The Most Beautiful Bully (Summit Middle School) Read online

  “Roberts!” Coach called out. “You ready to give this a go or what?”

  “Or what,” Carson whispered to Mai. “Sure, Coach, I’m ready.”

  “Did you read the entire handout that I gave you?”

  “Yes, ma’am, but—”

  “No buts! Get that mounting block over here.”

  The boys’ gym coach sent Holden over to the girls’ riding area to set the mounting block up for them. He gently rubbed Coco’s head before turning to Carson. “Hey, you’ve got this.” He gave her a wink as he ran back over to the boys’ area.

  Carson did everything that the handout said. She checked the girth of the saddle, adjusted the stirrup to her liking, put her left foot in the stirrup, and swung her right leg, kicking Coco directly on her backside.

  Before she knew it, Coco took five steps forward. There was nothing underneath her body but air. She fell to the ground in midswing. She could hear the students gasp. Then the laughter followed from the girls. And even worse, the boys too.

  Embarrassed and hurt, Carson ran to the restrooms with Mai right behind her. She could hear Coach yelling for her to get back and try again as she ran, but it was over. She would never get back on that horse or any other horse for that matter.

  “Carson, slow down!” Mai yelled.

  “No! That was humiliating. I want to go home. I knew that I should have never tried.”

  “Are you serious? That doesn’t sound like you.”

  “You barely know me, Mai.”

  “You don’t seem like a person who doesn’t want to try. You came here in the middle of the fall semester, didn’t you? That proves that you are a pretty brave girl. It was just a bad moment. You’ll be fine.”

  Carson looked in the mirror and wiped the tears that had stained her face. She didn’t want to see the other girls. She didn’t feel like looking at their faces as they mocked her, so she waited them out. She knew that if she sat here, she would be late to her next class. But it was worth the tardy pass.

  “Mai, you don’t have to wait with me. Go to class. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “I’m not leaving you. They’ll understand and give us a pass. No harm, no foul.”

  They heard the next bell ring. The girls’ locker room had emptied out. They left the restroom and made a mad dash for their lockers. But they found nothing inside. Their lockers were empty.

  Chapter 4

  An Embarrassing Situation

  Where are my clothes? My purse?” “Mine are gone too,” Mai said dejectedly. “Let’s see if Coach T took our stuff.” “Why would she do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Carson said, walking

  toward the coach’s office. They could see her prepping for her next class. “What are you two still doing here?” she asked in her brusque way. There was nothing soft about Coach T.

  “Do you have our clothes?” Carson asked sheepishly, wishing that she didn’t have to talk to this woman at all.

  “No, Roberts. Why would I have your clothes?”

  “Um … I … I don’t know. They’re gone. We don’t know who took them.”

  “Go to the office. Let them know what happened. Then call your parents for new clothes. Or go to class in your gym clothes.”

  “In our gym clothes?” Mai asked. She was mortified at the thought of going through the rest of the day dressed for gym.

  They walked back to the locker room. Other girls were now getting dressed out for gym. They sat down on the wooden benches and looked at each other. “What do we do?” Mai whispered to her.

  “We go to class.”

  “Like this?” Mai asked, looking down at the blue-and-white striped jumper that she had always hated. She couldn’t understand why they had to wear such ridiculous outfits. She felt like she had on a onesie. “I don’t know.”

  “I’m not calling my mom,” Carson said firmly. “She’s at work. Our things will turn up at some point.”

  They walked down the halls, past open classroom doors. At each door they could hear laughter. They looked at each other and rolled their eyes. This was going to be a rough day.

  Mai went to her class. As Carson entered her math class, she could hear the snickering. She was determined to ignore it. Even the teacher looked as if she wanted to join in. Carson walked over to her seat and sat down, pretending as if nothing was wrong. Her outsides were calm and collected, but her insides were turning flips.

  “Why are you wearing that?” Emma leaned over and whispered.

  Carson sat looking straight ahead and did not respond. She didn’t know who had set her up to look like an idiot. She didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing, vowing to find the culprit.

  Just as she began the assignment, Mrs. Brooks walked over to her desk.

  “Carson, may I speak with you in the hallway?”

  That was the last thing Carson wanted to do. Why would Mrs. Brooks expect her to walk out in front of the whole class again? The first time was brutal enough. Her eyes pleaded with her teacher. Mrs. Brooks understood and bent down next to her desk.

  “What happened? Did you soil your clothes? Is there someone who can bring you something else?”

  “Someone stole everything I own. My clothes. My purse. My shoes.”

  “Come on. You need to go to the office.”

  When they entered the hallway, Mai was standing outside talking to her teacher too. Carson could tell that she had been crying. She ran to her side.

  “Look, ladies. I’ve seen this before. It was a harmless prank,” Mrs. Brooks said to them.

  “Harmless? This is totally awful, terrible, embarrassing …” Carson started to raise her voice.

  “Calm down, Carson. It happens every year to somebody, but it’s kind of quick to make enemies so early. You just arrived on this campus, and already—”

  “This is not my fault. I’m going to call my mother.” She turned away abruptly from Mrs. Brooks and stomped down the hall. Mai was right behind her. “I can’t believe she said that this was our fault,” Carson fumed. Mai could see the steam rising off Carson as she made her way to the office.

