THE HEALING WATER

 “Miss Stephenson, wake up!” Our math teacher, Ms. Davis, yells at the girl that’s sitting beside me. So, I shake her a little to wake her up and, as always, I get yelled at. 

 I’m the odd one out… the outsider… the water girl of the football team because I can’t play any sports. Whenever I attempt to play sports, my two left feet hold me back. “Don’t fucking touch me again, water girl. Now I’ll have to scrub my arm until it bleeds to get your nastiness off.” 

 I’m not sure how I have been deemed the nasty girl in school, but it has been this way for a few years now. Thankfully, this is my last year at this school, then I am off to college, hopefully far away from here. I have sent in all my college applications and am just waiting for the right one to accept me. I look over at Marie when she says something else to me. Then my best friend pipes in, telling Marie to take her cheerleading ass on over to the jocks and get her pussy sucked and leave me alone. 

 “God -Sydney, do you have to be so vulgar?” 

 “Ah, River, don’t start your good girl shit with me. One of us must show them assholes whose queen is around here, and it obviously will not be you.” 

 How I became friends with Sydney Lou Martin is beyond me. She is the opposite of me. She is the life of the party, says what’s on her mind and doesn’t give a crap about what anyone thinks of her. From head to toe, she wears black clothing, with black lipstick and nail polish. She’s beautiful with her long black hair, her blue-green eyes and her hourglass figure. Where I have red to the point, it’s almost orange hair, ash gray eyes. I’m 5ish and a little on the heavy side, weighing in at about 150 give or take. Guys love to look at my best friend and ask her out on dates left and right, which she turns down because she plays for the same team. She’s never made me uncomfortable with her sexuality by making a pass at me or anything. And truthfully, if I wasn’t her best friend and didn’t know everything about her, I wouldn’t have known she liked girls. She has only had one girlfriend in her lifetime and it only lasted for about 6 months, so maybe it was just a phase and she doesn’t know what she wants. 

 The bell for this class to end has finally rung, and it's finally time for lunch. So, Sydney and I make our way out the door and down to the cafeteria, where we wait in the salad line so I can grab myself a salad. Once we get my salad and I pay the cashier, we make our way over to the pizza station so Sydney can get herself a pizza. One of the football players is in line to get a pizza and, of course, he couldn’t resist a jab at me and my weight. 

 “Damn water, girl.! Shouldn’t you just stick to the salad you have in your hands? You keep eating unhealthy foods like pizza. You’re going to get too big to run and fetch me my water.” 

 “Thanks for your concern, Arron, but it’s unwanted and needed because all I’m eating today is my salad.” 

 “You do not have to explain anything to that douche bag,” Sydney hisses at me. 

 “I was being sarcastic, Syd.” 

 Sydney rolls her eyes at Arron, then leads us over to our table. Luckily, I made it to my table without a hitch. Normally, I end up with most of my food on me before I get to my table. 

 “Are you okay Riv? “Sydney asks me once we get sat down. 

 “Yes, I’m used to it by now.” 

 “Wow, River Rock just walked in.” 

 My skin instantly heats at that name. Rock (James Martinez) is not only the hottest guy at school. He is the quarterback and captain, and my biggest hater at Scotts high. To make matters worse, his mom is dating my dad. 

 “Hey water girl, go get me some food.” Rock says, coming over and sitting down at our table like he owns it. 

 “Fuck off Rock.” Sydney says, then gets up and positions herself in between us. I guess she thinks that’s going to stop him from harassing me. I go to get up and get him food so he will leave me alone, but my friend is not having that. 

 “Sit your ass down.” Sydney growls. 

 “Just let me do this Syd so I might eat in peace today.” 

 “You’re going to eat in peace, anyway. I will make sure of it,” Sydney says between clenched teeth. She really doesn’t know what she starts when she does this. 

 Surprising, Rock gets up and walks over to get his own food, then goes and sits with his girlfriend and the other football players. I get to eat my food in peace for the rest of the lunch hour. Once the bell rings, Sydney and I head to our next class. We make it through our last couple classes and then it’s time to go out on the football field to make sure the team has plenty of water. 

 I wonder if I could get away with putting some laxative tablets in their waters see how good they practice having to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes. 

 “Yo water girl, get your ass over here with the damn waters,” Damion, the linebacker, yells at me. Making me jump out of my daydream. 

 You know I’m not the only water girl out here, but I’m the only one that gets picked on. I really don’t understand what I have done to make them target me. Unlike Tiffany, who's dry humping Rock's leg while giving him water, I'm quiet and keep to myself. 

 Walking towards the table, I put some more water glasses down on it. Then I walk over to the guys that are standing around waiting to get on the field to see if they want any water. “It’s about damn time, water girl.” Most of the guys say, but there are some. The freshmen thanked me. But that will soon change once they hear what the other guys call me and the way they treat me, then they will start doing the same. 

 Once that set of guy’s head on the field, the ones that were on the field head off it, so I do the same thing for them. I walk up to them and pour water into the mouths of the ones that want water and get shoved to the side by the ones that don’t want water. God, I really don’t know why I am doing this… I really hate football. But it's either this or having to hear my dad complain about me not doing anything. 

 By the end of practice I have everything packed up, and ready to head to the locker room when Rock and his friend Damion walk up behind me, pushing me so hard I fall and the bottles in my hands go flying around the field. 

 “Oh, damn water girl, I didn’t see you standing there.” Rock says, then bends down to help me up to my feet, but I slap his hand away. 

 “Now, now, River, is that anyway to treat your sum to be stepbrother?” Rock chuckles. 

 God, I hope not. 

 “My dad will never marry your mother. He loved my mother too much.” I spit at him and he sees red. Rock lifts me up off the ground by my shirt, hauling me into his body. “You listen to me, you little bitch.” 

 “James Martinez, put River down right now.” Coach barks at him and Rock chunks me to the ground and I land on my butt hard. Once everyone heads to the locker room, I get up and start gathering the bottles that went flying a minute ago back up and put them back in the bags. Coach must have stayed behind because he helped me with the bottles. “You know, Ms. Darby, you really shouldn’t let them boys treat you that way.” 

 I know I shouldn’t, but I really don’t have any choice. “Thanks coach I say.” Once he helps me up and gives me the bags to carry to the locker room. 

 “River, I’ve known your dad for a long time, and I don’t think he would be too happy to know how bad things are for you at school.” 

  “No offense, coach, but you must not know my dad as well as you think you do, because my father couldn’t care less.” I walk on into the locker room without another word. Once I’m done with everything, I make my way out to my 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee that my dad got me last year after I found out he was dating Rocks of all people’s mom. The one person it seems besides my father that hates my guts. 

 Ms. Gabriela and my mom were college friends, and they stayed friends throughout their adult years until my mom did what she did when I was about 5 years old. I barely get into the cab when my phone rings with my dad’s name coming across the face. I answer it on the second ring. 

 “Hello dad.” 

 “Hello River.” Dad answers back. “We are meeting at the restaurant tonight. I would like for you to go home and dress appropriately.” 

 “Can I sit this one out, Dad? I have tones of homework to do tonight.”