by Lila Rose
I was right about the lameness; Javis and I laughed through the whole thing. What was funnier for us was that we could hear Jessie squealing behind us in her two-seated carriage with Mitch. She may come across as one of the most fearsome girls in school, but then all you’d have to do was jump out and scare her, and she’d be hidden in a corner.
“Man, that keeps getting worse every year.” Javis laughed.
“Poor Jessie will be comatose.” We waited near the exit for their carriage to come out, and when it did, Javis and I doubled over laughing. I swear, if Jessie wasn’t wearing her Goth make-up, she’d be just as white as the powder on her face. Her eyes were wide with fright; she had her arms securely wrapped around Mitch’s arm, and if she could, she’d be sitting in his lap. Which wouldn’t bother Mitch one bit.
Mitch held out his hand to help her out of the carriage. She quickly got up and out, and even though she walked our way with her head held high, I knew she was still feeling put out by the ride because she still hadn’t let go of Mitch’s hand.
“You all right, chicky?” Javis asked while trying to keep a straight face.
“Yeah, fine.” She nodded.
“Uh-huh,” I added, smiling at her.
“Oh, shut up, you two,” she growled, which made us laugh again.
“You were fine.” Mitch comforted her by swinging his arm around her shoulders, only this time, she didn’t playfully push him away.
“Anyway, I’m starved,” Javis said, rubbing at his stomach.
“When aren’t you?” Jessie glared.
“Who wants? My shout,” he called over his shoulder, walking off to the food area.
“Oh, in that case, I’ll have a soda and a hot dog,” I said. Mitch and Jessie declined. We watched Javis stop to stand in the long waiting line.
“Hey,” I heard from behind me. I turned to find Kane standing there.
“Hi, what are you doing back?” I asked, the surprise showing in my voice.
“I’m meeting up with some of the guys, but I spotted you first. Hi, Jessie, Mitch,” he added. They looked over from their own conversation and replied a greeting.
“So are you saying I stand out like this?”
“No—I. No, I’m not saying that.” He actually blushed.
I bumped his shoulder with mine. “I’m teasing, Kane. I know I do.”
As if to prove my point, someone called out my name. I looked over Kane’s shoulder to find Josh Hill standing a few feet away.
“Josh!” I squeaked. He came over and pulled me into a big, warm hug.
“God, how long has it been?” he asked, pulling back from the embrace. “You look the same, well, besides the—” He gestured to the make-up.
“Yeah, it’s a phase I’m going through.” I blushed.
“Looks good on you.”
“Thanks. So what are you doing back?”
I hadn’t realized Kane had moved away until I heard him behind me, asking Jessie or Mitch, “Who’s that guy?”
“A boyfriend Sky had when she was fifteen, but he moved away.”
Not just any boyfriend. Josh was the one I thought I was in love with and would have given my virginity to. That was until his parents decided to move to another state and my heart broke. He still looked the same, still tall, slim, but well formed, with short, dark brown hair and eyes, chiselled cheek bones, and nice pouty lips.
Nearly as good as Kane.
Wait, where had that thought come from? It was true though; Kane was a very good-looking fella. He was the same height as me, well built, not skinny, but not overly huge. He was a darker blond than his sister, which he wore in that popular messy look, having it fall in his deep sea blue eyes.
“I’m back here to live.” Josh smiled. My heart raced.
“Oh, uh, that’s good. Um, do you remember Jessie?” I asked, turning around to face the others.
“How could I forget Jessie? You two were glued to each other’s side.” He smiled. But there was something else there, only I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Yeah, we still are.” Jessie gave a forced smile.
“Uh, this is Mitch.” He was still standing next to Jessie with his arm slung over her shoulder. “And this is Kane.”
Josh raised his eyebrows and asked, “Boyfriend?”
“No, no, never. Just a…friend.”
“Cool, nice to meet you,” Josh said, holding his hand out to Kane. Kane went to take it until someone behind Josh called out his name. A girl-someone, who was very beautiful.
