Chapter 1
“Back To School”
Another summer had ended, and it was the beginning of the sophomore year at our Lutheran school. I met up with my friends at the gate.
“Hey Meghan, haven’t heard from you awhile. I was meaning to ask, how did your summer go with your real father?” Chloe asked curiously.
To be honest, I thought it was going to be fun spending time with him at his beach house in California. Instead, it was pure hell. Why do I say that? Well, he put me through lessons on how to handle, put together, and dismantle a typical handgun. To top that off, he made me identify EVERY make and model of each gun in existence. Next, he put me through classes of fencing, archery, taekwondo, more Latin (and to think I was not getting enough of it already), and he also gave lessons on how to properly spy.
“Don’t ask….” I bowed my head trembling at the thought.
“What? You’re not going to brag about the lap of luxury you spent on dining exquisite food like lobster, Crème Brule, or how you were sunbathing in his top-notch Jacuzzi?” Victoria teased me.
“Yeah, that’s it, I enjoyed all of that while I was there, and it was all rainbows, unicorns, and ice-cream with a cherry on top over there. You should have taken my place instead. Jealous much, Vic?” I fought back with pure, unadulterated sarcasm.
“And ‘there’s’ the sarcasm I was waiting for the past two months!” Victoria laughed in triumph.
“Hey, has anyone noticed how there are more boys at this school than last year?” Rini asked while looking around.
“Yeah, maybe it was fate for me to find me a boyfriend!” Chloe said with high hopes.
“Yeah maybe the outcome will remain as it did for you last year,” Vic teased her.
“Hey, I can dream can’t I? Also, may I say they are really cute, where are they from?” Chloe asked while gawking.
“I don’t know, wasn’t there a school around the corner from ours?” I asked.
“Well, we’ll find out after orientation. Come on.” Rini insisted we go inside.
During orientation, the principal made his usual speech and dismissed us to go into our homeroom. He made no remarks about the increase of boys enrolled in our school. I decided to walk to an unfamiliar face and ask upfront, and I was prepared to do this like a boss.
“Hey, you’re new, aren’t you?” I asked the boy.
“What gave it away?” He asked in a cynical tone.
“Oh, you know, from the heavens that rain down dozens of young high school boys at the parking lot. The girls must have been praying that hard again. I forgot my boy repellant umbrella today, sorry for being so ill-prepared.” I respond back in my canny tone.
“Yeah, that’s how we came, sorry for making such a huge ruckus. We ran out of juice from drinking those ‘Red Bull’ energy drinks. Now my tank is empty, and I can’t grow my wings back without my go juice,” the boy responded again in the same tone.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, haven’t you learned yet that you should never go out without the stuff you need to get back in the first place?” I replied back.
“Pffff…. hahaha. Okay, okay, enough with the sarcasm, it seems that I can’t beat you at this game, I’m Danny by the way. I’m a sophomore this year.” Danny introduces himself.
“My name is Meghan, and yes I’m extremely fluent in sarcasm if you haven’t guessed yet. Oh, so you’ll be in our class I suppose?” I introduced myself.
“Yeah, I’m glad I met someone like you. People are so uptight around here, and it doesn’t help that we have to be new here as well. It’ll be weird since this is my first time attending a Lutheran school.” Danny explained.
“What do you mean ‘we’? And where did you go before here?” I asked.
“I mean ‘we’ as in my classmates from the other school we attended; it was an all-boys’ school if you were wondering. Also, our school St. Peter’s Catholic High School closed this year, and so the superintendent offered our parents a transfer to this school since it was close in distance.” Danny explained why everyone showed up.
“Oh, no, that’s terrible! Did all of you transfer here?” I asked once more.
“Not all of us, some parents are really strong Catholic believers and that they didn’t seem fit to put their sons in a Lutheran school. Catholics and Lutherans have a history you know. So they are either homeschooling them or finding them a place to receive education elsewhere,” Danny explained more on the situation.
“Yeah, I figured. Catholicism and Lutheranism are two different denominations. I can see that being a problem. Well, you seem nice, so I won’t give you trouble. I only do that to people who ask for it. And you know what they say in the Bible, ‘Ask and ye shall receive.’” I said to Danny.
“I don’t think that’s what God intended in that passage,” Danny chuckled.
“Well, it is for my standards on people, I’ll catch you later?”
“Yeah, I’m going to go find some of my former classmates, I’ll see you,” Danny went off.
While he dashed to our homeroom, Rini, Chloe, and Vic met up with me.
