Friendly Dating - Kira

Chapter 2 - Avoiding the Spotlight

So, doing bundu-bashing with a hockey stick while wearing a school skirt and carrying a backpack filled with textbooks is not as much fun as I imagined it was going to be...

Alright, it's even more excruciating than I'd imagined it would be.

I love this wooded piece of nature smack-bang in the middle of our neighbourhood, and I know every clearing and every cluster of trees like the back of my hand. I could walk this forested hill blindfolded in the dark. I won't, though, because I'm not stupid. There are many hazards, sudden drops, fox holes... snakes.

My point is, I love it out here, listening to birds chirping, critters scurrying and once you get close enough to it, the brook gurgling over stones. Love it! 

Right now, I hate it. I didn't want to follow any of the footpaths because I didn't want to run into people I know. People who might ask me what I'm doing wandering around the forest in my school uniform, carrying a hockey stick, being even stranger than usual. I don't even play hockey!

Actually, I doubt anybody would really be all that interested. I'm not exactly the kind of girl who seeks or finds a lot of attention. I prefer being the oil in the engine, making sure everything runs smoothly without its presence really being noticed unless it's gone. 

And that is the real reason why I'm shying away from people right now. I don't want to be seen meeting Ethan at the bridge; it could potentially end my extravagant career as an invisible engine lubricant.

If I'm seen hanging out with Ethan, without Delia, in any place other than our street, there will be stories and unwanted attention because, as obscure as I strive to be, Ethan always ends up the centre of attention. Being with him, one involuntarily inherits a spot in the brightest limelight.

I had a taste of that spotlight near the end of last year when I stupidly tried to do my civic and human duty of defending another human being from unfairly being expelled from school on made-up charges.

Yup, I squarely shot myself in the foot there. If I'd stayed out of it, Ethan would probably now be living with his grandparents in Hummelton, four hours away by car, attending a rather strict all-boys school... or in a juvenile centre.

Well, I wouldn't do that, not even to him.

When I heard that Ethan was accused of stealing some expensive photographic equipment from the school library, I immediately knew that it was a lie. I promptly barged into the disciplinary head's office – fine, I politely requested to see him – and explained to everybody present that Ethan was a lot of things, including but not limited to annoying, perverted, obnoxious, lazy, noisy, arrogant and plain nasty, but that if there's one thing, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is not, it is a criminal, specifically, a thief.

Please note that doing that was extremely out of character for me. I'm rather shy.

Ethan was present at the time, scowling at my highly accurate character verification. Mr Samuels seemed to be a little amused; he probably didn't believe all I told him about Ethan; the man actually likes the guy. Well, they're probably close friends by now because, since our first day of high school, Ethan started to spend a lot of time in his office for various offences, ranging from playing truant to fighting to making out on school grounds.

For some inexplicable reason, people generally like Ethan; I have no idea why, and I'm talking about normal, garden-variety people, not the deranged variant.  I suppose being the star of the rugby team excuses a lot of his less-than-stellar behaviour.

I could also see that Mr Samuels was not enjoying the whole sordid affair and told me that though I'm known for my honesty, and he agrees with me with pretty much all that I've said, he can unfortunately not just take my word for it. Many of Ethan's friends, including all the rugby teams and his sister, had also testified to his lack of ambition when it comes to a life of actual crime.

I held the trump card in my hands, though. When I heard of the accusations against Ethan, I investigated because I like a good mystery, and Delia was desperate to save her brother. I'll do anything for Dell.

I knew that Ethan was dating Harmony Harper until a few days before the incident. I also knew that Harmony's name should start with the prefix 'dis'. When they broke up, I - and every other person within a 500-meter radius - heard her threaten to ruin his life.

Being aware of that threat, I started to... well... spy on her and discovered that she was the one who took the equipment. She hid it in an old trunk gathering dust at the back of the room containing various retired sporting equipment. She knew it would be discovered eventually and didn't care whether it was found in time to save Ethan.

I think she was either hoping that it wouldn't be discovered in time or that he'd go crawling back to her for help if he figured out that she was behind it. I don't know; I'm not sure how narcissists' brains work.

I was able to find out about her scheme because her partner in crime was having an argument with her when I came upon them at one of the town's other favoured make-out spots, the abandoned bus stop on the old road that runs between the town centre and the school. Most people use the new road now because the old one has a much stricter speed limit and far too many stops. The buses still use some sections of the old road, but there is one part of it that has virtually fallen into complete disuse.

Fine, I didn't just happen upon them; I followed her... I became a startlingly good stalker. It wasn't easy to stay on her trail; I swear the girl cannot walk past a clothing store without going inside for a bit of shopping or browsing. She also often got into cars with boys and college guys, and then I lost her, but that day she remained on foot, and then she joined Paul Ruddford at the bus stop. I was disappointed and about to leave, because I really didn't need to see what she was going to get up to with the boy, then I realised that it was not a romantic encounter.

Paul wanted to turn it into one, but Harmony was adamant that there would be no sugar for him until Ethan got kicked out of school. If hiding the equipment didn't do the trick, Paul needed to devise a plan B. She was angry that it wasn't the open-and-shut case she'd hoped it would be since she'd planted enough evidence to frame Ethan, and there were even a couple of lying eyewitnesses.

Normally, I would've tried to solve the problem without mentioning names or drawing attention to myself, but the situation was appallingly serious and going from bad to worse fast. Ethan could've gone to juvenile court; it could've become a disaster. His entire future could've been ruined because of a conniving floozy like Harmony. 

He has the worst taste in girls.

I wanted to tell Delia what I'd found out and have her handle it - she was investigating as well - but then I heard that she was in the disciplinary head's office with Ethan, her parents, Headmaster Blake and the police, so I just went in there, delivered my little speech and spilt the beans.

Long story short, Ethan is still in Mudville (the endearing nickname we've given our town due to all the rain and... well... mud).

I don't have any desire for more attention. It took me a while to slip back into obscurity, and that is why I'm here, bashing through thick bushes and undergrowth and tangled trees, to meet Ethan at the bridge.

It had better be worth it!

♂♀