The bus chugged to a stop, breaking my train of thoughts.  Climbing in, I said good morning to Barb the bus driver.  Barb had driven me to school since first grade.  Barb greeted me and I found a seat with my friend, Maria.  Maria Ruiz had been a close friend since third grade.  She saved Summer and I from a group of bullies during a school break.  Despite being smaller than the bullies by a whole head, Maria never hesitated. Maria was a what my grandmother would call a spit-fire; others called her argumentative and some just called her a pain in the ass.  All I knew was that Maria was a strong, independent thinker, who didn’t hold back her opinions, even when she should. 

Marie was the same height as of me, at about five-five. Her face was almost a perfect heart shape with dark brows and eyes.  Keeping her hair long, Maria wore it half-up half down almost all the time; her hair was rich black, but reflected red under light. She possessed a wider nose and a large beautiful mouth.  Her skin tone was a deep caramel, tinted pink on her cheeks. 

“How was your weekend?” Marie asked as she tried to apply make-up.

Maria’s parents didn’t let her wear make-up, so she always applied it on the way to school and washed it off on the way home.  It seemed like too much work to me. I also thought Maria was prettier without it.

“Was boring.  Summer was with her mom.  You had that debate tournament and Kristy went to Florida with her parents,” I complained.

“You could have stayed on the debate team with me,” Marie pointed out.

Wincing as the bus jerked, Maria almost hit her eyes with her mascara wand.

“You’re going to lose an eye one day,” I laughed.

“Beauty is pain.”

“How pretty will you be with one eye?”

“I could make it work.”

Striking a model pose, Maria made a sultry face.  Smacking her arm, I giggled.  Maria was always sarcastic and funny.

“Right and I could be a supermodel,” I retorted with a snort.

“Hey, Eri, you are very pretty.”

“You’re my friend. You’re supposed to say that.”

“Come on…you know you are pretty.”

“I’m attractive, but you, Maria, are gorgeous.  Kristy, she is really, uh, well-endowed and Summer is ridiculously fit and has all that beautiful hair. I look like one of those mix-match dolls some kid put together.”

It was Maria’s turn to smack me. Wincing, I grinned.  Maria had no tolerance for self-pity.

“Eri, you are beautiful!  You are just too modest.  Who gets hit on the most when we go out?”

“I do, but by creepy old men, who are too old for me.  That doesn’t count.”

“Yeah, it does.  You’re the girl next door…the naughty school-girl. Men eat that up.”

“Great, so I should be a porn star?”

“Only if being a history nerd doesn’t pay off.”

I stuck my tongue out at Maria and she did the same.  We changed topics and began discussing our assignments.  Maria and I were in almost every class together, except Spanish.  Maria spoke Spanish fluently, so she tested out of our high school language requirements.

“Oh!” Marie said, remembering something. “So, I overheard my dad talking to my mom.”

Maria tended to eavesdrop.

“About what?”

“Supposedly there is a terrorist threat against the government.”

“When isn’t there?”

“Yeah, but my dad actually seemed worried.  He canceled our plans to visit my abuela in D.C.  She is coming to us instead.”

“Wow, that is serious.  What else did he say?”

“I don’t know.  He saw me and stopped talking.  He always acts like I’m too young to know the important stuff.  Like I can’t keep a secret or something.”

“Ugh!”

Rolling my eyes, I agreed. Our parents always acted like we were children.  We were almost done with our freshman year of high school for goodness sake.  So, we complained about our parents until we reached school.  Once there, we filed off the bus and found Kristy and Summer.

Kristy Jones was the tallest of us at five feet eight inches.  She was a girl with legs that stretched from the floor to heaven and was doubly blessed with a large chest.  Developing early, Kristy had always been self-conscious of her chest and only recently had started wearing clothes that didn’t hide it.  Her shoulder-length chocolate brown hair was wavy and streaked with purple highlights that she had recently adopted.  Kristy had large, round hazel eyes with thick eyelashes, a mildly rounded nose, and lips perfectly proportioned on the top and bottom.  Holding a sweet, innocent expression, Kristy’s face was halfway between an oval and circle with a small cleft in her chin. People often called her naïve, but I always thought of her as kind and loving.

