It had been three days since I had met James in person, and now I finally had the money. I took up babysisting, got two extra jobs, and had school on top of that. (You can imagine how tired I was.)
My brother's were grounded for breaking Dad's Darth Vader glass. It was actually a peaceful house now. I went downstairs into the kitchen to eat some cool whip out of the container. Delicious.
I grew very bored. Should I call James and tell him I have the money? His words stuck in my head, 'The sooner you pay, the sooner we'll start dating.' I'm calling the bastard. It went to voicemail. I left him a message, letting him know that I had the money. Soon I received a text, it said "That's my mobile. Let's meet up."
Even though I wasn't fond of how he talked to me, I dressed very fancy. A black skirt, and royal blue tank top. I slid on my reverse black converse, and did my makeup. Decent enough.
I ran as fast as I could. It didn't hurt to run today. I guess my muscles were getting used to being active. Since I knew what James looked like I could spot him easily spot him. He was ordering a philly cheese stake. I smiled at the sight of him. I tried to play it cool as I went down the escalator. He glanced a couple of times, I could see him out the corner of my eye.
"Hey." He smiled at me as I approached him.
"Hi. That looks good." I grinned at his food. I was so hungry.
He giggled, "It is." And took a huge bite of it.
I quickly and easily grew annoyed with him. I grabbed the money out of my purse and slid it to him across the table. I'm sure it looked like we were having a drug deal. He smiled and shoved the money in his pocket. "Hey babe, would you like a bite?"
Umm, what was that? My face remained the same. I was more than pissed at him, but dang, he played a fine fake boyfriend. So I fake giggled, "Of course. You're such a good boyfriend." We both rolled our eyes simultaneously.
"What would you like to do on this fine Tuesday?" He asked as his breath taking eyes looked at me.
My heart sank deeper and deeper in my chest, my throat started to swell. "Today's Tuesday?" I asked in fear.
"Umm, yeah?"
"We gotta go!" I said as I urgently pulled him out of the chair and we rushed outside; running as fast as we could that's when my legs started to burn. Seriously? Once we finally made it I dragged him into my second class. Science.
I heard Mrs. White clear her throat, "Kayla?"
My stomach sunk as I looked up at her worried, "Mrs. White?"
"You're a few minutes late, but we won't pay any attention to that. Because we have a new student I see."
"What?" James eyes widened as he looked up at Mrs. White and then at me.
"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" She smiled.
"Actually no, but I will because you asked nicely." He smiled and kissed her hand. He walked to the front of the class, "I'm James Colton, I'm seventeen years old. And I'm addicted to," oh brother, I was gonna be the laughing stock. I dropped my head in my hands knowing life was over as I knew it. "Kayla Strong." He said sweetly, and I lifted my head to see everyone staring at me. "She's my girlfriend, and we've been dating for a week now, and I just can't get over how amazing she is."
I could feel the heat in my cheeks rising. A huge smile came across my face. Some girls made snotty faces at me, but they only did that because they wanted James. "Thank you James." Mrs. White smiled. "You may have a seat."
James made his way back to the table. "How'd I do?" He whispered in my ear. I just smiled and shook my head, "Amazing'"
"I told you that you were investing your money wisely." He smirked.
Mrs. White continued with the lesson. I wasn't paying any attention. For the first time in my life I didn't care what she had to say. I could only focus on James. Did he really mean that? No, he didn't. He's just doing his job, and then he'll be gone.
The School day went on like any other day, except guys would look at me and smile, not slap my books, and make fun of me. As the last bell rang all of the kids scurried the halls to head for the exit. I searched for James, but he was nowhere to be seen; so I just kept on walking. "You look cute when you're not worried about anything." I turned to my left to see James standing outside waiting for me.
"What are you talking about? I don't worry about anything." I smiled as shoved my books into my bag and texted my dad I was headed home.
He sighed and took my phone, "You're always worried about something. Everyone is." He looked at my phone, "Huh, daddy I see? Can I text him? Pleeeeaaassseeee?"
"No." I said as I yanked my phone back and hit send. "And why would it matter if I was worried about something? Being worried is a good thing. It prevents you from death, from doing something that you'll regret, and help you grow into a responsible, mature person."
He rolled his eyes as he held my hand, "But if you always worry you can't live in the moment. If you worry, you'll regret the things that you didn't do. And please don't say those words."
"What words?" I asked as I secretly admired his hands. They were beautiful. Nice man hands, the were bigger than mine, so I liked holding his hand.
"Responsible, and mature." He shivered. "They creep me out."
"I like a man who's responsible and mature. Who will take fault for his action. Stand up for his loved one or whatever."
He stopped walking and pulled me back with him; he soon let go of my hand after that. No. "So, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that you're one of those girls who read those fake romance, crappy books."
"I like to read, yes. But it's not crap, or fake."
"Kayla? Reality check! It's fake. All of this?" He motioned to me and him, "Is fake. Society, is fake. Dating is fake. Marriage, fake also. Everything in this world is fake. The only reason why teenagers date in high school, is because they like the feeling. But they don't really have feelings for each other. It's called having an arm candy. You go through all the grades with an arm candy, and move on, relationship to relationship. It's stupid and fake; and people don't ever realize that."
I understood what he was saying to me, but I didn't have a relationship through all the grades, so I knew what I knew and kept walking. He ran to catch up with me.
"Do you not agree with me?" He asked as he slid his hands in his pockets.
I shrugged, "It's not that I don't agree with you. No, I don't agree with you. I wasn't the person that you just described. I'm not the girl who desperately changed who she was so she could fit into society, or into a guys sex toy. I enjoy life, and yeah I want someone to love, but I can wait. I've waited this long." I shrugged again, as we turned onto my street. I must've gotten through to him, because he didn't say another word.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.
I smiled, "Yes. Oh James?" He turned around after I called his name, "If you live in San Antonio, then how come I've never seen you at school?"
"I'm homeschooled." He giggled and walked away. I felt like I should've said something, but I decided to let him be for the day. I didn't mean to drag him to school. I crawled in bed fell asleep as soon as my face hit the pillow.
