Battle of the Sexes

Travis looked at me.  “Sarah,” he said, “please go see if there’s any coffee left.”  I glared at him from the conference table and refused to budge.  I was so tired of playing his games.  I gave him my look, the one where I raise my left eyebrow.  He stared back.  I opened my mouth; I decided to let him have it this time.  “Just because I’m the only-“  He cut me off.  “Please don’t be insolent.  You’re the newest member of this Fellowship, and that means it is your responsibility to take care of the menial tasks the rest of us don’t have time for.”

Travis was very smart.  He was always reminding us of this.  He loved words, and he especially loved hauling them out and holding them above us like a mother bird feeding her chicks, passing out one word at a time, believing we were not only dependent upon him for nourishment but actually reaching out and squealing for it.

I stood up.  “Stop being such a jerk!”  I said.  “I’m not going to do your chores anymore!  You said I would be an equal partner, and instead I get all the jobs no one else wants!  Go get your own coffee!”  At the table, the other group members looked at me in shocked silence.  I didn’t care.  “Can I speak to you in my office, please?” Travis said to me in a low, angry voice.  “No,” I said.  “You can talk to me right here.  I’m sick of this boys club!”

“You asked to be part of this Fellowship,” Travis said.  “We did not invite you.  I thought you were smart enough to understand that I’m the leader of this group and I make the rules.  You follow them.”

Now I was mad.  “That’s it!” I shouted.  “I’m sick of you and your Fellowship and your stupid pink bracelets!”  I took mine off and threw it at him.

“They’re crimson wrist bands!” Travis screamed back.  “That’s how we know who’s a member!  And the Fellowship’s not stupid!”

“Well the name sure is!  Why can’t you call it a club like normal people?”

“Because it’s NOT for normal people!  It’s for smart people!  Which means you’re not in it!”

“Well if I’m not in it then it’s a dumb club!”

“FELLOWSHIP!!!” Travis hollered.  His face was the same color as his stupid crimson wrist band.

“Fellowship marshmallowship!” I said.  “Quit using big words just to sound smart!  You sound dumb!  Get your own stupid coffee!” I said as I kicked his juice box across the gym floor.  “And here’s your MAIL,” I threw a pile of worksheets at him, “and HERE’S. YOUR. PHONE!” I threw a beanbag at his head, but missed.

Travis pointed at me and laughed.  “You throw like a girl!” he said.

“You smell like a boy!” I shot back as I threw another beanbag.

Travis jumped.  “You capricious little gnat!“ he said.  “YOU were the one begging to be a part of this cl- I mean, Fellowship!”

“Ha!” I crowed.  “You’re so gross even YOU don’t know what you are!”

“Take that back!”

“Make me!”

Mr. Watterson, our teacher, began walking quickly across the crowded school gym toward us.  I knew he was going to ask Travis to “illuminate” our “conflict” for him.  He always talked with Travis like that.  Sometimes it sounded like they were speaking in code, and thinking about that made me madder.

“I QUIT!” I yelled before Mr. W. reached us.

“Good!” Travis yelled back.  “You were right!  It WAS because you were the only girl that I made you do all those things!  Because I knew you weren’t smart enough to be a partner!”

“I AM TOO!” I screamed.  I turned around and stomped all the way over to an empty corner and slammed myself down on the gym floor.  Boys were so stupid.  And I hated indoor recess.



My challenge this week came from Maren at http://supermaren.com/.  Maren is a mezzo-soprano and one of  Indie Ink's hosts!  The challenge:  "Use the following words in a story: crimson, fellowship, capricious, illuminate."  Check out Indie Ink for more information about the challenge.  Here are the other challengers' posts:

• A Lil Irish Lass challenges Amy: The Hands That Bind
• alyssa ammirato challenges Illogical Being: Junior & Me
• Amy challenges Head Ant: Bullied
• Barb Black challenges Jason Hughes: Four Horsemen, Three Gods, a Transgendered Devil, and Lazarus Under a Pear Tree…
• Binaryfootprint challenges A Lil Irish Lass: Glitter

• Blackbird challenges Dee: All That We Are
• Bran challenges Cope: Certainly the End of Something or Another
• Cope challenges Joelyn: It is Madness I Say
• D. R. Rux challenges transplantedx3: Faded Dreams
• Dafeenah challenges Mare: vengeance or justice or whatever

• Dee challenges K. Syrah: I’d Go Sailing
• Dili challenges Sir: Rain
• Disease challenges Random Girl: Hanging By A Moment
• FlamingNyx challenges Katri: The Mother City
• Head Ant challenges Mean Girl Garage: The Dinner Party
• Illogical Being challenges D. R. Rux: Idiots Amongst Us
• Jan challenges Blackbird: Mind Adventure Soundtrack

• Jason Hughes challenges Binaryfootprint: Hello Darkness My Old Friend
• Joelyn challenges Bran: Seriously, what the hell was I thinking?
• K. Syrah challenges melissa: Indie Ink Challenge
• Karla V challenges Disease: 7th Heaven
• Katri challenges Seeking Elevation: Indie Ink Writing Challenge
• Kerri challenges myplaidpants: Ordinary

• Lazidaisical challenges Jan: Ring
• Manju Vijayakumar challenges Karla V: The Witch
• Mare challenges FlamingNyx: Balance
• Mean Girl Garage challenges Tobie: Meanwhile In An Alternate Universe
• melissa challenges alyssa ammirato: Breaking Bread

• Michael Webb challenges Lazidaisical: Scraps
• Miranda @ My Eclectic Book challenges Tara Roberts: Better Now
• myplaidpants challenges Michael Webb: Young
• Random Girl challenges Sid: Indie Ink Challenge Week 2
• Runaway Sentence challenges Dili: Independence Day

• Seeking Elevation challenges xtinabosco: Grampa’s Memory
• Sid challenges Barb Black: Blank Canvas
• Sir challenges Runaway Sentence: Trouble & Woe
• Sunshine challenges Miranda @ My Eclectic Book: Wish Come True
• Supermaren challenges Kerri: Battle of the Sexes

• Tara Roberts challenges Sunshine: Hello Indie Ink Challenge Time Again
• Tobie challenges Dafeenah: Apocalypse
• transplantedx3 challenges Manju Vijayakumar: Why I Hated Mickey Mouse
• Wendryn challenges Supermaren: Creation
• xtinabosco challenges Wendryn: A New Breed