“Hey, mind if I sit with you at lunch?” Kayla asked, trying to catch her breath from her embarrassment.
“Sure,” Sara replied with her warm smile. “What happened to you? Your face is as red as a beet.”
“Oh, I just totally embarrassed myself after gym class.”
“What happened?” Sara asked as they entered the lunchroom together. Kayla quickly relayed the story.
“Tyler is a cool guy,” Sara said. “I’ve known him forever. He goes to my church, plus we’ve gone to school since like kindergarten. Maybe I could introduce you to him.”
“No, thanks,” Kayla said. “I don’t think I ever want to meet him now after what just happened.” She quickly changed the subject. “We had better find a seat.” She pointed to the small lunchroom, which was filling up quickly.
“Oh, I usually sit outside when it is warm,” Sara said. So, they both went through the cafeteria line and then Kayla followed Sara out into the courtyard. It was a grassy area in between several buildings. There were picnic tables surrounding the lawn on the concrete, but most of them were already full.
“What is this stuff?” Kayla asked as they chose a spot near the edge of the concrete in the sunshine.
“It’s called spaghetti-pizza,” Sara said with a giggle. “It is one of the chef’s favorites. We had it all of the time last year. She just mashes down the spaghetti and uses it for the pizza crust. We usually have it the day after we have spaghetti.”
“That is so gross.”
“I always say that the food here is like God, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” With that, both girls burst out laughing.
“Well, I think I am going to make a mental note to pack my lunches from now on,” Kayla said.
“Oh, look,” Sara pointed to a tall gangly boy walking into the courtyard by himself. “He was at youth group last week. I think he’s new in town. Do you mind if I invite him to sit with us?”
“Of course not,” Kayla said, excited to meet more people.
“Josh, over here,” Sara called, waving her hands in the air. Slowly, Josh made his way over to them. His eyes were all squinty from the glare of the sun. “Hi, this is my friend, Kayla,” Sara said introducing the two of them.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, “and you’re Sara, right?”
“Yeah, I’m impressed you remembered.”
“So,” Kayla broke into the conversation, “you’re new in town too? Where are you from?”
“Oh, my family moved here from Colorado. We just opened a new hamburger place called Main Street Grill.” Josh took a seat on the other side of Sara. “You’ll have to check it out. We have local bands play on Friday and Saturday nights.”
“That sounds like fun,” Sara said, “You should have our youth pastor, Jimmy, play. His band is really cool.”
“I’ll talk to my dad about it,” Josh said just before he took a bite of his huge sandwich.
“So, you both go to the same church?” Kayla asked. “I think we are going to start going to church with my grandma soon. We have just been too busy unpacking to go, and my mom works late at the office a lot.” Somehow, Kayla felt like she was making excuses, even though no one said anything.
“What does your dad do?” Sara asked.
Kayla looked down at the grass. “He used to be a policeman,” she said slowly, “but he passed away last March.”
Sara’s face turned ashen, and Josh just stared at her with his mouth gaping open. (Luckily, he had swallowed the bite in his mouth).
“Oh, my…” Sara said, “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s OK,” Kayla said, trying to lighten the mood. This was one of the hardest parts about losing a parent…knowing how to deal with people’s reactions to the news. “He was a hero. He got shot during a school shooting. He jumped the guy with the gun, and got shot in the process.”
“You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” Sara said, “I can’t imagine losing one of my parents. It must be so hard.”
“It’s alright. I’m doing much better now than when it first happened.”
“Is your mom doing OK?” Josh asked, “I mean it has to be really hard for her to suddenly be a single mom, with all of the bills and everything.”
“Oh, she’s doing great,” Kayla suddenly felt a burst of pride for Mom. “After Dad died, she took classes to be a real estate agent, and she’s sold make-up through Arbonne for as long as I can remember.”
“Arbonne, what kind of make-up line is that?” Sara asked as she tried to bat away a honey bee.
“It’s pretty cool, and it’s all botanically based,” Kayla said with a smile, glad the conversation was shifting to a more comfortable topic.
“Alright, alright,” Josh said, “I’m not going to sit with you guys anymore if you start talking about girly stuff.” Sara and Kayla both laughed.
“Does that mean that you are planning on sitting with us tomorrow?” Sara asked.
Josh’s face turned red, as he answered, “Only if you don’t talk about girly stuff.”
Just then, several more people joined them, three more girls, and two boys. Kayla once again felt left out. They had obviously known each other for years. Kayla found herself feeling angry at Sara. She glanced over at Josh. He was just eating his sandwich with a content look on his face. Kayla tried to involve herself in her own lunch, but something about spaghetti-pizza just wasn’t inspiring.
Sara seemed so nice, but then she would almost ignore Kayla when her other friends came around. Kayla checked her thoughts. So far, Sara was the only one who had befriended her, and she should be thankful.
