New Girl: Chapter Twenty

Rebecca and Jason pushed their way through the gathering crowd. Rebecca looked at Lucita, who, for once, seemed speechless. Her eyes were big behind her thin purple glasses, and her mouth was open. Blake and Lucas were really going at it. Finally, Lucita caught sight of her and approached them, shoving everyone out of her way.

“Jason! Thank God. Please stop this. They won’t listen to me!”

“Yeah, okay.” Jason made his way to try to break up the fight. Lucita turned and looked at Rebecca.

“Do you know what this is all about?” asked Lucita. Before Rebecca could answer, there was a massive slam. Lucita spun around and saw Jason on the ground. She ran, and Rebecca followed, squeezing through the throng of students cheering stupidly at the fight. Lucita ran to Jason’s side, pulling him up and looking at Lucas and Blake. Both had a busted lip. Blake’s nose was bleeding, and Lucas’s teeth were covered in blood.

“What the hell!” screamed Lucita, finding her voice. The crowd began to disperse, and Lucita knew security was coming her way. “You two get the hell out of here now. We’ll cover for you.” Lucita wrapped her arm around Jason’s waist. Blake and Lucas shared one more look before running off in different directions.

Rebecca helped Jason stand and began leading the way until security told them to stop walking.

“Where do you think you three are going?”

“To lunch,” answered Lucita calmly. Rebecca was shocked at how smoothly she delivered the lie.

“Really? So why are you carrying him?”

“Because there was a fight, and he was knocked over.”

The security guard didn’t look convinced as he continued to study Rebecca, Lucita, and Jason. “Come with me.”

“We’re gonna miss lunch!” exclaimed Lucita.

“So? You got yourself into this.”

“You have no proof of that. We had nothing to do with the stupid fight! Why can’t you bug one of the teachers or check the damn security footage? That is why you have those damn cameras, isn’t it?”

The security guard’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Head to the Principals’ office . . . now.”

“I’m calling my mother, and she’s already in a bad mood.” Lucita was fuming. Why was her day taking a dive for the worst? Lucita flipped open her phone and quickly sent a text to her mother. Her mother always scolded her for not eating enough, just wait until she found out she was being denied nutrition. A wicked smile crossed her face, and she continued to follow, her head held high.

Jason shared a looked with Rebecca and nudged Lucita.

“Are you sure about this?”

“We don’t know anything, okay.”

“What happened?” asked Rebecca in a whisper.

Lucita shrugged. “Lucas was walking me to lunch, then out of nowhere, Blake comes and punches him, narrowly missing my face, by the way. He already looked pretty pissed, though,” she murmured.

“Really? That’s what’s more important to you, your face?”

“Hey, the first thing I said was to lie right. So there’s the answer to your question. Now, what’s going on? Why do they obviously hate each other so much.”

“They both used to date the same girl at summer camp. They nearly beat the crap out of each other when they found out. The girl dropped both of them on the spot. So yeah . . .”

“Really? All this is over a damn girl?” Lucita rolled her eyes. “They should hate the damn girl, not each other.”

“Apparently, they don’t care,” commented Rebecca.

“Hey, shut up you two,” hissed Jason. Lucita and Rebecca looked at him, then forward. They were about to enter the office.

The security guard opened the door and watched them all enter. He eyed Lucita in particular before he shut the door behind them, and she fought the urge to flip him off. Then, as the door closed behind them, they realized they stood there alone.

“This is stupid,” exclaimed Lucita dropping her bag onto the ground as she slouched into a chair. Rebecca was shocked at how much Lucita looked like a guy as she sat there. Her back was slouched, and her legs were spread apart (thank god she wore jeans). She looked so unlike herself, less perfect.

“We were the only people left,” said Jason as he rubbed his jaw, Lucita looked at him concerned.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. Blake didn’t punch me that hard. I think he pulled his punch when he saw that it was me.”

“That’s good.”

“How much trouble do you think we’re in,” asked Rebecca. She looked at Lucita, who shrugged and began picking the dirt from under her nails.

“We’re not gonna get into a lot of trouble, Becca,” said Jason.

“You sure?”

“Don’t worry,” began Lucita, sitting up. “We weren’t involved and don’t know where they ran off to. They can’t do much.”

Jason laughed. “Maybe we should just let you do all the talking.”

Lucita punched him in the arm playfully, laughing. “You are not leaving it all to me, you dummy.”

“Dummy, huh. If I’m a dummy, I’m letting you do all the talking.” He smiled at her, and Rebecca laughed.

“Oh, so not fair!” Lucita faked a gasp before laughing alongside them. Suddenly, the door opened and slammed shut, causing the trio to jump in their seats. Stomping his way to the desk in front of them, the principal took his seat, his crisp yellow shirt darkened in spots by sweat. Lucita eyed him, annoyed, her foot tapping against the ground more nervously than she intended.

Principal Stranton eyed each of them prospectively. Rebecca could clearly tell how angry he was when he looked at her.

“I don’t see why you three are laughing. I have a zero-tolerance policy. Are you going to tell me what happened?” He looked at Lucita first, and she smiled innocently. “Explain.”

“We were standing around. I was waiting for my boyfriend, and then these two guys started going at it. They ran off when everybody else did.”

“Really? So why was he on the ground?” Principal Stranton pointed at Jason. “Well son, why were you on the ground?”

“I tried to stop the fight.”

