Unfortunately, Kayla appeared out of nowhere, storming up to my locker and standing there with her hand on her hip.
Not in the mood to deal with her drama, I merely peered around my locker, raised an eyebrow and asked, "May I help you with something?"
"Did you come here with Derek?" she demanded.
Well, so much for being paranoid.
"Why, are you my babysitter?" I replied.
"I heard you rode to school with Derek, is it true?" she asked again.
"Yeah, he gave me a ride. Is that a problem?"
"Actually, yes," she stated.
"Oh. Well, sorry about that," I said with no interest, peering back into my locker to get my books.
"You know, I'm not stupid," Kayla said.
That was a matter of opinion, I thought, but I didn't say so. Instead I merely said, "Okay..."
"I know what's going on between you two," she said in a slightly threatening tone, as if that affected me in some way.
"Okay," I said again, thinking she was incredibly melodramatic.
"And you better back off," she said, seeming newly angered that I wasn't shaking with fear.
"Last I checked, Derek was a free agent," I informed her. "Honestly, even if he wasn't, I do what I damn well please, and I'd like to see you try to stop me."
She narrowed her eyes, glaring at me. "You might want to be careful whose man you're screwing with," she threatened. "It sure would be a shame to see anything like that happen to your car again."
So it was her. That bitch.
I decided with that sly little admission that the gloves were coming off, so I slammed my locker shut and gave her the coldest look I was capable of. "You might want to be careful who the fuck you're threatening," I responded, my tone much more threatening than hers. Mocking her innocent tone, I added, "It sure would be a shame if you were driving down the road one day and realized your brake lines had been cut."
Her smug look faltered a little there, and she said, "Did you just threaten me?"
"Did you just threaten me?" I retorted, my face carefully blank, my eyes as cold as ice.
I could tell she was still angry, but she was also remembering the story of what my mother had done, and wondering if homicidal tendencies
might run in our family.
She didn't need to know that I didn't even know where brake lines were on a car, and even if I did, I would be disinclined to dirty my hands by touching hers.
"You better watch your back," she said, although I saw that she was backing down, just trying not to show it.
"And you better hope nothing mysteriously happens to my car. Or Derek's," I added on a whim, thinking she might get a stupid idea to retaliate against him, and since he had helped me, I wouldn't appreciate that either.
"Or what?" she asked, giving me a cocky little look.
I merely smiled coldly at her. "I never repeat myself, Kayla."
With that, I navigated my way around her and headed for my first class.
But I heard her call behind me, "You'll see!"
I simply rolled my eyes and kept walking.