“So what did he say?” Chloe asked.
“He said that they belonged to the Catholic school right around the corner. The school closed this year, and now all the former Catholic students are either being transferred here or somewhere else. We’ll be seeing him more since he’s in our class now, so no Catholic jokes, you hear?” I explained.
“Got it, but we wouldn’t stoop that low, Meghan. Wasn’t it an all-boys’ school?” Vic asked.
“Yeah it was; that means it’ll make them a bigger target for teasing and relentless bullying. I just hope those idiots don’t throw those jokes out there. You can say it’s almost as bad as making a racist joke. ” I said with concern.
“Knowing you, you’ll actually go all out. Try to keep a low profile, for ONCE!” Vic pleaded.
“Come on; I’m not that bad….” I tried defending myself.
“For a sleepover one time on Halloween, your Dad asked if you could hand out candy to the trick or treaters. When you got to the first bunch of kids you decided to scare them by yelling ‘Chocolate!’ multiple times until they ran off,” Chloe said.
“Hey, we got more candy out of it right?” I defended myself.
“You asked a dwarf couple from the mall if they came from the ‘Shire,’” Rini sheepishly said.
“One time at a farm for a field trip, you whispered names of meat in each of the animals’ ears as you got close to them. May I remind you of ‘Bacon,’ ‘Sausage,’ ‘Steak,’ ‘Chicken Fingers’, and of course who could forget ‘Sir Beef Wellington.’ I’m sure you scarred those poor animals,” Vic reminded me of the eighth-grade school field trip.
“Hey, where do you think that meat comes from? The meat fairy?” I reply angrily back to my defense.
“What we are saying is that you don’t know when to be serious. You even suggested we fart in front of your lighter to prove that farts can be lit on fire!” Vic added.
“Hey, that saved OUR butts remember? We were tied up and were close to being dinner with some hungry sharks. You better be glad I pay attention in class,” I reminded them.
“Look, just don’t use ‘your’ jokes okay? I know you mean well, but you sometimes don’t know when to shut up at times. Plus, we’ll know you’ll be a bigger troll since….” Vic paused after trying to convince me.
“Vic…. Don’t remind her,” Rini pleaded.
“What, that I haven’t moved on from the incident with Francis? Guys, I’m okay, don’t worry about me. I get it, he’s gone, and I couldn’t save him. I get it; you don’t want me to use my jokes around the Catholic boys. So I won’t.” I said trying to hide my crushed tone.
“Meghan, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Vic apologized.
“Whatever, I said I moved on, and I did; I’m going to homeroom,” I went towards the classroom.
When I left Vic, Chloe, and Rini at the end of the hallway, I came across a few guys who were picking on a guy with ginger hair and glasses. Great, it’s these clowns, and they’re probably picking on one of the Catholic boys. I spoke too soon about them.
Chapter 2
"Rough Start"
Crap, the clowns are teasing him just as I thought. From what I can hear, he is another transfer student from St. Peter’s.
“Hey, Leprechaun, where’s your little ‘pedophile’ buddies at? Gosh, did you drink a barrel of whiskey before you came here because you breath is horrible,” Gary pressed onto him.
“Oh, look, if it isn’t Bobo the Clown, and what’s this? His entourage none other than the Three Stooges. Did you guys get bored being idiots to each other that you had to pick on this guy now?” I intervened.
“Oh shut up you snitch, this is none of your business. Stay out of it for once, will you?” Gary snapped at me.
“Oh ho, I see, is Gary going on a hissy fit right now?”
“He said to stay out of it, little girl!” Van stood in Gary’s defense.
“Careful, boys, I’m loaded; I could’ve recorded what you guys said to the poor lad, and it would be a shame to slip this recording in the principal’s office.” I offered my threat.
“She’s bluffing; there’s no way!” Van convinced him.
Apparently, Gary believes his puppet because he was getting ready to punch him in the face until I stepped in front of the guy.
“Get out of the way, or I’ll hit you too, Barbie!” Gary threatens me.
“Is that so? Do you know the punishment for a guy hitting a girl in this school? Go ahead, but be warned, there are witnesses in this hallway. Do yourselves a favor and put the knuckles up before you will all get into more trouble than what I can get you in from this,” I said while playing the recorder.
The guys had their jaws wide open while listening to the recorder.
“Now, get lost!” I demanded.
They scurried off after I told them off. The guy who was bullied was a little shocked at what just happened.
“I-I’m sorry for all this,” the boy apologized.
“What? Why are you apologizing?”
