13

 

She was waiting for me in the parking lot. In my car! I pulled Mom’s Mercedes into my regular spot beside hers. I wanted her to go on about her business. Instead, she just sat there, waiting for me to get out.

Callie entered the lot, followed shortly by Melanie and Stacie. I waited until they were near my car before getting out.

Steffy took this moment to also alight from her car. “How do you like my new wheels?” she said, smugness written all over her face. “Dad says this car was brought in a little while ago as a fire sale.”

Callie said, “You didn’t have to drive it. You know this is Lauren’s car.”

“It is?” Steffy acted as though it were the biggest surprise in the world.

“A car is a car,” I said, shrugging it off, trying not to make it matter to me.

“I can take you for a ride in it after school. I know you miss it.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“We’re going to have a smack down!” Melanie said, grabbing Steffy’s arm.

“Leave her alone,” Stacie said, corralling her. “She’s not worth it. She’s trash.”

Steffy’s face turned red. “I am not trash! I belong here as much as you do.”

“My dad isn’t a used car salesman,” I said. “At least my dad bought me a new car. I don’t have to drive cars other people don’t want.”

“Wooooo!” By then a crowd had gathered around. “Fight!”

“Fight!”

“Your dad’s a thief! He takes money from innocent people who trust him.”

Whack!

Before I knew it, I’d slapped her.

She clutched her face in horror.

Jared and Rick stepped from the crowd and ushered Steffy away.

“Who does she think she is?” Callie said. “She should’ve known better. We always have each other’s back.”

I appreciated Callie, Melanie, and Stacie more than ever. I’m sure the crowd was rooting for Steffy. They were ready for us to go at it. I meant for my remark about her driving cars for only a couple of weeks to hurt. She never had her own car. I, at least, had my own car for a while. And now I was driving Mom’s car, which we owned. I didn’t have to change cars every couple of weeks to appear as if I were more than I was. Everybody knew she was a pretender. She wasn’t fooling anybody. The loss of her friendship didn’t matter anymore.

But I didn’t mean to hit her.

The rest of the day I avoided Steffy. If I saw her coming down the hall, I turned and went the other way, even if it took longer to get to my destination.

Mrs. Clancy called me into her office. She had lunch delivered for both of us. She asked me how I was doing and we engaged in small talk about my classes until we had finished eating.

As we discarded our trash, she paused briefly before speaking, a tender touch to her voice.

“I heard about the unpleasantness in the parking lot this morning.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean for it to get out of hand.” I was so embarrassed. Mortified.

Mrs. Clancy looked at me with all her wisdom. “Sometimes things can get heated, even if we don’t want them to. Sometimes it’s best to walk away, even if we run the risk of appearing weak. But sometimes it’s best to let people know that they can’t walk all over us, even if we run the risk of breaking school rules.

“What I really suggest is that you have faith and trust God to fight your battles. From the many confrontations I’ve had with education administrators during my career, I know God will not let your enemies triumph over you. I wouldn’t be principal here if He’d let my enemies win.” Mrs. Clancy smiled.

A weak smile formed on my lips.

“Do you know what I mean?” she asked.

I nodded and stood up. “Thanks for lunch.”

“Sometimes it’s best to take a break from your usual routine and have lunch with the principal.”

“I won’t let it happen again,” I said.

She put an arm around my shoulder and walked me to the door. “You are a fine young lady, Lauren Moffit. Don’t ever forget it.”

Jay was walking with Rick and Jared ahead of me. I ran to catch up.

“Jay, can I talk to you?”

“Sure, what’s up?” He kept walking.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Walk with me.”

He could be so infuriating.

Rick and Jared had smirks on their faces. It was obvious Jay had no intention of talking to me without them around.

“I’m not going to run for treasurer,” I said.

“Oh, OK,” he said, relief spreading across his face. “I’ll see if Steffy wants to take your place.”

No protest. No objection. No nothing.

He, Jared, and Rick went on their way.