Summer Holm, my best friend and sister, stood next to Kristy, grinning widely.  She embraced me quickly and then Maria.  Standing at five-three, Summer was the shortest of us, but she always had the most presence.  Her sharp green eyes, small pointed nose, and strong, angular jawline gave Summer a regal look.  Most people thought she was a snob when they first met her but only based on the confidence she radiated. An avid soccer player, Summer was the most physically fit among us too, with lean muscles that left her body toned, yet not bulky.  Summer was quick to smile, but, oftentimes, it was a patronizing smile, curving her thick upper lip up and thinning her bottom lip.  She had masses of tight ringlet curled yellow-blonde hair that her mother claimed was from some distance family from Peru, though any other signs of Latin ancestry had been lost among her predominately Danish background.  Summer always complained about her hair because it was so thick that most hairbands didn’t work, and it took forever to wash.  I, of course, was crazy jealous of her curls and so were most girls. 

“I am sorry we all missed your birthday on Saturday,” Summer said earnestly.

“It’s okay.  We will just celebrate this coming weekend,” I said.

I did not want them to know I had been really bummed.

“Well, we decided to make you something,” Summer grinned.

“What?” I asked excitedly.

“Follow us!”

Kristy grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. Giggling, my friends ran with me until we came to my locker. I gasped in joy and surprise when I saw they had decorated my locker. Colorful ribbons and wrapping paper covered my locker with notes from a great number of my peers wishing me a happy birthday. Huge glittered letters spelled out my name and happy birthday.  Opening my locker, I found a picture frame with a picture of the four of us on our first day of high school.  Hand-made coupons were struck to the frame along with a hand-woven bracelet with E, S, M, and K lettered beads on it. Almost in tears, I hugged my best friends, feeling blessed.

“Thanks, guys!” I mumbled into them.

“We know it’s nothing fancy, but…” Kristy said, actually crying.

“No! It’s perfect!”

 Some people cheered mockingly.  My friends and I flicked them off, laughing.  Drying our eyes, we kept laughing as we headed to class.  The rest of the day was uneventful until lunch.  As we gathered at our usual lunch table, the glee club approached, grinning like idiots.  My group looked at them confused until they began singing.  Right there in front of the whole cafeteria, they sang “Birthday” by the Beatles to me. Summer told me later my face was beet red and that I looked like a caramel apple.  As the song rounded to the finale, David appeared, singing a short solo.  If murder had been legal, I would have killed David right then.  When the song ended, David was on his knees holding out a present.  Everyone whistled and clapped as I wished the floor would swallow me up.  My traitor friends stifled laughs as the glee club disbursed and David stood to give me the gift.

“I just wanted to show much I care for you,” he beamed, panting a little from singing.

Unable to refuse, I looked at the present.  Inside was a flashy rhinestone and turquoise necklace.  I instantly hated it.  Nothing, but the centerpiece of turquoise, set in a cross like a star, was my taste.  Forcing a smile, I thanked David, who believed he had finally made progress with me.  Looking up from the necklace, I saw Ramiro watching me.  Instantly, I dropped my fake smile. Quickly, I turned from him and let my friends see the necklace. They made the appropriate fuss and trashed the necklace once David had returned to his table. After about ten minutes of my friends laughing at my expense, I couldn’t take it anymore and excused myself to the bathroom. 

In the bathroom, I tried the necklace on.  It was gaudy and bulky.  I loved the turquoise, but the rhinestones were too flashy and cheap for my taste.  Annoyed I took the necklace off and walked out of the bathroom.  A few feet down the hall was a trash can.  I knew it was callous and rude, but I tossed the necklace into the trash.  Before I could even take a step away from the trash can, someone grabbed me and wretched me backward.  Gasping, I fell back against the person.  Roughly the person shoved me against the lockers, and I saw Ramiro standing in front of me, his expression cold and emotionless. I tried walking away from him and he grabbed me roughly again, shoving me against the lockers. Wincing, I closed my eyes in pain and defense.

“Ramiro,” I gasped,

Opening my eyes, I stared at him wide-eyed.

“It’s rude to throw away people’s presents when they are just down the hall,” he said with ice in his words.

