So so

They were both in the kitchen, and the brownies with chocolate chips were in the oven. One girl had streaks of red painted down her blond hair, while the other—a brunette—had pin-straight hair. She had no streaks. She was a beach babe.

The other friend said, “Did he come?”

“No.” The beach babe made a face. “Why?”

“Just wondering.”

“You look nervous.”

The tight brows furrowed, the puckered lips and the tightening and loosening of hands into fists spoke for her. “Yeah,” the girl said, going over to her and covering them. “You’re nervous Bobby never invited you. He waved at me!”

The other girl yelled that there was no way Bobby could have said anything. Bobby was the only guy who liked the blond girl. Who everyone called braces. Not Brace Face, but just braces. The girl pulled back her hands, which were fists. The other girl just laughed.

“You’re so fat!”

“You’re so dumb. Air couldn’t at least make up the inside of your head!”

The girls started swinging, the blond girl knocking a good punch in the other girl’s face. The scream of the beach babe and some blood as it splattered the face and countertop sent the other girl into a frenzy, she knocking the other girl over. “See whether I’m just braces now!” Her fists flew, the other girl getting all knocked up. The beach babe strived to avoid the blows, but they just kept coming. Finally, when the other girl got up and said something in her own country’s language, the beach babe put up her fists once she could stand all the way up.

“What are you even saying?”

“Doesn’t matter. you’re too popular to care. Why would you ask?”

The beach babe blinked. “You know, I’ve always wanted to be like you. You’re always so smart, a bookworm. Everyone’s asking me out. It’s the price I pay for such a—”

“Liar!”

The girl swung, her right fist going into the other girl’s already bloodied face. This girl ducked, and the first girl shrieked that she wanted nothing to do with her. She was so sick of watching her have the life she’s never gotten back in her own hometown. Now, that she had moved to America and spoke to other people in America—which could never have happened because English wasn’t allowed in her school—she thought she could make some friends. Maybe even meet someone who spoke Latvian.

But no. Marianna was too perfect to learn Latvian.

Anyway, the girl with red streaks running down her hair flew at her, fists flying. But the other girl got better, dodging every blow until the girl put her hands by her sides but the fists never disappeared. They always stayed fists, no matter what. When the oven beeped that time was ready for the brownies to come out, the girl with red streaks grabbed the oven door, whipped it open and slid the rack towards her so that the brownies went from metal to surface of the oven.

“Making brownies is fun. Too bad you’re not interested in eating them!”

“What’s wrong with you? We’re just making a fun snack. Don’t think it has to be this way.”

“It shouldn’t.”

“What shouldn’t?”

The girl kicked the oven door closed, and pressed Cancel button. When the oven was turned off, the other girl said, “Why can’t we just get along? This happened last time. When we were at the mall—”

“Save it for someone else, Maria.”

“Marianna.”

“Whatever!’’

The girl grabbed her phone from over across the table and snorted that Marianna could eat all the brownies, all of which would make her gain twenty pounds. Maybe if she were smart, she’d gain to be her, Alise. Someone who everyone at school said ‘uh’ at the end of her name. well, they did because it was her name, but they mocked it by dragging it out.

“Making me feel dumb.”

“I’m not.”

“What about that time when no one wanted to eat cake and ice cream with me at my fifth-grade birthday party? Everyone left before the cake was even pulled out. Or the time when your Halloween party went up in flames, and I dashed to the kitchen to get the fire extinguisher, and by the time I came back, the firefighters yelled that they had a handle on things. Or…” The girl’s eyes welled up in tears, and she wiped her nose. “Or, the sleepover at the cabin in New Jersey. We were together, but the jerk girl beside you on the bus never stopped talking about how fat I was. I was so embarrassed and you never did anything!”

“It’s not that I never did anything, Alise. It’s that I didn’t want to exacerbate the problem.”

“There you go, using big words to express yourself because you don’t want to admit I’m fat and stupid.”

Marianna tried not to look her over. “You just need to drop a few pounds.” She dodged another swing. “Please stop threatening me, Alise. We can be friends.”

“Yeah, after I—”

“Alise. We can be friends. I’m the friend here.”

“Yeah, after you cackled like—“

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah!” She balled her fists, and they went flying. Marianna dodged every one as she reassured her. “You—just—need—to—see—that—you’re—not—the—one—to—be—mocked—and—I—don’t—do—what—you—think—I—do.”

“Yes—you—do.”

Swings upon swings were just met with punches in the air, to which Alise responded by scowling. Marianna put her fists, and Alise punched, Marianna holding them in front of her face and using them to block like that of someone training someone in boxing. “See? You’re already a pro! Just keep practicing.”

Alise didn’t hear her. She just kept punching Marianna’s fists, which blocked her from any more blood or wounds.