“I better go; that’s…a cousin. Nice seeing you, Skylar.”
“She prefers Sky,” Kane supplied. I glared at him. Mitch and Jessie started laughing.
“Right, that’s right. Anyway, I guess I’ll see you around; seems I’ll be starting back at school on Monday.”
“Okay. I’ll see you there.”
He gave me one last hug, which lingered a little longer than before, and left.
I turned back to the others, not able to control my smile. Josh Hill was back in town. Would we take off where things had been between us? A girl could hope.
“Wow, that was Josh,” I smartly said.
“Never liked the guy,” Jessie said.
“I don’t think I will either,” Kane added.
“What the hell, you guys? First, Jessie, you have never said anything to me about it before, and second, Kane, you’re just worried he’ll take over the spot as ‘most popular guy at school’, because he likes football…and he’s so good looking.”
Kane glared at me. “Yeah, that’s it, Sky. But I know he won’t stand a chance.”
“Oh, go and cry to your Barbie,” I retorted, and felt bad right after saying it. He started to walk off. “Kane, Kane, wait. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said that.” I grabbed his arm to stop him.
He turned, grabbed my shoulders, and kissed me. It was only a short kiss, but God almighty, I felt it right down to my toes. Imagine if he had used tongue…
“And I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, and continued to walk off.
I was in too much shock to stop him.
“Oh. My. God,” Jessie screamed.
No, I couldn’t think about that. I wouldn’t. Why did he do that? He has a girlfriend. Was it to prove some point that I will never get? How dare he! He has no right to get me all confused, worried, and mixed up. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know him. Why did he do that? HE has a girlfriend. The thoughts circled again. The frigging ass-pig who had nice sweet-soft lips.
“I think she’s gone into shock,” Mitch said.
I hadn’t seen them walk over to me, but Mitch was waving a hand in front of my face.
“Sky, honey? Sky, come back to us now,” Jessie said while she shook me.
“That stupid, self-righteous prick! How dare he do that to me? He can’t do that; he has a plastic girlfriend! I am going to beat the hell out of him for doing that, for confusing me, making me think…”
“That you want him to do it again?” Jessie offered.
“Damn it, yes. That asshole. Still, it will never happen again. Josh is back; things can go back to how they were. Kane and I will finish this assignment, and then he can go back to his perfect little plastic life. Then…yeah, then I’ll live happily ever after with Josh.”
“God, I hope not,” Jessie mumbled.
“What did you say?” I asked, knowing perfectly well what it was. What did she have against Josh. And what did she think of what Kane had just done? I wanted to ask her, but then again, I didn’t want to talk about it.
“Nothing. Nope, nothing at all,” Jessie said.
Javis came up beside us. “Okay, what have I missed?” he asked.
“Kane turned back up. Josh—Sky’s old boyfriend—came and got her thinking that there may be something between them still. Then Josh left, Kane cracked it over something, and Sky was rude to him. Nothing new from our girl there. Then he was walking off, Sky apologised, and Kane kissed her. And now she doesn’t know where sh
e’s at,” Mitch explained.
“Crap, now I definitely don’t have a chance,” Javis said.
Eyes wide, I looked over to him as he shrugged and bit into his hot dog. Yeah, and he really looked broken up about it…not. I rolled my eyes, grabbed my soda and hot dog, and hoped that food would take away any thoughts of what just happened.
Notice how I said hoped.
Walking into History on Monday was harder than I thought it would be. I was a bundle of nerves. I tried to keep my heart and stomach from fluttering, or from thinking about Kane’s lips upon mine. All I wanted to do was take back what had happened. I hated the way I was feeling.
And it was his entire fault.
I glared down at Kane and then sat quietly next to him; he didn’t meet my gaze, not that I expected him to. The teacher came in and told us to start working, so I leaned over and grabbed my books out of my bag. When I straightened up, there was a piece of paper on my side of the desk. I knew it was from him—eye roll—who else would it be from? I also knew that it would be a note saying sorry, that he shouldn’t have done it. Well, true, he shouldn’t have, especially when he had a girlfriend who was sitting in the back of the room.
