Deon

The rest of the trip to Sarah’s house was uneventful. When we finally reach her house, I sigh and get ready to leave. This might as well be the last day of my peaceful life. Maybe I should just let everyone screw themselves over.

“Deon.”

Our eyes meet.

“Thanks… for today.”

“...” I stare quietly. I didn’t know what to say. “Don’t terrorize me in the morning.” I put my hands in my pocket.

I’m not sure that would change her plans, but I just wanted to put it out there. Who would want to be the next Vivian?

“So that’s how you see me?” She turned to the gate.

“Sometimes. I’m not sure if you even see me as a friend… or as a slave.” I say coldly. “Which I’m not.”

If my last months in high school will be a living hell, I might as well speak my mind.

She left without a response.

As I would expect.

I let out a groan, feeling empty. During my walk home, my mind couldn’t stop thinking about the consequences of calling Sarah out on her bullshit. This was going to keep me up all night. As I got home, I look into my bag and take out my notebooks to check the homework and take pictures of the assignment and the corresponding pages in my textbooks for reference. I make sure Sarah will be able to read the notes without a problem and send her the pictures. This might be the last time I do something nice for her.

After finishing all of the pages and sending them to Sarah, I go to the living room and stare at the cold meal left by my mother. The fact that my parents wouldn’t be here because of a work-related party slipped my mind. As usual, my big brother was out with his friends so I’m currently home alone. I sit on the couch and stare blankly at the ceiling. “Who would do that to Sarah?” I wondered out loud, unable to relax.

Rolling around the couch, I checked my phone. Sarah saw the pictures, but choose not to reply. Not even a thank you? Okay.

My focus turned to the main suspect of the crime, even though evidence states that she wasn’t there. She’ll be the criminal come tomorrow morning. Thankfully class president duties mean that I have everyone’s contact number, so I call her. She didn’t pick up after a few rings. Well thanks, Vivian. So much for checking up on you.

I get off the couch and take the meal to the microwave. As I heat up my chicken dinner, I hear my phone ring. I sprint to my phone to check who’s calling.

It’s Vivian.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey Deon. You called?” Her voice sounded a bit tired.

“Ahh, yeah I did… Am I disturbing you?”

“Oh, no… not really… What’s up?”

Finding out the truth from Vivian was top priority. If I ask her the questions through the phone, chances are she would lie to me through her teeth and I wouldn’t even be able to call her out on it. This was something I have to talk about in person. In case she is innocent, this would be a good warning for what’s to come tomorrow. With that, I muster up the courage to ask her...

“Is it alright if I come over? I won’t take long… I just have a few questions I can’t ask over the phone.”

“What? Umm wait, let me ask my mom.” She said timidly.

Her hand muffled the voices on the other side of the line, but I can hear her mother get all giddy and excited about a boy coming over.

Sweet bananas, I regret asking.

“Mom said you can come over.” She sounded a bit embarrassed. “You can stay for dinner if you want to as well.”

I look at my chicken dinner, then contemplate a bit. Man, I don’t want to eat microwave dinner. Freshly cooked food is always the best food.

“Sure. Can you text me your address?”

“Okay”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay…”

The memories I have of the exact location of her house was vague to me because my only visit was short and spent mostly at her living room when I was doing a project with her, Leslie and Louie. I kept the microwave dinner in the fridge, then went up to my room and put on a black hoodie and a face mask. It was cold outside and I did not want to get sick, not when it’s sportsfest season soon. After all the preparation, I head to the front door and locked it, making sure that the keys were in my pocket. I hopped on to my bike and went to the address that Vivian texted me.

Vivian

Deon is coming over! Oh my god. Is Sarah coming with him? I don’t want to see her after what happened today. No, I don’t want to see her face ever again. How dare she… She didn’t even apologize for what she made her friends do.

No girl in class can beat her in a physical fight, my social status has been demoted to outcast and so nobody would want to talk to me or even take my side. It’s a surprise that Deon’s coming to visit… he probably pities me.

Deon wasn’t the type of person I would give my attention to since we don’t have anything in common. I’m sure he wouldn’t have come for me that day if he wasn’t the class president. Even though he always hung around Keith and the other guys, he always looked like decoration around them. He’d laugh along their jokes and listen to their stories, but I’ve never seen him tell stories to the guys.

Making myself look less like a beat up mess took effort. I didn’t tell my mom that it was the girls who beat me up. Instead, I told her that I met an accident while we were playing volleyball. We already have enough problems at home, and I didn’t want to add more to that.

Our doorbell rang. Limping to the door, I open it up to see a shady looking guy! I immediately close the door in front of me. Getting beat up this afternoon was already a horrible experience, I don’t want my day to end with me being murdered!!!

The person knocked at the door rather impatiently. NOPE. No way am I opening the door for you.

“Vivian, it’s me, Deon.”

OH. DEON.

My cheeks flush red with embarrassment as I opened the door for him.

“I’m so sorry about that. You just looked shady; I was scared.”

He gave an annoyed sigh as he put down his face mask, revealing his face.

“It’s okay. Sorry for bothering you this late…”

“Sure… Come in…”

“Umm…” He started cautiously. “No. Let’s step out. I don’t want anyone hearing our conversation.”

