Peer Pressure?

Crash! Hailey fell down in the middle of the spin. Mr Guller walked over to her, his face a deep maroon color. “Jenny, what in the world was that?!” She stood up. “Umm, a spin-jazz hands combo? I just… tripped.” She turned to glare at the reason she fell - Tammy Sanchez, mean girl, popular, pretty, catches the eye of every guy. Her middle name was “evil”. 

   They went to high school together, and every day there, she was tormented, ridiculed, intimidated. For no reason, whatsoever. And now, Tammy was trying to get Hailey kicked off the dance team. They were doing a performance at the Christmas Extravaganza, and it was less than 36 hours away. 

   “What kind of spin was that?!” Mr Guller yelled, bringing her back to reality. “Again, I tripped,” Hailey said. Mr Guller’s face deepened in color, if that was even possible. “Bullshit! Take 10, everyone!” He stomped off to his office, most likely to scream in rage or makeout with a cardboard cutout of Jessica Alba.

   Tammy sashayed over to where Haily had dropped herself. “The poor man… I’d think he would just be fed up with your stupid little mistakes by now, don’t you?” She said in a singsong voice. Hailey stood up again, standing a good 2 and ½ inches above Tammy. “Why do you hate me?” She asked. She was furious at this brat, but she couldn’t do anything to her, as her father was good friends with the principal of the school. 

   “I don’t hate you.” 

   “Then why must you make my life hell?”

   “Peer pressure?” 

   “If your dad wasn’t tight with the principal…”

   “What? You’d beat me up? You’d trip me? Guess what, Hailey, you wouldn’t get a chance! The only time I’m not surrounded by my adoring fans is when I’m in the bathroom. But one time I did find someone in there…” 

   “Ugh!” Hailey stalked off. She walked off the stage into the wings, backstage, out of the auditorium. She walked down the hallways until she reached her locker. “35-12-why is she so mean?” Haily asked herself, putting in her code and popping the lock off. She dug through her backpack to find her phone, and she unlocked it. No new notifications. Well, there was one from her mom, but that didn’t count in her mind. 

   Laughter rippled down the hall from the auditorium, but Hailey ignored it. 

   Mom: I’ll pick you up at 5? Love you, be safe! <3

   Augh, moms. She glanced at the time. 4:36. Twenty-four more minutes. She heard Mr Guller screaming at everyone to hurry back to their spots, so she put her phone back in her bag, locked her locker, and ran back to the auditorium. She got to her place just as the music started, and she started dancing. 

   Step, step, shimmy, kick kick, swoop, turn, wiggle, shimmy shimmy, back step back step, point, 2, 3, 4, step step, shimmy, kick kick, swoop, “Whoa!” 

   Hailey toppled on top of Tammy, who had just tripped her, again. Mr Guller slammed the pause button, and stomped towards Hailey. “Hailey, stop falling!” He screamed. “I didn’t! Tammy tripped me, again! She’s trying to get me kicked off the team!” Mr Guller looked at Tammy. “Is this true?” 

   Tammy stood up. “No! I might have accidentally tripped her, but I’m not trying to get her kicked off!” Mr Guller turned his head slowly towards Hailey. “Hailey, it is one thing to be late, to mess up, or to fall. But falling on top of Tammy, and lying?! I AM THIS CLOSE TO KICKING YOU OFF THE TEAM!!” He screamed, showing her his pointer finger and thumb, just an inch apart. 

   He stalked off into the wings. Tammy walked over to Hailey. “I expected more from him. Perhaps kicking you off. Sad.” Hailey whipped around to glare at Tammy. She had tears in her eyes and her face was red. “Aww, you gonna cry?” Tammy asked in a crybaby tone. She really didn’t like talking normally. 

   Hailey had had enough of Tammy’s bullshit. She had been dealing with it since grade 7. So, instead of talking it out, she balled up her fist, and aimed right for Tammy’s perfect face. Tammy fell on the floor, and everyone immediately surrounded her. Before anyone could glare at her, go tell Mr Guller, or anything, she ran.

Hailey ended up walking home. All she wanted was peace and quiet for Christmas. It was one and a half miles to get back home, but she didn’t care. She walked in silence, tears falling down her face. She really hated being pushed around and bullied. She also hated violence, though. She knew that she would probably be suspended, and her parents would ground her until her 21st birthday. 

   When Hailey finally got home, her parents were standing in the dining room, looking worried. She closed the door, and her parents looked up to see their daughter. They rushed towards her, saying how scared they were, how worried, and “don’t do that ever again!”.  

   She was looking down the entire time, but when she looked up, her parents asked what was wrong. Apparently, it was very evident that she had been crying. She tried to hold back tears as she told them that she punched someone, but the water flooded the dam. Her parents hugged her while she cried. They told her that she would be grounded for three days, no phone until then either, but she didn’t care. 

The three days went by fast. She was still sad, and her parents were slightly disappointed (especially when they had to pay $485 for abuse to Tammy’s parents), but they still had a wonderful few days together. Then, the day before Christmas, her parents woke her up at 4:30 in the morning. They brought her to the car, and they started driving. 

   She woke up at 5:03 at the airport. Her parents led her through check in, security, and finding the gate. First they stopped at Starbucks for breakfast. “OK, I’ve held it off long enough. Where are we going?” Hailey asked. “You’ll see,” her parents replied. After 10 minutes, an announcement came on overhead. 

   “Attention. Flight 294 to Hawaii is now boarding. Flight 294 is now boarding.” Her parents grabbed their carry-ons and stood up. Hurriedly, she stood up too, thinking they were preparing to get on another plane. But they started walking to the Hawaii gate. Hailey’s eyes widened as she watched her parents turn around and motion for her to follow. When she finally did, next stop, peace, quiet, and Hawaii.