That Was Then

5-Now

It is no coincidence that Kya's boyfriend and I find ourselves in the same room again for our next class. It is the work of some serious social media stalking and a freakily brilliant thirteen year old hacker. Petra's little sister, to be specific. It was all part of the plan. And also because I am mostly in senior level classes.

"Don't you think that's going a little too far?" I had asked Petra when she suggested it.

"After everything she put you through?! No way! And besides, just because we put you in the same room as someone, doesn't mean we can make anything happen." Petra had reasoned.

I had spent the past two years trying not to think of Kya, trying not to remember the best friend that was the other half of me throughout elementary school and turned into my tormentor in middle school. I never tried to reach out to her or find out what she was up to. It was a part of my life I had never planned to revisit. 

Once I'd made the decision to return to Colorado we looked Kya up online. My initial plan upon return really had very little to do with Kya and more to do with proving something to myself. I wanted to prove that I could survive here, that I wasn't a victim and that they couldn't hurt me anymore. They certainly included Kya, she had been the ringleader of the 'Ruin Blakely's Life' campaign and I had simply wanted to show her that I was stronger than I used to be and I was done running away from them. 

All of Kya's social media accounts were set to private but privacy settings are not much of a deterrent for Delaney, Petra's sister. Kya's life looked perfect. On the rare occasions I did allow myself to dwell on the absolute hell that was middle school, I had hoped that karma would take care of her. I hoped that she would have bad acne or suddenly get fat or fail a grade. That didn't appear to be the case. Based on her millions of pictures on Instagram and Facebook she was still petite with perfect blond hair and great skin. She posted daily of the fun she had with her perfect friends and her perfect boyfriend. It didn't seem fair that she got to just carry on with her perfect little life with no consequences. So I feel as though I need to deliver some consequences myself.

This time I'm the one sitting down first. I'm in the back next to Vivi, pretending not to notice as Kya's boyfriend enters the room with a few of his friends. Vivi is warning me about the foods to avoid in the cafeteria. I had figured when I sat down that he would sit in the back as he had in our last class and took a chance. Sure enough, he makes his way through the rows of desks straight toward me. He sets his books down right on the desk I'm sitting in.

"You're in my spot." He says playfully.

"Oh, I wasn't aware there were assigned seats." I smile back, making no move to get up.

"I suppose, since you're clearly new here and don't know how things work yet, I'll let you sit there today." He picks his things back up and slides into the seat next to me. "But only if you tell me your name."

"Blakely." I watch his face for any hint of recognition, but of course there is none. Of course Kya doesn't talk about me to him, doesn't tell her boyfriend about her childhood best friend or her middle school victim.

"I'm Seth." He reaches out to shake my hand and even though I think it's a bit odd, not many teenagers I know shake hands, I place my hand in his. His hand is really warm and he is slow to let go. Petra is right, putting me in the same room with Kya's boyfriend does not guarantee anything. There was no way to know before if he is as crazy about her as she seems to be about him based on her social media, or to know if he has the morals of a saint and wont even think about another girl. But that is clearly not the case and this could not be going any better if we'd scripted it ourselves.

"I'd say it's nice to meet you but I haven't decided yet." I smile with my eyes but try to keep a straight face. He pretends to be offended and then quiets down as the same calculous teacher that Ms. Gellar was flirting with earlier calls the class to attention. I've got to admit, Ms. Gellar has good taste. Mr. Shaw is hot in a nerdy kind of way.

"I promise you, you do not want that!" Vivi leans in and for a second I think she can read my mind and knows that I'm checking out our teacher. But then I realize she is talking about Seth. She's right, I don't want Seth. He's not my type, not that I've had enough romantic experiences to have a specific type. He's too cocky and too pretty. His hair is too blond, like he gets it colored and he's used entirely too much gel. I want to poke it with my pencil to see if it moves. His Affliction shirt is just a little too tight on his admittedly well defined torso. He catches me watching him and his smile is arrogant, he knows he's good looking. He's just too much.

"Why, does he have a girlfriend?" I ask even though I already know the answer. I wonder if Kya knows what a flirt he is. I wonder if it bothers her.

She nods. "Maybe don't take my advice about the lunchmeat in the cafeteria, but definitely take my advice about him. You don't want that. Or the drama that goes with it!"