Chapter 8

Steven looked at him. I guess he is Steven Kirby and they know each other.

“King! Long time no see!” Steven said with a smirk and got up to be at the same level with Raf.

“And it was a very happy time,” Raf said coming closer.

“Good morning, students. Take your seats!” teacher said.

“I want to sit here!” Raf screamed at the girls sitting behind me and Steven.

They got up and left.

“We should talk!” he whispered in my ear.

I ignored him. We talked with Steven and sometimes Raf was throwing pieces of paper on him. Steven was quiet but I knew that he was getting annoyed.

After the lesson I went to cafeteria. I sat near Jeremy and Mia. Lincoln, Raf and Dylan came and sat with us.

“What was wrong with you in the morning? Why were you in such a rush?” Linc asked me.

I looked at Jeremy.

“I had to give the project to our teacher of literature as soon as possible,” I answered.

Raf looked at me with a grin. Linc nodded. I went to buy a packet of juice.

“I know that you are lying!” Raf said and leaned on the table where food was selling.

“Please. Leave me alone. Why are you following me? I guess you explained to me that we weren’t the same level. And I agreed with you. I won’t embarrass you by being near you. Everyone is happy!” I said and wanted to go when he grabbed my hand.

“Kylie!” I heard Steven calling me.

Raf’s grip tightened.

“Peanut, I don’t recommend you to talk to him!” he said.

“I won’t be listening to stranger’s advice,” I said and went to Steven.

“Do you want to sit with us?” I asked.

I noticed him looking at that table.

“No, thanks! I gotta go. Just wanted to say goodbye!” he said.

“Bye!” I said and he left the cafeteria.

“What are you doing with Kirby?” Linc asked me.

“He is new here. How do you know him?” I asked.

“Princess, he isn’t the right person for you to talk to!” Dylan said, worried.

“Guys, I have just met him. I’m not going to hang out with him!” I said.

The rest of the day was as usual. Raf wanted to talk to me, but I ignored him. Then at home I was doing my homework and nothing else. Most of all I was talking to Jeremy. He felt better than yesterday, but he wasn’t also completely recovered. Nevertheless I did everything for him to forget about his problem.

The next day started with me waking up with the phone in my hand. I started to open completely my tired eyes. I guess, it wasn’t a wonderful idea to spend half of the night texting your friend. I had been texting Jeremy for 3 hours. It was the first time when I hadn’t gone to bed at ten P.M. Yeah, I didn’t know why, but I had always liked  going to bed at ten.

I have always thought that when you go to bed earlier, you can see dreams for longer time, you can imagine something good. I really reckon, that the night is the only time, when you can relax and imagine yourself in the other world.

So, reading out texts, I could say that he wanted me to think that he was fine, but he felt terrible. And I didn’t  know what I should have done to change his mood. He was broken, devastated, I couldn’t  find other words to describe his state. I thought he should have talk to his parents, to figure out everything, to get more answers. But he didn’t want to do it. He even had the idea of moving in to my house for some time. Dad wouldn’t be against it, but it was just a matter of time, until he had to vent.

Today was Friday. Then would be my favorite weekend. Yay! But I had to find the way to sort out everything.

But I have forgotten about one thing. Raffael King. He still wanted me to forgive him. But for what? I understood that if he didn’t think that I was worth of talking to him, then it would be his right. I just didn’t  want to look like someone intrusive.

Steven Kirby? I still haven’t understood what the fuss was about. He was new at school, but I felt like everyone had known him. And the worst was that no one told me what the problem was.

I got up and put my phone on charger. It had 30%, and I needed it. I put everything on minimum so it could charge up faster. I went to the bathroom and saw myself in the mirror. I had bruises under my eyes from tiredness and red eyes. It didn’t matter, anyway, because I was always ugly. Sometimes I really hate myself, but whatever. I washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Suddenly, I heard my phone beeping. I saw that there were 3 new messages. The first one was from Jeremy, the second one was from Raf and the third one was from unknown. I opened the first message.

 Good morning, Ky! Thank you for being with me for almost whole night. I will see you today at school, right?

Morning, Jer! Of course, I will always provide a friendly shoulder. See you soon.

Then I opened the second one.

