving with our family. It’s the only time everyone’s there.”
“That’s really nice.”
She shrugged again. “Awkward. But nice. She tries, but… the family isn’t happy with her, you know? She’s trying, though, I know she is.”
“What happened? If you don’t mind telling me,” I quickly said.
“It’s fine. She’s been… addicted to a lot of things since my dad left. I’ve been in and out of foster care. Before, I used to live with a different family when Mom was having her ‘episodes’, but they couldn’t take me in this time, so I’m with the McCarthys’. Mom lives farther away, so that’s why I moved schools and everything last year.” She sighed, rubbing her arms. “They’re okay. I just hope I can go back with Mom soon. I miss her.”
“It must be hard.”
She hesitated, guilt swimming in her eyes. “Di… listen. I’m really sorry about what happened that time… with the club, and the newspaper…”
“It’s all water under the bridge, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. I made myself believe I was doing something good, but I was actually being a trash person. I never actually apologized, so… I’m very sorry.”
I smiled. “Apology accepted.”
She stepped forward. “Just know we’re always here for you, okay? Even if we’re a country away. Don’t think… you’re alone. Or that we don’t like you. You’re our friend.”
I didn’t answer. After a few seconds, I gave her a hug. The pain and guilt was overwhelming. Remembering Tony, I soon pulled away.
“You better get back to Tony,” Blanche said. “He seems pretty excited to have dinner with you.” She smirked.
I laughed, wiping my tears so they wouldn’t mess up my makeup. “Thank you, Blanche.” I squeezed her hands and went back to Tony’s car.
He stepped aside, opening the passenger door, and waved me in. “Miss Watson.”
I laughed and got inside. “Thanks.”
We drove off. I watched as Blanche’s figure grew smaller, her foot impatiently tapping on the grass.
“You have a good time?” Tony asked me.
“Yeah. It was really fun.”
“You’re not… nervous or anything, right?”
“Nope.”
“Good. You’ll like my parents. And Addie hasn’t stopped talking about you. She’s dying to see you.”
“I am, too,” I giggled.
We reached Tony’s house and he escorted me to the door. The biting cold of November disappeared into a homey warmth.
“Tony!” A brunette woman came forward, smiling at us.
“Hey, Mom.” Tony kissed her on the cheek.
She looked at me. “You must be Diana. It’s nice to meet you.” She took my hands.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lowe.”
“You two can hang out in the living room if you want. We haven’t finished making dinner yet. You’re not too hungry, are you?” she asked, leading us to the comfy sofas.
“We just had milkshakes, so I’m not that hungry right no-” The wind was knocked out of me when Addie flew into me like a bullet, her short arms wrapping around my waist. I inhaled, laughing, and hugged her.
“Addie! I’m sorry about that, Diana.” Her mother frowned disapprovingly.
“It’s okay.”
She pulled away, smiling, and signed, “I’m happy to see you again!”
“I am, too,” I signed back.
“Hello? Your brother?” Tony motioned to himself. Addie rolled her eyes and hugged him.
“You’re learning sign?” We looked up, seeing a man come forward, wiping his hands with a towel. He looked a lot like Tony, except he had black hair. “Nice to meet you… Dana?”
“Diana.”
“Diana, sorry.” He shook my hand.
“You’re good. And, yeah, I started learning sign thanks to Tony,” I answered.
“That’s very good. Dinner will be up in a bit. You guys can watch FilmX if you want.” Tony’s mom turned to her husband, leading him back into the kitchen, the source of the heavenly smells.
“You want to watch a movie or something?” Tony sat down with me on the sofa. Addie bounced next to me.
“I’m okay with anything.”
Addie signed a suggestion, but I couldn’t catch up with her fingerspelling. That was the hardest part of sign language for me. “What did she say?”
“She wants to watch Playable Character, but we’ve watched that a million times.” Tony signed to her. She pouted grumpily.
“Oh, yeah, I heard about that one.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Not yet.”
“Do you… want to?”
“You don’t have to,” I reassured.
“It’s okay. We can watch it one last time.” He signed to Addie again. “But that’s it. Over and over…”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, any movie is fun if you’re here.” He smiled at me.
My stomach tingled. I found myself unable to meet his eyes, instead looking down at my red, sweaty hands. Addie woke me up when she made kissing noises.
“Okay, stop.” Tony pushed her over playfully. “We’ll watch it.”
As the opening credits appeared on the screen, I shifted to make myself more comfortable. “Thanks for inviting me, Tony,” I said.
“Sure. It’s the least I can do.”
“Why?”
He smiled that cute smile that made my knees weak. I was relieved I was sitting down. “Today’s a day to show extra appreciation for what you’ve got. And what I’ve got is an amazing…” He swallowed. “An amazing friend. I’m thankful to know you.”
The guilt once again rose within me. I tried my best to smile, focusing on the beauty of his words. “I’m thankful for you, too,” I said honestly. “Very thankful. You… you make me really happy. All of you do. I can’t remember the last time I had friends like you guys.”
We shifted closer together on the sofa. I snuck a glance at Addie, who had the widest grin on her face as she snuggled against my side.