“Well, what should we do?”
“Tough it out. I bet Caryn can teach us some stuff.”
She just huffed at me and stormed off, but I wasn’t overly worried. In a few days, I had a full week in the tropics with her. I was confident I could talk her into working on budgeting, or at the very least could get her not to be mad at me.
◊◊◊
I followed Brook into the school and noticed everyone had their phone out, looking at it. Some looked at me and frowned, while others were talking excitedly. I started to get an uneasy feeling as more people would look up, see me, and either turn away or let their conversations die. Then I noticed something strange: Lisa Felton was standing by my locker, and she looked nervous.
Usually, Mr. Happy would attempt to wrench away control of the body when Lisa was around, but her expression allowed the big brain to remain in charge.
“Lisa,” I said in greeting.
“I’m really sorry,” Lisa mumbled and turned to leave.
“Hold on. What are you sorry about?” I asked.
She looked around and saw everyone was staring at us. That uneasy feeling suddenly escalated to DEFCON 4. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom.
“I’m really sorry,” Lisa said again.
“For?”
“I’ve kept a private blog since middle school. Someone hacked it, and it became public last night,” she said.
“Why are you telling me you’re sorry?” I asked.
“Remember when I had that huge crush on you?” she asked, then paused, waiting for me to nod. “Remember when we finally had sex and how sad I was that you wouldn’t date me afterward?”
I blinked.
“It’s all in my blog,” Lisa said and then hurried on. “I also wrote about how nice you were when my brother was sick and how you thought we were related.”
“I can’t be the only guy featured in your writings,” I said.
“No, but you’re the only guy I’m worried will be mad at me,” she admitted.
“When you wrote your blog, were you honest about how you felt?” I asked.
“Yes, but you didn’t come off in the best light.”
“Are you okay? You must feel terribly violated,” I said.
Lisa looked confused.
“You’re not mad?”
“I just had a couple of tabloids make up stuff about me. It would be nice if what got out was true for a change.”
She gave me a sad look.
“What about you?” I asked.
“Mortified, shocked, relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“In a way, it’s freeing not to have to pretend anymore. People have said some terrible things about me that were untrue. I talked about how hurtful they were, and I don’t have to pretend that it didn’t hurt.”
“Bill Rogers?” I asked.
Lisa’s face darkened. Tracy wasn’t the only one who had been terrorized by that piece of excrement. The rumors of Lisa being promiscuous had started with Bill and his degenerate friends. At one point, I’d gotten sick of the things my friends said. I told them I didn’t want to hear about it again until one of them could name someone who had actually been with her. There had been many claims that she was a slut, but no one had ever come forward.
At that time, I’d asked that question, the one everyone should have been asking. Perhaps I hadn’t asked that question loud enough or as often as I should have.
I’d bet the whole school would be shocked to learn that she was a virgin the night we got together. I’d gotten to know her better once we’d bonded over her little brother having cancer. One thing working against her was that she still dressed like a naughty girl.
I made a decision: Lisa had been labeled the class bike long enough. I was putting an end to this.
“Have lunch with my friends and me. It’s time people meet the real Lisa Felton,” I said.
“But I said some mean things about some of your friends. After you read what’s in there about you, you might not want to talk to me again.”
“Remember when Tracy dumped me at the band auction freshman year?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was brutal,” Lisa admitted.
“Tracy is one of my best friends now. At the time, I told everyone to leave her alone,” I said.
“So you won’t be mad at me?” she asked.
I laughed.
“You should probably count on me getting mad, but the good news is that I’m willing to help you through this. I hold a little sway over public opinion here at Lincoln High,” I suggested.
Lisa grabbed me in a fierce hug, and I could tell she was crying. The bell rang, but I continued to hold her. I’d missed the last three days of school; what was being late compared to that? She finally got her act together and went to the bathroom to wash her face.
◊◊◊
I strolled into PE and Coach Rector glanced at me but then ignored me. I changed and found Wolf so we could lift. When we were alone, he wanted dirt.
“Did you sleep with Lisa Felton?” he asked.
“Did you?” I shot back.
“No, she’s a skank.”
“Really? What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Everyone says it,” he said.
“I’ll tell you right now, you’re wrong. If you don’t believe me, let’s go outside,” I said, getting pissed.
“Whoa, Dude!” Wolf said, holding his hands up.
“The bullying has to stop. Lisa was a victim of Bill Rogers’ big, lying, mouth. If you don’t believe me about what an asshole he is, talk to Tracy,” I said.
Wolf wouldn’t meet my eyes. I had a bad feeling that convincing my friends that Lisa wasn’t a ‘skank’ would be an uphill battle. I changed the subject and told him about my trip to London and the hotel we stayed in.
◊◊◊
After PE, Tracy found me and pushed me into an empty classroom.
“Did you read Lisa’s blog?”
“No, I just found out about it. Why?” I asked.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”
“No idea. I didn’t read it yet, remember?” I said with a smile.
Tracy’s eyes tightened as if she was trying to figure something out.
“Do you believe what she wrote is true? I know you didn’t read it, but do you think she would lie?” Tracy asked.
“Lisa considered it a private blog, just for her. I doubt she would lie to herself,” I said.
When Tracy didn’t say anything, I continued.
“What’s the problem?”
“One, you had sex with her. Your own cousin,” Tracy said and rolled her eyes.
“We’re not related.”
“Says you,” Tracy said with a smirk. “I assumed the stories were true. Just like everyone else did.”
“I told you I didn’t believe Lisa was as sexually active as everyone said she was.”
“I expected you were just saying that, kind of like you told everyone to back off from me. You’ve always been the white knight. In my case, I deserved people talking about what a crazy witch I was. I figured you were doing the same for Lisa, that she was what we all thought she was, but you tried to protect her.”
“I imagined I was more persuasive than that,” I admitted.
“We let you think you are, but we know you’re just a goofball.”
“Really?” I asked, somewhat hurt.
“No. You’re the leader of the pack,” Tracy said, and from her tone, I could tell she was only placating my male ego.
I decided to let it go, or she would tease me about this forever.
“Can you help me with Lisa? It’s past time we start treating her right. I’ve asked her to join me for lunch,” I said.
“It’s not going to be easy to change people’s minds. It doesn’t help that she dresses like she does,” Tracy added.
“So, will you help?”
“It’s probably best you stay out of this one. Let Pam and me take care of it,” Tracy said.
We were late for class, so I walked Tracy to hers. I stuck my head in and saw Coach Hope.
“She’s late because of me,” I said.
I then jogged to mine. Ms. Saunders looked at me curiously but kept teaching. Sometimes it was good to be Lincoln High’s favorite son.