Finishing Crazy

Finishing Crazy (27)

When I file into class the Monday after homecoming, Melanie is staring at me intently. I try to pointedly ignore her gaze, but she won’t stop looking.

I rearrange different aspects of my binder, keeping my eyes completely trained on the task of filing through which papers I need and which papers I don’t. I end up loosing focus quickly though, and my math homework is intermingled in the stacks of chemistry notes I just made. Giving a sigh of frustration, I walk over to Melanie and sit in her teacher’s chair.

“Up.” She says, but she doesn’t sound all that irritable, unlike how she’s been towards me as of late.

Odd.

I stay in the chair, deciding to push my luck just a little further, but when Melanie begins to sit down on top of me, I quickly stand up, wanting to keep my dignity. She quickly takes my place in her chair and I am forced to move an old rickety wood and metal school chair missing a chunk out of its back leg. It wobbles back and forth when I sit on it, but I try to ignore the nuisance as much as I can.

“What do you want?” I ask Melanie. “I’m tired of your attempts at starting a staring contest with me.”

Mel just laughs. “I just wanted your attention.” She tells me, smiling.

“Well, it worked.” I mutter under my breath.

Melanie crosses, then uncrosses her legs, leaning close towards me as if she’s about to let me in on some huge secret that’s just between the two of us.

“How was homecoming?” She whisper-asks, and I can tell by the wink she gives me that she already knows- that she probably already saw me and Bryan there together.

Despite my best efforts and valiant fight against the blood rising to my cheeks, I can still feel myself turn pink.

“It was fine.” I tell her, not really in the mood to talk about it and pushing back on my wobbly wooden chair to go leave and return to my seat. However, Melanie sees this coming and just wraps her fingers around the edge of it and pulls me back to her.

“How is Bryan?” She inquires, tapping her fingers on her chin in mock thought.

“Great.” I tell her, gritting my teeth, but only slightly.

“Kyra,” Melanie whines, “It’s no fun when you only answer in one word responses.”

I scoff. “It’s no fun for me when I do, either.” I remind her.

Melanie shakes her head. “Whatever. In case you forgot, I was chaperoning that dance-”

Oh, my.

How much did she see? Certainly not Bryan and I dancing together- we were far too out of the light for us to be noticed. But then again, Warren and Mariah found us there, and right when we were about to-

Crap.

I say a little prayer in my head that she didn’t see me and Bryan almost-kissing.

“-and I saw you and Bryan were making up nicely.” Melanie finishes, smirking confidently as my blush deepens even further.

At that, I really do get up and leave, and even though Melanie pulls on my arm to stay, I just yank it away from her and walk back to my seat.

She already saw, and I don’t need to tell her something she already knows.

Melanie will be the death of me someday, I swear.

One Month Later

I wake up when it’s still dark outside, slipping outside in my training clothes and leaving the house as quietly as I can manage. If my mom knows I’m training she’ll tie me up in my room and make me go back to sleep.