“Whatever,” I grumble at him.
Raven is waiting at Kai’s locker. “I need to steal you away. Girl talk.” She gives me a hard look.
I hope she isn’t mad that Kai is still driving me to school and letting me share his locker.
Raven hooks her arm through mine. Penny and Becks are at her locker. Becks gives me a sad half smile and Penny sneers and calls us whores as we pass them by. Raven stops walking, jerking me to a stop too. She marches over to Penny with her brown eyes turning almost black. “You got a problem princess?”
“No I didn’t…” Penny trails off trying to lie.
“That’s what I thought. I may not have said shit to you when you used to spread your lies about me, but I won’t stand by while you do the same to Katie,” she screeches in warning.
“Why are Kai, Katie and you a threesome now?” Penny teases. Becks is looking at the ground embarrassed.
“Penny don’t be mad because Katie didn’t want to have one with you and Aaron. Making up stories about her because she shot you both down is so embarrassing. It’s sad really.” Raven hooks her arm back in mine.
A few onlookers laugh at Penny saying, ‘burn.’
We get to the bathrooms by my History class and she shoves me inside the door.
“So Kai said you went to Jake’s and you never told me…what did you think of him? Did he ask about me?” Jeez, it seems like forever ago since that day and she is just now asking me. She and Kai must not talk as much as I think they do.
“He’s nice. He did say you hadn’t been around, asked Kai about you.”
“He is so hot right?”
I nod that he is, because Jake is hot if you like guys with long hair and that are a bit of a hippie.
“Come on Katie you can do better than that. Was his shirt off? I just want to lick his tattoos!”
I shake my head laughing at her. So Raven and Jake, interesting.
“Don’t say anything to Kai. Okay? Jake thinks he will be weirded out by us. I don’t think he would care but I have been seeing Jake when I can but it’s hard sneaking around between school and work.”
Is Jake why she is pushing Kai and me together? So she can go after one of his best friends…I don’t want to step on toes, but I won’t be used either. For now, I will stay out of it.
“My lips are sealed.”
Maybe Kai already knows something is up between them. Is that why he seemed cold when Jake asked about Raven? Is he jealous?
I can’t stop wondering about Kai and Raven. I know I should just ask one of them but I haven’t worked up the nerve to. I might not like what I hear.
By lunch, I have spun my thoughts into a web that is covering my cranium. One thought leads to five more and those ideas lead me to places my mind shouldn’t go. There are so many unknowns. I cannot shake the feeling that Kirk somehow fits into all of this somewhere, but where…
I am the first at the table, I hate sitting by myself I feel like people are staring at me. Darla comes over and says hi.
“Aren’t you afraid Penny will disown you?”
“I don’t agree with how she is acting, just wanted to see how you are doing,” she says her voice going soft. Darla hasn’t spoken to me since I started getting slut shamed. I assumed she hates me now too.
“Couldn’t be better.” I smile at her and apologize for being a bitch to her. “Were you at Aaron’s party?”
“Yeah, it was brutal. Penny and Aaron were drinking a lot. He kept trying to go to his room and she told him no. Well he blurted out in front of everyone that he should have asked you instead, at least then he knew he could get laid.” My mouth drops. What an asshole. “Penny freaked out, she smacked him. It was harsh. They went into his room. I left before they ever came out. So I don’t know what was said after that.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“No problem.”
Raven takes a seat across from me. I notice Kai isn’t with her. Darla excuses herself and goes to another table. I relay what Darla said to Raven.