Wings From Ashes Trilogy

by Linda Nelson

  Was there such a thing as High School Sweethearts? Could he actually be hers? Could they be soul mates? All she could do was wonder, knowing full well that he was going out with Ashley and not her. Karla also reminded herself that she was technically still going out with Max. Neither one of them had ever broken it off. Or so she believed. If she dumped him without him knowing, would that be considered cheating on him?

  Come lunch time it was the same thing again, in fact, it kept happening all day long. Neil would look at her, and she would find herself looking back, each on the opposite sides of the room, but happy to be in the same room together.

  Karla didn’t have to search the room for him either. Her eyes went straight to him each time like he had a homing device on him.

  Maggie was the only one Karla was actually watching out for. She felt the girl was up to something. What that could be was beyond Karla, but she knew she had to be ready. The girl had it in for her.

  “Karla? I’ve wanted to talk to you all day.” Neil said while Karla stopped one last time at her locker before leaving school. She had purposely taken her time after the final bell rang so she could avoid any contact with Maggie.

  “What about?” Karla was curiously anxious. He couldn’t have broken up with Ashley. She had seen them together just minutes before. Ashley even laid a kiss on Neil’s cheek. She was sure it was all for show, but still she had done it.

  “How’s your math coming? Did you retake the exam yet?” Neil leaned against the lockers. Apparently he was not in a hurry to leave.

  “I’m good. I have to take the test this Friday.”

  “Well if you need any more help, just ask, I had a good time last time.” Neil’s face turned red, possible for what he had just said didn’t come out the way he had meant it to.

  “Oh, I did too.” The memory of the pool table slipped back into her mind, how he had showed her how to use the cue stick with his body against hers. Just thinking about, made her cheeks heat up. “Um, I’ll have to talk to you another time. I have to get going. I have an appointment afterschool.”

  “Right – I have to get going too. Wrestling practice.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Karla said while she hurried away. She didn’t need to look back at him to know that he still stood there against the lockers looking like a dream, and to think that a week ago she thought he wasn’t her type. What was she thinking? She had a boyfriend, she just hadn’t heard from him in weeks, that’s all.

  Carrie’s car was in the driveway waiting for Karla to come out of school. Just as she promised she would do. Even she noticed that Karla was walking with a small bounce in her step for once. Apparently this was turning out to be a fantastic day.

  Chapter 15

  Karla had two more sessions with Carrie’s friend before the week was up. The world was lifting off her shoulders for the first time since she was little. She felt happy.

  By Friday even Darcy noticed that Karla was developing a sudden bubbly personality. Gone was her dark mood. It had been replaced with hope and joy.

  “Karla, what the hell are you so happy about,” Darcy asked on their way to the lunch room.

  “Nothing in particular,” Karla responded. She didn’t want to tell anyone about the therapist she had been seeing. “Want to go to the movies with me this weekend. We can go see a matinee.”

  “I thought you were grounded,” Darcy replied.

  “I was, but that was before my dad met Carrie. She is turning out to be fantastic for me and not just my dad.”

  “How’s your mom going to feel about that?”

  This was a tough question for Karla. Deep down inside she still felt loyal to her mom, but like the therapist said she had things she had to fix about herself before she could or should reconnect with her mom. In the meantime, she had to let her mom try and get better, and that would take time. Plus there was no guarantee that the rehab would work for her mom, sometimes a person had to return several times before they were able to live a sober life.

  “I don’t want to think about her right now. Anyway, I’ll be seeing her in a couple of weeks, my dad said so. Right now I want to go do something tomorrow with a friend.”

  “Sorry, I can’t go.”

  Bummer, Karla thought. “Oh well, maybe another time, right?”

  Karla was surprised by how she felt about Darcy's, not wanting to go to the movies with her; usually her disappointment would eat her insides up. Instead, this time she was able to accept the fact that her friend couldn’t go.

  “You should ask Neil to go with you.”

  “What, are you joking? Darcy I can’t ask him to go to the movies. He is going out with Ashley.” Karla felt her cheeks heat up at the mention of his name. Why did they always do that whenever she thought of Neil? It wasn’t like she thought he was a hunk or something.

  “So what, I have gone to the movies with Heath many times even though he is Carol’s boyfriend. We are just friends. There is nothing wrong with asking a friend to go to the movies with you.”

  Karla’s eyes wandered toward where Neil sat. For some reason, he now took to sitting on the other side of the lunch table so that he was facing her. When he looked up he looked right at her, but it was exceptionally brief looks. Ashley sat next to him, watching every move he made and where his eyes traveled. She caught Karla looking at him, and narrowed her eyes in response.

  Karla had no beef with Ashley, and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “Ut oh,” Darcy suddenly said. “Look out Karla, here comes….”

  Before Darcy could say Maggie’s name she was right there beside Karla, dumping her entire school lunch on her, spaghetti and all.

  The incident had been seen by a couple of the teachers, but they were not fast enough to stop it from happening.

