Whatever You Say

“We need your help.”

“And why exactly should I help the both of you?” Teddy asked us, looking bored in the lockers we once claimed as ours. He was sitting on one of the benches, leaning his head against the lockers. Susanne and I had asked him to meet us here at three o’clock. At that hour precisely, we threw our idea at him.

I spent practically the whole day thinking about what to answer to him. “You’re now an official outcast, just like the rest of us. You have nothing else to lose.”

Yeah, that sounded harsh, but it was the truth. Without The Swimming Team, Teddy was not a leader anymore; therefore, he meant nothing to the students of Feltch. Even if we did suck before…, I repeat, a leader was still a leader.

From the corner of my eye, Susanne nodded. “Yeah, I know she’s your girlfriend and all, but, she must’ve done some bad things to you. I mean, don’t you want to get back at her for what she did to you and your team, at least? Help me help C.J., at least.”

Teddy shrugged. “What has C.J. done for me?”

I sighed.

“How about not saying anything? If it weren’t for your girlfriend, none of this would’ve happened. What the principal did was simply state that it was wrong of you to bring the pills, but if you look at it closely, with Éirin out of the picture, all of you would’ve gotten away with it,” Susanne said before I had the chance to open my mouth.

Teddy stared at me, I only pursed my lips. Really. I didn’t know what to say after that. He sighed this time. “Yeah, you’re right. But I promised Éirin I wouldn’t care about what she does to me, so why should I care now and plot something against her? Besides, she’s not even my girlfriend anymore.”

That was just it. Teddy wasn’t going to help us in any way, I thought.

I held Susanne’s hand to indicate it was time for us to leave, but that didn’t stop Susanne from speaking up. And that was just one of the things that I loved about her. She simply wouldn’t shut up until something was ultimately solved, unlike me, who simply took whatever it was, in.

“But you did care about her, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did! She was my girlfriend.”

“But you also cared about how you felt. Only that you wanted to have her in that way that in no way at all. Just like John Smith in Pocahontas. I rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you,” she quoted dreamily. “Your vision is…similar…in a weird kind-of-way.”

It surprised me to hear Teddy’s laughter fill the entire room. Susanne’s hold stiffened meaning she felt surprised too.

“You girls are weird, but at least you got it right.”

Susanne smiled. “So will you help us? You don’t have to become our friend, but do it for others as well. Éirin has to be stopped.”

“I’ll think about it,” Teddy responded.

I felt Susanne’s enthusiasm hit the floor in just once second. I bet she was thinking the same thing I thought not too long ago. Teddy is definitely not going to help us. I guess for him our reasons were not enough.

“Thanks, anyway,” I whispered to him in a sad smile. I pulled Susanne by the hand reaching for the door for our way out.

“What are we going to do to get back at her, anyway?” he asked us from behind.

(*)

“First things first. We have to fix our relationship with the principal,” Susanne suggested. By vote, we decided she’d be our leader.

How lame can a vote for only three people in the room be?

Anyway, we were sitting quietly after school in the escalators. The bus was already gone, so there was practically no one around besides us. We made sure to double check our surroundings for eavesdroppers.

“You guys are such nerds…,” Teddy muttered.

“We agreed to work together,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, whatever. Susanne, why should we do that? I don’t care about that fucktard.”

“I know, but it’s the right thing and with us leaving school and all…”

“Us?” Teddy and I said in unison.

Susanne rolled her eyes. “You didn’t think I was staying here, did you, C.J.? I hope not.”

“Wait, you’re leaving, too?” Teddy asked me giving me an odd look.

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“We’ll explain later,” Susanne continued. “The thing is that C.J. wants the Swimming Team to reunite.”

“How the hell are we going to do that? The assholes almost killed C.J. and me.”

“They hit you, too?” I asked.

“Of course they did! But I bet I had even more chances than you did. I hit them back hard.”

I nodded. Of course he would fight his way back, unlike me.

“Focus,” Susanne warned seriously, earning a smile from me. She was so cute when she got annoyed. “Anyway, to get back at Éirin we can put urine in her locker, that’d be nice.”

“Gross,” Teddy commented.

“Urine? When are we going to get it? I’m not going to donate it, if that’s what you’re implying,” I said.

She sighed. “We’re smart. We can do something with the toilets in the school, so they can works as latrines.”

“Sounds like too much work,” Teddy said.

“How about fish?”

Ok, that made my head move back in laughter. “In her locker? Susanne, what is with you and lockers? The next thing you’re going to suggest, is it going to be tampons like in that movie Cassie?”

“It’s Carrie,” Susanne corrected. “And no, but I know how much it must’ve bothered the main character, so it could work.”

I looked over Teddy and he wore a look that simply couldn’t believe what Susanne was suggesting. “Yeah…”

Suddenly, Susanne jumped excitedly. “What about…! In her car.”

“Tampons?” I asked.

“No, silly, urine.”

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Teddy interrupted, getting our attention in a second. “All of the suggestions—not bad, but simply... Ok, no—they’re horrible. I think the best method in this situation is to find a secret of hers and expose her.”

“Expose her?” Susanne asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Through a video and we can show the video this Friday. I heard there's a game going on—a football game. It’s perfect for running away in case anything goes wrong.”

“Yeah, but we know nothing about her,” Susanne reminded him.

“You don’t, but I do. After all, she was my girlfriend.”