Dancing On Ice

Black Eyes, Bloody Nose

Kellin's POV

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I was in English, and our assignment had been to get in our groups and talk about our oral presentations. Austin wasn't there so it was just me and Alan. And for some reason or another, he seemed very pissed at having to work with me. He came over to me and sat across from me at my desk, a frown ever present on his face.

"Hey." He muttered to me, anger in his voice. I lowered my gaze from his and opened my notebook and flipped to a blank page. "So, do you have any ideas?"

"Um, yeah. You read the short story, correct?" I asked him quietly. We had chosen to do A Rose For Emily, mostly because it was the most recent they'd done in class and I was there to hear about it. He nodded. "Well, the main idea was about how the past can't live in the present."

"Okay, so...?" He asked me. I frowned at him. I had decided that I didn't like him. It was simple really. How easily he could go from someone that was okay to someone I really didn't care for.

"I was thinking that we could talk about that, with examples that people can relate to. Like how VCR's became obsolete after a while when DVD's came out." I explained to him. He sighed, I could see him doodling a cat onto the back of his hand in pen.

"Okay. Sure." He said absently. I pursed my lips at him, not that he'd notice.

"Austin told me that he'd be glad to make the PowerPoint. I can do research, if that's okay."

"Then what do I do?"

"You can find quotes to use in the PowerPoint. And arrange what each of us will say."

"Fine." He rolled his eyes at me and went back to his doodling. I wasn't sure what it was in me that snapped, but I'd had enough. My mom had been gone for a total of five days, with no call, no email, nothing. And I was utterly pissed with myself constantly.

"You know what? This isn't a cake walk for me either, but I could do without your fucking attitude." I snapped at him. He looked up at me, shock on his face that quickly turned to anger.

"Excuse me?" He asked. I cleared my throat.

"You fucking heard me." I told him. I was pissed. I was angry at the world and had been for a while. Why had my dad left me? Why had my mom left? Had I disappointed her too? What had I done wrong? I had no one, and wasn't really afraid of death any more. So I stared Alan Ashby down in English, daring him to say something else to me.

"You think just because Austin likes you that I won't deck you in the face?" He asked me, his voice even, calm but vicious. I smirked at him.

"Sounds like you're fucking jealous, Kitty." I spat the nickname that Austin called him all the time at him. Alan stood and punched me in the face. I could hear things moving as I fell to the ground. I stood and punched Alan back. I had been in a fight before, with this guy in middle school. He'd been bullying me for months on end, and I'd had enough. So Alan was no different. Only me and him were about the same height and weight. We were pulled apart by two administrators. I didn't even care, if they could contact my mom anyway, I'd probably rejoice a little.

I was sitting in the nurse's office, Alan across from me. Both of us had a black eyes, he had a bruise forming on his cheek and I had a bloody nose. His mom had come and just frowned at him. I couldn't help but watch how they interacted with each other. You could tell she was disappointed with him, but she still loved him. Just like he was pissed at me for making him make his mom disappointed, but he was also mad at himself. I found the mint green tile beneath me distasteful.

"Kellin, we were unable to contact you're mom. Do you have another number we can call?" The guidance counselor asked me kindly. I shook my head.

"No. She's on a business trip and didn't take her phone. She's trying to get a promotion." I was lying like a pro. The woman in front of me just nodded, in understanding.