  “Maggie office…” One of the teachers hollered.

  Some of the other students laughed at what had happened. Karla didn’t know if they were laughing at her because she was covered with food or if they were laughing at Maggie for getting caught.

  Karla stood up. The pile of spaghetti slide down her front, she was surprised more than she was appalled by what had just happened.

  While the other teacher fussed over Karla, sending her to the nurses office to see if she could help her get cleaned up, a fight broke out at Neil’s table between Neil and Ashley over the fact that he was looking at Karla once again. It ended with Neil telling Ashley to get the hell away from him. Everyone in the cafeteria heard him.

  Karla didn’t see what happened next. The teacher whisked her away to the nurses office.

  Chapter 16

  Maggie sat outside the principal’s office. Her parents had arrived several minutes ago. She figured she would be called into the office at any time so that she would be able to tell her side of the story as to why she had dumped her tray of food on Karla.

  It had been a split second decision all because Ashley had complained to her earlier that morning about how Neil seemed like he couldn’t take his eyes off of Karla. That was when she had promised her friend that she would take care of that skank once and for all if she saw Neil look at her for just one second.

  They parted their ways as they entered the lunch room with Maggie sitting at another table off to the side of the room where she had a full view of both Neil and Karla. She could see where their eyes looked. There was no way she would miss her chance to get her revenge. She promised Ashley she would keep watch and that she did.

  As soon as she saw their eyes lock on each other’s, she sprang into action by picking up her tray of food, which was today’s special of American Chop Suey and carried it across the room to where Karla sat. She then, unannounced dumped her entire tray – milk and all on Karla’s lap.

  Of course, it made a mess all over the front of Karla. Did it make Maggie feel better?

  No.

  This action didn’t even seem to faze Karla. All she did was stand up and look down at the mess on her clothes. She never said a word in retaliati
on for Maggie’s action. What was wrong with this girl? She was supposed to pick a fight with her – and get expelled for good.

  Now Maggie was going to be forced to think up something else to instigate a fight.

  The door to the office finally opened. Maggie braced herself for the call to come in and tell her side of the story.

  Maggie’s dad was the first one out of the room followed by her mom who closed the door behind her.

  “Let’s go Maggie,” her dad said sternly.

  “What?” Maggie was confused by the change of events. “I didn’t get to tell my side of the story.”

  “You have no side of the story this time young lady,” her dad informed her.

  “Maggie, you certainly did it this time. You have been expelled. I hope you are happy,” her mom informed her.

  “No, they can’t do that. It wasn’t my fault. That Karla caused this.”

  “Maggie, it won’t work this time. Let’s go…” her dad motioned with his hand for Maggie to leave the room first.

  Maggie continued to argue on the way to the car. “What did they say? They can’t do this to me without hearing my side of the story.”

  Her mom stopped in mid stride and turned to address her. “For your information, apparently it is considered bullying, when a person dumps their entire lunch on someone’s lap. Bullying is more than just a serious offense at the school, apparently the Principle wants to press charges against you.”

  She thrust a piece of paper at Maggie. “This says you have to appear before a judge next week. He will determine what your punishment will be besides the expulsion.”

  Maggie’s jaw dropped. They couldn’t do this to her. How could they say she was guilty of bullying? Karla was the one who made her do it. It was all her fault. Had Karla never gone to the party with Gerry, none of this ever would have happened.

  Karla had to have paid the school staff off. That was the only answer to how this could have gotten out of hand.

  Her dad drove past their street.

  “Where are we going Dad?” Maggie asked.

  “We got you an appointment with a therapist at the Principal and Guidance counselor’s suggestion,” Maggie’s mom replied.

  “I don’t want to see a shrink. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

  Her dad snapped back, “If you want to go back to school and stay out of jail you will do as we tell you. You are seeing a therapist and that is final.”

  Chapter 17

  Ashley ran out of the cafeteria. She was on her way to the bathroom when she saw Maggie being led down the hall by a teacher who had been monitoring the students just moments ago. There was no telling what her friend was in trouble for this time. Maybe she got into it again with Karla. She half expected to see Karla being led away by another teacher – but that never happened.

  Tears streamed down Ashley’s face. How could Neil yell at her like that for the whole cafeteria to hear him? She didn’t do anything wrong. He was the one who kept looking and staring at Karla, that skank.

  Her trip to the bathroom to wipe the tears from her face was stopped when she saw Maggie. It gave Neil enough time to catch up with her.

  “Ashley, I’m sorry.” He reached out for her and drew her into his arms, and she let him. This was one of the things she had desired the most from him – just to be held in his arms. She had never met a guy who was so closed down when it came to relationships. It was like he wasn’t there most of the time.

  He wiped her tears away with the tips of his fingers and caressed her cheek. His touch made her smile. This was something else she had wanted from him, just to be touched by him.

  Then he kissed her tenderly. It wasn’t a quick kiss either. It was one of those passionate ones that grabbed at her heart strings. The kind she didn’t want to end. This was another of those most desired things she had wanted from Neil.