When lunch was over, they all went to their lockers. Kayla walked with Sara to history class, hoping she could sit next to her, but there was another seating chart. She was stuck in the very front of the class, and Sara was way in the back. She would have asked to switch seats, but Mr. Bradford looked like he belonged in the military, with his strong set jaw and bald head. Maybe her mom was telling the truth about this private school actually paddling kids. Kayla wouldn’t put it past this teacher. She decided that she would just sit up front for the time being.
Just before the second bell rang, Hailey, the girl from Kayla’s squad in gym class, and a bunch of other kids came running into the room. One of the guys almost knocked over the globe near the door. Mr. Bradford looked up from his desk and simply said, “Hailey, take your seat up front, and I expect you to walk.” When Hailey and her friends were seated, he told everyone to take out their books and then they all took turns reading aloud.
At the end of class, he divided the students into groups to work on the questions at the end of the section they had just read. Hailey was in Kayla’s group. Kayla took a piece of paper out of her notebook, but Hailey waved it away. “We don’t study unless we have to,” she said. “I’d rather talk. So, where are you from?”
Kayla slowly put away her piece of paper, “Riverside, California,” she said.
“That is so cool that you are from Southern California. I love California. My dad lives there.”
“Yeah, I miss the beach already.” Kayla said, suddenly feeling a little homesick, and missing not only the beach, but all of her friends as well.
“It must be hard moving to a new town,” Hailey said. “Hey, would you like to sit with me tomorrow at lunch? I’ll introduce you to my group.”
“Sure,” Kayla said just before the bell rang. She liked the idea of actually getting introduced to a group, instead of just being overlooked.
As she left the classroom, she stopped to talk to Sara.
“Did you finish the questions?” Sara asked.
“No, we just talked the whole time.”
“Man, that’s a bummer, now you have homework. Well, I guess if I was new, I would probably rather get to know people and just do the assignment later too.”
Just then, Hailey walked by.
“Bye Hailey,” Kayla said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” Hailey s
aid, but her voice sounded strained, and she gave Kayla a quizzical look as she passed by.
That was strange, Kayla thought, as she walked with Sara to their locker. She carefully loaded her blue backpack with her history book and her binder, and then she realized something. She had made it through her first day at Fairview Academy. So far, so good, she thought.
Chapter 3
Nana’s Flower Shop
After school, Kayla couldn’t wait to get over to help Nana out at her florist shop on Main Street. Kayla waited in front of her school for Mom to pick her up for what seemed like forever. The sun was shining, and the air smelled fresh from the pine trees near where she stood. Almost all of the other students were gone before Kayla finally spotted their blue Toyota Corolla pull into the school parking lot. Mom drove to the back of the school to pick up Cole first, and then she pulled up to where Kayla waited. Kayla hopped in.
“How was school?” Mom asked as she accelerated to the edge of the parking lot, and then pulled out into traffic. Kayla told her about how she met Sara and Josh, and how she embarrassed herself in gym class. Cole was kind of quiet. He didn’t mention making any new friends.
They drove past a local park, and Kayla noticed a huge skateboarding area out her window.
“Mom, could we stop here and skate!” Cole said, changing instantly from his quiet mood into the enthusiastic little brother Kayla had always adored.
“Not today,” Mom said, as they were waiting the second time for the same light. “I only have twenty minutes to get Kayla over to help Nana, you to daycare, and back to the office to finish up.” Cole looked crushed, and Mom looked frazzled. Maybe she wasn’t holding up as well as Kayla had thought.
“I could take him tomorrow after school,” Kayla offered.
“I don’t know,” Mom said with hesitancy in her voice. “It is dangerous for the two of you to be out alone.”
Kayla didn’t mention the fact that they used to always be allowed to go to the park alone before Dad had passed away. Mom was just being paranoid now. “I am twelve years old,” Kayla said instead. “That’s legal babysitting age. Just think of how much stress it would take off of you if you let us walk home from school by ourselves, and I could watch Cole until you got off of work. It would be perfect.”
“I’ll think about it,” Mom said, which basically meant “no” coming from her. Kayla sighed, and then it was quiet the rest of the way to Nana’s.
Mom pulled up to the curb in front of Main Street Flowers, and Kayla carefully climbed out. She walked to the glass door and gently pushed it open. The bells hanging from the door jingled, and Kayla took in a deep breath as the smell of fresh roses and carnations drifted to her.
“Oh, hi dear,” Nana said as she put down the flower arrangement she was working on and came over to give Kayla a hug. Kayla noticed that Nana was wearing her floral print flood pants. She just loved how Nana always seemed so young. Her hair was blond with only a little gray, and her skin was a beautiful tan from all of her gardening.
“How was school?” she asked with that caring smile of hers.
“Well, I made a couple of friends,” Kayla informed her. “One of them is a pastor’s daughter.” Kayla knew that would impress Nana. She always seemed to care about where people stood with God.
