The Babysitter ✯ Kellic

Chapter Twenty-Two

"What? Why do I have to show the new guy around?" I ask, not too pleased. I thought I was in trouble, and instead I have to befriend some new boy from england and show him around? "Why is he even coming to a new school as a senior?"

"He moved from England and his parents had no other choice but to enroll him into an American school." I roll my eyes. "Besides, he isn't a senior, he's a junior, he just takes senior classes. All classes that you have together, which is why you have to show him around." The guidance counselor smiles, clearly pleased with herself.

I sit back in my seat and cross my arms. "What's this guy's name, anyway?" The counselor smiles, scanning a paper in her hands. Obviously, she thinks I'm making an effort to befriend the boy, but I'm really not.

"Gaskarth, Alex Gaskarth," she reads. "He should be here any minute." I take a deep breath and wait for this new boy, but to my displeasure, the guidance counselor attempts to talk to me. "How is your daughter, Kellin?" she asks. I shrug, not wanting to talk to this lady. Guidance counselors aren't good news. "Do you plan on having any other children?"

"No," I snap. "Why? What does it matter, anyway?" I ask. She sighs and really looks at me. "I get that what I did was irresponsible, but I don't really care. I love Copeland and I don't want to even hear it." Everybody wants to give me a shitty talk about how what I did was idiotic and now I'm doomed for life, but I've heard it so much, and I'm tired of it.

"Do you have any kind of plan for when you graduate?" she questions. I close my eyes and sit back in my seat even more. I don't really have a plan other than to try and make Vic an even bigger part of my life and take good care of Copeland. I'm guessing she means education or career wise, however. So, I just shake my head, opening my eyes and holding eye contact with her. "Why not?"

" 'Cause I think I'm pretty good off, and I don't think I need one," I reply simply. Almost the exact moment I finish talking, we both turn when we hear a knock on the door. That's probably the Alex guy I'm supposed to show around. Great. The guidance counselor excuses herself and opens the door. I glance behind me and am actually surprised by how this Alex looks.

He has a similar fashion sense to all my friends and I, and his hair is flat ironed like Oli's used to be, except Alex's is a lot shorter. A lot lighter too, his hair is the only thing that isn't black besides his skin tone and parts of his body that can't be. His eyes match the brown of his hair. "Alex, this is Kellin," the counselor says, bringing Alex and two other people in behind him. I'm guessing they're his parents. "Well, say hi, silly," she says, probably hoping Alex is the only one to hear it (which he isn't).

"Um, hi," he says, waving slightly. I return the simple greeting and then his parents say their own. The counselor pulls chairs in so that everybody can sit down, and they all do. Alex sits next to me, seemingly like he wants to be as far away from his parents as possible. The counselor sits at her own seat, oblivious to the awkwardness of this situation.

"So, Alex, like I said earlier, Kellin is going to show you around. Mr. and Mrs. Gaskarth will be leaving you to it shortly," she informs us. Alex sighs in what seems like relief and I silently chuckle. "Anyway, I'm hoping you two get along and sit with each other at lunch or something." Wow, because we're obviously five years old. "Alex, when the first bell rings, you'll follow Kellin to your first class," she instructs.

"I don't head to class until the second bell," I point out. "I'm usually with my friends until the second one." She simply shakes her head, smiling.

"Not this morning, you aren't. Your friends aren't here right now," she points out in reply. I roll my eyes as she continues. "Just follow Kellin, Alex." The first bell rings and I stand up, ready to get out of here. "Give us one moment, Kellin."

I step out of the office, not pulling shit and actually waiting for Alex. After a second he appears and taps on my shoulder, causing me to turn and look at him. "She said we can go while she talks to my parents," he says. I nod, getting us on our way to our first class.

"So, uh, why'd you move to America?" I ask, not really knowing what else to say in order to prevent any silent awkwardness. Alex takes a pack of gum out of his pocket that I can tell is made to help smokers quit. I stare at him as he starts chewing on a piece.

"Family problems," he replies simply. He sticks the pack of gum out for me and I shake my head, turning it down. "You sure? They're for smokers but they actually taste really good." I nod, still denying the gum. "My turn for a question, then: why do you have a kid?"

He doesn't ask it in a rude way, either, just in a curious way. "She told you, huh?" He nods, looking away slightly. "Uh, well, my ex girlfriend and I wanted a kid, so we had one, despite our age," I say, not really knowing another way to put it. "She left shortly after our daughter was born."

"Oh," Alex says quietly. "Sorry about that." I shrug it off, pointing down a different hallway so we can get to our class. "When we moved a lot of stuff went wrong, that's why I smoke," he says, only slightly off topic. "Well, stuff was going wrong before we moved, but that's just really personal."

"It's cool," I say, "we hardy know each other, I don't need to know everything about you. I totally get things going wrong, though, I almost had to give my daughter up about five months ago." Alex gapes at me and I nod, scratching the back of my neck. "A friend helped me out of that little situation, though."

"I guess that's why the counselor wants us to get along," Alex says, "a good friend is what she said I needed." I nod, stopping in front of our first class. "This is it?" he asks.

"Yup," I reply. "None of the classes are really that bad, so you don't have too much to worry about. Stick with me and you'll have even less to deal with."