The Girl in the Striped Bikini

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Kendal Bryce

　

　

Keana has been ignoring me all day. I was sure of it.

Normally on days like this, Keana would have been at my house bright and early, ready to go to the beach. But when I finally opened my eyes to the sounds of birds chirping, instead of Keana jumping on my bed, I knew something was up. I just didn’t know what.

After three ignored calls and a couple of texts, I left my house to head towards Keana’s, determined to find out what’s going on.

Since Keana only lived a couple of houses away from my own, I was at her house quickly. When I approached her door, I let myself in like I usually do and made my way through the living room and into the kitchen.

“Hey, Kendal!” greeted Keana’s mom, Michelle, from the bar.

“Hey!” I smiled. “Where’s Keana? She never showed up at my house this morning like she usually does.”

Michelle looked back up at me from the burgers she had been pattying out and said, “Hm… That’s odd. Well, I just seen her pass by here a half hour ago, so she must be in her room.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll go check,” I said and turned away.

When I made it her room at the top of the stairs, I see her door is closed. I thought nothing of this until I tried to open it. It was locked. Knocking, I shouted, “Keana, are you in there?”

Seconds later I hear the rattling sound of her door unlocking, and slowly, she opened it. I was about to walk right on in, but her expression stopped me. She didn’t look happy.

“Are you okay?” I asked, still standing in her doorway.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said in annoyed tone. She then turned away from me and returned to her bed and sat in front of her lap top.

I then hesitantly joined her and sat at the foot of her bed. “Well, you don’t sound like it,” I commented.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” she says flatly, staring at her computer screen.

Frustrated, I lean forward and slam her computer shut. “Will you please stop acting like this and tell me what’s wrong? What did I do?”

Pushing her computer aside, she rolls her eyes at me. “Do you really not know or are you just forgetting what happened at Ultrazone?”

I stare at her, confused. “What are you talking about? What happened at Ultrazone?”

Before Keana answered, I tried to replay all the events of that day, but none of them really stuck out. I had had fun at Ultrazone with them. What went wrong?

“Oh, I don’t know, you kind of ditched your best friend for some guy,” Keana said. “And did you even see the look on Cale’s face when you left? He was heartbroken.”

“For some guy? It was Jude! Our best friend?” I said, but before she could respond, I added, “And what’s this about Cale? How was he heartbroken when I left?”

Silence fell over the room. Keana stared at me as if I was the dumbest person alive. Under the circumstances, I probably am. I have absolutely no idea what she’s talking about, and yet, I feel like I should.

“Cale has the most obvious crush on you, Kendal,” she finally said. “I told you he did after that day you first met him. Don’t you remember? He didn’t even say a word to you because you made him so nervous.”