  It took total humiliation, and a fight to bring him to her in this way. Finally, his eyes and lips were on hers instead of Karla’s.

  “Break it up you two.” A teacher who was monitoring the hallway said, “The bell rang, get to class.”

  Neil drew his arms from around Ashley. If only he could have embraced her longer.

  “I’ll call you tonight. I promise.” Neil kissed her on the forehead and left her standing alone.

  His touch and kiss had left her stunned. She couldn’t reply or move. All she could do was watch him hurry off to class.

  He promised to call her later. She would see if he kept his word or not. If he did, then his kiss actually did mean something after all.

  Chapter 18

  Karla was the last one to slip in the door and take her seat before the teacher turned to address the class. She got through the door just as the bell rang. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway; she had a hall pass from the nurse’s office. But just the same, she didn’t like being late to class.

  As she took her seat near Neil, he blinked, surprised by her sudden change of appearance. Now she wore a tee shirt two sizes too large. It looked like a sleep shirt, and her hair was now bound up in a tight bun.

  For the first time, he found himself fantasizing what she would look like in a sleep shirt, with her head on his pillow. He stopped himself when he realized what he was thinking. But he couldn’t hide the smile it brought to his face.

  Guilt settled into is stomach. But why should he feel guilty? He hadn’t done anything wrong. Was it dreadfully wrong for him to smile at Karla? He was just happy to see her. He only wanted to be friends with her, there was no reason Ashley needed to be bent out of shape by the fact that he liked being around Karla. He had no intentions of kissing Karla. But he tried to explain this to Ashley, and it only got him more in trouble.

  There, he went… how could he start thinking about such a thing?

  The bruise on his shin began to ache again reminding him of how Ashley reacted every time she caught him looking at Karla. Her overreaction wasn’t right, and he knew it. That was why he had yelled at her during lunch to get away from him. He was getting tired and sore from all her kicking. It was something no one deserved.

  After class, Neil waited for Karla outside the doorway. He wanted to catch her before she went home. He wanted know how she had done on her mid-term. Maybe she would need more tutoring. How else would he be able to invite her over to play pool?

  Then it dawned on him, maybe he could fix her up with his friend Logan, and they could have a game. Ashley could come over too. This would take care of his problem of not spending any time with her. He needed to ask Logan if he was game for this first, then he would run it by Ashley. But what if Ashley overreacted again? Maybe she wouldn’t if she knew that Karla was with his best friend. He was sure Logan and Karla would be a perfect match.

  Before Neil had a chance to say anything, Karla came through the doorway and flung her arms around Neil’s neck in a big hug, tugging at his heart strings and something else inside him. “I passed – Neil I passed the mid-term with an A. Thank you so much. You are a life saver. How can I ever repay you?”

  “I’ll think of something and let you know,” Neil replied as Karla released him from her hug. “Maybe I’ll know before dinner tonight. I’ll call you if it comes together.”

  “Okay.” Karla seemed skeptical, and looked at him in a way that made him think he was talking in some sort of gibberish language.

  “What?” Neil continued. “I have something I’m working on. You aren’t going out with anyone right now, right? So I was thinking about fixing you up with my friend Logan if you are both game. That is, what I want is to play a game of pool with you, me, Logan and Ashley.”

  For some reason, he had to share his plan with Karla. Maybe it was because she was looking at him like he was crazed or something.

  “But I…”

  Darcy interrupted, “Karla would love to. Don’t listen to her, her boyfriend Max has not called her in a couple of months, and she probably won’t hear from him anytime soon. I keep telling her to get on w
ith her life.”

  Neil smiled. “Great – I’ll call you later with more details like when.” He had to rush off to his bus before Ashley caught him anywhere near Karla.

  Chapter 19

  Neil only spent an hour working with his uncle after school. Today he learned how to change the gas line on his dream car. The first step had been to empty the tank and the line, then to remove both. They agreed to do the final step the next day after Neil ran his pool game plans before his uncle who thought it was a brilliant idea.

  His uncle was his go to person when he needed to talk about girl problems. The man was a wealth of information since he was still single and in his late thirties. At first Neil didn’t think his uncle was going to be of much help, but he surprised him.

  “I still haven’t run this by mom and dad yet, but I think they will be all right with it.”

  “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I was hoping to go out later myself.”

  “Same girl?”

  “Nope… but she is mighty fine.”

  Neil snickered. He thought it sounded strange to hear his uncle talk this way.

  As soon as Neil returned home he found his parents and ran his plans by them. Once he got their permission he was on the phone with Logan.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you like playing pool.”

  “Who doesn’t?”

  “Want to come over and play a game tonight?”

  “Sure.”

  “How do you feel about blind dates?”

  “Why?”

  “I was thinking about asking Karla to join us. It would be you and Karla against me and Ashley.”

  “Are you sure that is a brilliant idea? You know how Ashley is about Karla.”

  “I know, I was hoping that if she saw Karla with you she would stop being so jealous.”