Spencer's Face (Buckeye Hawks) (10 page)

“Your friend isn’t going to
cover for you either. Roberta told me that Sandy was with Alan Friday night.” Vicky
yelled even louder to Taylor.

“
After
Dwayne. Just ask
Dwayne.” Sandy told her quickly. It kind of made her sound like a slut
admitting that she was with two different guys, but girls seemed to do that a
lot out here.

“I did. He wouldn’t tell me
who it was. That means it was Taylor.” Vicky told Taylor.

“No it doesn’t. I would tell
you if it was me. It wasn’t me. I was with Spencer all night long.” Taylor
argued with her again.

“Like I believe that you’d
kiss that.” Vicky said, pointing to my face.

Damn! What a bitch! She was
no beauty queen by anyone’s standards. The guys made of fun of Dwayne for
dating her because she was so big, and so uncoordinated. She was rude and
crass. She was a big girl with a fat face. Who did she think she was?

Zane grabbed Vicky around the
waist and held her. I followed suit and grabbed Taylor around the waist. She
had a tiny little waist. I liked holding her.

“Just let it go.” I said to
Taylor. “She’s not bothering me with that.”

She wasn’t. I’d heard it all
before. I only hoped Taylor wasn’t listening. I hoped she wouldn’t decide that
she no longer wanted to date me after hearing everything Vicky was saying. Especially
after everything Terri said the other day.

“You’re such a bitch, Vicky.”
Sandy said to her meanly. “No wonder Dwayne wanted to make out with me, and
every girl he came in contact with Friday night. You’re a bitch. Who would want
to kiss you?”

I laughed at Sandy. The girl
had some spunk. She’d better be careful. Vicky may take them both down.

“Show her the hickey.” Taylor
told Sandy.

Sandy pulled the neck of her T-shirt
down some to show off her hickey that Dwayne had apparently given her Friday
night. “He sucks at sucking neck by the way. This actually hurt.”

“And, you know that’s the
exact place he likes to give hickeys too. Don’t you, Vicky?” Taylor asked her. She
pulled down the neck of her T-shirt to show her that she didn’t have a hickey.
“I don’t have one.”

Vicky’s face flashed full of
anger. She lunged toward Taylor, but Zane’s grip stopped her in her tracks. I pulled
Taylor to the side quickly thinking that Vicky was coming toward us. I wasn’t
sure Zane could hold Vicky back, but he did.

“I will kill you for that
one.” Vicky yelled to her.

I didn’t understand why Vicky
didn’t believe Sandy. She had the proof on her neck, but she was still out for
Taylor. It didn’t make sense. Maybe she had some hidden agenda here.

“Me? Why? I’m not the one
with a fresh hickey on my neck. I think she’s got one on further down, too.
Don’t you Sandy?”  Taylor taunted Vicky. Was she trying to get herself and
Sandy both killed?

“I do.” Sandy said, but with
a mischievous smile on her face as if there were something going on between her
and Taylor. “I can’t show it out here in public though. That would be slutty.”

Taylor laughed at her. “And,
my best friend is not a slut. But your ex-boyfriend is.”

Zane and I were both
laughing. Girls talked a lot before fights for some reason. Guys just slugged
it out and were done with it.

“I will kill you for that one
too. When I see you without these two guys, I will kill you.” Vicky threatened her
through gritted teeth. “The only guy that will have you when I finish with you,
is that ugly guy next to you.”

I saw Taylor’s face fill with
anger over that comment. I couldn’t believe she cared that much. Her entire
body stiffened in my arms. She wanted to beat her up. I knew there was no way
in hell she could, but her just wanting to, made me feel so good.“Zane. Let her
go.” she said through gritted teeth.

“Taylor. No.” I said to
Taylor. It was enough that Vicky’s comments upset her so much.

“No way.” Zane agreed with me
wholeheartedly. He didn’t want Taylor creamed any more than I did.

“I need to be back from my
three day suspension before the game Friday night. Let her go please.” She said
calmly but with determination.

Zane and I looked at each
other, debating on what we were about to do. Were we about to let Taylor get
creamed? She’s too pretty to be walking around school with a black eye or a
busted lip. Zane let Vicky go. I let Taylor go. Vicky lunged at Taylor with
both hands and pushed her hard. Taylor swayed backwards, losing her balance but
didn’t fall to the ground. She’d caught herself before she went down. I wanted
to close my eyes. This was going to be gruesome.

Vicky came at her again,
pushing her again. Was this a pushing fight? Taylor pushed her back, but Vicky
didn’t move as easily as Taylor had. Vicky was a lot bigger than Taylor. She
slugged Taylor in the chest hard. Ouch! That hurt me to see it. I could tell Vicky
had never been a fight in her life. She pounded Taylor’s chest. Her technique
was so girly.

She swung at Taylor again
aiming for her face this time. Taylor easily dodged it this time. Maybe I’d
written her off too early. She was really quick. Then Taylor took a swing at Vicky’s
face. Her technique was not at all girly. She made contact. Good contact. Way
to go, Taylor!  Vicky bent over and grabbed her face, surprised that she’d been
hit. She stood up straight again, holding her face. She was mad as hell too.
She struck out again with her fist, but Taylor blocked her punch. Damn, I
hadn’t seen that move since my boxing days when I was thirteen. Vicky swung at
her several times. Taylor blocked every punch that came her way.

