RE: Trailer Trash 57 pt 1 (Patreon)

“Hey, do you know Matt Haynes?” Alicia asked. “He’s uh—he’s the other, other Matthew. Apparently, he has a crush on you.”

“Uhh,” Tabitha froze in the action of setting her bookbag on the cold table of the quad. “Matt…?”

“Haynes,” Alicia repeated, sizing up Tabitha’s expression with a grin as if to determine whether or not Tabitha was faking her ignorance. “How do you know him?”

“I don’t think I do?” Tabitha gave Alicia a puzzled smile. “I just know, um, the only Matthew I know is… Matthew…”

To her embarrassment, Tabitha’s mind momentarily blanked on the last name of the Matthew she knew. For a moment she wanted to identify him as Casey’s Matthew, but that didn’t seem accurate. Those two were in a relationship, but she couldn’t speak on how close it was, and Matthew didn’t belong to Casey, per se. When she thought about describing him as Mrs. William’s son, she thought that was awkward, because Alicia wasn’t anywhere near as close to Mrs. Williams as she was and might not know who she was talking about—but that made her realize that obviously the direct descending relation to Mrs. Williams also made Matthew’s last name Williams. Obviously!

“Williams!” Tabitha blurted out. “Ugh! Sorry, it’s early—and I’ve been trying to remember so many people’s names that it’s making my head spin.”

“Right, right,” Alicia appeared amused. “Well, there’s a bunch of Matthews all at Springton High—I know of Matt Gilbert, Matt Haynes, and Matt Williams. Matthew. But, rumor is, is that Matt Haynes is interested in you.”

“So—” Tabitha finally settled her bookbag on the table and clambered a leg over the seat so that she could drop down. “Who is he? Have I met him?”

“You tell me!” Alicia laughed. “Have you had any classes with a Matt Haynes?”

“Uhh—I dunno?” Tabitha shrugged. “You mean back from first semester, or just from yesterday with my new classes? Either way… I don’t know? Not that I remember.”

“Ooh, ouch,” Alicia teased. “You’re the apple of his eye, and yet you don’t even know he exists! Brutal, Tabs.”

“No, I mean—how can he like me, if he doesn’t even know me?” Tabitha countered. “I don’t imagine we’ve spoken to each other? Or, at least, I don’t think a Matthew Haynes has ever introduced himself to me. I would remember—because he has the same name as Matthew. Matthew Williams, I mean.”

“Hmmm,” Alicia narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Yeah, you got me. I dunno. Here’s Elena, let’s ask her.”

Tabitha turned to see Elena on approach to them, weaving her way through the morning crowds with her arms crossed. The camouflage army jacket from yesterday was decorated with additional safety pins today, and the bits of metal embedded throughout evoked the imagery of punkish facial piercings. It made Tabitha wonder if her friend would go that route and start getting those eyebrow ones, or maybe a nose ring. Seeming to sense Tabitha was looking at her strangely, Elena arched an eyebrow as she strode up to them.

“What?” Elena asked, sounding grumpy.

“Do you know Matt Haynes?” Alicia asked. “He has a crush on Tabitha.”

“I know of him, I don’t really know him,” Elena answered, climbing up to sit on the table, with her feet resting on one of the seats.

It somehow seemed like a bold and shocking move, and when Tabitha quickly glanced around the back quad to see if that would get Elena in trouble, she only found one other guy who dared to sit up on a table, way across towards the band room kids. It seemed like something the wandering dean might scold them for, but perhaps the dean only kept an eye on the quad during lunch, because Tabitha couldn’t spot her anywhere now. Tabitha wondered if breaking convention and sitting on top of the table was a rebellious cool kid thing, and was sorely tempted to climb up and join her friend.

“You know of him, meaning, what exactly?” Alicia pressed for details.

“Him and um, Craig something,” Elena frowned, rubbing sleep out of her eyes with her sleeve as she tried to remember. “They were fighting with Chris Thompson, back that day Chris pushed Tabitha. Like, right after Chris pushed her. Didn’t hear about it until way later afterwards, but. I guess they got called up to the office about it, and got a warning? Neither of them got a suspension.”

