“Hey, take a seat,” Hailey said as she motioned to the seat next to her. Her shoulder length, blond hair was crimped and pinned up on both sides with rhinestone barrettes. She looked like a model straight out of her mom’s store. “Isn’t Kyle’s band cool?”
“Yeah,” Kayla said, “I didn’t realize he was in a band.” The music was not quite Kayla’s style. They had kind of a punk/rock sound. She couldn’t understand the words they were singing very well, but they were obviously talented musicians.
“I like your shirt,” Janea said to Kayla. “I love screen tees.” Janea was wearing pinstriped flood pants with a hot pink sweater-tank top. Trisha was wearing black and silver as usual, but her hair was a slight shade of purple now. She must have dyed it since school on Friday.
Before long, Zack joined their table, and when Kyle’s band took a break, he joined them as well. They all complimented Kyle on his music, and then laughed and talked together until he had to start playing again. Kayla caught Hailey staring at him while he walked back up to the stage. I wonder if Hailey has a crush on him, Kayla thought. He did look pretty cute up on stage with his wavy black hair and mysterious eyes.
The rest of the night Hailey entertained their little group with her boisterous personality. Kayla hadn’t laughed so much in a long time. It was fun to feel like she belonged. She was almost sad when Mom came to tell her it was time to go home.
“Bye guys,” Kayla said as she turned to leave. “See ya.”
“See ya,” they all echoed back.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. They didn’t go to church because they still had some unpacking to do, but Mom promised Nana they would try to go to church on Wednesday night.
Monday at school, Kayla followed Sara out into the courtyard for lunch. She saw Hailey and her crowd at their usual table, but they didn’t seem to notice her. Just as they got situated on the grass, a familiar voice made Kayla look up.
“I see you decided to grace us with your presence today,” Tyler said as Josh sat down next to Sara.
“Well, I uh,” Kayla stammered, not quite remembering what the question was. The only thing she could think of was…I’m going to meet Tyler. Secretly, he was the reason she had chosen to sit with Sara instead of Hailey. Finally her brain kicked in, and she answered him. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, I thought maybe you were too good for us,” he said. “You know, hanging with Hailey and all.”
“Oh Ty, give it a rest,” Sara said. “She doesn’t have any reason not to like Hailey, and we certainly aren’t going to give her one.” With that, Tyler sat down next to Kayla and began looking through her lunch.
“What are you doing?” she asked, shocked.
“Oh, I’m just checking to see if you have anything good.”
“Get out of here,” Kayla said with mock anger as she gave his hand a little slap.
“I’m Tyler by the way,” he said, holding out the hand Kayla hadn’t slapped. “I think I am the one you were staring at when you just about took out the coat wall.” He raised his eyebrows as he spoke while a mischievous smile crept across his tan face.
Kayla could feel her face turn red. She playfully slapped his other hand away, refusing to shake it. “I’m Kayla, I’m new, so be nice to me,” she said.
Tyler laughed, and finally he took the focus of the conversation off of her. “Wasn’t church good on Sunday?” he asked Josh and Sara.
“Yeah, Pastor Ryan really hit home that point about God’s love for us,” Josh said.
“I think he has been thinking a lot about love lately since it was my Mom’s and his seventeenth anniversary last week,” Sara said.
Kayla felt left out. Here they all went to the same church, and they sounded like they actually enjoyed it. Kayla couldn’t figure out why. She and Jerusha used to go to church together back in Riverside, but they would have never talked about the sermon during lunch at school. Church was just something you did. It wasn’t fun. You just sat there while the pastor yelled about how wrong sin was.
The bell rang, breaking into Kayla’s thoughts. They all gathered up their things, and then headed for their lockers.
“See you later,” Tyler said to the two girls as he followed Josh down the hall.
“Would you like to come over for dinner Thursday night?” Sara asked while Kayla got out her Spanish books.
“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Kayla answered.
“I’ll have to check with my parents first, but I’m pretty sure it will be fine.”
“Let me know,” Kayla said as she turned to leave. “I have an orthodontist appointment tomorrow,” Sara called after her, but I’ll let you know for sure during history.”
Chapter 7
Safeway
To Kayla’s surprise, Tuesday afternoon Mr. Bradford announced that they were going to play a game.
“I thought because all of you have been working so hard we could take this whole period to play history trivia,” he said. “The two students with the highest scores will be let out of class ten minutes early.”
The whole class let out a cheer. Kayla loved games and she had a good memory, so it came as no surprise to her when she got almost every question right. As a matter of fact, she was winning! Actually, Hailey was coming in first, but Kayla noticed her book just “happened” to be open on the floor. She rolled her eyes when she saw it.
“Well, It’s time for our two top scorers to get out of class,” Mr. Bradford announced at ten till three. “See you guys on Thursday.”
Everyone clapped as Hailey and Kayla both gathered up their books and headed for the door.
“My parents said dinner is fine,” Sara whispered to Kayla as they passed her seat.
