Page 10 of Humility

“And you told him that I always smell and like girls,” Ella called out.

This was crazy. I looked from one to the other, and they all glared at me like I was a troll under a bridge.

“I don’t want Lucas.” I looked at Gemma, and there was a glimmer of guilt in her brown eyes. “Tell them the truth. I don’t want him and didn’t spread rumors either.”

Even though I found it awkward to hang out with them most of the time, they were the closest thing I had to girlfriends. Panic made my heart beat like wings were flapping against it. Would they tell these lies to my papa? Would he believe them?

“Don’t bother trying to deny it. I asked Lucas if you were in the library with him, and he said yes. Why would he lie?” Gemma crossed her arms, and the other girls made a wall.

“Maybe because he’s a jerk face. I was in the library, but I was sleeping until Lucas and Gemma going at it woke me up, not the other way around.”

“See, I told you that was what she’d say,” Gemma said, shaking her head. Walking forward, she gave my shoulder a little shove. “Why don’t you get out of here? No one wants you around, and we didn’t invite you anyway.”

I hated crying in front of people, but I could feel the tears burning my eyes. Standing up straight, I stared Gemma down.

“I thought we were friends.”

“I guess you thought wrong. I’d never want to be friends with someone like you,” she said, and I searched her face for a remnant of the person I knew.

“I hope you get what you deserve,” I said. “Same goes for all of you.” Turning on my heel, I ran off as fast as I could along the path. Tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t see where I was going, but I didn’t care and kept going faster and faster until I burst out of the forest onto the sand. I ran to the dock where the small sailboats and canoes were tied.

All I wanted to do was float away and never come back. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I untied one of the canoes and gripped the sides as I stepped into it.

“Jasmine, stop,” I looked up and saw Ciro and Angelo running along the beach.

“Leave me alone.”

“Jazzy, you don’t know how to swim,” Ciro yelled.

“I don’t care.” I felt bad yelling at Ciro. He was my only friend, but we promised to stay away from one another here this week so that his dad didn’t get on his case about being friends with a girl and not hanging out with the guys. Ciro had a secret that only I knew about, and I would go to my grave to keep it, but right now, not even he could make me feel better.

Using the paddle, I pushed away from the dock, and the canoe rocked wildly.

“Sit down,” Angelo yelled, but it was too late. The rocking got worse as I tried to correct it, and I screamed as I flew through the air and landed in the water with a splash. The blue water swallowed me as I clawed at the disappearing surface but kept sinking.

I couldn’t breathe, and panic set in as I tried to swim up. There was a loud splash, and terror and relief consumed me as Angelo swam toward me. He’d hated me my whole life. If he wanted to make sure I drowned, this would be the perfect moment for him, but instead, he wrapped his arm around my waist and kicked. Bubbles rose around us, and the burning in my chest got worse, but we were heading up, and with a gasping breath, we emerged.

He held me against his body as he pulled me toward the shallow water where we could stand. I coughed and spit, my eyes burning from the salt water and crying.

“What the hell were you thinking,” Angelo asked as he dragged me onto the beach. I didn’t say anything as Ciro helped me to sit down. Angelo shook his body like a dog shaking off water and looked at his feet. “Great, my new sneakers are ruined. Don’t be stupid and stay out of the water,” he said, stomping away.

My bottom lip trembled as Ciro sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head no. “Why are people so mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you hear what they said to me up there?”

“I pretended not to, but yeah, I overheard some of it.” Ciro rubbed my shoulder, and I shivered despite the heat of the day.

“I didn’t do any of what they are saying. I’m not like that.” I wiped at the stream of tears again.

“I know. It was Lucas. He’s been gloating about it, but we didn’t know who he was talking about until now.”

“Such an ass. I didn’t think I could hate someone more than Angelo, but Lucas found a way to make it happen.”