“That’s great, hon. I’m glad that you are choosing friends so wisely,” Nana said, trying to stuff a stray daisy into the arrangement she was working on. “A lot of times,” Nana went on, “we don’t realize how much our friends affect us, especially when we are in school. I have been praying that you and your brother would make just the right friends when you moved here. It must be hard starting all over. I’m so proud of you.”
“You know something else you could pray for, Nana,” Kayla said carefully, feeling like Nana had some kind of special standing with God, “that Mom would stop being so overprotective. She won’t even let me and Cole walk home from school by ourselves, and I know that shuttling us around so much is stressing her out.”
“Oh, Kayla, I would be glad to pray for that. And don’t you worry, dear. Your mom will come around, you’ll see.”
As they were finishing up the daisy bouquet, the shop got kind of busy. A young man came in to buy a dozen roses for his fiancé. He was tall, and had dark skin and dark eyes. Kayla tried to picture what his fiancé might look like. An elderly lady stopped by to pick up her order for her husband’s funeral. There were three huge floral arrangements, and the sight of them made Kayla remember all too well the funerals she had recently been to.
“Nana,” Kayla said after she had helped the elderly lady out to her car, “do you still miss Grandpa every day?”
Nana’s expression turned somber. “Yes, I guess you could say that. We were together for thirty eight years, and you know as the Bible says, ‘the two become one.’ It is a strange mystery, but I felt like half of me was missing when Samuel passed away.”
Kayla couldn’t help thinking Nana sounded a little lonely. She might have lost her dad, but Nana had lost her whole family. Kayla suddenly felt glad they had moved to Oregon. Nana needed family.
“I love you Nana,” Kayla said and gave Nana an impulsive hug.
“Oh, Kayla, I love you too,” Nana said, turning from the flower arrangement she was working on and focusing all of her attention on Kayla. “One thing I have learned from losing your Grandpa is that you have to be thankful for the people you have in your life, and never take anyone for granted. God has blessed me with so many wonderful people, like you and Cole, and your Mom, and all of the ladies from church.”
Just then, another customer walked in. It was a tall brown haired lady and a little girl. Kayla helped fill up five birthday balloons.
“We’ve got to hurry and get to the Grill,” the lady said to her daughter, “Dad and Josh are waiting there for us.”
The Grill! Kayla had forgotten all about the grill on Main Street that Josh had told her about. This must be his mom and sister.
As soon as they left, Kayla peeked outside and watched where they went. The Grill was just up the block and across the street.
“Have you been to that new grill yet?” Kayla asked Nana.
“Not yet,” Nana said. “What have you heard about it?”
“A guy I met from school told me all about it.” Kayla went on, “His parents own it, and he said they have local bands play there on Friday and Saturday nights. Maybe we could all go this weekend.”
“That’s a great idea, Kayla. I’ll call your mom soon and arrange everything.”
Kayla’s time with Nana always seemed to go by so quickly. Before she knew it, five o' clock had come and it was time for them to close up shop. Nana drove her home and dropped her off at their white two-story house. Even though her house was average size, it seemed so big in comparison to the trailer Nana lived in all alone.
When Kayla walked in, she could hear the shower running upstairs. Mom liked to take hot showers when she was stressed out. The kitchen still had their dirty dishes from breakfast. Kayla ran up to her room, dropped off her backpack, and then popped her head into Cole’s room. He was building a fort out of blocks.
“Hey, little bro, you want to help me surprise Mom and make dinner?”
When he saw Kayla he smiled. “You’ll show me what to do?” he asked, always weary of the kitchen.
“Sure, we’ll make something simple like spaghetti.”
They both raced into the kitchen, and by the time they heard Mom’s footsteps on the wooden stairs, dinner was on the stove and the dishes were all done.
A look of relief flooded Mom’s face as she rounded the corner and came into the kitchen.
“I set the table, and buttered the bread, and washed the vegetables for the salad, and helped to dry the dishes,” Cole said excitedly.
“Thank you both so much,” Mom said as they all sat down at the table. She said grace, and then they enjoyed their spaghetti.
“This is how spaghetti should be,” Kayla said. “I lik
e spaghetti, and I like pizza, but I don’t think the combo works too well.” She went on to explain how their cafeteria cooks were a little too creative for her taste. Mom laughed and said she would add sandwich stuff to her grocery list.
Chapter 4
Poisoned
“I thought pre-algebra would be hard, but not this hard,” Kayla said to Sara just before they got to their locker at lunchtime on Wednesday. “Thirty problems for homework on the first day of class—I worked for the last half hour and only got seven done. I thought block scheduling was supposed to give you more time in class to finish your work.”
“Welcome to private school,” Sara said as she dug for her sack lunch.
UNDERCOVER ANGELS: Kayla's Big Move Page 2