The next moment, Alise said that they had that project in school due on Monday. Today was Saturday, Alise said. Marianna said that they hadn’t even started it. For the next few hours, Alise worked on it (her part), while Marianna worked on her part. By Monday, it was complete. The two girls showed off their work, to which the teacher applauded. The girls didn’t like their grade—they thought they deserved a little better than what they got—but they accepted it nonetheless. That night, when one of them said they’d be over to study for the huge test on Tuesday, Marianna cleaned her house and made dinner.

Alise walked into the house, as the door was unlocked. She walked in, the brownies covered in a tinfoil wrap. Smirking, she decided she’d go home. Marianna looked at her sternly. “I made dinner. I spent two hours making it!”

“Yeah, well, maybe you can—”

“Stop!”

It was a yell. Alise froze.

Marianna went over and smacked her friend in the head with a hand. “Shut up, Alise. You can teach people Latvian. But you shouldn’t take your hurt out on me. Please? You need to accept the things happening. I’m trying to help you. but you won’t take it. I’ll teach you kickboxing, and—”

A swing to Marianna, who dodged, but barely. The fist came. Marianna had just enough time to get out of the way. Then she said, “Hope you enjoy your freaking brownies, fatso.” She stormed over to them, grabbed them and shoved them in Alise’s hands, prying open the fists. Bringing her to the door, she pushed her outside in the now pouring rain. Alise went, not saying a word.

Alise didn’t see Marianna that day at school, and she shrugged when she had taken the test. Alise flipped over the test.

100%

“Alise, you’re doing so well in this class all of a sudden. You had a C in it, and now you’re an A student!”

“Oh.” Alise was very quiet. She gulped.

The teacher put a hand on hers. “I’m glad you’re doing well. You’re really studying, right?”

“Yeah.”

Alise’s lie slipped out like the truth.

“Good!” The teacher went back to her computer, swiveling her chair away from her student. Alise gave her a glare and walked firmly out of the class. She may think I’m working hard, but the stupidity of this school is almost too much to bear. When she got home, her parents were standing there at the front door, hands on hips. Her father glowered at her.

“Don’t get me wrong about this test—” He ripped it from Alise’s hand, which had been looked down on by Alise as she didn’t realize she had taken it from her teacher. “Alise. Next time, you can say goodbye to your graduation from high school.”

Alise gave her father a dry look. “I don’t care if I’m expelled. I hate school.”

“Why—because you cheated on your exam?”

Alise swung around. It was Marianna, walking up to her in her stiletto high heels. A pretty blue dress adorned her, while fancy jewels adorned her neck. Marianna looked like she would’ve stepped out of a limo and everyone would be drooling over her. Alise blinked, and then teared up. “I’m…I…” She licked her lips. A minute later, she whipped her head over to the slamming of the screen door as her mother glared at her.

“I heard you may have cheated—” Her mother jerked her eyes down to Alise’s arms and saw ink on them. “What is this, a joke? Alise, we thought you were better than this.”

“Apparently not.”

Alise stormed up to Marianna. “Where were you in the room today? I didn’t see you.”

“I sit in the back of the class.”

Alise’s hands balled. “Yeah—just like always.”

“Alise, what is going on?”

But Alise’s fists started flying, Marianna grabbing them and shouting in her face, “Liar. Cheater.”

“Let—me—go.”

 Alise repeated the whole matter, but Marianna repeated her own moves. Finally, after half an hour of flying over the radar, Alise, panting, said, “Wow. I think I might’ve lost twenty pounds!” Storming through the gap of her parents, she slammed the door behind her. The parents turned to Marianna.

“What’s wrong?”

Marianna said that maybe she was mad at her parents for moving? No, they said. She was excited to get to meet people who spoke English. Could it be…? Marianna stood there, thinking. She said that Alise was so angry that she would start getting into fist fights to justify something. but Alise didn’t say what was the matter. Marianna said she wanted to be a detective when she got older. Marianna, that is. She didn’t know whether Alise wanted to be anything. She never said.

Upstairs through her window, she saw Marianna talking with her parents. She blinked, and looked down. Does Marianna really want to be my friend? If she does, she called me… That night, she lay in bed. Does Marianna want to be friends? I feel…

She went throughout the week pondering whether Marianna wanted to be a friend. She watched her, seeing her invite her over with her friends, ignoring her so-called friends’ comments and even telling Alise what diet she could be on. she picked Alise first for gym class. and on the bus, she sat right next to her. waving goodbye as Alise walked off the bus, she smiled—genuinely.

So she really wants to be my friend?

Alise got called down by her parents. They told her she’d be expelled from the school should she cheat again. alise’s eyebrows furrowed. “I…I’d be expelled. Or I should be. No, I am!”

“No—there have been arrangements made.”

Alise stared. “What do you mean?”

Her parents looked at each other. “Well…we’ll let you decide.”

Alise said she wasn’t a detective.

“But how about you solve the mystery. By Sunday, I want an answer.” Her father said.

“Yes.”