“You were about to get punched by one of those guys all because I was too much of a coward to defend myself,”
“Don’t worry about it; they were never going to do it. Plus, I don’t want to see you get in trouble for a fight you didn’t start. The penalty for hitting a girl at this school is far worse than a fight here.”
“Oh, well, thanks. I could have defended myself if I wanted to, you know,” the boy added.
“I know, you just didn’t want to cause trouble,” I smiled at him.
“Right, that’s why. What’s your name?” the boy asked.
“Meghan, what about you?” I asked him.
“Oh, I’m Robert,” Robert introduced himself.
“What year are you in?” I asked him.
“Junior, and you?” he asked me in return.
“Sophomore, wow, a junior, huh? Does that mean you’re going to the dance?”
“They have dances at this school?” Robert asked.
“Yeah, but it’s kind of exclusive for juniors and seniors only. The only way for a freshman or a sophomore to go is if a junior or a senior were to ask them to go with them.”
“Oh, okay,” Robert blushed a little bit.
“Well, I got to go to class, so I’ll see you later then?”
“Yeah, okay, oh, Meghan?”
“Yeah?” I turned back to him.
“Thanks for defending me,” Robert thanked me.
“You’re welcome,” I smiled back at him.
I went to my homeroom to meet with Rini, Chloe, and Vic. They were giving off a suspicious look.
“Who were you talking to?” Chloe asked with a smirk.
“Another Catholic transfer student,” I answered.
“Don’t tell me you used any Catholic jokes on them?” Rini pleaded.
“No, geez, ye have little faith in me,” I replied with disgust.
“Because you WOULD make those jokes, Meghan, I’ve known you for years, and you come up with the most outrageous things to say to anyone. For crying out loud, you’re like the only girl we know who plays ‘Call of Duty,’” Vic said.
“First of all, I do that because I have a low tolerance for idiots, and yet you guys can tolerate my pure awesomeness. Then, secondly, ‘Call of Duty’ is epic.” I said with pride.
“Okay, okay, but what about the guy? Is he cute?” Chloe asked with curiosity.
“Well, I guess he is. I mean I’m sure he is.” I was unsure to answer her.
“Is there a chance you might like him?” Vic asked me.
“I don’t know. I just met him!” I flustered at the question.
Geez, it was the first day of school, and they were teasing me already about some guy. It’s not that I don’t like him, he nice and all, but I don’t know. I’m not feeling anything yet, so I’m not going to bother. He is my friend and nothing more. Plus with all the stuff in Paris that’s happened, it’s hard to actually get close to a guy in that way.
During class, we painfully listened to what the teachers were giving a lecture on Math. It does make people cry. I may not be crying for real, but I’m crying on the inside each time I hear about angles, lines, points, rays, and so on.
I looked around the classroom, and I noticed that seventy-five percent of our class is filled with guys. There were a couple of new girls as well, but it doesn’t catch my attention as much as how an entire Catholic school shut down. It’s actually sad how everyone had to part ways because they couldn’t keep the school running. I was always taught that God lets things happen for things that were meant to happen. Was that the case? Did God let the school go down under for a specific purpose? Or was there someone behind it?
First class period was over. I decided to talk to Danny for a little bit.
“Hi, Danny, how are you adjusting to school so far?” I asked.
“Doing alright, it looked as though you hate math,” Danny said.
“Yeah, it’s kind of not my forte right there. I’m more of a science and foreign language kind of girl.” I admitted to Danny.
“Really? Know any languages?” Danny asked.
“Does Latin still count as one? Other than that, French.” I said.
“I guess it does, well that’s cool, do you know what you want to study after high school?”
“Still not sure about that one,” I responded.
“I heard you defended one of the boys from my old school in the hallway,”
“Yeah, it was nothing, just making sure those idiots don’t give him a hard time,”
“It may not be a big deal for you, but it might be a big deal for him,” Danny explained.
“Yeah, I guess it did,”
“A lot of the students here aren’t getting along with the other transfer students, but you’ve proven to me you’re different from the others,”
“Yeah, I kind of have a bad rep at this school,” I said.
“What did you do?” Danny asked.
“Just being my obnoxious self. I also received the name “snitch” along the way because I get people in trouble by either providing evidence or blackmailing them.”
“Guess I better get on your good side then,” Danny joked.
“Yeah, you better or you’ll be on the next episode of ‘Greatest Scandals of All Time,’” I teased him.
“Haha, oh, we are going to get along so well. You see, I am a master of the arts of sarcasm and trolling as well,” Danny bragged.
