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Blow Up
THE WEEK SEEMED TO drag by. Cassie could hardly wait for Girl’s Club again. Leigh Ann, Riley, and Cheyenne were in her class at school, and all three girls remained friendly with Cassie. Especially Riley.
Cassie and Danelle were heading for the swings at recess when Riley stepped over.
“We’re playing freeze tag by the dome,” she said. “Want to play with us?”
Freeze tag! Cassie loved the game. And she hadn’t played it since they moved. “Sure! We’d love to.” She looked at Danelle for confirmation, but Danelle wore a frown on her face.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “We like to swing.”
“You could do both,” Riley said, weaving her fingers together in front of her. “Play freeze tag and then swing.”
Cassie watched Danelle’s expression, but it didn’t relent. “We’ll swing first,” Cassie told Riley. “Then we’ll come join you.”
“Sure,” Riley said. She turned and walked away.
“You don’t like freeze tag?” Cassie asked, trying to feel out why Danelle had reacted that way.
She grunted. “I don’t like Riley.”
“Really?” Cassie tried to think what Riley could have done to merit such a response. Sure, she hadn’t said much to Cassie in the first week of school, but no one had. Riley was shy, just like Cassie was.
Danelle rolled her eyes. “She’s so immature.”
Cassie considered that statement as they swung higher and higher into the air. Riley was small for her age, but other than her size, Cassie hadn’t noticed anything lacking in her behavior. “Did you guys used to be friends?”
“No, but we’ve known each other for forever. Trust me on this one.”
Cassie couldn’t stop thinking about Danelle’s words all day. They never did join Riley’s group for freeze tag, and Cassie felt bad about that. Only when school was out and Riley got up to head for the cafeteria did Cassie jump up and run after her.
“Riley!” she called.
Riley paused and waited, one eyebrow raised.
“Sorry we didn’t join you at recess,” Cassie said, catching her breath. “We decided to swing the whole time.”
“Yeah,” Riley said, nodding.
They walked side by side in silence before Cassie ventured, “So do you and Danelle know each other?”
“Not really. We were in the same preschool, but that was like, forever ago.”
Wow, Cassie thought. They’d lived around each other that long? Once again, she felt like the odd one out. But how could Danelle possibly know what Riley was like if they hadn’t hung out since preschool?
They reached the cafeteria and joined the other girls around a table. Riley’s mom came over and talked to her a bit, then joined Trisha at the front.
“Today we’re going to make stuffed animals,” Trisha said, holding up a bear covered in plaid fabric. Next to her, Margaret smiled down at the girls, expressing all the enthusiasm that Trisha wasn’t. “It’s really very easy.” She went on to demonstrate, and Cassie wished she could freeze-frame the instructions. She could tell already this would be confusing.
“So everyone, pick your fabric and I’ll walk you through the instructions again.”
Cassie leaned in with the rest of the girls, sifting through the pre-cut fabric shapes and choosing one she liked. “How is this going to be a stuffed animal?” she whispered to Ciera.
“Cassandra,” Trisha said loudly, “I don’t need anyone talking while I’m instructing. Please pay attention.”
Cassie looked down, her cheeks warming under the chastisement. She tried to pay attention, but her ears buzzed with humiliation.
Everyone was working now, pulling a needle and thread along the edges of their fabric. Trisha was still explaining, but Cassie had missed the first directions. She turned to Margaret, their leader. “I didn’t quite get it. Can you show me?”
“Cassandra!” Trisha barked. “Around these parts, young lady, we show respect. If I’m talking, you’re not. I don’t know if you think you’re something special or better than us, but if I have to tell you again to be quiet, you’ll spend the rest of the time in your own special corner. Do you hear me?”
Cassie didn’t even know how to respond. Her breath came in shaky little gasps, and she thought her eyes would pop out of her head. How could she talk to her that way? What right did she have?
“Answer me!”
All the girls were staring at Cassie, their faces reflecting the shock Cassie felt. She bobbed her head.
“Say, yes, Ma’am. That’s how we talk in these parts.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Cassie whispered. She fisted her hands together as tremors of anger swept through her. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She wanted to call her mom. Now. She wanted to go home. She couldn’t bear to be in the room with this ogre of a woman for one more minute.
Apparently satisfied that Cassie was subdued, Trisha went back to her instructions. Cassie put her piece of fabric down on the table. Without asking permission, she stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. She kept going until she got to the bathroom in the connecting hallway. Only once inside did she allow herself to release the tension she felt.
“How dare she!” she raged at her reflection. Her own wretched face stared back, tears rolling down her cheeks, her brown eyes bloodshot. “Who does she think she is? I was just asking for help! That witch!” She stuck her knuckle in her mouth and sobbed, but the anger was just getting going. She pulled her hand out and hit the mirror, screaming. “I hate her! I hate her! She’s so mean, she’s so awful! I hate this place, I hate her so much!”
A face appeared in the mirror behind Cassie. She met the eyes of Jaiden, Trisha’s daughter. Jaiden turned around and went for the bathroom door.
“Wait, Jaiden!” Cassie cried out, panicking. She reached for Jaiden, anxious to draw her back, but Jaiden didn’t wait. She went out, the door swooshing behind her.
Cassie gasped and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She sobbed, rocking herself back and forth. She knew what Jaiden was doing. At this moment, she was tattling on Cassie, telling Trisha everything Cassie had said in the bathroom. If only she could flee. She should, she should run from here, leave the school. Never come back. She never wanted to talk to Trisha again. She couldn’t stay in this group.
The door banged open, hard enough to hit the wall behind it. Cassie dropped her hands to her sides and braced herself. Trisha came in and faced her, lips pursed together and her arms folded.
“What’s your problem?” she demanded.
All of Cassie’s gusto left her. She tried to be brave. She did not want to cry in front of this woman. “Nothing,” she whispered.
“I gave you very basic instructions. All you have to do is follow them. And whatever you think of me, whatever your problem is, you have absolutely no right to come in here and badmouth me.”
Cassie blinked, her eyelids feeling swollen and tight over her eyes. She couldn’t reason with a madwoman.
“Now I expect an apology from you. Then you get yourself out of this bathroom and join us. With a good, respectful attitude.”
“Sorry,” Cassie murmured. She wasn’t sorry, not in the least, but she was smart enough to know the only way she’d get out of this was by saying it.
Trisha grabbed the door and yanked it open. “Now go. And I better not hear you talking about this to anyone.”
Cassie walked in front, clenching her teeth together.