“What was she talking about?” Hailey asked Kayla with a quizzical look, as they walked to their lockers.
“Oh, she invited me over to dinner this Thursday,” Kayla said, not sure she wanted to hear Hailey’s reaction.
“You can’t go over there!” Hailey exclaimed. “Pastor Ryan will probably try to poison you.”
“Hailey, that’s ridiculous,” Kayla said.
“Fine, get poisoned, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Hailey said. Then she jumped to another subject, catching Kayla off guard. “Hey, do you want to walk to Safeway with me to get a soda? I don’t have to be to volleyball practice until three-thirty.”
Kayla checked her watch to make sure she still had enough time before Mom came to pick her up. It was eight minutes till three, and her mom was usually at least ten minutes late. “Sure,” she said.
The parking lot was quiet when they walked through it. Kayla was used to it being noisy, with parents either picking up or dropping off their kids. It seemed kind of eerie with the parking lot so empty.
It was still warm outside, but there was a slight chill in the air. Kayla wished she had brought her sweater.
She glanced over at Hailey, and she realized this was the first time they had been alone together. She wondered if Hailey would be a little bit deeper one on one.
“Justin, Sara’s brother called me the other night,” Hailey said. Kayla thought maybe she was actually about to share some deep secret, but then she went on. “He is a total dork. He has chubby cheeks. I gave him the total brush off, I mean like, one word answers to everything he said. It was so funny because he was way nervous. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about him calling me again.” Hailey’s short hair flipped in the breeze as she spoke animatedly, using hand gestures to demonstrate her point.
Kayla thought carefully about what to say, “You know, you may regret being rude to him someday.”
“What ever for,” Hailey said flippantly, “like I said, he is a dork.”
“What if he suddenly gets really cute,” Kayla said, and having fun with her “what if,” she went on. “He might end up being the captain of the football team, or something. What if you change your mind and decide you totally like this Justin guy, but it’s too late, and he nev
er forgives you for how you treated him. It could happed you know.”
“Whatever.” Hailey reached in her red purse, “You want some gum?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“So, do you like anyone?” Hailey asked.
Kayla thought of Tyler. “I think I kind of have a crush on Tyler,” she said, feeling her cheeks blush.
“Tyler Newton?” Hailey said with obvious disgust. “He is a nerd. I have known him since kindergarten, and he has always been this chunky kid. Come to think of it, he doesn’t seem chunky this year,” Hailey said as she appeared to be contemplating Tyler’s current appearance. “But he is still a nerd,” she finished just as they walked into Safeway. Kayla let the subject drop just as Hailey’s jaw did the same.
“Oh my gosh,” she said as she grabbed Kayla’s arm and pulled her behind aisle three. “There’s Pastor Ryan.”
Both girls crouched down and pretended to look at something on the bottom shelf.
“I was wondering…poison…in stock?” they couldn’t make out every word he asked the clerk, but it didn’t look too good.
“Yes, it’s on aisle seven.” She answered him.
“Hailey gave Kayla a knowing look. They stayed where they were while Pastor Ryan went to aisle seven, brought his purchase to the counter, and then left the store.
“Did you see him?” Hailey asked. “See, I told you he is planning to poison you! I wouldn’t go over to his house for dinner for a million bucks.”
As Kayla followed Hailey to the self-serve soda fountain, she started to have second thoughts about dinner at the Smith’s house.
Hailey purchased her soda, and the girls quickly walked back to the school.
Kayla didn’t have very much time to think about dinner at Sara’s. When they turned the corner into the school parking lot, there was their familiar Toyota Corolla with Cole in the back seat and Mom in the front seat with a frown on her face.
Chapter 8
Heart to Heart
Kayla carefully opened the front passenger door and climbed in next to Mom. Mom just stared at her, waiting for an explanation. Kayla tried to divert her attention by quickly changing the subject and speaking at a rapid pace. “I just saw Pastor Ryan buying poison at the store. Hailey says he is a murderer, and I can’t go over to their house for dinner on Thursday. I just can’t.”
“Whoa,” Mom said holding up both hands and giving Kayla one of her just a minute looks. “What were you doing at the store? Don’t tell me you walked there by yourself. Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“Mom, I went with Hailey. We got out of class early because we won the history jeopardy game.”
Mom had finally started driving. She was taking a right out of the driveway as she said, “I don’t like you running all over town with God knows who.”
“Hailey is Dianne’s daughter,” Kayla said, trying everything she could to get out from under Mom’s paranoid lecture. “You used to let us go places by ourselves all of the time. Kayla turned and looked directly at Mom. It was not customary in her family to disagree with a parent, but Kayla decided to brave the worst and speak what was on her mind. “Mom, you can’t keep me in a bullet proof box for the rest of my life.” She paused and let out a big sigh. The sound of the engine suddenly seemed loud in comparison to the silence of that moment. Kayla pressed on, “Dad always said you have to live life, and not always be worried something bad will happen. Remember the story he told us about the father who wanted to protect his children from flying rocks while he mowed the lawn? He put his kids in the shop, but one got hit by a flying rock that went right through a crack in the wall and he had to go to the hospital anyway.” Kayla waited for the lecture she knew she deserved for talking so disrespectfully, but Mom did not let out a sound. Instead, Kayla saw a tiny tear trickle down her cheek. No one spoke for the rest of the ride home. Kayla felt awful. Even Cole just stared out the window.
