her darling

Chapter 4

The walk home with Kennedy seemed to drag on.
I couldn't tell if it was because of the different route we were taking, the longer route, mind you, or because she ranted on about how she didn't know how to approach Tai.

"Ask him about skateboarding or something." I said absentmindedly.
The conversation had been going in circles for the past 10 minutes and we weren't getting to any real conclusion.

"His family went on a ski trip, how how about I ask him about that?" Kennedy suggested, staring at the sky.
The sky looked like a painting, the clouds were big and fluffy and the sun looked like it was hung up there just for us.

"How do you know his family went on a ski trip?" I asked.
Kennedy looked over at me, "I heard him talk about it with his friends."
"Won't it be weird for him to know that you were eavesdropping on his conversation? You could bring up something related to the topic of skiing..." I paused, considering her options.
"So what? Talk about snow?" she looked at me, the beads on her braids knocking together as she turned her head.
"Actually no, and I'm 'snow' bored of this conversation," I stopped and looked ahead of us, "And you better think of a topic to talk about fast because we're here and he's right there."

Tai was in the middle of a big group of people telling some story that had to have been funny because they were laughing like they were paid to do so.

They stood in the skate park, the sound of their hollering was mixed with the sounds of the skateboards wheels rolling against the concrete.

The skate park has been around forever, with ramps covered in graffiti and a rustic run down look that made it unique.
Kind of.

It was where many kids spent their childhoods, and where those exact same kids turned into teenagers as years passed by.

I lived in a small town.
Everyone knew everyone, so it was fascinating to see everyone change.
Especially Tai.

As a child, he would keep his hair in a buzz cut and remain in a corner, reserved and to himself. Too scared to talk to anyone, I presume.
Now look at him, his thick hair loose and flowing and the absolute center of attention with looks that could kill and the personality to go along with it.

I understood the appeal, I get why Kenny liked him.
It was just a matter of her not knowing how the situation should be approached.
How would she do it? She could always-
"Hey Kennedy!" Tai called out.

...Oh.

Kennedy immediately grabbed my arm, giving it a deathly squeeze.
"Did he just call me?" she whispered.
"No he called the girl behind you." I whispered back sarcastically.
She looked back, her eyebrows knitted together into a frown, "Who?"
"You, He's talking to you!" I whisper shouted, a slight hiss in my tone as I nudged her, "Talk to him!"

Kennedy nodded, looking back at Tai and waving, "Hey Tai!"
"Come talk to me for a sec, you live around here?" he asked, a smile on his face as she walked to him, pulling me along with her.
"Well we pass by here sometimes, we live a few roads away." She answered, not letting go of me.

At this point all of Tai's friends formed a different circle, a new conversation forming amongst themselves.
"You should walk by here more often, it's nice to see you outside of school ya know?" he said.
I heard Kennedy inhale gently. Subtly.
"Uh, yeah. Of course." she smiled at him.

He looked at me, his attention diverted, "You're Marcy right? Reese told me about you, said you're like crazy smart."
"She is crazy smart." Kennedy said immediately, looking at me.

My mind was immediately in shambles.
Reese talks to other people about me?

"Right," Tai said slowly, looking at how Kennedy still had not let go of my arm, "Do you wanna talk to her? She's actually right other there."
My eyes widened, "Uh no it's okay-"
He turned around and called out before I could even finish my sentence, "Hey Reese! Your girl Marcy is here!"