female betrayal. I was thankful that Jessica adored and valued our life-long sister-hood of a friendship, because growing up I was far from ever becoming as popular as she was. I would even argue had I not had Jessica in my life, I would have been subject to all the stereotypical social suicides during those crucial adolescent years. My combination of flat and limp hair, frumpy dumpy band t-shirts, an active member of the drama club, while rocking the physique of a twelve year old boy with a case of mild acne was less than cool.
I put myself back into the eleventh grade, with one memory that stands out in my mind. It all started when Jessica heard through the grapevine that Claire Anderchuck (a fellow cheerleader on the squad), told people Michael had cheated on Jessica with Lindy Barber (Claire’s closest friend) at a party the weekend before.
Before Jessica went all buck-wild on Claire and Lindy, she decided to set the record straight. She barreled through the cafeteria doors and point-blank asked Michael (well actually, more like screamed at him) and wanted to know if the rumors were true. Michael burst out laughing at her insane accusations, while Ben and I played a game of cards in the cafeteria during our second period spare. Of course Michael continued to tell her she was crazy, and insisted he would never cheat on her. Ben felt obliged to back him up, and even unnecessarily threw in that Lindy was ugly (which was rude and hardly true, even though she did have buck teeth and a face full of freckles).
But Claire’s stupid and destructive rumor did not sit well with Jessica for the remainder of the afternoon. She stormed all over the school hallways and insisted that both Claire and Lindy were about to be “ruined” to the whole entire student body. After school, Jessica dragged me to their cheerleading practice to witness the ultimate showdown. I was hesitant, but curious enough not to object and observe this much anticipated catfight. I had always known Jessica to be a bit over-the-top and abrasive, but I also knew that this type of behavior had led her to be the ‘IT’ girl you didn’t want to mess with.
But unfortunately for Claire, she did not share the same friendship privileges that I was accustom to. Jessica stormed into the gym with me trailing behind, and didn’t waste one second before she told off Claire in front of the whole squad.
I remember all the other cheerleaders were petrified as Jessica went off, but not one of them defended Claire. When Claire tried to deny everything, it only sent Jessica further into the red zone and called her a few more swear words that scarred me for life. But Claire held her ground and begged Jessica for forgiveness. Jessica refused to accept Claire’s apology, and I clearly remember standing awkwardly in the corner, feeling nothing but bad for Claire as I watched her run into the girl’s locker room to bawl her eyes out. It was so horrible, that eventually Claire changed schools, leaving me to feel guilty that I had been a catalyst in her ultimate demise.
Throughout the years, every time Jessica took down another, instead of telling her that her behavior was cruel and uncalled for, I just remained a coward, thankful I had never been subject to any one of her dramatic spews. But here I am, a full-grown woman, petrified of being the new Claire Anderchuck.
I shamefully bow my head as I brush past Jessica and don’t dare call her out on her mean girl tactics. Instead, I choose to avoid her like the plague. I slide into the first seat at the front of the bus and seclude myself right behind the driver. I shove my headphones into my ears, and crank-up my iPod to blast a streamline of country songs.
“How are you holding up? You look a little better than yesterday” I hear Eric say, as he slides into the empty seat beside me. He tosses his bag on the ground and holds it between his feet.
I pull the headphones out of my ears, and feel the driver pull us into motion, “What are you doing? Jessica is going to flip that you’re sitting with me.”
“Oh who cares” Eric laughs and rolls his eyes, “Megan, please. I don’t care if Jessica is mad at me. This is ridiculous.”
“Not to her.” I say in a hushed whisper, “You should move.”
“You should relax.”