I rounded the corner of Dreck and heard a window opening,
around and her lipstick was entirely gone, revealing plump, pink then a giggle. I looked up and stopped dead. There, scrambling out lips. I had never seen her look so disheveled, and she was still of a basement window and into the bushes, with the help of a large drop-dead gorgeous.
hand on her ass, was Kiran Hayes. She scrambled up, laughing,
“Yeah, right,” she said, taking a step toward me. “You’re not
then straightened her skirt and brushed the dirt from her bare
going to tell anyone about this, right?”
knees. Seconds later, a boy emerged, pulling himself up and tack-
“No,” I said. “No. Of course not.”
ling her into a kiss. Kiran pushed at his shoulders at first, but then
“Because you cannot even comprehend the things I can do to
let out a slight moan and kissed him back.
you,” she said.
Kiran Hayes was making out with a Dreck boy. The Dreck boy’s
Wow. This girl really knew how to cast a threat. Her eyes, so hands were, in fact, sliding up her tank top toward her breasts.
stunningly beautiful on a normal day, were now filled with venom.
Right. I didn’t need to see that.
But even in my intimidated state, I realized that this was a moment I turned to go, but the flash of movement must have caught
I could use to my advantage. I could show Kiran I was trustworthy.
Kiran’s eye. A moment later, she barked.
I’d been handed another opportunity to prove myself.
“Wait! Don’t move,” she demanded.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and turned back toward her, my pulse
And then, to my surprise, I saw a flicker of relief. She was really racing.
scared that people would find out about this. Why? Maybe the kid
“God! You really are a voyeur, aren’t you?” she said.
was kind of a dork, but Kiran was the sort of powerful, popular girl
82
K A T E B R I A N
who could get away with dating whomever she wanted and still rise above the snickers and the rumors. Why was she so concerned