Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Six - Puns & Panties

Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't say- "Hello, kitty." He said it.

I ignored him.

First of all, because he was Brody, and second of all, because it was a really lame joke. The same joke he had made at least four times just this morning.

As it turned out, my mother did not want to move to Canada, and while she had made a pretty convincing point involving me shoveling snow every morning, I was still reasonably upset with her when she dropped me off in front of school the next morning.

In her defense, I hadn't explained to her the exact details of my little mishap yesterday afternoon, though it soon became clear that the rest of the school had done enough of that for me.

"What's the matter Becker? Kitty caught your tongue?" Brody continued when he realized that I wasn't going to respond to his joke, and I was half tempted to stick out my leg and trip him when he sped up his pace so that he was walking right next to me.

"Piss off Brody."  I grumbled under my breath, all the while moving my hair to one side, so it acted like a curtain to hide my crimson face from his probing eyes.

"Now now Nina, is that really the way to talk to the person holding your reputation in his hands? I don't know how well your neighbors would react if they saw the pictures of you flashing your panties to the entire school. Hasn't your family suffered enough public humiliation as it is?" He grinned devilishly.

I nearly stumbled over my feet as the words left his mouth, and I could feel myself visibly pale as I looked up at him in shock "What?"

Brody ignored my surprise as he kept walking at a leisurly pace, forcing me to regain my footing and catch up with him "You know, I personally like the one where you're about to cry the best. Really adds to the dramatic effect."

"You're lying." I bit back, my heart beginning to pound loudly in my chest, my words sounding feeble and unconvinced. The thought of my mom hearing about what happened terrified me to no end. She would be so ashamed of me.

"Now why would I do that Nina?" He asked, suddenly halting in his step and focussing his eyes somewhere beyond me. I glanced back, following his gaze towards the cafeteria where students were sat chatting loudly, their voices echoing through the halls at the occasional opening of the doors. The sound somehow managing to unsettle me even more.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat, unable to form a coherent thought as I stuttered "B-b-because-" Because what? Because he was Brody Woodward? Because every single one of my instincts went against trusting him? Because I wanted so badly for it not to be true?

"That's what I thought." He smirked, reaching into the pocket of his Letterman jacket to take out his cellphone "But, I'll humor you none the less." He added, and with a few quick taps on his phone he had a picture pulled up in front of me, the image quickly confirming what he had said to be true.

I found myself momentarily unable to breathe as I stared at it, hatred brimming to the surface "You wouldn't." I said in a feeble attempt of denial, but Brody and I both knew how untrue that was.

"Oh but I would." Brody chuckled, resuming his step as he walked towards the cafeteria. I on the other hand, remained frozen in place, and once Brody realized that I wasn't following him, he turned his head and signalled for me to come "Come on Nina, why don't you have lunch with me today?" And I wasn't sure whether it was the tone of his voice, or the look on his face as he said it, but I knew without a doubt that there was no room for no as an answer, and the last thing I wanted to do right now was piss off Brody Woodward, not as long as he had that picture.