Oh, that’s right,I don’t want to show up to prom alone so he is better than nothing. And it’s too close to find someone else.
“Yeah,” I nod, “I got my dress last weekend. My mom ordered the corsage so make sure you pick it up on Saturday before you get to my house.”
“I know, you’ve told me already.” Bryce rolls his eyes which I choose to let go. Pick your battles and whatnot.
“And you reserved a limo already?”
“Clay is in charge of the limo,” he answers. Hopefully, Clay has a better memory than Bryce otherwise we’re all piling in the back of his truck. And that would not be good for my hair.
I just want everything to go smoothly. No mistakes, no setbacks, no problems. I want to go to my senior prom and have fun with my friends and maybe get a little drunk afterward. I want to wear my stunning blue A-line, off-the-shoulder dress and take beautiful pictures so I can relish in what’s supposed to be the greatest night of my life forever. Is that too much to ask?
“Are you going to eat those?” Bryce points to the tater tots I’ve left untouched while I only ate three bites of the sandwich he got me.
“No,” I shake my head and sit back as if personally offended by the food. “I don’t like potatoes.”
“What? Everyone likes tater tots.”
Not me.
Without asking if he can have them, Bryce takes the tater tots in hand and rises from our lunch table heading to a table two rows over. I don’t have to guess who he’s going to see.
The mute kid sits at a table by himself reading a book. Jason Alder. No one has ever heard him speak. Some say he stopped talking at five years old, some say it was at seven, and others say he’s never spoken a day in his life. Who knows. Either way, he isn’t talking now and that makes him an outcast. Kind of weird, really, why doesn’t he talk? If it weren’t for his grades in school, I’d think he was a retard. But he aces all of his classes so I guess he’s not a complete basket case.
Bryce approaches from behind and I strain my ears to hear the interaction.
“Hey, mute, how’s it going?” Bryce claps Jason on the back. He doesn’t take the seat next to him, Bryce leers over Jason in a dominant position to assert his superiority. But Jason doesn’t even look up from his book to acknowledge Bryce. The only tell he gives of his annoyance is his hand on the table curling into a loose fist.
Jason has always been a scrawny guy but just as tall as Bryce. In the past year, he’s filled out a bit in the shoulders making him look a little more broad. But it isn’t much compared to Bryce who’s been wrestling since he was five.
“What’s the matter, you don’t want to talk to me?” Bryce eggs him on,clearly up to something. Jason flips a page in his book.
“We’re all dying to know what you have to say, idiot.” Again, Jason doesn’t make a move, though I think his fist tightens at the crude name. He’s been called that long before anyone started calling him the Mute. “I mean, you read and shit, so you can’t be completely brain-dead. But still, you got nothing to say.” A statement, not a question. Bryce isn’t interested in convincing the Mute to speak. He’s looking for a reaction like all bullies do.
“Well, how about this,” Bryce lowers himself slightly and a nervous itch works its way up my spine. “If you don’t want to talk, might as well have a good reason. How about you give your mouth something else to do.” As the last word falls from Bryce’s mouth, he takes the hand holding the tater tots and shoves them into Jason’s mouth. It’s only then that Jason reacts, falling back off the bench as tater tots are smushed into his mouth. Caught off guard, his mouth opens for just a second in shock, but it’s long enough for Bryce to get some food in, the rest is smashed into his face and falls over his black t-shirt.
Bryce is laughing at himself, and a few guys on the wrestling team laugh with him in solidarity. But no one else is laughing. It’s pathetic that Bryce can only feel powerful when he makes others feel weak. It’s weak that he picks on the easiest targets. What did he think would happen? The mute kid would suddenly decide to talk and fight back?
Jason jumps to his feet and squares off against Bryce with furious eyes that could practically melt his enemies into lava. But before things get even more out of hand, I jump in to pacify my fucking prom date.
“Bryce,” I cut in, “it’s not worth it.”
“You think you’re stronger than me?” He taunts Jason. “You think you’re above the rest of us so you won’t lower yourself to speak to us?” That’s not true and he knows it.
“Leave him alone,” I try again with the hope he’ll walk away. “The weird mute kid isn’t worth your time, Bryce. Besides, he’s probably going to jerk off over having your hands on him later.” I know, it’s a low blow, but it’s better than the two of them getting into a fistfight in the middle of thecafeteria. I know Bryce well enough to know a statement like that will satisfy his need to belittle someone.
Jason’s younger brother is openly gay, so it’s an easy shot and one that works the way I’d hoped. Bryce laughs at Jason’s expense, then backs down feeling satisfied with the humiliation he doled out.
“Yeah, go dick off with your faggot brother,” Bryce spits in Jason’s direction. “Fucking sickos.”
Bryce backs away and turns around, pulling me by the hand toward his wrestling buddies. I take one second to look at Jason and hope he’s not too offended. But the hurt in his eyes is unmistakable. I’m not sure if it’s the result of Bryce’s actions, my insult, or both. Either way, he looks as disappointed in me as my mother would be if she’d heard the things I just said. And I feel that down to my core, every nerve ending on fire with regret.
I try to communicateI’m sorrywith my eyes. I don’t know if Jason gets it or not because his expression doesn’t change before I turn back to Bryce, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach.
“That wasn’t funny, Bryce,” I chastise him before we reach his friends.
“The guy is a fucking weirdo,” he answers as if that’s a good enough reason to justify his actions. “If he wanted to be treated better, maybe he’d talk and tell us to fuck off.”
I mumble under my breath, “As if that would help.”