As soon as they got home, Mom went straight to her bedroom without a word. Cole went upstairs too, and Kayla was left standing in the living room by herself. “Now how am I going to get out of going to Sara’s house for dinner?” she asked herself. As she voiced the thought, she remembered eating lunch with Sara and how nice Sara had been. Surely her dad couldn’t be a murderer, but then, she had seen him buying poison. What other reason would he be buying poison? Kayla sure couldn’t think of any.
After about half an hour, Kayla knocked lightly on Mom’s door, and then walked in. Mom was sitting on her bed with the family Bible open. Tears stained her cheeks, and she still hadn’t changed out of her work clothes.
She patted a spot on the bed next to her, and Kayla took a seat.
“Mom, I’m sorry about what I said earlier,” Kayla began. “I was just so upset about seeing Pastor Ryan … please don’t make me go over there for dinner, please.” Kayla had both of her hands intertwined as she proceeded to beg.
Mom let out a faint laugh. Kayla stared at her trying to figure out what was funny.
“Kayla, I can’t believe you just gave me a lecture about not being paranoid, and now you actually believe Pastor Ryan is a murderer!” Mom shook her head but then her eyes turned serious. She gently stroked Kayla’s hair. “When your father died, I was so upset. I kept thinking about all of the things I should have done differently. I should have made him get a different job. I should have insisted we move to a safer community. I should have made him wear a bullet proof vest.” She let out a little laugh. “But you know the truth is, being a police officer is what John wanted to be, and I know for a fact he would have willingly given his life to stop that school shooting.”
Now Kayla started to tear up. It was so hard losing Dad.
“Today you have helped me to realize I can’t keep you and Cole locked up all of your lives. You are right, you are old enough to walk to the store in broad daylight, and I certainly don’t want you to start being paranoid too. Pastor Ryan, a murderer, good grief.” Mom handed Kayla some Kleenex. “And another thing, I think I am going to make more of an effort to get this family to church!”
Wow, that came out of nowhere, Kayla thought. “Does this mean I have to go over to Sara’s for dinner?”
Mom grabbed a pillow and whacked Kayla over the head with it, “yes!”
Kayla grabbed a pillow and tried to get in a few blows. Before she knew it, they were both laughing, and their hair had enough static electricity to light up Las Vegas.
Right before Kayla left Mom’s room, Mom caught her by the arm and said, “And you had better not ever talk back to me like you did in the car again.”
“You’ve got it,” Kayla said as she smiled.
Kayla spent the rest of the night doing homework and trying not to think about dinner at Sara’s.
The next day at school, she tried to avoid both Sara and Hailey. It was hard since she had so many classes with both of them. In Pre-Algebra, she noticed Sara’s brother, the guy Hailey had been rude to on the phone. Kayla couldn’t understand why Hailey would be so rude to him. He seemed nice enough. He was even kind of cute, plus he was an eighth grader. Sara was lucky to have an older brother like him.
Kayla’s thoughts turned back to Hailey. She was an adventure waiting to happen, which made her fun to hang out with, but Kayla just couldn’t figure out her actions sometimes. Maybe being an only child had something to do with it.
The rest of the day seemed to fly by. Before Kayla knew it, school was out, and she was up in her room getting ready for church. It was the first time they were able to go with Nana. Things had been so busy since the move they hadn’t had time for church, but things were different now. Mom had decided to make it a priority.
Kayla pulled on her pink skirt with little white daises, and her white sparkle top. She stared in her closet for a while before deciding to wear her straw wedge sandals, and her hoop earrings. With one last glance in her mirror, she was ready. She grabbed her white purse, and ran downstairs to get something to eat before it was time to leave.
/> They picked up Nana on the way, and Kayla almost swallowed her gum when she heard Nana say the pastor’s name was Ryan Smith. They were going to Sara’s church! How could Mom take them there? Kayla was certain she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his sermon. She would be picturing him trying to poison people.
“I’m sure you two will love your youth groups,” Nana said, breaking into Kayla’s thoughts.
So, she wouldn’t have to listen to Pastor Ryan’s sermon after all. Kayla let her shoulders relax a little bit, but before she knew it, she was being hustled into the church building.
They dropped Cole off first at his class, and Kayla couldn’t help noticing the sad look on his face. Her thoughts didn’t dwell on him for long though. Before she knew it, she was in the youth room.
UNDERCOVER ANGELS: Kayla's Big Move Page 4