Poison Ivy

10.

Badge was gone by the time I woke up the next morning. I played the whole night over and over again in my head. It was the first time that Badge really let all his defenses down, and shed a light into his world. We were always focused on me, and it bothered me that I knew next to nothing about him. It meant more to me than he knew that he opened up. And it meant even more to me that he agreed to stay last night, when I knew that I would have a hard time going to sleep after what had happened. Had my dad known that a boy was in my room all night, I don't think I would ever see the light of day again. Everything was harmless though. All we did was talk, and watch a movie. There was no cuddling, no kissing, nothing. I did fall asleep on his chest, but that was hardly deemed as unchaste.

    I felt really refreshed as I woke up. That was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. Even despite the nightmare. Knowing that Badge was right there beside me put all my worries aside, and I was easily able to go back to sleep. The thought of the skinwalker or my dreadful nightmare never crept back into my mind. Well, at least not until now.

    After breakfast and showers, Clark, Katarina, my dad and I all climbed into the car. The Audi that had died on me was a goner, but we still had another perfectly working car. It was a 2005 silver Honda Accord. My dad didn't trust Clark and I to drive his cars, so we were forced to hitch a ride with him in his white 2007 Honda Pilot unless it was absolutely necessary for us to take the other car. It annoyed me at his lack of trust in us. I didn't expect much from him, but I'd at least think he'd trust Clark.

We had to leave a little earlier this morning. Since my mom was on bed rest, my dad had to take Katarina to school as well. He dropped Katarina off first, and then drove us to our school. He wasn't in the mood for conversation this morning. He looked really exhausted, and I could only imagine everything that must be going through his head right now. He's had a lot on his plate, and I could tell it was tearing him down. Even more than usual.

Clark hadn't said much to me either, and it made me wonder if I had done something wrong. Before I could ask him, he was already half way down the hallway headed toward a group of guys from the football team. I was thinking about following him anyways, but Clark was popular. He was Superman. I wouldn't want to ruin that for him. If his friends saw his nerdy sister following him, I'm sure he wouldn't hear the end of it until graduation.

I found Hannah by Lindsay's locker. Gordon and Ariana were both there too. I nudged Hannah on the arm and gave her a brief hello. I acknowledged everyone else, but I barely got a hello back. I stood there awkwardly for a moment listening to their conversation, but got bored when they started talking about their AP Trig assignment. Just the thought of Trig sent chills down my spine, and I excused myself from the conversation-not that I had much to do with it in the first place.

I still had a little less than ten minutes to kill before class started, so I ended up wandering into the girls' bathroom. As soon as I pushed through the door, I wanted to spin on my heels and walk right out. Leslie, Maria, and Kate were all engrossed in the mirror, applying great sums of makeup on their faces.

     "Well, look who it is," Leslie sneered. "The Great Slut."

     "Ha. Are you talking about yourself?" I shot back.

     "Let's not forget who's trying to steal someone's boyfriend away from them."

     "Boyfriend?" I scoffed.

     "You heard me," She said, a victorious smile on her face.

     "Funny. I don't recall him saying that."

     "We're basically official!" She snapped. And then took a slow breath. "And you were right, Maria," Leslie added, giving Maria a devilish grin. "He is a good kisser." All three girls gave a sadistic laugh, before pushing past me and exiting the bathroom.