Sara strolled up the hill. Oddly enough, Copperhill was named after a real hill, unlike Rosehurst, or any other hill-named area in town. Copperhill was more than just the school name; the whole area had at one time been owned by the Copper family. But, that was years ago, and the hill was now home to several dwellings, along with the school; the school had been rebuilt twice. Once due to fire, the other time for asbestos. Since last year, it had been a junior secondary school; there were juniors all around Canada, but for some reason, Lamberton had held out: as had a lot of BC. Now that things were all screwed up around here, with two high schools providing for a mass amount of citizens.. the people around here were continually griping that everything was going downhill. Schooling was insufficient, health-care was questionable.. the government was certainly in a bad place. Everything looked grim.
Somehow, Sara tended to ignore most of it. Sure, she read the newspaper, and occasionally watched TV news.. but it just never sunk in that any of it could really affect her. Beyond being stuck at a minimum wage job for the rest of her life, she didn't think too far ahead.
Her shallow musings were cut short by the sight of Robby coming to greet her. She waved tentatively. They hadn't seen each other in almost a year. Sometimes things like that didn't matter; in the case of Robby, having a random phone call from, after so long, sort of jolted her in to a la-di-dah state of mind: We used to watch movies, stay up all night, and chase each other around with popcorn. Robby grinned, coming over to ruffle her spiked hair.
"Aw, c'mon, Robby -- I worked all morning on that!"
"You should have known it would be too tempting, then."
There was a moment of awkward silence. The last time they'd talked, Sara's uncle had died. She hadn't been close to Uncle Red, but, all the same, a death is a death. She could almost bet that he was thinking what she was: How long will it be 'til next time? It went unconfirmed. "Wanna sit at the school for a bit? Nostalgia's good for you," Robby asked, breaking her out of her glum thoughts.
Perking up, she nodded. Forgetting momentarily that Robby was the sort of friend who waited for others to call him most times, they headed to Copperhill Junior Secondary.
"Ah, Chuh-Juh-Sss," Robby said, waving a hand at the building. Since being revamped, there were more portables, and some evil minion had repainted the exteriors of everything pastel green and yellow. It reminded Sara of the guy on the bus.
"Ugly as shit, I know," Robby said, jerking a thumb at the now shrubbery-less front doors.
"You read my mind. This looks fucking awful. I don't get it; they say that they're cutting the budgets more and more, but yet, this school gets fresh paint every year. It seems that the broker the system becomes, the uglier the palette gets."
They followed the path around the building, heading for the field. Trees dotted the borders. "Shade, or no shade?" Robby inquired.
"I'm aiming for shade. It's hot as ass out here."
"Pussy."
"Yeah, I's got one -- gotta problem with that?" she drawled.
"Possibly," he said, tipping her a wink.
"Oh yeah?" She challenged, trying to push him over.
"Yeah -- and, how's that for shade, over there?" Robby asked, fending her off. He pointed to a tree behind the batting cage.
"Eh.. sure!" She said, shoving him. He toddled a few steps to the side, then came back to push her in return. She hit the ground. "Hey doof, I wanted to lie down under the tree," she said, holding up a hand to him. He pulled her to her feet. She dusted her self off, then sprinted for the tree.
"Hey, wait!" Robby shouted.
"Fuck no. Hurry up, slowpoke!"
"What..?" Robby called, before dashing after her. He caught up easily. "What?" He asked again.
"What-what?"
They reached the tree. "Nevermind," he said, sitting down first. He said cross-legged, and she collapsed to the ground in an L-shape beside him. Shifting, Robby sat with his knees up, and roped his arms around them.
"So, how's your craptastic summer going?" Robby asked.
"Oh, me? I don't know. It's not like 'summer' anymore, not with a job, anyway."
They both lapsed in to silence, staring off at different parts of the field. The uncomfortable quiet lasted only as long as their solitude in the field. Baseball players showed up at the far edge of the field, and headed their way. "Looks like we gotta move," Robby said, with an unidentifiable tone in his voice. Sara just nodded. They got up, and headed for the pastel high school, once again.
They sat under a tree, watching the baseball players set up. It was an adult game, consisting of red shirts, and blue shirts. It was a local setup between women who all got together, and so on.
Robby snuggled in close and attempted to steal a kiss. She pushed him aside. "Robby!"
"C'mon; don't deny it. You know that we've been waiting to get together since grade 9."
"I JUST broke up with Teddy--!" she protested, getting to her feet. "Or, did you hear, and that's why you asked me here today?"
"I, ah—"
"I knew it. You fucking bastard. You thought you'd bring me down here, hint all night long.. tow the line, and aim for it. Well, let me tell you something, fuckoff: I am not a docile dirty ho. I am not someone easily defeated by persuasion and boasting of sexual prowess. Fuck you, and fuck your shit!" She stormed off, huffing to herself. That goddamn, insufferable cock-in-a-box. That motherfucker. That.. that.. ASSHOLE!!
!! (asshole--asshole--asshole) !!
"Sara, I—"
"Can it, crap-caperer," she voiced, stalking off to the bus stop. Robby got up and began to follow her.
She whirled, almost twisting her ankle. "Stop," she commanded, her face flushing. He halted. "Just leave me the fuck alone. I'm not supposed to be seen as an easy lay; I was your best friend. You actually think this little of me? Fuck."
"I –"
"Don't make me conjure up the biggest, burliest, badass fag I can find to fuck you up the ass. Don't make me hunt you down, because you just couldn't let me go –"
"Err.. Sara? I just wanted to hand you your bag. Overreacting much? Fuck; no wonder Teddy left you…"
Sara just stood there, mouth agape, her mind shell-shocked. What will I tell myself later about this? Was I in the wrong, or was he? Were we both?
"Yeah, well, you know what, fuck you, too, Sara. I had a thing for you this whole time, and I just stupidly thought it was time to act on it. Thanks for rejecting me in the worst way you could think up." And, under his breath, "Fucking cunt; wasn't like this in high school…"
I wasn't like this in high school..?