I can feel eyes on me and I look up from my notes to see a little blonde haired toddler sitting across from me grinning.
“Hi,” I say to her as look for an adult to come claim her.
She just grins even wider showing me her teeth. Then she barks at me like a little puppy.
“Are you a good puppy or a bad puppy?” I ask.
“Khloe not bad. Khloe good puppy,” she tells me.
“Khloe, what did I tell you about running off!” I look away from Khloe to see none other than Kai peering at the girl with a worried expression on his face.
He sees me and says, “Sorry, my sister, she takes off on me a lot.” I never knew he had a younger sister. I know he has an older brother but he graduated when I was in eighth grade. I think his name is Kirk.
I scrunch my nose; their parents must be that kind that name all their kids with names that begin with the same letter or something.
“Well see ya,” he says shuffling awkwardly on his feet as he scratches the back of his neck.
“Yeah, see ya,” I reply watching curiously, as his sister takes his hand. She continues to bark as they go out the door.
Wrapping up what I didn’t eat of my biscuit, I stuff the remainder in my bag and chug the last of my juice. I grab my notes and head to school.
Mr. Lowe totally slammed us with a quiz as soon as we were seated this morning. Second period we were assigned our next book to read. I was given the Great Gatsby. This assignment will be cake; I have read that book numerous times. By the time, lunch rolls around I have a message from Becks apologizing saying that he won’t get here until after lunch. I have another from Penny asking if I want to go to McDonalds with her and Darla. I tell her no thanks and she immediately replies that she doesn’t have to go, but I tell her it’s fine, to go. We always eat lunch together, but I know I am not her only friend. But now I am on my own.
I scan the crowded room looking for a friendly face. I spot Raven sitting with another girl from our P.E. class and hope they won’t mind if I join them. “Mind if I sit with you guys?”
“It’s a free country,” Raven says with a broad grin reminding me of Khloe, Kai’s little sister.
Speaking of the devil he slams his tray down across from mine, sitting beside of Raven. They bump shoulders and exchange a look as though they have some inside joke or secret. There is an awkward silence as we eat our lunches.
I decide to make the first civil move. “Your little sister is really cute, Kai.”
“Thanks,” he says blankly.
But Raven’s face lights up at the mention of Khloe. “You met Khloe?”
“Yeah, she sort of barked at me,” I tell her and she goes into telling me all about Khloe. It is kind of strange how obsessed she is with Kai’s baby sister, but I guess since they have some weird off and on again relationship, it makes sense that she would be attached.
Kai loosens up some by the end of lunch and I find that I really liked sitting with them today. I didn’t miss Becks or Penny at all which is strange.
In P.E. I partner up with Raven again for stretches and she picks me for her partner for birdie. She invites me to go with her and some friends to watch Kai and his band play about an hour away this weekend. I didn’t know he was in a band. Seems there is a lot I don’t know about him. I have to tell her no though, I am babysitting for the Miller family and I can’t afford not to do it. She says I have to go next time and she isn’t taking no for an answer.
Why would she invite me to go with her to watch Kai if she thinks he has a thing for me? I cannot stop thinking about it and I find myself watching his every move in art class. His brow is crinkled as he concentrates intently on his portrait. He really is trying to do a good job. I took him for the type to just sling paint at the canvas and call it a day.
He pushes his hair back from his eyes and I notice he smears black paint across his forehead. A giggle much louder than I intended slips from my lips and the whole class turns to stare at me, including Kai. I motion to his forehead. He touches the wet paint, looks at his fingers then looks back to me with a chuckle and a nod.
After class, Kai stops me in the hall and thanks me for telling him about the paint. I tease him telling him not to worry I won’t tell any of his stoner pals that he actually puts forth an effort in class. He looks wounded by my comment but I don’t have time to apologize as my attention is averted to Penny and Aaron fighting at her locker.
Her face is red and puffy. It looks like she has been crying. I want to check on her but Becks pops up, tugs on my hand and shakes his head, pulling me toward my chemistry class. “Don’t get involved Katie. I overheard him and his friends in my math class; I came in late after my dental appointment. You know that party he is throwing this weekend. Well he was bragging about how he was going to get Penny to give him a blowjob. I might have told her what he was saying. I hope she breaks up with him.”
I don’t say anything and I go to class. Becks shouldn’t have done that. Aaron will pound him for that and Penny will stay with him even though she knows it is wrong. What a mess.
After school Penny says the fight with Aaron was just a misunderstanding, of course it was.
Chapter 5
My Friday nights used to consist of going to choir and watching old westerns with Deloris. I called her Mrs. Jennings earlier when I told her I wasn’t able to watch movies with her and she got mad telling me to hush with my fancy talk. We always pig out on pizza for dinner and I stay with her until the movie is over. She always gets a little weepy when Paul Newman gets shot. Now he was a handsome man who could act. So, I have a crush on a dead guy who is three times my age. Paul Newman was sexy.
I stopped going to choir when Aaron started harassing me again. He was always trying to offer me a ride home even though I only live a few blocks away. I will never touch that boy ever again. Once was enough.