“Oh…” I look up at him in confusion rubbing my arm and gave him a small smile. “Okay…”

We sat down in the garden lounge. He surveyed the area first before turning to me. He seemed more cautious than usual.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you…” He says looking at me with genuine concern. “I didn’t expect Claire and the others to act up like that towards you.” Deon may be different from how I pictured him to be. If he was just doing all this out of formality or sympathy, he wouldn’t have gone as far as to come to my home.

“It’s not your fault, Deon.” I look down.

“How are you holding up?” He looks at me, genuinely concerned. Although he’s asking about me, I know this wasn’t why he came to visit.

“My ankle hurts, so I won't be able to walk properly… I’m also scared of going to school tomorrow because god knows what those girls will do to me next.”

“Ahh… You’re not alone on that.”

This confused me. Was he in the same situation as me? “What do you mean?” No way, he couldn’t be.

“Well… I called Sarah out, and I think she’s going to roast me for it tomorrow… or however long it takes for her to put me in hell…”

“Oh…” I look down. “I’ll never understand why she acts the way she does.”

“Me too… and I’ve known her since we were in kindergarten.”

“What did you come here to ask about?” I look at him.

“Oh… ahh well… I don't know how to ask this…” He fumbles through his words looking away.

“Just say what’s on your mind, Deon.”

His expression was serious, as if he was watching my every move. “Did you try to come back to school after you went home?”

“What? No. Why would I? If Sarah or the others saw me… they’d take advantage of my weakness and straight up kill me.”

“Well, you’re not wrong…” He suddenly seemed to be lost in thought, as if he was trying to discern something. “You see… I know it’s going to be hard to believe… but Sarah didn’t tell her friends to come after you.”

My expression was filled with disbelief.

Sarah Bravura, the high school Satan? Wasn’t after my ass? No way.

“What makes you say that?”

He points at my bandages. “She carried you to the clinic and dressed up your wounds.”

“No,” My voice sounds unsure, even to myself “There’s no way that it can be her. That was the nurse…”

He shakes his head. “I saw it with my own eyes.” He sighs, looking tired.

“Then why…” I stare at my feet dumbfounded. Sarah wouldn’t do anything nice to me. Not after what she did a few weeks ago…

He scratched the back of his head. “I don’t understand her myself… but Sarah felt bad for what you went through today. That was until… Someone vandalized her bag.”

“What?!” I raised my voice in surprise. Nobody would dare cross her. I tried, and I failed. Wait… This means that she and her friends think it was me. I’ll never have a peaceful high school life.

Tears began to form at the corner of my eyes.

“The story doesn’t add up. If it really was you, then you would have gone home at a later time. I was able to prove this to Sarah.” His voice sounded soft. “I can’t say her friends won’t crucify you for this but… Sarah won’t… Hopefully, she wont.”

“I didn’t do it!” I cried. Why does this have to happen to me?

“Shh… Don’t talk too loud.” He pats my shoulder. “It’s better that you’re prepared for what’s to come, Vivian.”

He’s right. It’s me against the world. It’s obvious that he isn’t on my side… but at least he’s neutral about this.

“I get it now…” I look at him in the eyes. “Why Sarah picked you out of all the classmates to become president.”

He looks at me with his eyebrows furrowed. He did not like this topic.

“Ahh” I stuttered. “It’s because you’re very observant… and also perceptive.” my voice grew soft. “Even though you try to be at neutral grounds, you know when things aren’t right and you speak up about it.”

He looks down. “No… Sarah doesn’t think of me that highly.” His voice sounded bitter. “She picked me because--”

“Vivi! Deon! Dinner is ready!” My mom interrupted our conversation.

Noooooooo!!! I want to know why she picked him.

“Let’s go…” His voice felt empty.

Deon joins me, my mom and younger siblings for dinner. Dinner time was usually a time for our family to connect and share stories of our day. Our guest didn’t talk much, but he was listening to our conversations. Although my day was horrible, at least the debate club was fun. That is, until it was cut short by the horrible mess those witches put me through. My family didn’t need to know about that part. My mom noticed that I wasn’t exactly close to him, so she opened up a conversation and invited him in.

“So Deon, how is your mom’s restaurant?”

“Ahh… It’s doing well… My mom decided to add a few things in the menu since it’s strawberry season…”

“Oh! That’s great! Vivi loves strawberries. We should drop by sometime. Right, Vivi?”

“Y-yeah.” I responded awkwardly. It’s not going to be hell at his mom’s restaurant since I don't have any problems with Deon…

“Tell your dad I congratulate him for becoming the new City Lawyer.”

“Thank you.” He smiles a bit.

We continue on with our small talk over dinner. Deon was very polite to my mom. Even though we’re not exactly friends, it makes me happy to know that he’s looking out for me. I wish we could become friends.

After dinner, he thanks my mom for the meal, and I walk him over to the door.

“Don’t tell anyone I was here… Alright?”

“Okay.” I agreed, even though I felt sad that he said that.

He didn’t want anyone else to know that he talks to me. I guess he didn’t want things to become difficult for him. Not when Sarah might come after him next.