“Bah! I’m the queen of trolling and sarcasm; kneel before me, you peasant! You have so much to learn from the queen!” I got carried away.
“Is that so? Okay, oh wise one! Teach me how to get under the skins of your fellow classmates.” He teased me.
“Hehehe, well, since you are new, I might give you some pointers on some people’s limits around here.” I offered.
Oh my gosh, I never thought I would find a male version of - well, me. This is going to be an awesome year for me! I wonder what kind of stuff he’s got under his sleeves. I can’t wait to show him off to my friends and see their reactions. Also, I got to find out what his Xbox Live account is so I can add him as one of my comrades for “Call of Duty.”
Chapter 3
“The Bet”
Before I knew it, it was already our lunch break. I still want to get to the bottom of why the school just decided to shut down this year. But, first, I wanted to eat my lunch that I packed and top it all on my famous homemade, gravy. You cannot get enough of this stuff. If you want to know how addicted I am to gravy, as Rini would put it, instead of blood running in my veins, I have gravy instead. That’s how much I really love gravy. We sat in our usual place just the four of us as usual.
“So where are your boyfriends, Meghan?” Vic asked me.
“They are not my boyfriends! They are boys who happen to be my friends,” I explained to Vic.
“If that’s the case, do you mind if I steal one of them? Not as much as a fan of the redhead, but the guy, who is in our class, is cute. What is he like?” Chloe got flirty.
“Who? Danny? He is a male version of me practically,” I described him the best possible way.
“Please tell me this isn’t one of your plans to steer him away from me,” Chloe pleaded.
“Fine, see for yourself when you talk to him,” I insisted.
“She’s confident. Oh crap, that must mean it is true!” Vic grew worried.
“Hello, ladies, may I join you?” Danny showed up at our table.
“Yeah, have a seat,” I invited him over.
“Thanks, so you must be Meghan’s friends,” Danny tried breaking the ice.
“Yeah, are you Danny?” Rini asked.
“Yes I am, and may I know all of your names?”
“I’m Chloe, and it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Chloe said in a flirty tone.
“Uhhh…. nice to meet you, Chloe,” Danny said in an awkward tone.
“I’m Irene, but they call me Rini,” Rini introduced herself.
“Hi, Rini, you mind if I call you that as well?” Danny asked.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Rini blushed.
“I’m Victoria, but I hate going by my full name, so I go by Vic,” Vic introduced herself.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vic,” Danny said.
“Okay now that you all met each other….” I was distracted from seeing Robert sitting by himself. As a result, I decided to invite him over to our table.
“Hey, Robert, what are you doing sitting here all by yourself?” I asked.
“Eating? This is our lunch period right?” Robert asked innocently.
“Yeah, it is. Do you want to sit with us?” I invited him.
“You guys won’t mind?” Robert asked.
“Not at all, come on, I’ll introduce you to the gang,” I dragged him to our table. Then, I spoke up to our table,
“Hey guys, meet Robert, he’s a junior and we kind of bumped into each other in the hallway this morning.”
“Hi,” Robert spoke up.
“Hey, I recognize you from somewhere; you went to St. Peter’s right?” Danny spoke up.
“Y-yeah, and I remember you. You’re Daniel Girovanni right?” Robert asked.
“You know my name?” Danny was shocked.
“You were notorious for pulling some major pranks at the school,” Robert declared.
“Please tell me this isn’t true,” Chloe begged.
“Sorry, sweetheart, it’s true, I have a rep for that,” Danny chuckled.
“What about your sense of humor? Do you fancy sarcasm?” Vic asked in a worried tone.
Danny gave a look that confirmed that he had that kind of humor and the fact he enjoys overusing sarcasm.
“Oh no, she wasn’t bluffing. Meghan, did you clone your brain and placed it inside of his head?” Vic asked in disgust.
“Are you sure you guys aren’t related?”
“I’m pretty sure I don’t have any family members hiding in the shadows anymore after my real dad and brother emerged from it himself,” I declared.
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘real’ dad?” Robert asked.
Crap, I don’t want to blow my cover by telling him all about meeting my Dad in France and everything blew up in our faces. I better think up of something and fast.
“Well, what I mean, is that last year, my dad, whom I currently live with right now, called me downstairs one night. He looked right into my eyes and told me, ‘Meghan, you’re adopted.’ And it turned out that he married my mom when I was only five months old. He never wanted to feel as though he were my step-father, so he just went along as if I were his own flesh and blood. He decided to tell me after my biological father called him saying he wanted to see me and he couldn’t keep me forever.” I explained with only part of the truth.
