I <3 u

<3 Chapter 12 <3

            The principal’s stern face grimaced at all of us, who were placed in a way in which none of us were directly next to each other.  His wrinkles became bolder as his frown grew deeper. “I’ll be checking in regularly.  I want it to be silent! SILENT!”

            “Yes sir…” we all mumble unanimously.  Our eyes followed him and we could all hear his not so quiet mumbling.  “Nasty little pieces of…” As soon as the door was shut we began to make some noise.  I feel four pairs of eyes turn onto me.  I quickly jump out of my seat and practically run to sit next to Tina who was glaring at all four.  She had her arms folds across her chest and her acrylic nails were tapping her forearm in an annoyed rhythm.

            “I can’t believe you guys got Kara and me into detention!  I have a life you know?  You ruined my afterschool date with Mark!  You’re lucky I don’t kill all four of you!”

          I’m pretty sure by the looks on their faces that all of the guys knew she meant exactly what she said.  I was even afraid she was going to blame me since I was the one who screamed after all.  And of course Erik had to open his big mouth, “Hey WE aren’t the ones who screamed bloody murder!”

          I looked down in embarrassment and shame.  The jumped when Tina’s hand slammed onto the desk almost breaking it in two.

          “Oh shut it Erik!  Don’t go pointing the blame and my darling sweet Kara!” 

          After that outburst it got uncomfortably silent.  Andrew’s voice was the first one to end the silence.  The chair creaked as he leaned back and set his feet on the desk in front of him.

          “Well I personally blame the bastard with the lame Australian accent.” 

          Pierce glared at him and he cockily glared back with a slight smirk.

          “It’s called a British accent you asinine fucker.”

          Andrew started to sit up straight and his smirk had vanished from his face.

          “What did you just call me bitch?  You wanna go?”

          I rolled my eyes.  “Guys! LANGUAGE PLEASE!” I quickly ducked my head down because they all looked at me with wide eyes.  I guess it surprised them that I was even talking.  Even Tina looked a little surprised that I managed to open my mouth at all.  I smirked at the thought that I had managed to throw them off so easily.  It gave me a burst of courage and I started to get up from my desk.

          “Listen I have something to say to each and every one of you.”  I first looked at Andrew.

          “Andrew…”  It hurt a little to say his name out loud.  “I don’t care what you have to say to me because I don’t want to hear it.”

          I saw his mouth open slightly but I cut him off before he even got the chance.  “EVER.  Spencer told me everything and I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”

            I stared at him awhile longer until he had to look away.  In my head I was thinking.

            OH MY SHIZNIPPLES!!! I can’t believe I just said that! This is so not like me at all! Eeekkk!!! I feel so… so BADASS.  THIS IS SO AWESOME!

            I then turned to Spencer.  He was so sick and cruel and despite all of that I still had to admit I had feelings for him.  What’s wrong with me?

            “Spencer, don’t talk to me either.  Don’t even bother saying hi to me because I can assure you I won’t say it back.” 

            He had nothing to say to me apparently.  Good that’s exactly what I wanted.  My focus turned to Pierce who was looking incredibly sexy at the moment… wait no! Keep with it Kara!

            “Well, um, Pierce.  Thanks for looking out for me.”  I was the one to quickly look away this time.  I sank down into my chair with a slight sigh of relief that everything was taken care of. 

            “What about me?”  Oh.. oops I had completely forgotten about Erik.  The Erik who I just recently learned had a part of him that could actually be kind of sweet.  And not to mention the Erik who I just recently learned was my M.M.  Yup, THAT Erik, who I had no idea how to deal with at the moment.

            “You? I have nothing to say to you.”  Which wasn’t a COMPLETE lie because I didn’t really have anything to say to him.  Well that was mainly because I didn’t KNOW what to say to him.  Geez this was so complicated.  I’m starting to think that Erik just lives to make life complicated. 

            No one said anything after that except for me and Tina of course.  We were talking about some dribble and Mark and just anything to pass the time.  The warden... ahem... I mean principal never came to check on us until it was time to go.

            When we got out I saw Mark waiting in his car.

            “You going to be alright hun?”  Tina asked me.  “We could give you a lift if you want.” 

            “No, It’s fine.” I gave her my best smile. “I feel bad that I made you late for your date.  Go have fun.”  She gave me that look where she wasn’t sure what to do. I hugged her and then shoved her in the direction of her man.

            “Just keep it PG will you?”

            She gave me a playful smirk and winked.  “Never!”  I giggled and I watched as she got into the car and waved at me until they drove out of sight.  I looked around and saw Andrew and Spencer getting in their cars and Pierce waving from his.

            “Need a ride?” 

            “In that thing?  I’d rather walk thanks.”

            He shrugged but walked over to me.  “Suit yourself but just tell me one thing.”

            “What is it?”

            I felt his hand brush a loose strand of hair and tuck it behind my ear.  It moved slightly down until it cupped my cheek.  Pierce’s eyes stared down at me with a mixture of concern and something else that I couldn’t quite make out.

            “Are you ok?”

            He was worried about me.  He was really worried about me.  I nodded, first, my eyes not looking into his.  I didn’t want him or anyone else to worry about me anymore.  I could take care of myself.  I’m not going to be a baby any longer. 

            “Kara?”

            I muster up a smile and say, “I’m fine! Don’t worry about me.”  It was fake.  It was all fake.  The smile.  The words that came out of my mouth. FAKE.  I think he knew too.  You could tell that he could see past my façade and directly stare into my fakeness.  It was an awful feeling.  Pierce stared at me a while longer his hand still warm against my cheek.  Finally he retracted his hand and I almost protested but stopped myself.

            “You can tell me anything.  I just want you to know that.”

            “Thank you.”  Was all I could say.  What could you say when someone told you something like that except for “thank you”?  Without another word he pulled me in his strong arms and hugged me.  It took me a few seconds until I hugged him back.  I buried my face into his warm comforting chest and felt his resting on my shoulder.  I don’t know how long we stayed like that but when he left I felt a sort of emptiness.  I watched him leave and then jumped when a voice spoke from behind me.

            “I thought he would NEVER leave!”

            I whirled around to see Erik smiling down at me.