Though, I didn’t want an apology. I hated the thought that he would be sorry for kissing me. So I screwed up the note and left it on his side of the table. I then proceeded to look through a book I’d placed on my desk while saying, “All right, what we have so far is all about the Roosevelt’s younger years, so I went to the library yesterday,” to keep myself busy, “and found some other information that I think we should add in. Then we can move on to their years at school and so forth.”
He didn’t say anything, and I’d finished flicking through the book, so I had to turn to look at him.
Letting out a loud sigh, he nodded.
The rest of the period, we worked. We stayed focused on what we had to get done and that helped. By the end, when the bell rang, we’d managed to get a lot done. I started packing up the books just as he was doing the same.
“Sky, I—”
“Come on, babe, let’s get out of here; I’m starving.” Donna had come up beside our desk, placing her hand on Kane’s shoulder.
“Sure.” Kane smiled up at her and stood. “See you later,” he directed to me. I waved him off.
I waited for the coast to clear before heading out into the hallway. Mitch jumped out of nowhere, making me scream. I had forgotten he was even in the same class.
“Mitch, you do that again and I will kill you.”
He laughed and slung his arm around my shoulders. “So, how did that go?”
I knew what he meant, my spending time with Kane after, well, that tiny, meaningless kiss.
“Fine, we’re all about the assignment.”
“You okay, P.P.?” He really sounded concerned.
“Yeah, don’t stress about me. What you need to worry about is Jessie’s new history partner.” I rang her on Sunday to find out who it was after totally forgetting about it.
Mitch laughed. “Who? Avery Mack? No, I don’t think I have to be worried there.”
“Why? He’s a great looking guy.”
“Yeah, but I informed Jess that he bats for the other team.”
I shook my head. “Mitch, don’t you think after knowing Jessie for some time now that she may bring that fact up in front of him.”
“Crap, I didn’t think of that.” He shrugged. “I guess I’ll worry about it when it happens. Come on; let’s go make ourselves sick on food.”
“You read my mind.”
We walked into the cafeteria and went straight up to the food counter. I grabbed chips and a hamburger, not forgetting a soda to wash it all down. I turned and started for the table, only to do a double take because sitting at our table, was Josh. My heart skipped a beat. I was actually happy to see him. He was the distraction I needed.
“Hey, guys.” I smiled, sitting down next to Josh, who was sitting next to Javis. Jessie and Massie were on the other side, and Mitch quickly sat down next to—no brainer there—Jessie, who wasn’t looking very happy today. I wondered what was wrong with her.
“Hi.” Josh smiled back.
“How’s the first day back?” Mitch asked.
“Totally weird, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Josh said while looking at me.
“Man, I can’t believe I don’t remember you from before,” Javis said with a mouthful of hot dog—really, another one?
“I can.” Massie smiled over at him.
“It was two years ago and I wasn’t in your year, so I guess I can be forgettable. So what are the plans for the weekend?”
“Not much. Every second weekend we usually have a DVD night—crap, girl! What the hell was that for?” Javis glared at Jessie. She must have kicked him under the table.
“Whose house is it this weekend?” Massie asked.
“Mine,” I said. “So I get to choose, and no bitchin’ about what I get.” I eyed Mitch and Javis, while using a chip to point at them. Josh leaned over and bit it out of my hand. I blushed. Not that he would have seen because of my make-up.
Josh held my gaze for what seemed like ten minutes, but was really only a few seconds, and then he looked away and leaned back in his chair, placing his arm on the back of mine. His fingers barely brushed my back, but I felt it. Goose bumps rose on my arms. Then my stupid brain wondered what sort of reaction my body would have if it had been Kane. I shook my head and concentrated on my food as the conversation went on around me.