“Craig Myers?” Alicia asked.

“Maybe?” Elena shrugged. “I don’t know him. I had Matt Haynes in one of my classes like, years ago back in Laurel Middle. But, we didn’t talk or anything. I just knew of him, I didn’t really know him.”

“So he went to your same middle school with you guys!” Alicia smacked the tabletop as if having an aha moment. “He probably knows Tabs from there?”

“I… doubt it,” Tabitha made a face. “Back then, to them I was just Tubby Tabby. No one cared.”

“Yeah… basically,” Elena nodded in agreement before realizing that doing so made Alicia scowl at her. “What? It’s the truth, sorry. The only one I ever remember hanging out with Tabby back then was Ashlee Taylor.”

“Oof, Ashlee,” Tabitha remembered. “I need to talk with her sometime today. Guess I should find her at lunch. First bell’s about to ring.”

“Forget about Ashlee—what about Matthew Haynes?!” Alicia protested. “Sounds to me like he was your knight in shining armor, back then when Chris pushed you. Right?”

“Ehh,” Elena huffed. “That might be a stretch. Like, I heard him and Craig squared up against Chris back then, but it wasn’t like a knock-down brawl, or anything. Barely a real fight. From what Candace said, they were just shoving at each other and shouting, basically.”

“If anyone’s my knight in shining armor, it’d be Michael, right?” Tabitha quirked her lip. “Since he’s the one who tackled Erica off of me at the party. Saved my life. He’s in my sixth period class, he has art with me. We don’t have the same table, though.”

“Nice,” Alicia nodded. “I have Olivia in one of my classes. History. It’s the same, she sits across the way and we can’t really talk besides saying ‘what’s up’ right when we get into class. She’s cool. Her and Michael seem cool.”

“Vanessa was asking about you,” Elena mentioned. “So, I guess she has a class with you now?”

“Two, actually,” Tabitha nodded. “My first and last periods of the day. She seems… alright?”

“She’s alright,” Elena shrugged.

Once again Tabitha was struck by the sheer number of names and faces she had to try to remember when she was making efforts to be social and maybe someday popular. Their small town high school didn’t even have a huge student body, and yet already she was feeling overwhelmed trying to track everyone and all of the various associations between them. People’s names, what grade they were in, what individual classes one had, and with whom, which clique or group they hewed towards, who they liked. The loner life of hiding out in the school library once again called to Tabitha, because she had no clue how she was going to keep up with everything that was going on without taking extensive notes.

Is it weird that I might actually have to start studying for the NON-ACADEMIC aspects of the whole school life thing?! Cram sessions before I meet up with a whole big group? Or, maybe I could organize everyone into spreadsheets? Hah, does Excel exist, back in ninety-nine? How do the actual real popular kids manage to track everything?!

“Lame that we don’t have any classes together,” Alicia groaned. “We should like—match up our schedules, see if some of us can transfer or switch classes or something. You can do that, right? Oh, and—Tabitha! I almost forgot, but I watched Trigun last night!”

“How was it?” Tabitha was thrilled to see Alicia liked her Christmas present.

“Uhh, it was only friggin’ awesome!” Alicia bounced in her seat. “Ohmigod, I love it. Vash. One minute he’s this stone cold badass, and then the next, he’s just this total doofball! It totally got me with that, I was laughing my ass off! And, it’s so well animated! Like, the very first episode, with everyone’s bullets just demolishing that entire bar? I rewound it and watched that again and again. Like, holy crap.”

“I’ve actually only seen the other Trigun!” Tabitha admitted, embarrassed. “Way on years later, there’s a CGI one, it’s all computer animated. I actually haven’t seen the original hand-drawn animated one! I knew it would be good, though. Vash is great!”

“Whoa,” Alicia blinked. “They make a computer animated Trigun? So, I guess it’s kinda like Reboot? Or, Beast Wars?”

“Umm…” Tabitha searched her memory, but she’d never heard of those two before. “Maybe? If—”

Her sentence was interrupted by the bmmm bmmm bmmm bmmm tones of the bell for first period echoing out across the quad from the school speakers, and Tabitha gave Alicia a wry smile. That was another thing she would need to adjust to—the time before first class wasn’t anywhere near as long as their lunch period, but because their little group tended to sit in the same spot, she had been getting comfortable as if they had an entire lunch period to chat.

