“Twice in one day. Stalking is a crime,” I say over my shoulder, not needing to see his smug face.
He kicks the back of my Chuck Taylor with his giant jerk foot. “You wish, frog lips.” My cheeks flame in anger at the name Aaron called me earlier. Great, more ammunition for Kai to annoy me with. I didn’t think he had heard what Aaron said. I hope he doesn’t say anything to Penny about it. I don’t want her getting mad at me.
The kid in front of me moves up two spots, and I stumble forward trying to keep my place. Kai is right on my heels.
“Shouldn’t you be…I don’t know in the bathroom, burning toilet paper or something?”
“Nope,” he pops the p.
I continue pushing my tray along the service line, getting a fruit cup and a water to go with my soggy nuggets and sweet potato fries. I’m able to escape Kai when he has to stop and pay for his food. I meet up with Penny and Becks at a table in the back of the room, away from all the cliques.
“Did we just spot you talking to Kai Cooper?” Penny raises a curious brow at me as I take my seat. “You have a thing for him, don’t you?” She teases.
“Shut up,” I quip, hitting her in the center of her forehead with a fry.
Becks laughs as Penny scowls at us both while digging into her salad. Aaron doesn’t eat lunch with us. He has second lunch with the rest of the jocks. I really don’t get what Penny sees in the guy. She says we don’t get to see his sweet side. They don’t have a thing in common other than their good looks. Penny actually has a personality. Aaron has the personality of a grey wall. I don’t get it at all, and he is such a dick. But if I say anything, she will turn against me. I don’t ever mention anything to Becks about it, because he would try to defend my honor, and then Aaron would kill him.
“Kai Cooper is bad news Katie. You shouldn’t talk to him,” Becks warns me. I hate when he gets all big brother on me. No guy who talks to me is ever good enough, according to him. He always finds something negative to say about them.
“Why is that Becks? Do you know him personal? Has he done anything to you?” I ask, suddenly feeling defensive of Kai. Strange. It must be because he stuck up for me with Aaron.
“What’s up freak and geeks?” Darla slams her tray down on the table with extra force, interrupting my conversation with Becks. Freak is a term of endearment coming from Darla. I don’t know what to make of her. She sorta flutters from table to table during lunch every day. She likes to have a friend in every circle. She’s such a future politician, but I totally love her.
I watch my friends as they joke and moan about spending time with their families or going on trips for spring break. Mine will be spent with just my mom, Mrs. Jennings, and myself. Mom never talks about her family. I know nothing of them. It’s as though my mom didn’t even exist until she had me.
“Hey,” Becks shouts, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
The bell has rung, and I have zoned out as usual. I dump my tray quickly and scurry to the gym. Whomever had the bright idea of giving me Phys Ed after lunch needs a knock on the head with a hammer. Like I want to run suicide laps after eating that crap food. I barely have time to change into my t-shirt and shorts.
I am still trying to manage to get my dark brown, shoulder length hair into some type of ponytail. No matter though, I always end up with loose strands that just won’t stay put. My sneakers squeak across the gymnasium floor as I take my spot in the lineup. Our school’s mascot, a tiger, is painted to look like he is ripping through the center of the floor. If I were a tiger right now, I’d rip out my P.E. teacher’s throat for wearing those god-awful 1988 bologna roll bangs. Very few things irritate me honestly, but there is just something about her bangs. They seriously appear as though she rolled them in a single hot roller and didn’t bother with unrolling them. Hideous.
Ms. Haggerty blows her whistle. “All right guys. Fall in line. Stretches.”
A girl from my art class moans about menstrual cramps and gets off easy, being allowed to walk laps around the gym, unlike the rest of us who have to bend and stretch like twisted pretzels.
I am bent over touching my toes when I have that eerie feeling that someone is watching me. Peering through the gap in my legs, I see him—Kai. What’s his deal? I pretend not to notice him. When I no longer sense his presence, I safely glance to make sure he has gone.
Moments later, I am paired with Raven Scott for sit-ups and push-ups. If ever there were a poster child for everything not to do in high school, it would be her. When we were freshmen, Raven went homebound. Rumors circulated that she got knocked up by some guy she met at a college party and she put the baby up for adoption. I don’t know if any of that is true though.
I think she and Kai have an off and on relationship, which leads me to question her decision making even more. That’s probably who he was staring at, not me. I feel like an idiot. “Paranoid much Francis,” I say under my breath. “You only wish he was staring at you,” I scold myself. Wait…I what? No, no. I am so close to getting out of this place without any attachments.
“So, are you going to Aaron’s party this weekend with Kai?” I ask her, trying to make conversation with her. I haven’t ever really talked to Raven before. I just know what Penny has relayed back to me.
“Hardly.” She snorts and rolls her eyes as her chin hits her breasts. I continue holding her ankles in silence. Guess they are off again. She stops mid crunch and pauses to speak. “He has a thing for you.”
Confused, I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. “He who?”
She gives me this duh expression. “Kai. He’s always near you. Haven’t you ever noticed?” She looks at me as if I should already be aware of this information.
I shake my head. She must be mistaken. The only thing Kai likes giving me is an occasional stare down. And don’t I love it when he does. Stop it, Katie, you are seriously thinking about Kai Cooper too much.
“I think I am one of his least favorite people,” I tell her, feeling nervous about the thought of him wanting me, because I know a part of me wants him too.
“He isn’t what you think he is. He’s a really good guy. People say things in this school, ya know. I know what people say about me.” She shrugs her shoulders indifferently.
I really don’t know what to say, because I can’t argue with that. I know people say many things about her. We switch positions, she holds my ankles, and we settle into an uncomfortable silence. I feel like I should say something, but I am not sure what. I think I preferred us not talking. Now I feel obligated to find out what she meant about Kai.
The whistle blows, and we are divided into two separate teams for dodge ball. After taking a beating at the hands of the biggest girl in our school, I am back in the locker room getting ready for third period. One of my favorite classes—Art. But going to art also means seeing Kai Cooper. I can’t seem to escape him today. We are finishing up our current project—Giving Thanks. The assignment was to create any form of art we wanted as long as it showed what we are most thankful for. I chose to do mine about music.