Jello Shower
Cyn Bagley (c) 2009
Ann, curled in a cushioned chair near the bed, looked back at her book as she tried to control the laugh that threatened to burst from her. She controlled her features and tried to listen to what Mattie was saying.
"It went so wrong," Mattie said plaintively. "so horribly wrong." She was almost in tears.
Ann, put down her book on the dressing table next to her, and then asked, "What happened, honey?"
Her thirteen-year-old daughter pouted. "You know I've been having troubles in school.”
Ann's urge to laugh dried up with those words. Mattie had not talked to her about her school troubles, but she had noticed that when it was time to go to school Mattie was always too quiet. She seemed to get more colds and flus since she started high school.
"Well, there are a couple of cheerleaders in my gym class. And, they do things like open the curtains while I am showering. It gets embarrassing sometimes."
Ann knew some of what Mattie was going through. In high school, Ann had been considered a geek and wasn't good at sports. She had had her share of girls pulling down her skirts and taunting her in school. The school officials were supposed to stop bullying, but it was still a problem. But maybe more of a problem since it was easier to bully with social media.
Ann had survived her experiences. But, it was different when it was your child who was being tortured.
"A couple of my friends were also getting harassed so we decided to pull a great Halloween trick." Mattie's eyes gleamed. "John got some green jello," she continued "and I put the jello in the shower heads during gym."
"How did you get away with it?"
"Duh," Mattie looked up at her mother. "I told the gym teacher that I felt sick. She sent me to the office."
Ann listened.
"If I had just gone to the office afterwards," she wailed. "But, I wanted to see their faces.”
"And?"
"Well like a stupid idiot, I hid around the lockers and waited for the girls to come in. They ran in like usual and went straight for the showers. One of the girls screamed when she turned green. Of course I peeked and they saw me."
"Did they hit you?"
"No," Mattie looked down. She blushed under the orange. "No, they just grabbed me. One of the girls had pumpkin orange food coloring in her purse because they had made pumpkin cupcakes today. They rubbed it into my hair and skin. SEE."
She showed her arms to Ann. Once again Ann tried not to snort. But it was too much, she fell on the bed next to Mattie. She roared and rolled on the bed.
Snort. Snort. Oh, oh, this girl would be the death of her yet.
"It went horribly wrong," Mattie said again, astounded at her mother's reaction. “I have nothing to wear with this color.”