Kaydee

Chapter 3

The afternoon sun's rays shone through the tempered glass windows and lit the hallway. The glass covered the area of the entire wall, so the whole hallway was completely visible from the outside and vice-versa.

School ended earlier on Wednesdays, always did. The Principal believes that the students here deserved a day, in the middle of the week, to have more time to ourselves so we wouldn't be too stressed out by the daily long hours. She only cut off about an hour and a half, which wasn't much of a difference, but I was still thankful.

It's the thought that counts, as they always say.

I walked up to my locker, entered the 6-digit combination, and opened its aluminium door.

My eyes traced the labels on every divider on the both shelves, and I placed every book on hand into its respective sections.

I suppose that I could consider myself a lazy neat freak. I despise messiness, and find joy in seeing a cleared mess, but absolutely hate and dread having to actually get up and get things done, therefore a lazy one.

Delilah left immediately after class was dismissed. We would usually go home together in her brother's car, but she'd just recently signed up for Judo classes. Unfortunately, the best school for it was located two hours from here. Delilah's parents never settled for anything but the best, but I knew that Delilah only enrolled into this school because I did. She's done a lot for me, really.

Schooling here was like a family tradition, my parents studied here, so did my aunts and uncles, and even my favourite twin cousins, but they graduated last year.

I shut my locker and made triple-sure that it was locked securely.

"Kayds, what's taking you so long?" I heard an all-too-familiar voice say.

Darren.

"How---what are you---how?"

I was surprised. Really surprised.

"But Delilah's not--how?"

"It wouldn't have been nice to leave my sister's best friend to walk home herself, right?" He said, his oh-so-charming smile widening as he spoke. "And besides, I wouldn't want some guy fetching you home. It's not safe."

My heart was exploding. And no, not in the bad way. Definitely not in the bad way. My mind was going haywire, I was becoming insane. Hell, I was grinning to myself.

His words were on loop,

I wouldn't want some guy fetching you home. It's unsafe.

But then it didn't make sense, our neighborhood was one of the safest ones in the state, and the sun was still shining so I couldn't see why it would be unsafe to be going home on my own.

Way to ruin the mood, Kaydee.

"C'mon now, Kayds. Off we go." And he put his arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the school. My inner voice was screaming so loud, it would've been able to communicate with dolphins underwater.

I didn't tell Delilah about it, and I don't plan to. I don't plan to tell anyone. I mean, wouldn't it be completely awkward for Delilah to know that I've got feelings for her brother since, like, forever?

Forever would be inaccurate, but ever since I had laid eyes on him on my first-ever visit to Delilah's place for a school project, and as he asked me for my name--- it felt as if I'd actually mattered to the world of boys, not that I do now.

But at least, I felt as if I mattered to Darren, a little.

He was the first guy to ever talk to me and made me feel like he genuinely wanted to hold a conversation with me, and not because the teacher forced us to ask about each other. Not only that, he was also the first to show concern for everything I did, or things that happened to me.

I've not come across any other guys that were as nice as he was, or any that actually knew of my existence.

As soon as we pulled up at the sidewalk in front of my house, he got out of the car, walked round the hood and opened my door. With one hand under the roof of the doorway of the car and the other outstretched for me to hold, so I'd get out of the car without hitting my head.

"Thanks."

"Anytime," he said, engulfing me in a hug. Then he pulled away, which made me a little sad, but I couldn't much about it.

"See you tomorrow, Kayds," he said, ruffling my hair at the top, before he left for the car that he'd parked by the sidewalk.

I waved back at him as I watched him get into his car and drive off.

I opened the main door in a rush, letting it slam itself closed because I couldn't care less about it at the moment.

"Who's there? Kaydee?" I heard my mom's voice say.

Still wasn't the thing that was on the top of my head. I ran up the wooden stairway, only to stumble on one of the steps and almost kill myself, before continuing the race to my room. I closed the door behind me, ensuring that it was completely shut, and then I let it all out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. AHHHHHHHHHH JESUS YES HELL TO THE YES OH MY GOD"

And then I was done. I opened the door quickly again, popping my head out to carry out my unfinished business.

"HI MOM IM HOME HI"

"Girls," I heard my mother say, before I shut the door yet again.