the first chapter

the third chapter

••• next day •••

i find kim in the cafeteria and sit with her and her boyfriend.

"hey, nora. have you talked to that king kid?" she asks.

"not necessarily. there's no point. he's a jock, he'll say whatever to keep his reputation." i groan. kim sighs annoyed and turns to her boyfriend.

"sean, you're on the football team. what did king say about nora?"

"uh, i'm not sure what he said exactly. why don't you just ask him?"

"nora, just get to know him. you don't know what he said, it might not have even been that bad." kim adds. i guess she's not wrong. he's gone out of his way to get to know me, the least i could do is do the same.

••• 2:16 •••

king walks into the library and smiles at me. he greets mrs. wynn before walking over to me.

"oh, you're back to your book." he notices. "wanna tell me about it?" i'm sick of ignoring my thoughts. he acts like he's so interested in me but i still don't know what his actual intentions are.

"what did you tell the football team about me?" i randomly ask.

"oh... you heard about that. listen, i promise, it's not what you think it is."

"so what is it? everybody talking about you because of something they heard from a jock isn't necessarily always a good thing. so what did you tell them?" i can tell he doesn't want to answer, and luckily for him, mrs. wynn calls him over before he can even think about his answer. he's hiding something, well, he's hiding a lot.

••• next day •••

king came to the library earlier than usual and was sitting at my table. i greet mrs. wynn with a smile and make my way over to king.

"yo, nora, i think i want to get a book. any recommendations?" he asks. he's acting like yesterday never happened. he must think i'm stupid.

annoyed, i let out a snarky reply. "i didn't know you were capable of picking up a book."

"haha, very funny." he says sarcastically. "i'm serious. if we both read it'd be something we could bond through."

"we can bond when you tell me why everyone is talking about me."

"why don't you ask everyone? seriously, nora, it's nothing serious."

"so then tell me," i say. he stays quiet. "whatever. can you move so i can sit there?" reluctantly, he gets up and goes to mrs. wynn's desk. i don't understand. i just want to know what he told them, why's that so hard to answer?

a couple of guys from the football team, including sean with kim on his arm, bust into the library shouting.

"yo, evans! we got a game later man! you need to be on the field." one of them shouts. kim leaves sean and sits with me.

"are you going to the game? you know king is the quarterback," she asks. i look back at king who is getting rushed out by the team.

"yeah. i'll go."

••• 5:02 pm •••

i find kim on the bleachers and sit with her. she's holding a big sign that reads "go sean! #3" with hearts all over it.

"so i'm guessing you talked to king? how nice of you to come and support him." she assumes.

"nope, just wanted to support the school. king doesn't want to give me answers. he's weird." i say. i honestly don't even know why i decided to come because it sure wasn't to support the school.

i just wish he would answer my question instead of avoiding it. it makes me feel like he said something really bad and untrue but i just can't see him being that type of person. the type of person that spreads nasty rumors about girls. those people wouldn't go out of their way to figure out a girl's aspirations just to make her happy. those people wouldn't do something they've most likely never have done before to bond with a girl. i want to say he's not a bad person but i have no clue what type of person he is.