“What about your mom?” Danny asked.
“Well, you see, she was battling cancer for a few years, and well, she passed away last year. My real dad didn’t get involved until after he was informed of this. My mom wrote in her last will and testament that both my dads share custody and that the restraint my dad had would be dissolved after years of the brutal divorce. It’s sort of complicated.” I explained.
“I’m sorry about your mom, but your real dad decided to show up after finding about your mother’s passing?” Robert asked with concern.
“Well, he received a letter from my mom saying how sorry she was from keeping me from seeing him for so long. She also noted that she went to the judge to drop all the custody restraints as if to ‘bury the hatchet’ with him. She wanted to make peace with him before she passed on. She told my other dad about what she did and that he should be prepared for him to actually be more involved in my life.” I explained the actual truth of the story.
“Wow, I’m sorry you and your family had to go through that,” Robert offered his condolences.
“It’s okay; right now both of them are starting to be on good terms now. Well, enough of my sad little life, let’s eat!” I decided to change that awkward discussion.
“Seriously, Meghan?! You bring that thermos filled with gravy every single meal I’ve seen you eat! Is there not a meal you haven’t smothered with gravy?” Vic lectured me.
“Guys like meat, girls like sweets, and as for me, I like gravy, got a problem with it?!” I retorted.
“That’s actually got to be unhealthy for you eating that every day. I’m starting to believe you actually do have gravy on your system.” Rini added.
“Does she actually eat gravy THAT much?” Danny asked.
“Sadly, yes. Even Francis…” Chloe was interrupted when Vic placed her hand over Chloe’s mouth.
“Who?” Robert asked.
Great, Chloe almost blew it with these two. Now I have to improvise… again!
“Francis was a foreign exchange student from France. He… was staying here for around two months. I kind of had feelings for him, but I found out he was a jerk and did things he wasn't supposed to do. After we had a major fight with each other about his actions, he decided to go back to his hometown. It turned out that he was really ill, which was why his stay was not long. Days later, I received a letter from him. He apologized and said he never meant to hurt me. He liked me as well, but he said I deserved better, and he didn’t want to cause me any more pain. By the time the letter came to my mailbox, he was gone. He died due to complications he had from tuberculosis. I never cried so hard in my life. Now I’m reminded each time I read that letter that he’s telling me to live life and be happy. That was what he wanted for me.” I explained.
If this wasn’t the lie of the century, I don’t know what is. I dodged the fact that I couldn’t save him in that fire that broke out in the abandoned warehouse. He actually died from the impact of the explosion that he was protecting me from. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today. That’s why I made that promise to him that I should live my life to the fullest and not take it for granted. The fact that we kissed before he took his last breath will forever be stamped in my memory.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just making you more upset,” Robert felt guilty for asking.
“Don’t be; you didn’t know.” I tried reassuring him.
“Okay, but don’t think that sad memory will change the fact that you need to deal with your problem,” Vic intervened.
“What problem?!” I asked irritated.
“Your gravy addiction, that’s what!” Chloe pointed out.
“Oh like you are any better, miss chocoholic!” I lashed back.
Chloe quietly admitted defeat after my comeback.
“Listen, the point is you are out of control when it comes to gravy. I bet you can’t last a week without even a drop of it.” Vic pointed out.
“Yes, if you cave before the seven days are up, you buy me lunch for the next two days,” Vic placed her conditions on the bet.
“Then I will buy you lunch for the next two days,” She added that to the bet.
“You’re on, starting tomorrow, gravy is off the menu for me!” I agreed.
“Okay, since there’s a bet going on, five bucks says Meghan will cave before the week is up.” Chloe placed her bet.
“Serves you right for calling me a chocoholic,” Chloe reminded me.
“Vic!” Chloe cried out.
“Rini! Why?!” I cried out.
“Guess I’ll join the bet too. Five bucks against Meghan as well,” Danny placed his bet.
“Robert, are you going to join in the bet? You don’t have to, you know?” Vic asked Robert.
“No, you can bet as high or low as you want. Five bucks just seem reasonable enough to bet for everyone.” Vic added.
“What?!” Everyone yelled in shock.
“Why not? If she says she can, then I don’t have to be convinced any further that she can. Plus wouldn’t it be interesting if the bet was not one-sided?” Robert added.
“Robert, you’re awesome! Can I call you, Robby? Robert seems a little too formal,” I asked.
“Yeah, you don’t look like a Bobby to me,” I smiled.