“You weren’t involved in it?”

“No.”

“Really? Why don’t I believe you.”

“We didn’t do anything,” exclaimed Lucita. “All we wanted was to go to lunch.”

Principal Stranton turned his cold, stern gaze towards Lucita, making Rebecca flinch. “Really? Well, a teacher saw one of the guys with his arms around you. Care to explain that?”

Lucita held back the urge to growl and storm out of the room. If she did that, then she really would be in trouble.

“One of them is my boyfriend. That doesn’t mean I had anything to do with the fight, which I didn’t in case you didn’t hear me the first time.”

“Where are they?”

“We don’t know,” answered Jason.

“I believe you do.”

“We don’t,” stammered Rebecca, wringing her hands together nervously. “They ran off, and we helped Jason stand up. That’s the truth.”

“Just tell me where they are.”

“We don’t know,” said Lucita through gritted teeth.

“Then give me their names.” Rebecca looked at Jason, who nodded reluctantly. Before any of them could give either name, the phone rang. Lucita smiled when Mr. Stranton answered the phone.

“Hello?” Lucita sat back in her chair and laced her fingers together, triumphant. She knew who was on the phone. It was obvious by the stern expression on his face. “Which one of you is Lucita?”

“Me.” Lucita practically jumped from her seat as she made her way to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Lucita, what’s going on?”

“There was a fight. My friend Jason went to stop it but got punched. Rebecca and I went to help him up. The security guard singled us out, and it’s lunchtime, and we don’t even know anything.”

“Give the phone back to the principal.”

“Okie dokie. Love you, Mommy.”

“Love you too, mija.”

Lucita held the phone out to the principal. “This is for you.” The Principal gave her a cold hard stare before returning to his conversation with her mother. She could tell by the look on his face that her mother was making a valid point and winning the argument. That’s what her mother did. She won. When Principal Stranton finally hung up the phone, he laced his fingers over his desk. He swallowed down his apparent anger three times.

“You three are excused from fourth period to take your lunch. You may go now.” He called back their attention as they stood up and prepared to leave. “Just a warning. This is strike one for all of you. Withhold information again, and I will give each of you two months of detention. Understood?” Lucita held back her snarky comments and smiled.

“What just happened,” asked Rebecca once they were out of the office. Lucita merely shrugged as she adjusted her big blue backpack on her shoulder.

“She’s scary. Let’s leave it at that and get some lunch.” Jason looked at Becca and shrugged before following Lucita. Rebecca ran to catch up.

***

Silvia sat alone during lunch, waiting for Lucita and Rebecca to arrive. Sitting and waiting, she saw a crowd gather across the courtyard where her last class had been. Silvia knew, as well as anybody looking, that a fight had broken out. She waited to see Lucita and Rebecca, but neither of them emerged. Security swarmed, and people ran. Silvia caught sight of two familiar faces, bruised and battered. Lucas and Blake. Both caught sight of her but continued to run. Silvia looked back. Being escorted by security were Lucita, Jason, and Rebecca. Silvia knew now that she would be eating lunch alone.

Silvia sat down at her usual spot, quickly texting Rebecca and Lucita, asking them what had happened. She wanted to know why the guys hated each other so much when it seemed they barely knew each other. They were idiots. But still, she wished she had seen the fight. Nothing made her happier than seeing Blake get his butt kicked.

“Shit,” came a voice. Silvia turned to face Blake, who was headed in her direction,

“What the hell happened to you? Looks like you got your butt kicked.” Silvia laughed and scowled from behind the wad of toilet paper he was using to stop his nose from bleeding.

“Whatever. Lucas and I got into it. Not much else to say.”

“Security has Lucita, Jason, and Becca. So what, are you just going to let them take the blame?”

“Oh shut up, Silvia. Lucita practically ordered us to run. So we did.”

Silvia sat back against the wall. “I think it’s stupid. What the hell were you two fighting over anyway?”

“None of your business.”

“Okay. Whatever.”

Blake sat across from her and seemed to be staring at her lunch. Finally, she rolled her eyes and tossed him her juice and fruit cup. Blake didn’t say think you, just took it and started eating. Silvia shrugged it off. She really didn’t care.

“We weren’t fighting over Lucita,” blurted Blake as he ate the fruit cup. Silvia looked up at him. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind, but she could understand why he thought that.

“So what were you guys fighting over?”

“Last summer, after we broke up, he and I volunteered at a camp. There was this girl who apparently was dating both of us. She broke up with us when we didn’t just go along. I pretty much blame him for the shit. He blames me.”

Silvia stared at him uncomprehendingly. “You seriously blame him? Why don’t you blame the girl? She’s the one who played you both.”

“So? He blames me anyway, and besides, we were perfectly happy until we met him. Jerk knew we were dating.”

“Sure he did,” she mumbled.

“What was that?”

“You’re an idiot. I mean, come on, the girl was obviously just playing around.”

“You think everyone is an idiot.”

“Just you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Blake stood up, wiping his nose. “Thanks for the food, and tell Lucita thanks for saving my ass.” He headed down the stairwell, and Silvia smiled as she finished her lunch. When the bell rang, she made her way to class catching sight of a very haughty-looking Lucita followed by an unsure Rebecca and an ambivalent Jason heading to lunch. Lucita walked with her head high and a bright smile on her face making Silvia let out a slight laugh. Looks like they got away with it.