cool to be off the ground with the wind blowing around us. We watch the other kids coming out of the cafeteria, some of them grabbing basketballs and soccer balls to play with, others running over to the swings in front of us. Then, out strut the cool kids.
Lisa and Maggie stride in step, surrounded by a few other girls who are looking to get or stay on their good side. As they walk, they look at everyone else like they’re beneath them, like they don’t deserve to be on the same playground as the two of them. It’s annoying. I hate the looks on their faces and the closer they get to us, the more I wish I could make them cry for how rude they are to other people. Some people don’t deserve nice.
“You really hate them, don’t you?” I hear Alannah say. I look over and see she’s staring at me with a smile that looks more nervous than anything else.
“Umm, I don’t hate them,” I start. “They just aren’t very nice to people. Especially me. I’ve seen the way they’ve been treating you, too, since you started talking to me. It’s just not right, that’s all.”
I look at her, hoping my words have made her less nervous about the way I was glaring at the two of them. She smiles and turns her eyes towards the girls as they walk at a glacial pace across the grass like two predators stalking prey.
“Yeah, they haven’t been very nice, but I’m not worried about them,” she says. “I don’t care if they don’t like me.”
“Are you always nice when people are mean to you?” I ask.
“I try to be,” she begins, but she stops herself. “Sshh, they’re coming over here.”
I turn to find Lisa and Maggie glaring at us from below like we did something wrong by just existing. I take a deep breath and wait for them as they come closer and stop right in front of us. We’re looking down on them, which I find ironic. It’s something my mom would say. They’re literally beneath us.
“Are you two in love or something?” Lisa asks, giggling in a way that instantly annoys me.
“You obviously are,” Maggie answers for us. “I just don’t understand how you could like him so much, Alannah. He’s so ugly. Something must be wrong with you.”
Alannah sighs. “Nothing’s wrong with me,” she says. “I just don’t let people like you decide who I’m allowed to be nice to.”
“Shut up,” Maggie snaps. “You’re just too stupid to know that hanging out with Ugly Dominic makes you just as ugly as he is. So, now you’re dumb and ugly.”
“Yeah, you’re actually worse than Ugly Dominic,” says Lisa. “We’re gonna call you Dugly. Dumb and ugly.”
The two of them burst into laughter and lean over at the same time like two ignorant twins. I glance at Alannah, and I can tell she’s upset, especially when another kid comes over and they tell him their new nickname for her. He starts laughing too, then he tells one of his friends, and from this view above them all, I can see it spreading already. Before we know it, every fifth grader will be calling Alannah Dugly. I can’t let that happen. She doesn’t deserve this.
As I watch the tears make their way out of her eyes, I feel a new sense of anger in my belly. I’ve been mad before, but this feels different. I might be madder than I’ve ever been, but I don’t lash out, I control it as I lower myself from the jungle gym and drop to the ground. As I stand up, the two girls stop laughing. They look at me like they’re worried now, even taking little steps back as I approach them. They’re scared, and it makes me feel good. I like that they’re afraid. They should be afraid.
“You better not touch me, Ugly Dominic,” Maggie says, spitting her words at me. “I’ll go right to Mr. Bishop and have you suspended again.”
I lean in close so that my head is between both of theirs, and I can basically feel them holding their breaths.
“You think I’m dumb enough to touch you out here in front of everybody?” I begin, turning my head and making eye contact with them both. I make sure I whisper the rest, as I look into Maggie’s eyes. “You think I’d let people see it? Nah, I’ll wait until you’re walking down Thornton Street on your way