Penny looks down at her phone. “We better get going too. My dad says he’ll be home in about fifteen minutes.” Aaron starts kissing her. It rather sickens me. He looks like he is trying to swallow half of her face. No, I definitely wouldn’t want him to ever to kiss my frog lips.
I leave Penny and Aaron to suck face.
Walking home, I am flabbergasted when I spy Penny’s dad leaving my house in a mad dash. Please God, don’t tell me he is Mr. Thursday… After seeing him hop in his truck, I wait for as long as I can stand the cold, debating whether or not I want to broach the topic with my mom. Shivering, I decide I’d rather not know. I don’t want that sort of thing hanging over my head. The guilt o
f not knowing what to do with the information would be too much to shoulder. As I said before, Penny has the perfect everything.
I debate sitting on the porch for a minute longer but then the wind blows, making me cringe and shiver. The quicker I get inside, the better. When I get inside the door, my mom is still in her room. I head straight to mine and gather up my things quickly to hop in the shower so I don’t have to face her yet. I hope that by the time I get out, I will have long forgotten seeing Mr. Thursday, possibly anyway.
Chapter 4
I was able to escape my mother last night. Shortly after I hopped in the shower, she cracked the door open to the bathroom to tell me that she was headed out to go for a drink with Carla. Of course she was. She had been paid. She had booze money. I wouldn’t call her an alcoholic, but she likes to have a good time. I was dead asleep whenever she found her way home. She is still sleeping now, as I get ready for school. Shimmying into my jeans quickly, I stub my toe on my dresser but bite my tongue. I don’t want to wake my mom. I know it’s horrible of me, but I try to avoid her at all costs if I can.
I go to fix my usual bowl of cereal and there isn’t any more milk. I could have sworn there was a half-gallon left yesterday. Checking my wallet, I have fifteen dollars. I have enough money to grab a chicken biscuit from the Grab ‘N Go. Taking my phone out, I start to text a message to Becks to let him know to go on without me, when my phone buzzes.
It’s Becks. “Hey,” I answer, wondering why he is calling me so early.
“I have a dentist appointment this morning, so I will be checking in late. I don’t know if I’ll be at lunch.” Becks is supposed to be getting his braces off soon. He has had them all through high school, so I know he is excited to have them come off.
“Okay cool. Catch ya later.”
Closing the door quietly, I lock it behind me, and I wave to Mrs. Jennings as she salts her sidewalk and steps. Taking my knit cap from my bag, I pull it down tight around my ears and pull my hood up as well. The air has a bone-chilling feel this morning. I close the latch on the gate, going through my usual routine until I get to the street I normally meet Becks on. Instead, I go the opposite direction to the Grab ‘N Go.
Once inside, I splurge on an orange juice to go with my chicken biscuit. They don’t really have much of a selection to choose from, but they have fantastic biscuits. It’s really warm in here. I dread going back into the cold and walking the rest of the way to school. I grab a seat in one of the booths designated for those who are dining in. I pull my notes out from History class and give them a once over. Mr. Lowe is notorious for Friday pop quizzes.
I can feel eyes on me, and I look up from my notes to see a little blonde-haired toddler sitting across from me, grinning.
“Hi,” I say to her, as I look for an adult to come claim her.
She just grins even wider showing me her teeth. Then she barks at me like a little puppy.
“Are you a good puppy or a bad puppy?” I ask.
“Khloe not bad. Khloe good puppy,” she tells me.
“Khloe, what did I tell you about running off.” I look away from Khloe to see none other than Kai peering at the girl with a worried expression on his face.
He sees me and says, “Sorry, my sister, she takes off on me a lot.” I never knew he had a younger sister. I know he has an older brother, but he graduated when I was in eighth grade. I think his name is Kirk.
I scrunch my nose. Their parents must be the kind that name all their kids with names that begin with the same letter or something.
“Well see ya,” he says, shuffling awkwardly on his feet, as he scratches the back of his neck.
“Yeah, see ya,” I reply, watching curiously as his sister takes his hand. She continues to bark as they go out the door.
Wrapping up what I didn’t eat of my biscuit, I stuff the remainder in my bag and chug the last of my juice. I grab my notes and head to school.
Mr. Lowe totally slammed us with a quiz as soon as we were seated this morning. Second period we were assigned our next book to read. I was given the Great Gatsby. This assignment will be cake. I have read that book numerous times. By the time lunch rolls around, I have a message from Becks apologizing, saying that he won’t get here until after lunch. I have another from Penny asking if I want to go to McDonalds with her and Darla. I tell her no thanks, and she immediately replies that she doesn’t have to go, but I tell her it’s fine, to go. We always eat lunch together, but I know I am not her only friend. However, I am now on my own.
I scan the crowded room, looking for a friendly face. I spot Raven sitting with another girl from our P.E. class and hope they won’t mind if I join them. “Mind if I sit with you guys?”
“It’s a free country,” Raven says with a broad grin, reminding me of Khloe, Kai’s little sister.
Speaking of the devil, he slams his tray down across from mine, sitting beside Raven. They bump shoulders and exchange a look as though they have some inside joke or secret. There is an awkward silence as we eat our lunches.
I decide to make the first civil move. “Your little sister is really cute, Kai.”
“Thanks,” he says blankly.