He's Taken

Chapter 4

You were tying your shoe in front of your gym locker. Donna and Jody sat down on each side of you.

"Soooo, are you still mad at me?" Donna inquired with a little hesitation. You finished tying your shoe and let your foot drop to the floor. You took a deep breath and looked over at the blonde.

"Yes," she replied bluntly You moved to the open locker in front of her. Donna's eyes rounded at your back. She was struggling to find something to say to you when Jody elbowed her in the ribs.

Jody motioned her head at you when Donna turned her gaze to Jody. Donna looked back at you again. That's when she noticed that you were looking over your shoulder with a small smirk on your face. "Ugh, meanie." she cried at you.

You turned around and leaned back against the lockers still wearing the smirk on her face. As you opened your mouth to reply, Anna Milton walked past. You snapped your mouth shut and cast your eyes to the floor. You bit your lip and glanced up at Anna in front of her own locker.

All of you watched Anna for a moment. You couldn't help it. She was the most popular girl in school for a reason. She had a face with classic features and gorgeous red hair. She had a large circle of friends/groupies. Not to mention the hottest boyfriend possible. Jody stood next to you and scoffed at Anna.

"Truly makes me ill," she muttered as she crossed her arms.

You sighed, "She's just so.......perfect." A look of despair flitted across your face briefly.

"Practically impossible to cut up." Jody continued.

"Jody!" Donna whisper yelled at her friend and smacked her arm. She leaned in closer to her friends and spoke in a low tone. "She's supposed to be sweet actually. Her brother's deaf and she spends a bunch of time with him. She does sign language up in front of my church every Sunday. Everybody in the world worships her."

You rolled your eyes. "And she's going with Dean." You put your head down in your hands and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm gonna kill myself."

"No, you're not," Jody asserted. She shook her head at you. "You'll mope. You'll sulk. Heck, you'll even pout a little, but you are not going to kill yourself." She put an arm around your neck. "You see, Donna and I won't let you."

You cracked a smile and shoved at Jody, "Get off of me, you weirdo."

**

You stood outside with Donna and Jody the school preparing to get on your respective buses. You looked over at the row of buses with the lines of students waiting to board them."I loathe the bus," you sneered at the buses and turned back to your friends, "There has got to be a more dignified mode of transportation. I mean, really."

Donna glanced over at the buses as well. "I hope that you get a car for your birthday along with your license." Jody nodded her head in agreement.

"As much as I hate to say this, we'd better get on the buses or we'll have to walk home," you suggested. The other girls reluctantly agreed. "I'll see you guys later at the dance," you muttered as you walked away.

As you boarded your bus, you tried to figure who you had wronged in a past life. It was the most likely explanation for today. You kept to yourself on the bus and liked the solitude that it brought. Today wasn't any different.

Kevin Tran had other plans. He slowly made his way up the aisle from the back of the bus. He had his eyes trained on the back of your head as he continued walking. It irked you greatly when Kevin sat himself down next to you. You kept your gaze focused out the window and refused to acknowledge that Kevin was there. Kevin tried to talk to you almost every day on the bus ride home. Every day you tried your hardest to ignore Kevin. Some days were more successful than others.

"How's it going?" he inquired. Kevin put his arm on the back of the seat and tapped you on the shoulder.

"How's what going?" you replied while keeping your eyes out the window. You silently prayed that the scrawny nerd would take a hint already.

A huge smile came across Kevin's smile and you saw it reflected in the window. You mentally kicked yourself. 'Why? Why did I acknowledge him? It's only going to encourage him. Uuugggghhhh.' You almost started beating your head against the glass.

Kevin interrupted you berating yourself. He leaned in a little closer, "You know, things, whatnot."

"First, life is not what. Second, it's none of your business." you snapped. You kept her eyes off of Kevin. You didn't necessarily want to go off on the geek, but your patience was being quickly eroded merely by his presence. This conversation was going to test your limits.

"Sooo, are you going to the dance tonight?" Kevin either didn't catch the meaning behind your tone or he had chosen to ignore it.

"That's also none of your business," y/n huffed.

"Are you inhibited about dancing in public?" Kevin sat back and laughed. He put a hand on your shoulder. "You don't have to dance. You could just stand there with me and my dudes. You could, you know, just be you."

"Sounds major," you said unconvinced.

"Soooo, what's the story? You got a guy?" he asked, fishing for details. That did it. You had finally reached the absolute end of her patience. She couldn't hold back anymore.

"Yes," turning toward Kevin finally. "Three big guys who happen to love collecting wimp blood. I suggest that you quit bugging me or I will be more than happy to sic them on your weenie ass," she warned.

"You know that I'm picking up input here that I believe is kinda hostile," Kevin pointed out.

"Go to hell," you sneered.

"Whoa. Very hostile," Kevin sat back and put his hands up. He tried to change tactics. "Hey, what's the problem here? I'm a boy and you're a girl. Is there something wrong with my trying to put something that could turn into a relationship between us?" he wondered. The bus slowed down as it was approaching your stop. You rose and attempted to walk past Kevin. He rose and blocked your path.

"Okay, I know you have to go. Just answer one question for me." he pleaded. You wanted nothing more at that moment to be off the bus. You wanted to throw yourself on your bed and wallow in your own misery. At least for a couple of hours before you had to get ready for the dance tonight.

"Yes, you're a total ass," you gave the annoying boy a forced smile. Kevin chuckled at the answer.

"That wasn't the question I was going to ask," he paused for a moment. "Am I turning you on?" he whispered. You rolled your eyes and shoved Kevin out of the way. You exited the bus without looking back.

Kevin sat back down and looked across the aisle to Naomi, a fellow freshman. She had been sitting across the aisle and overheard the entire conversation. She had watched him do this every day. Kevin raised his eyebrows at Naomi.

"Very encouraging," he told her, his voice brimming with confidence.

"Uh huh," Naomi narrowed her eyes.

"You know a girl with a hat is just," he gestured with his hands, "so very vogue." Kevin was staring off into space.

"Um.... yeah," Naomi shook her head and rolled her eyes.