“There we go again,” Alicia stood up with a groan. “Catch you guys at lunch. Tabs, you bring your Gameboy today? Pokemon?”

“I, uh—no,” Tabitha admitted. “Tomorrow, maybe?”

“Alright, fine,” Alicia waved. “Later!”

“Later, guys,” Elena dropped down heavily from the tabletop.

*     *     *

Bobby was waiting expectantly by the bleachers for Tabitha to arrive for Personal Fitness, and when he made a beeline to come greet her she became aware of several of the other girls she’d spoken to yesterday standing by with stiff postures. Watching them, as if unsure to approach them now.

“Tabby! Hey, g’mornin’,” Bobby seemed thrilled to see her. “Yer lookin’ mighty fine this mornin’, li’l lady.”

“Dammit, Bobby,” Tabitha quoted in her best approximation of a Hank Hill voice.

Vanessa wasn’t here yet for the girls here to gather around, and from some of the crossed arms and exchanged glances, Bobby’s arrival had disrupted some unspoken rule of balance. Embarrassed at being so on the spot—and mortified at immediately being made to remember last night’s dream where she’d been planning to kiss Bobby—Tabitha gave everyone an apologetic smile and waved the girls over.

“Guys, this is Bobby,” Tabitha gave awkward introductions. “He’s… I guess you’d kinda say he’s like a class clown? Bobby, this is Marisa, and—”

“Class clown?!” Bobby protested. “Hold up, hold up—”

“Hi,” Marisa gave Bobby a skeptical look.

“Grace,” The girl from yesterday with thick-rimmed glasses supplied. “Hey.”

“Tiffany,” The heavyset friend joined in with a hesitant little wave. “Hi.”

I… never learned their names yesterday, did I? Tabitha tried not to blush. Marisa. Grace. Tiffany. Okay, with Vanessa too, we have our little morning group.

Coach Baylor moved through roll call at speed today now that she didn’t have to go through the do you want a locker room locker spiel with every single student, although Tabitha did notice half the girls here handed in money for a locker, while just about none of the guys did. To Tabitha’s dismay, after each individual was called up for roll, they were sent to jog around the track. Bobby took off, and then Marisa, followed shortly after by Grace and Tiffany.

Everyone except me, because my stupid note says I sit out from physical activity, Tabitha thought. ...Great.

Vanessa arrived along with a few latecomer stragglers and greeted Tabitha with wave, but was called up, warned about tardiness, and then sent packing right away to jog around the track. There, Tabitha watched the shorter girl hurried to catch up to Grace and Tiffany so that she wouldn’t be making loops alone. Everyone’s backpacks and a few jackets were laid out along the very first row of the bleachers, where Tabitha sat by herself while Coach Baylor paced back and forth with a slight limp, ready to blow her whistle at anyone goofing off.

“I could um, I could probably speed walk?” Tabitha spoke up, feeling terribly left out. “So long as it’s not actual jogging, it’s probably fine?”

“Sorry, Tabitha hon,” Coach Baylor shook her head in clear refusal, and then used her clipboard to tap her own knee. “Trust me, I know exactly how you feel.”

“Right, sorry,” Tabitha grimaced.

It was hard to complain about her situation when she would—hopefully—be allowed to run again just later on this week, while Coach Baylor here probably wasn’t going to be jogging ever again. The sobering reality of how injury could close the book on athletics for good put a damper on Tabitha’s mood, and although she did want to get to know Coach Baylor better now with this opportunity, it took her several long minutes of watching all of the scattered figures of the students slowly revolve their way around the track to find the words she wanted to say.

“Uh, if it’s alright to ask,” Tabitha cleared her throat. “What did you mean yesterday, with—with not wanting me to have anything to do with Coach Cooke?”

( 56, The vagaries of adolescence. | RE: Trailer Trash | Next, 57 pt 2 )

/// Sorry for the delay, have had an exceptionally difficult week.