Quashing Rumors

Dominique grinned and said, “Kid, you got a lot to learn about high school.There are no secrets here. That’s why everyone thinks you’re ...uh...well. I’m not going to spread that obviously wrong story.”  

Alana turned a deep scarlet. She hoped no one in her inner circle had heard the latest and worst rumor ever. But that obviously wasn’t to be.

“What?” Jake asked frowning. “What are they saying about you, Alana?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Sandy said patting Alana reassuringly on her arm. “It’s false and that’s all anyone needs to know.”

Jake looked ready to rip someone a new one. “It’s Luke, isn’t it? They’re saying stuff about you because of him. I told you this would happen and he probably doesn’t even care. Or he started the talk himself. I’ll kill him!” he shouted angrily.

“No, it wasn’t him,” Richard said miserably. “I was saying stuff in class, just joking around and ....someone must’ve heard and....I really didn’t mean to.”

“And you call yourself Alana’s friend?” Jake bellowed for the whole cafeteria to hear.

“Jake, please. It’s okay,” Alana said quietly. Oh, how she wished she could sink into the floor never to reemerge.

“It’s not okay,” Jake insisted. “What are they saying exactly?”

The girls exchanged looked. “They say she’s pregnant. It’s not just because of Luke. It was all over the school on Thursday that Alana fainted in Biology class. Someone said you were dying of a brain tumor,” Dominique said.

“Oh, dear God! Please, tell me you’re kidding,” Alana moaned, completely mortified. “It was the formaldehyde with the frog dissection and...oh...”

 “Yeah but then everyone saw you with Luke at church on Sunday and they just...well, you know, put two and two together and came up with twenty-nine. Silly really, when you think about it. You only just went to the dance with Luke on Friday,” Dominique said with a shrug. "You can't get pregnant in one weekend. Well, can but, you wouldn't know it until.. anyway."

“But they went out on the boat on Saturday and spent the night at the light house on Eagle's point,” Sandy added.

Alana blanched. “How in the world did you know about that?” she shrieked.

“Uh...I heard it from....uh.... Victoria in Home Ec class. She saw you and Luke getting sun screen at the drug store and talking about going out on Marc’s boat. She also said you should have grabbed some condoms too so you ...uh...sorry,” Sandy said.

Alana hid her flaming face in her hands.

 Jake stood up looking fit to be tied. “I’ll put a stop to any rumor right here, right now,” he said.

“Jake, please, don’t do this,” Alana said, close to tears.

“Pays to be student body president,” Sandy said smiling up at Jake. “Don’t you love a man that takes charge?”

“Jake, that’s not a good idea,” Richard said bracingly.

“They’ll listen to me.”

He stepped up onto the table pushing aside a lunch tray and bellowed for the entire school to hear. “Listen up people! There have been some blatantly false and harmful rumors spreading around about one of my very best friends. If anyone says one more disparaging thing about Alana Embrooke I will make it my life’s work to keep you in detention so far into the future that your great-grandchildren won’t graduate until you serve each and every one of them. I hope I made myself clear.” 

He glared all around him until someone piped up and said, “Who’s Alana Embrooke?” Talk started up in a fury around them all.

“Oh, Jake! You realize what you just did, don’t you?” Dominique said in a pained voice.

“I just quashed the rumors,” he replied, jumping off the table.

“No, you idiot! You just made it certain that anyone who didn’t know them before will know them now. You just threw gasoline on the fire and exacerbated the situation,” Dominique told him.

He looked horror-struck. “No...no, that’s not....”  

He glanced around him and saw to his disgust everybody pointing to Alana and whispering, sniggering and certainly talking about her.

“Oh, damn,” he mumbled as he sat down again. “Alana, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to....”

“Jake, it’s okay. They were all going to know anyway. Luke is popular. His friends told me he can’t sneeze without everyone wondering why.  And I’m a nothing. Of course, they’ll think whatever they want. I just gotta live with it.”

“But they have to know it’s all crap. You’re not like that,” Richard said dismissively.

She shrugged, defeated and weary. “They won’t care just as long as they have something to talk about. If it wasn’t me it would be someone else. You’ll see. They’ll get bored with me soon enough and start saying...oh, that Jake has mob connections that he’s using to intimidate anyone who ticks him off,” Alana said giggling. “You’re a great friend for caring, Jake, but this is one thing even the student body president can’t handle no matter how big your mob connections.”

He grinned too and gave her a quick hug just as the bell sounded. They all got up and headed to their next classes, going their separate ways. Jake turned the corner and ran headlong into Principal Castlebury.  

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Castlebury. Didn’t see you,” Jake said.

“That’s all right, Jake. Just don’t tell the mob on me. I’d hate to be rubbed out before the Homecoming game,” she said, briskly walking away.

“Holy crap! So much for quashing rumors!” he said.