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“Penny don’t be mad because Katie didn’t want to have one with you and Aaron. Making up stories about her because she shot you both down is so embarrassing. It’s sad really.” Raven hooks her arm back in mine.

A few onlookers laugh at Penny saying, “burn.”

We get to the bathrooms by my History class and she shoves me inside the door.

“So, Kai said you went to Jake’s and you never told me…what did you think of him? Did he ask about me?” Jeez, it seems like forever ago since that day and she is just now asking me. Her and Kai must not talk as much as I think they do.

“He’s nice. He did say you hadn’t been around, asked Kai about you.”

“He is so hot, right?”

I nod that he is, because Jake is hot if you like guys with long hair and that are a bit of a hippie.

“Come on, Katie, you can do better than that. Was his shirt off? I just want to lick his tattoos.”

I shake my head, laughing at her. So, Raven and Jake, interesting.

“Don’t say anything to Kai. Okay? Jake thinks he will be weirded out by us. I don’t think he would care, but I have been seeing Jake when I can. But it’s hard sneaking around between school and work.”

Is Jake why she is pushing Kai and me together? So, she can go after one of his best friends…I don’t want to step on toes, but I won’t be used either. For now, I will stay out of it.

“My lips are sealed,” I promise.

Maybe Kai already knows something is up between them. Is that why he seemed cold when Jake asked about Raven? Is he jealous?

I can’t stop wondering about Kai and Raven. I know I should just ask one of them, but I haven’t worked up the nerve to. I might not like what I hear.

By lunch, I have spun my thoughts into a web that is muddling all my thoughts. One thought leads to five more and those ideas lead me to places my mind shouldn’t go. There are so many unknowns. I can’t shake the feeling that Kirk somehow fits into all of this somewhere, but where…

I am the first at the table. I hate sitting by myself, I feel like people are staring at me. Darla comes over and says hi. “Hey, Katie.”

“Aren’t you afraid Penny will disown you?”

“I don’t agree with how she is acting, just wanted to see how you are doing,” she says, her voice going soft. Darla hasn’t spoken to me since I started getting slut shamed. I assumed she hates me now too.

“Couldn’t be better.” I smile at her and apologize for being a bitch to her. “Were you at Aaron’s party?”

“Yeah, it was brutal. Penny and Aaron were drinking a lot. He kept trying to go to his room and she told him no. Well, he blurted out in front of everyone that he should have asked you instead, at least then he knew he could get laid.” My mouth drops. What an asshole. “Penny freaked out, she smacked him. It was harsh. They went into his room. I left before they ever came out. So, I don’t know what was said after that.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“No problem.” She smiles, and I feel a little better.

Raven takes a seat across from me. I notice Kai isn’t with her. Darla excuses herself and goes to another table. I relay what Darla said to Raven.

“What a jerk,” she says. “So, I have to ask…did you sleep with Aaron? Please tell me no, Katie.”

Taking a deep breath, I tell her the truth. “Summer before ninth grade. I was on a church trip. Aaron’s dad had been transferred here at the beginning of summer. We spent a lot of time together at choir practice. I thought he really liked me, ya know. Well, we made out and he wanted to go further. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t stop him either. I was afraid if I said no…”

“That he wouldn’t like you anymore,” she says, angrily finishing for me.

“Exactly. Only he got what he wanted, and he stopped talking to me, and I never told anyone. When Penny started seeing him, she was so happy. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

“Trust me. I understand more than you know.” She picks at her tater-tots, lost in her own world.

Chapter 12

Kai wasn’t in art class, and I didn’t see him at his locker after school. Not that I was expecting to or anything. Raven walks part of the way home with me since she has to work right after school at The Grind. She keeps making me think she wants to tell me something, but she is holding back. She keeps fidgeting with the locket around her neck.


Tags: Glenna Maynard Romance