Sunday came and went, but Alise couldn’t sleep that night. She got up and walked into her parents’ room. they were sleeping. She blinked. She swallowed. She walked out. Jumping into bed, she let the stupid mystery go. She wasn’t getting kicked out. but a funny feeling plagued her. did she even want to go to school? Everyone picked her last, telling her that if she just lost a little weight, then maybe she’d be able to even try out for sports. Marianna glowered at a boy for saying something like that. She never did say anything, she said, because she’d just incur the girl’s wrath. Every time she spoke, the other girl would just spit in others’ faces. That’s what happened at the girl’s previous fifteen schools—she was expelled for spitting. For spitting!

Over the years, Alise started—slowly—to talk to Marianna. She agreed to sit with her at lunch, smiled when she picked her first in gym class and waved to her warmly when Marianna waved and waved as the bus pulled away. but she didn’t make any attempts to call Marianna and thank her.

Some years later, Alise looked for Marianna.

“Where is she?” She grabbed a bar of candy off the shelf in the Candy aisle when her mother and she were grocery shopping. “I thought I heard her go to the mall.”

“She…” Her mother turned slowly around. “She passed away. she never made it to the mall. She got killed in the car wreck lead by her drunk friend. She didn’t know until she couldn’t really handle the steering wheel. and it was too late—she managed to ask ‘Are you drunk?’ before everything—the car, the sign, the glass-went everywhere, bent, broke and finally was smushed together.”

Alise stood there. it was like everything faded. Nothing mattered. The brownies flashed in her mind. She shut them out. she tore away, from the store, from her mother speaking reassuringly in Latvian, from the customers, from the employees. Everything went black—like she had gotten into a carwreck herself. she wasn’t hungry anymore. she ran all the way home, shutting herself in her room. she only drank water for three weeks. Food never touched her lips.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she held the paper at the podium, her hands trembling. “Marianna.” The first words of the funeral’s words came out of her lips.

“Marianna…” She took a deep breath, and said, “Marianna saved me from…from cheating in the future. I had this…” Then she went on. “I was cheating in school, but Marianna saved me from expulsion. She didn’t have to. She was such a kind friend. She and all her so-called friends I thought were jerks, but she stood out to me.” She wiped a tear off her face. “She was different. She sat with me at lunch, never minding the comments from her ‘friends’. She picked me first for gym class, ignoring the stares of the other volleyball players. I even lost some weight due to her.” She laughed. “But best of all, I don’t think she was ugly or mean at all. I threw fists, when I shouldn’t have. I punched her. I was ugly. I was mean. I was the mean girl. I hated her. And she guarded herself against me!”

Alise put the microphone down, walked off the stage and sat down, her black dress getting a little drenched as she sat beside her parents. Her mother and father looked at her. She nodded, and blew her nose after retrieving a tissue from the box on one of the stairs. That night, Alise talked with her parents as to whether to continue going to the school or be homeschooled.

“Alise, I’m afraid you need to accept yourself as is. You can’t keep hiding.”

“I’m sorry, Alise, but school’s only five minutes away. another school—”

“You can homeschool me.”

Both parents shook their heads. “No. I want you to get civilized.”

“Get civilized?” She yelled, backing away. Suddenly, her parents’ eyes bulged, and they stood up. Their hands grew gnarly fins, and their mouths were protruding forwards like they were—

“Barracudas!”

Alise panicked but remembered what Marianna had said. She prepared, fists ready. “I’m sorry, Marianna, that I attacked you! Here goes.” A punch to the face sent her father flying. They were underwater all of a sudden. Alise found she could breathe underwater, and she sent her fists flying. The parents were out of control, coming back every time she sent them flying with a swipe and a jab to the eyes. Screeching, they swiveled their tails like mad, their eyes big and bloodshot and evil, intending on nailing her every time. But she punched them so hard she sent both of them flying.

“Wow! It does pay off to trust someone.”

The barracudas kept attacking, no matter how many punches Alise sent at them. screaming in Latvian, she doubted whether her parents were really barracudas. Once she swam up and over to a deserted island, she swam and swam, overpowering the two. Alise finally dashed up the shore like mad. When she had made it to a coconut tree, she looked down, relieved she had a bathing suit. Panting, she took a few deep breaths and managed to see a thin outline of mountains in the distance.

“I know I can breathe underwater, but…” She chose to talk to them. Pointing out that maybe they never intended to move to America but stay in Latvia, Alise said it all. Her parents returned as humans, all of them going onto shore. But Alise didn’t trust them yet.

“Stay away from me.” She ordered. She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Because we’re jealous of you, Alise. We’ve been watching you…and we’ve come to the conclusion that—”

“Maybe I’m not who you want me to be. Well, neither was Marianna the way I thought she was. I’m not eating candy bars anymore.”

And she swam home, thoughts of becoming a detective in her mind. She smiled, knowing her friend would be proud.

Proud she didn’t punch anymore. 

College came, and college went.

But so did her Bachelor in Criminal Justice degree.

She saved her parents from getting in a car wreck.

They were proud of her.

Jealousy could go die in a wreck.