The rest of the day went too fast, and before I knew it, I was home worrying about Kane coming over. I would have liked to cancel. I walked into the kitchen and spotted a note on the table, it read:
Hi, honey,
I’ve gone shopping but I’ll be home soon. Kane called and said he went home sick from school early today, so he won’t be able to make it tonight. Too bad! I would have liked to see his cute face. (Haha) xo
Now that just made me mad. I knew he wasn’t sick; he just didn’t want to be alone with me.
Was he too scared I’d try and jump his bones after that one little kiss. No, I wouldn’t even call it that. It was a peck if anything.
How dare he ditch me! Fine, if he wanted to play it that way, then I could do the same. I’d just skip class on Thursday. Have him think that I didn’t want to see him, or that I didn’t want to spend time with him. And maybe I’d just forget about Saturday as well. That’d show that little skunk.
*
I did just what I’d said I would and skipped class on Thursday, under Jessie’s disgust. Which she told me on Tuesday, after I explained my plan to her. She also mentioned that ever since Josh had been sitting at our table, she’d been watching Kane, and it was clear he didn’t like what he was seeing. Especially when Josh would gently touch my cheek, or place his hand on my thigh, or tuck my hair behind my ear.
I laughed her off and told her I didn’t care what he was doing. Honestly, I was enjoying the attention from Josh, and I told her to give up the idea that Kane was interested in simple little old me. Because if that had been the case, he wouldn’t be dodging me like he was, and he wouldn’t have a girlfriend.
Instead, I noticed when he saw me coming down the hall, he’d choose to walk the other way. Didn’t he think that would hurt? Well, it didn’t.
I. Didn’t. Care.
After coming down from my little rant and rave with Jessie, Friday night over the phone—about the way he was dodging me—I decided all this was silly. I had Josh—not officially—and Kane had Donna. So why couldn’t we just work on the stupid assignment, get it done, and be on our merry way? That was when I decided I was going to Kane’s house the next day. We still had a lot to get done, and if we couldn’t work together, we’d both fail, and I was sure both of us didn’t want that.
Standing out the front of his place ready to ring the intercom, I had second thoughts…until the gates opened. Someone must have seen me—sigh. I was walking up the driveway when the front
door came flying open and a little blonde-headed monster came running out. I quickly held out my arms and braced myself, ready for the impact. Who would have thought such a tiny thing could have nearly knocked the breath out of me?
“Hey, Dommy, how’re you doing?” I asked, planting her feet back on the ground after a big hug.
“Great now! Kaddy said you probably wouldn’t come.”
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Hey, Dommy, how come you call Kane ‘Kaddy’?” I asked, ruffling her hair as we made our way into the house, hoping to get some dirt that I could use later.
She giggled. “’Cause he was the one to start my name Dommy, so I called him Kaddy.”
Well, that wasn’t gonna give me much…if anything, it was—sweet.”
“Hola, Skylar,” Rosita said, coming from the room to my left.
“Hola, Rosita, how are you?” I asked in her own language.
She smiled and answered back in Spanish, “Can’t complain because nobody would listen. It is good to see you here again.”
“Thank you. Is Kane around?”
“I will call him.” Rosita moved to the wall to speak into the intercom.
“Don’t worry, Rosita, I’m here,” Kane called out in Spanish as he descended the stairs. “I wasn’t expecting you this morning,” he said to me.
“Have you made other plans?”
“No.”
“Well then, let’s get to work.” I started for the library until Dommy grabbed my hand.
“Can I come in too? I promise I’ll be quiet; I’ll play with my toys.”
“Sure, sweetie. You go and grab them. And then later, I brought a book that I’m going to read to you,” I said, patting my backpack. She beamed and ran off to her room to collect some toys.
“That is very nice of you, Skylar,” Rosita said in English. “Isn’t it, Kane?”
“Yes, it is.”
I shrugged and moved to the library. I opened the door to see the table was already scattered with books. I went over and noticed that it was stuff from our assignment.
“So, you’re feeling better?” I asked while tidying up the books so I could have room for my own.