a/n. bonjour! it's alexandra again. author's note now so as not to ruin the emotional bomb that's lurking at the end of this chapter. prepare yourselves. much love to anyone reading this, youre all stars! please vote / comment if ya fancy!
Leon
Kinley cornered me in break to ask about my half of the delightful sharing-and-caring extravaganza that was this art project. I’m pretty sure my extreme reluctance at the idea showed, because before I even said anything she was growling out,
“We’re doing this, whether you like it or not. I am not letting you fuck up my grade Leon.”
I forced a smile, skin crawling in this horrible nervousness at having to talk about- everything.
“Wouldn’t dream of it princess,” I told her, trying not to sound like I was about to vomit. And then, because it had been preying on me- “I’m sorry I- Kept asking. About your dad, I mean. I should’ve laid off.”
“Yeah, you should’ve,” she said bluntly.
“Want to come round mine after school?” I started to walk and she walked with me after a little huff. “Jake’s got lacrosse practice so we can- yeah, you can ask me stuff if you want. I have photos and all that jazz, and a couple of ideas to pass by ya.”
“Sure,” she said, and suddenly I found myself smiling. It’d be kinda nice, I guess, to spend some time out of school with Kinley. If I’m being completely honest, she’d be top of my list for people in the school I’d wanna spend time with. I mean. Not in a ‘I’m-so-head-over-heels-massive crush’ kind of way. Just, she’s funny (when she wants to be), and smart, and our conversations are like rollercoasters- okay fine, denial stage is over. I’m pretty sure I’m harbouring a crush.
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*
*
On the bright side of life, I’d now re-secured my driving license and was free to roam the roads of America as I liked. Obviously me and my brother’s car was back in England, but Mum’s been taking pity on me and so when Kinley and I walked out into the school car park there was Mum’s Polo waiting for me.
“Can you give me a lift to yours, then?” she asked as I motioned to it. “Jude’s got our car.”
I nodded. Thank god for that license. I imagined the awkwardness we’d’ve encountered in the back of Eric’s car. Although, I mean, Eric must know Kinley from all those family holidays and stuff she was talking about.
“So,” I said quietly as we drove out of the car park. “You and Jake used to be pretty close, right?”
I mean, it’s not like I’m jealous or anything. I’m just, you know. Trying to figure out what the situation is. Perfectly normal. A random radio music station hummed in the background as I waited for her reply- and finally risked a glance over to see her staring out the windscreen, biting her lip. Fuck. That was, um. Kinda distracting. I turned my eyes determinedly back to the road.
“Are you avoiding my questions?” teased Kinley suddenly, with a smirk. “Cos you’re gonna have to try harder than that.”
I shrugged, not looking at her but still smiling.
“I’m actually not,” I insisted. “Just interested.”
“Yeah,” she said after a small pause. “I mean- yeah, we were pretty close. Me and him and Summer. But people change, you know? After his mom- He just pushed us away. I don’t blame him for anything. Like, people deal with grief in different ways, and his was apparently to cut off his real friends.”
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Intertwined
Teen Fiction"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." -Marcus Aurelius Every story has two sides, or in this case, seven. High school is filled with teenage angst, excitement, boredom, secrets, judgemen...