Hey, Peanut. How are you?

Fine.

The unknown texted me:

 Hey, Kylie! I wonder, if you guess who is it?

I guess, no. Who are you, stranger?

I started thinking  who it could be. But no ideas floated to my mind. So I continued getting ready for school.

I went down the stairs to see that no one was at home. I just saw the note from my dad:

Good Morning, my little girl! I went to visit your grandparents. Granny feels a little bit sick. Lincoln went to the school earlier. I hope your day will be great! See you tonight!

God, I hope grandma is gonna be okay. I love her and she has always supported me.

Where is Lincoln? I called him to ask where the hell he was wandering. But he didn’t take the call.

I changed my clothes. I wore a pair of black sweatpants and a white plain T-shirt. I didn’t try to impress anyone so I could wear anything I wanted.

I took my bag and left the house. I started closing the doors when I heard the car’s beeping. I turned around and saw infamous Raf King grinning.

 “Good morning, Peanut!” he said.

 “What are you doing here?” I asked with an obvious confusion.

 “I know that no one is at home to take you to school. So I decided to come and help,” he said and smiled.

 “Such a pity that I don’t need your help!” I said and crossed my hands.

 “You haven’t forgiven me, right?” he asked me with a disappointment in his eyes.

 “It doesn’t matter. I just respect your decision,” I said and looked down.

“It isn’t my decision! When will you understand it? I just was angry that day. That’s all. I haven’t meant it at all!” he said raising the voice.

 I was looking into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, kinda. I looked down again. I made my way to the passenger seat near Raf.

“Sorry, I just got used to not being good enough to talk to someone new,” I said and started playing with my fingers.

“I have a question: why are you always putting yourself down?” he asked me and started the car.

“What?” I asked.

 “You think that you are not good enough. But why?” he asked, looking at me.

“Look at the road!” I yelled.

He smirked and glanced at the road.

 “I have always seen girls wearing high heels, short dresses and looking bomb, I wanted me to do the same thing. But whatever I wore, all I saw was ugliness. The problem is in me,” I explained, it was difficult for me to speak out but I felt the comfort in talking with him.

 Strange, but true. He was silent. I guess, he agreed with me. The rest of the ride was silent, with me looking out the window and him looking at the road.

When we came to school, I saw Jeremy and Mia near my locker. I nodded at Raf with a soft smile in a grateful way. He nodded and made his way to Dylan, who was standing on the other side of the lockers.

“Hey, Ky!” Mia yelled.

“Hey, guys!” I said smiling.

“How are you?” Jeremy asked.

 “Great! What about you?” I asked looking at both Jeremy and Mia.

“Everything is amazing. Gill is throwing a party tonight! Everyone is invited. Are you coming?” Mia screamed with the excitement.

“I am not so sure,” I said and wrinkled my nose.

 “I also don’t know,” Jeremy stated.

“Guys, you are impossible! It’s gonna be so funny! You should come,” Mia begged.

 “We will think this over, okay?” I said with a soft smile.

Thank God, our first period started. I just couldn’t find out any more excuses why we should talk about the party later. The first period is Literature. Nor Mia, nor Jeremy had the same class. I guess, I would be alone. I came in to the class and saw Raf and Dylan sitting together. I guess, they will be now on Literature with me. The only place where I could sit was in front of them. So I sat there, because I didn’t have any other options.

“Hey, Princess!” Dylan yelled loudly.

“Hey, Dylan!” I laughed softly and said.

 “How are you?” he asked with a genuine smile.

 “Great and you?” I queried also with a smile.

 “With you here, much better!”

 I smiled and turned around the same second when our teacher Mr. Adams entered the class.

“Good morning!” he greeted us.

“Good morning, Mr. Adams!” we answered.

 “Today, we’re gonna talk about Charlotte Bronte and her

amazing creation: the book Jane Eyre...” he started.

I really loved Literature, but now I got lost in my thoughts. A lot of things happened this year and it has just started. I was thinking about Jeremy. What should I do to make the pain go away? As I said, time heels. But was it true? Or did I say it to calm him down? I experienced a really painful situation too, it still hurt to think about it and I knew that time didn’t heal at all. I was just scared that he could hurt himself and I considered myself powerless right now.