  Soon thereafter, Carson’s mother showed up just as angry. “Are you okay?” her mother asked, grabbing her face and looking her directly in the eyes.

  They sat down across from Principal Buckley.

  “My daughter has already filled me in on what happened today, and I don’t like it. And I really don’t like that Mrs. Brooks told her it was her fault,” Mrs. Roberts asserted.

  “Were those her exact words?” Principal Buckley asked Carson.

  “Well, no.” She could see her mother’s body language shift. That’s what she had said on the phone to her mother. “But that’s what she meant. She said it ‘was a little soon to be making enemies.’ ”

  “Well, I don’t think that Mrs. Brooks meant—”

  “It sounds like Carson filled in the blanks just fine. And that Coach T, don’t even get me started. Telling my baby to go to class in her gym clothes.” She reached over and gently touched Carson’s hand. She started wondering if this was such a good idea after all. Carson had never been bullied or mistreated at her other school. And now this.

  “Mrs. Brooks is one of our best teachers. What she said … She was saying it out of concern. Mrs. Roberts, we are all adjusting here. This is the first year that our student body is up to three hundred children. In some places, we are still working out the bugs. Our original student body seems to be resisting the change.”

  “This is more than bugs, Mrs. Buckley. I’m taking my baby home today. Her purse was stolen. She was told to go to class wearing her gym clothes. This is totally ridiculous. I don’t know what kind of school you are running here.” Her mother quickly stood up. “You need to get to the bottom of this. There are cameras everywhere. Surely you know who took her things. And if not, you need to. Maybe Carson would do better after you worked out the bugs in your system.”

  “I assure you, Ms. Roberts, this will not happen
again. Carson will be fine.”

  Carson walked into the outer office and could hear Mai trying to explain what happened to her parents. Her mother sat quietly, looking regal.

  Mai’s father was furious. “What did you do? Why were these girls after you?” He looked handsome in his business suit. His features were chiseled. Mai attempted to answer his questions, but he wasn’t trying to hear what she had to say. He began to speak to her in Vietnamese.

  “I didn’t do anything,” she said in English, her head lowered. “I didn’t do anything,” she repeated between his rants.

  She looked up only for a second as she watched Carson leave the office. “Is that her?” her father demanded. “No more. This friendship is over. Do you understand me?” he asked.

  That was the last thing Carson heard as the doors to the office closed softly behind her.

  Chapter 5

  Pizza and a Movie

  It was their little group’s first weekend free. They could all hang out and be together. Carson, Mai, Finn, and Holden were an unlikely foursome as they strolled the teenfilled mall that Saturday night. They were armed with movie passes and coupons for free pizza that they won in PE. Though they didn’t have to all go at the same time, they decided that being together to celebrate their victory was the best thing to do.

  As they waited for their pizzas, they chatted and laughed. Finn played practical jokes on the other teenagers in the pizza parlor. He took their food when their orders were called. Normally this would upset patrons, but Finn was known for his wild pranks. They knew that he meant no harm.

  “Those Carver kids need to loosen up. That guy over there almost socked me when I took his food.”

  “Maybe they don’t want you breathing all over their pizza, Finn,” Carson said, understanding their position.

  “Hey, it’s all good. Life’s too short to care about all of that.”

  “You sound like you’re twenty-five or something.” Mai laughed. “You’re only twelve years old, Finn.”

  “You’re not talking much,” Carson said, watching Holden, who was too serious for a middle school student.

  “I’m always quiet. That’s just how I’m made.” Holden had no idea that his quiet nature made him even more appealing and mysterious to girls his age. They had been chasing him since kindergarten, and he had been running. Now he had met Carson. She seemed to be a nice girl. He liked what he knew about her so far.

  Carson wasn’t like the other girls at Summit. She didn’t come from money. She didn’t act like a snob. She was a down-toearth girl who liked to have fun. Being with her was enough fun for him, but he didn’t want her to know that. He was enjoying hanging out and getting to know her. No pressure.

  “I need to go to the restroom,” Carson announced. “You wanna come, Mai?”

  “Sure.” The girls went to freshen up before their pizza arrived.

  As Carson washed her hands, she thought it would be a good time to talk to Mai. She wanted to bring up what Mr. Pham had said about her. “What did your dad say about them stealing our clothes?”

  “Nothing,” Mai said, looking nervous.

  “Don’t lie to me, Mai. I heard him tell you not to hang out with me anymore.”

  “I don’t care what Father says about you. That wasn’t your fault or mine. It was the mean girls. It’s always the mean girls. Their faces change, but it’s always the same at Summit.”

  “So do you know who did it?”

  “No, but I’m sure Jessa had something to do with it. She’s a pro at getting others to do her dirty work.”

  “Yeah. Okay, let’s go. I bet our pizza is ready.”

  They walked out, stopping in their tracks as they watched Jessa and her friends eating their pizza and flirting with Finn and Holden.

  “What are they doing?” Carson was furious. “Hey, that’s our food!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed you were trying to lose weight,” Jessa said to Carson as her friends erupted in laughter.

