“Do you want me to do something? I could make a phone call...”
“No!” I snapped. He had said it with only good intentions, but his face moved from concern to shock. My fast-beating heart plummeted; I didn’t mean to offend him. “I mean, no, thank you. Cynthia will be great in the role, though she may come off as more of a floozy than a crazy girl, but, whatever.”
“That’s not what I meant, Jos. I meant about the guys teasing you. I could always pick you up from school in the Lotus; that would stop them in their tracks.”
“They would only say I paid you.” I smiled at him. I loved Ryland when he got like this; he was an incredibly caring guy.
He didn’t return the smile. Instead, he looked at me as if I had just sold his precious car, to buy a long board made of solid gold. “Joclyn, I don’t like them making fun of you, especially when they say things that are not true. I mean, really! You, not bathe. I can smell your shampoo from a mile away.”
“How do you know that’s not just the perfume I use to cover up the almighty stench?”
“Joclyn.”
“Ryland.” My glare was no match for his; his blue eyes cut into me. “It’s all right, really. It’s not like there’s anything you can do.”
“I have a full Rugby team who would gladly fight for your honor.”
“What, do we live in 1740 now?” I laughed. He didn’t. Strangely enough, he was serious. “You would fight the Eagles’ Landing football team for my ‘honor’?”
He nodded.
I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “Why? I mean, no one cares about me. I disappear in that school. They only said those things because they couldn’t even remember who I was.”
“I care about you, Jos, and I don’t want people talking about you like that.” My heart sputtered for a moment before I turned to him, making sure the mark below my ear remained covered.
“That’s why you’re my best friend, Ry, because you care. You are the only one who knows me.” I smiled at him in a desperate attempt to convey that I was okay, that the name-calling didn’t hurt, even if it did. I could tell he wasn’t buying it. He could always see through my looks. “I’m fine, Ryland. Honest.” I waited, but he didn’t say anything. I could just see him barging into my school with a dozen other guys in dark blue blazers. Ugh. “Ry, I am asking you as nicely as I can manage to not do anything. I can handle it; you don’t always have to protect me.” I tried to put as much energy into my voice as I could. I am not sure it worked.
“All right, I won’t do anything. It’s just a crappy way to spend your birthday.”
“That’s okay. I got a great shirt, soon to be skirt-combo out of it, which I will never wear. So, no harm done.”
“You know, you really should wear...”
“Don’t start, Ryland,” I said, falling back on his bed.
“You just need the right accessories, is all.” He spoke quite calmly as he placed a small wrapped box on my chest. I sat up, letting the box fall into my lap.
“What? Are you asking me to marry you?” I scoffed the words, but I still couldn’t take my eyes off the box.
“Hell, no! I have been engaged to Cynthia McFadden for years. Didn’t you know?” He pushed into my shoulder, almost knocking me over. “Just open it.”
I moved back to a sitting position like a weeble toy. I couldn’t say anything; the richest guy in the state had just given me a jewelry box. Part of me didn’t want it, but the girl inside of me forced my fingers to rip the paper off.
The box was back velvet, soft to the touch. I caressed it like the box itself was the gift before opening it to reveal an inside of soft black silk. Nestled into the shiny silk was a teardrop-shaped ruby the size of my thumbnail. The beautiful jewel was suspended from a fine silver chain. A beautiful silver wire wrapped around the Ruby in swirls and spirals that joined it to the chain. I could only stare at it. I knew without asking that the ruby was real. The necklace was worth more than my mother made in a year.
“Do you like it?” Ryland’s voice was soft, entertained by my reaction as he chuckled at my solitary head-bob of a response. He grabbed the necklace out of the box and then moved to place it around my neck.
“Sorry it’s not a car,” he laughed, “but your mom wanted to give you a full new outfit for your birthday and forced—eh, recruited me to help. I thought this would set off the diamonds in your eyes. I think she will do anything to get you out of those hoodies and jeans.”
I looked down at the necklace that now hung around my neck, my voice coming back. I moved my hair out from under the chain careful not to show that dreaded mark.