“Are you asking me out on a date?”   Sam & Jess Chapter 23 ©2010 - Andrea Ribeiro

During the afternoon classes things went pretty much as they did in the morning. It seems everyone was curious about me and strangely enough many girls said it was about time I stopped being such a tomboy. Mostly things were better than I hoped for but there was some nasty remarks and name calling in the halls, nothing serious though.

The strangest thing happened just before my last class of the day. As I was walking towards my next class, someone grabbed me and pushed me against the lockers. I turned around and saw it was a jock called David, one of Tom’s cronies.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here? I knew you were a faggot, you little freak.” He said and grabbed me.

“Leave me alone!” I said and tried to escape from him.

“Not so fast little girly boy. I’ll show you what we do with faggots like you.” He said and prepared to beat me up.

I closed my eyes waiting for the punch but instead I felt him being jerked off from me and say angrily. “What do you think you are doing?”

I opened my eyes and saw Tom punching the David on the stomach and he said. “Don’t you dare touch her David. She and her friends are under my protection now.”

“Are you nuts? What’s wrong with you man? Can’t you see he is a faggot?”

“All I can see is a pretty girl that you were about to hit. If you ever do anything to hurt her again you don’t even want to know what I’ll do to you.”

“You are nuts, man. What happened to you?”

“I saw how wrong I was, now get the hell out of here.” Tom said and David left with anger in his eyes.

After David left, he came to me and asked. “Are you okay?”

“Y…yes, thank you.” I told him. I was a bit confused. Wasn’t Tom the biggest bully in school?

“I’m glad you are okay. He didn’t hit you, did he?”

“No. You saved me right on time, but why?”

“Let’s just say I had a change of heart okay? I saw how bad I was being and had an epiphany last night.”

“That means you are not going to bully me anymore?”

“No, it means I want to protect you, Joan and others. I would also want you to forgive me for being such a jerk to you before.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. You were a big jerk but you were never as bad with me as you were with Joan. If she forgives you I will do it too.”

“Then that’s settled.” He said happily. “She did forgive me this morning. I still can’t believe she could forgive me so easily.”

“I don’t know Joan for long, but I feel like she is a very special girl. Maybe she saw that you really changed. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and accept your apologies.”

“Thanks, Sam. It means a lot to me.”

“You are welcome, Tom. Now I need to go to my next class or I’ll be late. Talk to you soon, okay?”

“Sure, and call me Tommy, okay? I don’t want to use Tom anymore. Tom was a bully, but Tommy was always a nice guy before he became Tom.”

“Okay Tommy, bye bye.” I said and run to my next class.

  

  

I got to my next class right when the bell rang, I went to my seat and Steph sat next to me.

“That was strange.” I said.

“What?” She asked me.

“Tom.”

“What happened? Did he try to do something to you?” Steph said with a worried look on her face.

“No, he saved me from a bully.”

“What? Are you sure it was Tom?”

“Yes I am. He seems different though.”

“Different how?”

“I can’t really explain. It felt like the anger he had inside him left. His look now is gentle and warm, completely different from before. He even apologized for being a jerk to me before, can you believe that?”

“Are you really, REALLY sure it was Tom Arnold?”

“Yes, but he told me to call him Tommy from now on.”

“What? Do you plan to hang around him?”

“Not really, but I won’t avoid him either. He said he wants to protect me, Joan and others from now on. I think the least I can do is to give him a chance.”

“You are something else, did you know that?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You are a much nicer person than me. If it was me I wouldn’t have forgiven him.”

“I’m sure you would. You didn’t see how different he looks now.”

  

  

After the final bell rang, Steph and I met Jess at the front of the school so we could walk home together.

“Hey, beautiful. How did your afternoon go?” Jess asked me as we started to walk.

“Hey, It went pretty well mostly, a bit bizarre at the end though.”

“Something happened?” She asked.

“Yes, I was attacked by a bully.”

“What? Did he hurt you?” Jess said worriedly.

“No, he didn’t. I was saved by Tom Arnold.”

“Isn’t he the biggest bully in school?” She asked.

“It seems he is an ex-bully now.” I said.

“I still can’t believe it.” Steph said.

“I think he did change. I have no idea what happened but I’m glad he saved me today.” I told them.

“Are you sure it’s not a trick?” Jess asked.

“I’m pretty sure. If he was still a bully he would have joined David and beat the heck out of me.”

“That’s true.” Steph said. “That would be his style.”

“What do you say we stop talking about bullies and talk about something else?” Jess said.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like where are we going for our date on Friday.” Jess said.

“A date? With me?” I asked.

“Of course, silly. Who else would I go on a date with?”

“This Friday?”

“Yes, this Friday.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yes, Sam. Do you want to go out on a date Friday night?”

“Yes, yes, of course I want to.”

“Good, so what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I never went on a date before.” I said.

“What?”

“It’s true, Jess.” Sam never went on a date before. The old Sam was too much of a loner. We did hang out a lot together until last year, but we always were like sisters.” Steph said.

“Ohhhhh!! That will be so much fun. What do you think of a dinner and movie?” Jess asked.

“It sounds good to me.”

“That’s settled then.” She said.

“Oh, I have a problem though.” I said.

“What is that?” Steph asked.

“I don’t have anything to wear.”