A Little Bit Ninja

5: Sneak Attack (Revised)

Chapter 5: Sneak Attack

The first strange thing about Monday was the black car with tinted windows that followed me from my street to the school. But I forgot about that almost as soon as I stepped into the school, due to the second noticeable oddity this morning. Whispers floated around me in the hall, ahead of me, to my left and right, and followed in my wake. I grabbed my chemistry book and slammed the red metal door closed before turning around to see what was going on. Those whisperers cast curious, shocked, and even some lecherous looks in my direction.

My first instinct was to blame Landon. He must have done something without me realizing. As casually as possible, I checked my back for Kick Me signs. When I came up empty I turned around and began spinning the combo to my locker again.

I whipped out my lip gloss for an excuse to use the mirror without looking vain, but really I just wanted to make sure my hair was its natural blond color and that nobody had died it green or anything since I’d left the house. I'm sure if there's anybody in the world that could figure out a way to accomplish that, it would be him.

Nope, not green. I didn’t have anything on my face either. Erica joined me, leaning up against the locker next to mine as I was checking my teeth.

“Hey girl!” I whispered, glancing suspiciously at everybody staring at me. “What’s up?”

“You apparently,” Erica said with a smile.

 I wasn’t sure why she would smile if the whole school was talking about me while screening their mouths with their hands. That was always ominous. I just looked at her waiting for her to elaborate. My look apparently flew under her radar. I don’t know why I keep trying to communicate with my eyes with the girl. It never works.

“What about me?” I prompted.

“My guess is it’s both the rumor that Abe has changed his stance on letting you date your fellow classmates, and the video from Saturday night.”

“Whoa, Abe letting me date is not news, and—“ I interrupted.

“Yes, but Abe letting you date guys from school is.”

“But I’ve dated guys from school.” I hadn’t dated many, but I knew there were some. I tried to remember their names to support my argument, but came up blank. “And Abe isn’t my Dad. He doesn’t have the right to screen my prospects.” I was hoping if I kept thinking positively, and said it out loud enough times then it would come true.

“You only dated one guy from school and that’s because Andy was two years older than Abe. And he wasn’t afraid of getting his knee caps broken. Or at least he didn’t take the threat seriously.”

How did she keep track of that? Now that I thought of it, she was right. I had only dated that one guy. And then I remembered something she’d said earlier.

“Wait—video?” I asked.

“Yeah, turns out Landon had the guys record the episode, and they put it on YouTube and Facebook and all over. It had a cool little intro and everything.”

 I couldn’t believe what my poor, sheltered ears were hearing. Again?! Wouldn’t I have noticed if I were being taped? Except, all the windows were dark and I couldn’t see inside. And once they all came out of hiding I was in no state to notice recording devices.

“And you couldn’t have told me about this yesterday?” I demanded in an accusing tone.

“You were happy not knowing. Besides, I’m sure it’s all over your wall and your inbox if you ever cared to check them.” She gave me a pointed look. “I figured I’d let you have your peace for one more day.”