is only going to make things worse for her. “I don’t need your help.”
“Aww, Gwennie Pig is taking up for her boyfriend. How cute,” Shane coos.
“Don’t call her that!” I shout.
Kids gasp as I charge, the full force of my body barely moving him. Shane huffs, easily pushing me back to the ground. This time it’s my butt that lands in the mud.
“The scarecrow and the pig are in love,” Shane taunts, everyone laughing along with him.
My face heats with embarrassment. “Shut up.”
Gwen offers me her hand, pouting when I swat it away and get up on my own. If she were smart, she would leave me alone and save herself.
Ignoring Gwen and the roaring laughter around me, I head back toward the school to change. After the second time something like this happened, I started packing a change of clothes in my backpack every day.
“Look, E. Coli pooped his pants!” Shane hollers behind me.
Anger buzzes through me, knowing there’s nothing I can do to stop him from tormenting me or Gwen. But one day he won’t be bigger than me. And then, I’m going to make him pay.
The Joker walks out of the hospital in a nurse’s outfit as it explodes behind him, and I smile. It’s the first time I’ve done it all day. If my momma knew what I was in here watching, she would freak out. But she’s too busy cleaning and cooking for the Rhodes family.
She did notice my change of clothes when I came home from school, though. Gwen covered for me, telling her I slipped in the mud outside instead of being knocked down into it by a bully.
Light filters into the dark theater room, disappearing just as quickly as the door shuts again. I know it’s Gwen without even looking.
“Can I watch the movie with you?”
I nod my head, keeping my eyes on the screen. She takes the seat next to me and I offer her some of my popcorn.
“Don’t you ever get tired of these movies?” she asks, digging into my tub of popcorn.
She watched all the Batman movies with me over the summer. Even the older ones. Once we ran through all of those, she forced me to watch a bunch of stupid Disney movies with her.
“Nope.”
“Why do you like the Joker so much? He’s the bad guy.”
I drag my focus from the movie and glare at her. “I don’t know. Why do you always talk during movies? Shouldn’t you be at dance class or something?”
Her face falls, and I hate how awful it makes me feel. “Are you mad at me?”
“For what?”
“It’s my fault Shane is mean to you. He hates me. I can stop talking to you at school if you want.”
My stomach sours. Gwen is my only friend. If she stops talking to me at school, I won’t have anyone.
I shake my head. “It’s not your fault Shane is a bully.”
“But…everyone thinks you’re my boyfriend now.”
“I don’t care what they think,” I reply with a shrug.
“Really? Aren’t you worried people will make fun of you?”
“No. They already make fun of me. But if it bothers you…”
Her head shakes eagerly before I finish, her lips pressing back a smile. “It’s okay with me.”
Is she saying she wants to be my girlfriend?
My skin goes all tingly, and I turn my attention back to the movie. The idea of having a girlfriend never seemed appealing before I met Gwen. But she’s pretty and sweet. And it feels good when she laughs at my jokes. I’m starting to understand what my momma meant.
“You might change your mind about girls one day.”
My eyes slide back over to Gwen, peering at her through the corners. She’s staring at me with a smile on her face, and my belly dips like when Momma drives too fast over the hills in the road.
She’s looking at me the way the princess always looks at the prince in all those Disney movies. And I think I might like it. I think I might like to kiss her one day.
Chapter Nine
Present
GWEN
It’s late by the time I creep inside the dark and eerily quiet house. After Mia took me for coffee and forced me to spill all the tea about my past with Cole, this was the last place I wanted to be. I wasn’t ready to face him again. Telling Mia everything brought it all back to the surface. My emotions were too raw, and the pain of losing him felt fresh.
We ended up passing the day away,