For Pete’s Sake

“I knew it had to be them!” she said. “They’re nothing but trash. They’ve already been suspended more days than they’ve been in school this year. I can’t believe anyone would listen to their bunch of crap.”
“Billy said he heard his dad talking, and Hubert said he saw you two together. You and Peter were down by the creek behind your dad’s barn, and you were kissing . . . and you know.”
Christie had to laugh. “Know what?” she asked.
“You know,” she repeated. “They said they saw you doing it.”
“Ump.” She stamped her foot and started pacing back and forth. “Doing it? What if we were? You can’t tell me half the girls in school haven’t done it. You know what really ticks me off, Peg? That you, my best friend, listens to these lies.”
“I was just trying to warn you, Christie. That’s all. Everybody is talking behind your back.”
“Sure. Sure.” She grabbed up her books and went to the door. She stopped and turned around. “Let me tell you something. As far as I’m concerned, no one in this school is good enough to even associate with Peter Reynolds. And that goes double for the Hagerty twins.”
She slammed through the door, but before it closed she came back in. “Oh, and another thing. He’s better than you are. God! He’s better than all of us. He’s smarter too. And you know what? He doesn’t even know it. You just wait. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll prove it to everybody.” She went through the door again and this time didn’t come back.
Peggy leaned against the sink and fumbled in her purse., found a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled deeply. Letting the smoke out slowly, she shook her head. “She’s crazy. That’s it. She’s just plain crazy.”
Christie ran into Billy Hagerty in the hall. He was talking to his brother Hubert. He grinned as she walked up. He was missing two front teeth. He hadn’t shaved, his beard a nasty stubble. She was told he had lost those teeth in a fight last year and didn’t have them fixed because he thought it looked cool. His pimply face was mixed with freckles. His greasy hair hung in his eyes, and his jeans were so dirty they looked as if they could stand up by themselves.
Billy Hagerty laughed and said loud enough that anyone left in the hall could hear, “How you and that Dummy doin’? I hear you been gettin’ it on.”
Christie slapped him so hard he fell back against the lockers. She continued down the hall without looking back.
There were few students left in the hall. The tardy bell rang, and most were already in their rooms.
Hubert laughed, and Billy hit him in the stomach. Hubert doubled over in pain.
“What did you do that for?” he cried.
“Just because,” he said. He watched Christie as she disappeared around a corner. “Bitch. She better watch her prissy little ass. I’ll get her, and I’ll get that idiot boyfriend of hers, too.”
“What’re you gonna do, Billy?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something.”