Blanching, I didn’t know what to say.  He was right and I knew it. I was embarrassed beyond words.  Staring at his shoes, I felt my cheeks get hot. Ramiro’s grip tightened on my biceps.

“Look at me,” he whispered.

His fingers bruised me, but I continued to look at his shoes.  Slamming me again, forcing the air from my lungs, he raised his voice.

“I said look at me,” he growled, his voice angry.

Slowly, I looked up at him. Ramiro was too close, his breathing slow and controlled.  My skin crawled and I felt fear deep in my stomach. A small smile came to his lips.  Why was no one ever around when he did stuff like this to me? How did it always happen that no one ever saw or walked in on it?

“Always look at me when I am talking to you,” Ramiro told me, his voice now like honey. 

“What…what do you want?” I asked, stammering. 

“I told you that throwing away a gift is rude.”

He pulled out David’s necklace from a pocket in his pants. Studying it, Ramiro made an ugly face, disgusted by the gaudy jewelry.  Stepping closer to me, he made me sure I couldn’t move and let go of my arms altogether.  With great force, he ripped the necklace.  Startled, I wanted to stop him and tried raising my arms.  Ramiro stood so close, my hands brushed against his hips and stomach as I raised them to grab the necklace.  Moving even closer, Ramiro forced me to use my hands to stop him from being too close.  With my hands posted against his chest, I couldn’t stop him from tearing apart the necklace.  After a moment, he stopped.  Reaching towards me, I flinched, instinctively closing my eyes.  Feeling his hands around my neck, I couldn’t breathe from fear. Then the pressure of his closeness was gone.  Opening my eyes, I saw him looking at me, his head tilted and the same small smile. Something weighed lightly on my chest.  Glancing down I saw a fine chain with the simple turquoise star on it.  Ramiro had ripped away all the gaudy rhinestones and left only the chain and star.

“I told him that it was too much,” Ramiro said as he wiped his hand on a rag that he also pulled from his pocket.

As he did, I gasped at the sight of streaks of blood.  He had cut his hands on the rhinestones. Instinctively, I began to reach out, to ask if he was alright, but I stopped myself.  Why should I care if he was hurt considering how he treated me?  No one asked him to use his bare hands to strip the necklace, even if it did look better now. My concern must have been clear on my face, however, because he smirked at me in what I could only assume was contempt. Then he turned and left me alone in the hallway. 

“Don’t take it off,” he ordered before he disappeared.

Confused, I rubbed my biceps which had his fingerprints bruised on them.  Ramiro was such a strange guy.  So quick to violence but then he would do something that could almost be considered nice.  I waited until he was long gone then made my way back to the cafeteria.  The bell rang just as I reached the cafeteria, so I just turned to head back to class. Shortly my friends caught up with me, still teasing me.

“That necklace is pretty,” Summer commented, noticing the turquoise star. “Where did you get it?”

“Actually, it's David’s necklace,” I admitted.

“What?  It doesn’t look a thing like that gaudy piece David gave you,” Summer said skeptically.

“Uh…someone fixed it,” I said, not sure if I should tell her what Ramiro did.

She looked at me and frowned.

“Who?”

“Does it matter?  It at least looks nice now.”

“I guess. Well, when you are ready to tell me, let me know.”

Nodding, I felt guilty, but not guilty enough to tell Summer.  Sometimes it was best to say nothing.

“Oh, by the way, Summer,” I decided to change topics.  “There were a bunch of men at the house today.”

“Really why?” Summer asked perplexed.

“Two were there to clean out the gas lines and two more to fix the attic fan,” I explained. “You’ll never believe how embarrassing it was this morning when I first bumped into the guys there to fix the attic fan.”

I went on to tell her about how I met Arkon and Bryan, wearing only a towel.  Summer appeared embarrassed for me.  Blushing, she asked how I had managed to keep my cool.  I told her I had no clue, but I wasn’t eager to see either of them again.  It had been just too embarrassing.

“Were they both like old?” Summer inquired, shocked by my story.

“Bryan was, but Arkon wasn’t too much older than us…he was actually really cute,” I admitted, blushing.

“I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.”

“Neither do I. I just hope they are gone by the time school is over and I will be grateful that I won’t ever see them again.”