A Sweets Life-Chapter 7

Harsh feelings ahead! The water starts to get a little bumpy!

Danni Evans was in a bad mood, as usual. No one knew what her problem was. She always seemed to have a scowl on her face, and if questioned about it, she would either ignore you or stare at the person asking with a nasty expression. She usually didn’t actively cause problems in school, but she had a reputation of having little tolerance for anybody’s problems. She went to school, got decent grades, and then left the school. No one knew what she did after school. She was never seen in the mall or at the local park.

She shared a few classes with Candy, including her 5th hour History class. She didn’t understand what happened yesterday, and it annoyed her that they had stood in the hall until 6th hour, for no apparent reason. It was something to do with some “Andrew” kid.

All he had to do was answer the damn roll call.

She didn’t know what the deal was with the girl, or why Mr. Weber almost hit the other one. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be back. The teachers weren’t allowed to hit the kids. That was for after school.

She couldn’t believe that the big jock had stopped Mr. Weber. Why would someone like him even care, much less risk being kicked off of the team? Of course, as big as he was, he might have felt pretty secure. Nobody was gonna mess with no sports star, of course. Everybody knew the jocks were “holy”, and untouchable. Another piece of stupidity she knew she just had to live with.

Danni wasn’t stupid, so she kept her ears open. She was disgusted when she heard the rumors. Almost everybody agreed. Andrew was a boy that wanted to be a girl! Why? He sounded like some loser that had mental issues. Why would any boy want to be a weak, powerless girl, someone that was totally worthless except for the sex and housework?

Andrew was obviously stupid. Stupid people were a waste of air.

Candy had been tense all day, but no one had said anything she could really call mean. There were lots of strange looks and stares. A few times she felt really insecure around some people, but there was nothing she could really point to. Everything just felt “off” a little. She tried to make sure she was always with her friends, except when she went to one of the handicapped restrooms.

There was a new teacher in the History class, probably a sub. He called the roll, including “Candy” Mason, to which she answered. A few people looked her way, and she thought she heard a muffled giggle, but the class proceeded normally. Candy participated in the discussion, making several interesting points, and actually seemed to be having fun.

Danni was confused by this. Apparently, the kid was a brain, so why . . . it just wasn’t fair. “Candy” was smart, pretty, dressed well and had friends. What the f*** was his problem? Girls were girls, boys were boys. You don’t change that. The whole thing just creeped Danni out, and made her skin crawl. It was just so . . . weird! So far, high school was starting to turn her stomach.

As they walked into the hall, Danni found herself behind Candy, and when Candy stopped suddenly, they bumped into each other.

“Come on, freak, get yer ass outta the way!”

Danni pushed past, leaving Candy behind. Damn, she touched her! It made Danni almost want to throw up, No, she pushed that thought down. Throwing up would make her weak, and Danni wasn’t weak, despite what her father said. She headed on to her next class.

Candy wasn’t even sure how to react to the very rude girl. She had almost said something, but the girl had quickly disappeared into the crowd of people. Robin took her hand, and they took their place in the mass of human traffic and made their way to their last class for the day, English 1. It was Candy’s favorite class. She loved so many things about it! It was the last class, it was easy, and, best of all, all of the girls were there, and sat close together. Even Mike was in this class. She always felt safe in English class. The freak comment disturbed her, but she followed Robin into the room, and they took their seats.

Tina noticed Candy seemed a little distracted, but decided to wait until after class to say anything. She also noticed Robin joking and laughing with Mike. They looked good together, Tina decided, and he seemed like a very nice guy. Scary big, but nice!

English class was usually a great one. The teacher could be very funny, and it seemed to whip by. Each of the girls agreed, sometimes they really didn’t want class to be over! Miss Engle gave them their homework assignments just as the bell rang. Mike walked them to their lockers, but had to leave for football practice after school.

“He is so nice,” Robin said, as she watched Mike walk down the hall.

“He is huge!” Jenny laughed. She was the tallest of the girls, but very willowy.

“I think someone has a crush!” Candy said, smiling. “Maybe we should go watch them practice sometime.”

“Oh, definitely,” Tina commented, licking her lips. “Man meat!”

Everybody laughed at that, and they started their walk home

“What are we doing tonight?” Candy asked, and Jenny quickly responded.

“My house tonight! Mom’s making her excellent Queso dip, and we have chips and veggies for dipping.”

“Yum! Your mom makes great snacks!”

Robin laughed. Most of their mom’s just opened a few bags of pretzels, cheese balls and corn chips, tossed them into bowls and stood back. Not that it was a bad thing, of course. Jenny’s mom just liked to be different, and Jenny was very proud of her.

Tina remembered what she had noticed before class.

“Candy, are you okay? Ya looked a little weirded out before English.”

“It’s nothing, really.” She smiled. “I just had a quick run-in with Smiley when History class let out.”

“Candy had to stop to miss some other kids, and Smiley bumped into her.” Robin told them. “She was very rude, but what’s new? Ever since school started, she’s been like that.”

“I heard she’s been like that for a long time.”Jenny said.”One of the girls said that after her mom died, all of her happiness seemed to disappear.”

“Oh, that’s so sad!” Tina said. “Losing your mom has to be one of the worst things that could happen!”

“I don’t know what I would do without my mom,” Candy said, reflectively. “I’m not even sure where I would go!”

“Don’t you have Grandparents, or aunts or uncles, someplace?”

“Maybe, but I don’t know them, or if they exist. And what would they say about this?” She asked, waving her hand past her blouse and skirt. “I’ll bet that would go over real well!”

“Maybe we need to talk to my Dad.” Robin said, thoughtfully. “I think we should. It would be part of protecting you, wouldn’t it?”

“I think you’re right, Robin.” Jenny said, and Tina nodded in agreement.

It wasn’t a very happy thing to think about, at least not at first.

“Hey, maybe Mom and Dad would adopt you,” Robin smiled. “We could be sisters!”

Candy smiled, a little wickedly. “Oh sure, and end up with that man-mountain for a brother-in-law? Naah!”

Robin blushed as the other girls laughed.

“Okay, now yer gonna get it!”

The girls screamed and laughed as they ran ahead of Robin. Life was good!

End Chapter 7-Stay tuned! More to come!