  “Get some glasses, Jessa,” Finn said. “Because you need them.”

  “Yeah, well.” She turned her attention to Holden. “Hey, call me later,” she said, running her fingers through his hair.

  “Jessa is always so thirsty,” Finn said while she was still in earshot. She turned around quickly but knew better than to respond to Finn. She was not in the mood for one of his quick-witted insults.

  “I don’t like her,” Mai said when she was out of range.

  “She’s just misunderstood,” Holden said, taking up for Jessa. “She does have a good side.”

  “Well, I have yet to see that. She’s the spawn of the devil. Those girls following her are her evil minions.” Mai watched the entourage as they all sashayed behind Jessa, hanging on her every word. “It’s been this way our entire lives.”

  “Did you two used to go out?” Carson asked Holden.

  He shook his head. “She lives across the street from me. We used to play together. If there were such thing as arranged marriages in Texas, I’d probably wind up with her. She hasn’t had it as easy as people think. I feel sorry for her sometimes.”

  “I want to toss her in a garbage can sometimes,” Finn said, looking away toward the door and getting a laugh from the table.

  “Hey, let’s go to the movie. I hate being late,” Carson warned.

  They had the best time that night. Mai was the happiest of them all. She had never hung out with Finn or Holden. It took Carson coming to their school for them to even know her name. Now she felt as though she actually had friends.

  Mai didn’t care what her parents thought of Carson and her meager background. She made Mai fun, unafraid, and bold. Characteristics that she had hidden for a long time. Now she felt as though people were starting to see a different side of her.

  “Thank you so much for coming to Summit. I don’t know where you’ve been my whole life.”

  “On the other side of town!” Carson yelled as she got into her mom’s car. “It’s okay … I’m here now. Bye!”

  “Well, you look like you are having fun,” Carson heard a voice say from the back seat. It was Jody, her best friend.

  “Hey, baby,” her mom said. “Jody asked to ride with me to pick you up.”

  Carson immediately climbed into the back seat with Jody, looped her arm through hers, and rode that way all the way home. She caught her up on all of her drama: the locker scandal, mean girl Jessa, quiet boy Holden, class clown Finn, Coco the horse.

  Jody laughed with her at the funny parts and got mad when Carson got mad. She was truly her best friend.

  They pulled up in front of Carson’s house. Carson and Jody stayed outside, talking on the front porch swing. “Do you think that Holden likes you?” Jody asked her.

  “Why would you say that?” Carson asked, surprised.

  “It just sounds like he does. He could have gone to the mall, pizza, and movies with anybody. I think he wanted to go with you.”

  “I don’t know. I guess. It’s hard to tell anything with Holden. And Jessa lives across the street from him. There’s history there, but I don’t know the whole story.”

  “Yeah, well, be careful of that one. She reminds me of Ranisha at Carver. Jealousy is a dangerous thing. She may have even been the one who took your clothes.”

  “Yeah. You may be right. But at least we got our stuff back the next day. You know, Mai and Emma think the same thing about Jessa.”

  “Well, they’re probably right. I can’t wait to meet them.”

  “You may have to. I forgot to mention that Mai’s father hates me. She’s sneaking around to hang out with me.”

  “Wow, you have made quite an impression at SMS.” Jody laughed. She wished she could be there. Together, they would rule those preppy kids.

  Chapter 6

  Another Wounded Soul

  Carson was late for class again. It seemed to be the story of her life since arriving at Summit. She was still getting used to her new surroundings. She entered the restroom k
nowing she would have to get another pass from the office. She figured that they would cut her off at some point, but they seemed to be tolerant of her situation. She dashed into the second stall.

  She could hear someone in the stall next to her. It sounded like she was crying. She could hear sniffles.

  She whispered, “Are you okay?” But there was no response from the stall. “Hey, it can’t be that bad. I’m here if you want to talk.”

  She exited her own stall, washed her hands, and opened the restroom door. She didn’t leave the restroom, though. Instead, she stayed there, ready to be someone’s shoulder to cry on. She had been there. It wasn’t fun handling drama by yourself.

  Before she knew it, she was face-to-face with Jessa. I should have walked out when I had the chance, she thought.

  “You waited? You wanted to see me like this? Was this all your little plan?” Jessa was coming toward Carson like she was ready to let her have it.

  “Jessa, I didn’t know it was you in the stall. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have reached out like I did. I don’t want to get in your business. Later.” She turned to walk out of the restroom.

  “Wait!” Jessa cried, wiping the tears from her face. “I could use someone to talk to.”

  Carson took a deep breath before turning around to face the girl who had made middle school hell for so many people. She remembered what Holden had said, “She’s just misunderstood.”

  “Okay, shoot,” Carson told her as they leaned against the window of the restroom.

  “I think it’s divorce time in the McCain household.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “My parents had an argument this morning. All over some lady from his job.”

  “Do you think that he’s cheating on your mom?”

  “I don’t know what to think. Are your parents still together?”

  Carson had not planned on telling her anything about her own life. She was there to listen, not share. “No, they aren’t together,” she said, remembering a time when she felt just like Jessa. The fairy tale was long over for her.