I WALK DOWN the empty hallway.
It’s my first day back at school, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. One, because it gets me out of the house—I was starting to suffer from cabin fever. Two, because I get to spend first period with Laney, then lunch, then I get to enjoy watching her bounce around in little shorts during volleyball practice. Sometimes it doesn’t totally suck to be Kamdyn Ellis.
I stroll past the lockers toward chem when someone grabs me by the arm. “Whoa!” I’m yanked into the storage room and attacked by a pair of sugary, sweet tasting lips. They smash against mine, and I’m momentarily stunned. “Darla? What the fuck?” I push her away. Seriously, did this chick not get the message? I haven’t called or texted or even breathed in her direction in months, and yet here she is shoving her tongue down my throat.
“I’ve been waiting for you. I wanted to be the first to welcome you back,” she purrs.
“A simple hi would have been fine.” I wipe her sticky lip gloss off my mouth. Yuck. Darla pouts. I’ve been back at school for five seconds, and it’s starting already.
“What’s wrong with you, Kam? You’re no fun anymore.”
“I’m plenty fun, sugar. I’m just not interested in having any with you. I tried to be nice, but that didn’t seem to work. So, let me be clear. I don’t like you. I don’t want to fool around or hang out. I have a girlfriend now. And I don’t think she’d take too kindly to you accosting me in the storage closet.”
“A girlfriend?” Darla squeaks, and then it registers. “Laney Summers?” She almost sounds disgusted.
“Yes, Laney Summers. You have a problem with that?”
“No.” Darla backs down. “She just doesn’t seem like your type.”
“Yeah, well opposites attract. Now, back off.”
The warning bell rings.
“Fine. I’m sorry.” She retreats backwards, hugging herself.
“If you want to apologize to someone, do it to Laney.” I bite.
“You going to tell her?”
“Afraid she’ll kick your ass?”
“No,” Darla huffs.
“You should be. She’s tough. Trust me, I know. I’ve wrestled with her.” Darla scrunches her nose. Didn’t like that mental picture, huh? I grin to myself.
“So, are you going to tell her?” Darla sounds a little more alarmed now. And she should be. I wasn’t kidding when I said Laney was tough. She can definitely throw down.
“Are you going to leave me alone?” I press.
“Yes.”
“Then, no. Let’s keep both our asses out of trouble.”
“Fine.” She agrees.
“Good.” I open the door to a hallway full of my peers. I don’t make it two steps into the crowd when I run right into the person I most wanted to see . . . just not at this moment.
Laney’s eyes widen as she looks between me and Darla. This is not good. So not good. So, so not good.
“No, Laney. It’s not what you think.” I panic.
“Oh, really? Because it looks like you and Darla coming out of the storage room after a morning hook-up.” She gets shoved by someone and loses her footing. I grab her before she falls. “No. Laney.”
“Don’t touch me!” she snaps, pulling away. “God, you really are a douchebag.” She calls me out in the middle of the hallway, stopping pedestrian traffic. Fuck. Just what we need—an audience.
“Can we talk about this someplace else?” I lower my voice so only she can hear me.
“Talk? You think I want to talk to you? Shit, Kam, you really had me fooled.” She sounds so hurt. But it’s not what she thinks. If I can just explain!
“I never lied to you!”
“Are you seriously trying to play that card?” she hisses, disgusted.
The bell rings again, and everyone starts to scatter. Half the school is late for first period. Laney takes off, and I rush after her. “Laney! Laney!”
She walks into chem and straight to Mr. Johnson’s desk. “Can I have a pass for the nurse, please?” Her voice cracks. Shit. No!
“Is everything alright, Ms. Summers?” the older man with white hair asks as he writes it out.
“Fine. I’m just suddenly not feeling so well.” She snatches the small, pink piece of paper out of his hand,
“Do you need someone to take you?”
“I will,” I interject.
“No!” Laney seethes. Mr. Johnson looks between us concerned. “I’m fine, really. I just need to go now.”
“I’ll mark you as present. Go ahead.” Laney walks out the door, and I follow.
“Laney,” I voice, desperate for her to just look at me. She has it all wrong.
“Piss off, Kam,” she growls.
She’s gone after that.
“Fuck!” I punch a locker.
What was I saying about it not sucking to be Kamdyn Ellis?
FUMBLE!
I’ve tried everything.
Cards, flowers, candy. Nothing works. Laney has officially cut me off. It’s been over a month, and she’s barely spoken three words to me.
Chem is worse than Chinese water torture. Sitting half a foot away from the person you love, and them not giving you the time of day is cruel and unusual punishment.
Life has just been fucking fabulous lately. I lost my girl and the ability to play football. Why doesn’t the universe just take my hands, feet, eyes, and ears, and call it a day. This mundane, slow death is agonizing.
Laney comes into first period and sits next to me in her usual seat. She drops her book bag on the table, pulls out her notebook, and looks straight ahead. Not even a glance in my direction.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey,” she responds coolly, just to be polite. That is what our relationship has become—a series of distant pleasantries. I watch her out of the corner of my eye as Mr. Johnson lectures about chemical reaction and mass conservation. I’m not hearing a word. The only chemical reaction I’m interested in is the one that happens when Laney is in my arms. She jots down her notes diligently, her dark hair hiding most of her face. I want to reach out and tuck it behind her ear just so I can see her.
“Lemon,” I whisper, but she ignores me. “Lemon, can we please talk?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she responds harshly.
“I think there is.” She keeps her eyes forward, unrelenting. It makes me crazy. “Laney, I miss you.”
That gets her attention. She stares at me with those bold blue eyes. I wonder if that put a chink in her armor. But she only scowls. “Then you should have thought about that before you went into the storage room with Darla.”
“I didn’t choose to go in, she grabbed me. And nothing happened, just like I told you a hundred times.”
“I wish I could believe you, Kam.” She drops her head mournfully, scribbling in her notebook.
“Why can’t you?” I dispute.
“Because leopards don’t change their spots. And I can’t be with someone who cheats on me. Call me possessive, I like what’s mine.”
“I am yours. And I would never cheat on you. That’s not who I am.”
“I don’t know who you are.”
Ouch.
I shake my head furiously. “You are the only person who knows me.”
Laney frowns. “Just leave it alone, Kam. It’s over.”
It’s hard to accept. Defeat never comes easily to a competitor.