Vicky kicked at her. She
couldn’t kick very high. She was overweight and couldn’t get her leg up very
high. Taylor jumped back a little, reflexively, causing Vicky to miss her
completely. Taylor did a round house kick, and kicked Vicky on the side of the
face. It knocked Vicky off balance. She swayed away from Taylor. Taylor
immediately dropped into a fight stance with two fists in front of her chest. Damn!
Was Taylor into Karate or something? That was a smooth move. Maybe there was
hope for her yet.

There were a lot of cheers
and boos. The crowd of blood thirsty kids had gathered around us. Zane was
yelling out instructions for Taylor. I wasn’t sure she was listening though. I
didn’t say anything.

Vicky looked at her
completely shocked, as she shook her head to shake off the kick. I could tell
the pain was catching up to her. Then Taylor dropped to the ground and did a
leg sweep. She knocked Vicky’s feet out from under her. Vicky fell backwards,
hard onto the pavement. Damn. That was a kickass move. I couldn’t believe she’d
gotten the best of Vicky. I would have bet money on Vicky if I’d been betting
on this fight. Judging from the rumbling comments from the crowd, they were
thinking the same thing.

Taylor jumped on top of her,
sitting on her stomach. She held Vicky’s hands to the ground with her knees,
pinning her. “I was not with Dwayne Friday night, Vicky!” She yelled at her.

Vicky wiggled and bucked, but
then she finally quit resisting and became still. She’d given up. She was still
very upset. Totally pissed. She huffed and hissed.

“And, don’t you ever say
anything about Spencer again!” Taylor warned her before stepping up off of her.

I loved that part. The crowd
had really thickened, and she was yelling out that she liked me enough to fight
for me. It looked like the whole fight was about me. I beamed with pride.

Two security guards walked up
and took Taylor and Vicky to the office. We walked behind them, along with the
crowd. School fights were always exciting, but this one was really exciting. I
couldn’t believe that Taylor had kicked her ass.

While Taylor and Vicky were
in the principal’s office, Zane, Sandy, and I waited on the verdict. Several
kids came by to comment on the fight to us. Everyone was thoroughly impressed
with Taylor.

“Vicky thought she was going
to kick her ass for sure.” Sandy said, bragging on her friend. “I think that’s
why she wanted to fight her instead of me. She thought Taylor was a wimp
because she’s a little cheerleader.”

“I sure didn’t think she’d
kick Vicky’s ass.” I told them. “She’s twice her size. Where did she learn to
block punches like that? And, kick like that?”

“Her dad used to be a Green
Beret.” Zane told me.

“Cheerleading!” Sandy laughed
the word out.

“Wow! So her dad taught her all
of that?” I asked.

“Every weekend. He trains all
of his girls like they’re soldiers. Taylor hates it. I bet she doesn’t hate it
so much now.” Zane relayed the information to me.

Funny. I didn’t know that
about her, or her dad. She definitely had an interesting family history. We
wondered how many days she’d get for this. It was so unfair that she was going
to get suspended. First of all, she didn’t make out with Dwayne. Second, she
didn’t start the fight, but she sure as hell finished it.

Zane and I decided that maybe
we could help her out somehow. We walked into the office where Taylor and Vicky
were. The office assistant tried to stop us, but we barged in anyway. Sandy
waited outside. We were determined to at least try. That’s the least we could
do for Taylor.

“Coach Robbins. This was not
Taylor’s fault. She was pushed into this. She didn’t want to fight. Vicky
attacked her.” I spoke first.

“Yes. It’s not really fair
that Vicky can just bully anyone she wants into a fight, then they get
suspended too.” Zane added. He’d known Coach Robbins a lot longer than I had. “We
just wanted to say that we saw the whole thing. Taylor didn’t want to fight,
but she had no choice.”

I nodded. I hoped he would at
least listen to us. He shook his head, then dismissed us.

“I’ve heard you. Now, you two
can leave.” He said to us.

We knew that was all we could
do. We waited outside with Sandy for the punishment to be delivered. Taylor and
Vicky walked out together. Vicky had a really pissed look on her face, but
Taylor was smiling.

“How did it go?” Sandy asked
as she hugged her.

I wanted to hug her, too, but
I didn’t feel like I knew her well enough to be hugging her just yet.

“One day suspension. I can
come back tomorrow. Thanks to you two. That helped.” She told us.

“One day? I’ve never heard of
that.” Zane said. He was excited.

“I was really lucky.” She
said. “So, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow. My parents are going to ground
me for sure.”

I rubbed her arm. Sandy and Zane
both hugged her. She turned and walked toward the parking lot.

Mom was surprised to see me home
during the day. I handed her the note and told her my side of the story. She
flipped out. No, she completely freaked out. I don’t think I’d ever seen her
that mad, and especially not at me. I was the good kid, the one that didn’t get
in any trouble. She was so disappointed. She assigned me the entire house and
dishes for the coming week. I had to completely clean the house, not just the
sweeping and the mopping, but wash the walls and clean behind the bookcases. Oh
boy.

She took my phone, and
grounded me for two weeks. I could still cheer, but I had to come home right
after the game. No parties and no dates in other words. That one hurt the worst.

I had all of my chores done
by the time Daddy came home. I knew it would look better if I’d resigned myself
to the punishment. I was in the living room cleaning when he came in the door.
Mom was waiting for him at the door with the note that the principal had given
me. She handed it to him.

“Your daughter got in a fight
today at school. She’s suspended until tomorrow.” Mom told him.