I’m a very, very confused girl.
“I’m always right,” Kai jokes, reaching across the row to flick my hair with a pencil. “You should know that by now.”
“Kai and Isa, keep it down,” Mr. Marelli warns from his desk.
Half the class turns and stares at us. While the staring has toned down, I still haven’t made any real friends. I do have a few people I chat with during classes, thanks to Kai and that party, where he introduced me to people.
Kai rolls his eyes, but faces forward in his desk again, and starts scribbling the answers on the assignment sheet. I work on my sketch again, getting lost as I draw the superhero version of me.
“You need a sidekick,” Kai whispers, leaning over in his chair to look at my work.
“I usually have one,” I whisper back as I draw an angled line. “But I thought I’d go solo on this mission.”
“No way. I want to come.” He does his pouty lip, fluttery eyelash move. “Come on. Make me your sidekick.”
Grinning, I press the pencil to the paper and give into his request.
He smiles, relaxing back in his chair with his arms tucked behind his head. “See? The move does work on you.”
My grin grows as I finish the drawing then hold it up for him to see.
“Why does my head look so big?” he wonders, putting the tip of the pencil to his lip.
“It has to be big,” I explain, “in order to fit your superhero name.”
“Which is?”
“Ego Man.”
“Isa, come on,” he whines. “I know you can do better than that.”
“I don’t know. Ego Man seems pretty fitting.”
“Fine, but if I’m Ego Man, then you’re Vain Girl, and our kryptonite is mirrors, because we stare in them for too long.”
I giggle softly. “I’m not vain.”
“And I don’t have an inflated ego,” he insists. “But hey, you’re the one who wanted to play this game.”
“A game I’m winning.” I show him my pearly whites.
He rolls his eyes. “In your dreams.”
“Isa and Kai, this is your final warning,” Mr. Marelli warns, scowling at us.
We both grow quiet until Kai says, “But then what happens to us? I mean, his threat seemed so ominous, but he didn’t finish it.”
I choke on a laugh and Kai grins. Unfortunately for us, Mr. Marelli doesn’t think it’s so funny and makes Kai move to the desk at the front of the classroom. I spend the rest of class working on the assignment and dreading lunch, since I still spend it sitting alone in the cafeteria.
When the bell rings, I slowly put my stuff away to kill time.
“What are you doing for lunch?” Kai asks as he strolls down the aisle toward my desk.
“What I always do.” I swing my backpack over my shoulder. “Go to the cafeteria and eat lunch.”
“Ew, you eat in the cafeteria?” He pulls an I’m-gonna-barf face.
“It’s the only place to eat, since I don’t have a car to drive anywhere.”
“I don’t have my car today either. I had to let Kyler borrow it, because his is in the shop.” He frowns as if just realizing this.
“You can always eat with me,” I offer. “In the ewy cafeteria.”
His expression contorts with disgust. “There’s no way I’m eating that food.” He looks at the clock and then at the door. “Come on. I have an idea.”
I follow him out into the busy hallway, where he finds a girl named Marla, who I think’s a junior and who has a car. Using his eyelash fluttering move, he sweet talks her into giving us a ride to Sunnyvale Burger Drive-In, although she doesn’t seem too thrilled I’m included in the ‘us’.
I spend most of the drive in the backseat, listening to her laugh at everything Kai says, even stuff that’s not funny at all. When we reach the burger place, Kai thanks her for the ride then hops out and opens the door for me.
“Wait? You don’t need a ride back to school?” she asks, leaning over the console and smiling at him as her cleavage pops out of her top. “Because I don’t mind giving you one.”
“We’re actually going to walk somewhere after we get our food.” Kai shuts the door after I climb out.
The hope in her eyes goes poof, and I kind of feel bad for her. “Okay, well if you ever need a ride again, just let me know.” With that, she glares at me before pushing the shifter into reverse and backing out of the space.
“I think I’m cramping your style,” I tell Kai as we head for the entrance doors. “Did you see that dirty look she gave me?”
Kai feigns dumb. “I didn’t notice anything.”
“You liar.” I pinch his ribs.
He laughs as he opens the door and lets me walk through first. “You’re so violent all the time.”
“Just admit it,” I say as I walk up to the counter. “You totally just played her.”
“I told her straight up that we needed a ride.” He examines the menu above the register. “She knew the plan the entire time—that I was going to get lunch with you. She let herself get played.”
I decide to let it go, because I’m dying to ask something else. “Why are you eating lunch with me? You never have before.”
“Usually I have stuff to do at lunch.” He keeps his attention fixed on the menu. “But since I don’t have a car today, that stuff’s been put on hold until tomorrow.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Just stuff.”
Ever since I read the text from T, I’ve been really worried about him. I keep waiting for him to show up at school with bruises or broken bones, but so far, he seems okay. Still, I have to wonder what exactly he owes this T guy that would lead to such threats.
“But you’re okay, right?”
“I’m always okay,” he says without looking at me.
I don’t think I believe him.
After we get our lunch, we leave the burger place and start down the sidewalk, and not in the direction of our school.
“Where are we going?” I ask then sip on the straw of my shake.
He winks at me as he pops a fry into his mouth. “It’s a surprise.”
I pull my aviator sunglasses down over my eyes to block out the blinding sunlight. “We won’t be late for class, though, right?”
“We might be a few minutes late.” He puts his own sunglasses on. “But I promise it’ll be worth it.”
He picks up his pace and I chase after him as he makes a right and ducks into the park. The moment he jogs to the grassy area, I know where he’s going and it makes me grin like a goof.
I race after him as he sprints toward the hollowed out tree tucked away near the rickety old seesaw. When we reach it, Kai ducks in and I follow. But since we’re taller than we used to be, getting us both in becomes a puzzle. We end up sitting side by side with our legs sticking out of the entrance.
“I miss coming here,” I state as I peel the wrapper off my hamburger. “It’s so quiet and peaceful.”
“I’m actually surprised they haven’t cut the tree down yet,” he says, pulling his burger out of the bag. “They’ve cut down a ton of them already.”
I pick off the pickles and take a bite of my burger. “Maybe this one’s still here, because they know it’s magical.”
Kai chuckles at me as he chews his food. “Maybe, but I doubt it.”
“You never know.” I steal a fry from him and pop it into my mouth. “It could be magical.”
His expression tightens. “I don’t believe in magic anymore, so I can’t agree with you.”
The edge in his tone makes my concern for his wellbeing go up about fifty thousand notches.
“Kai, I know you don’t want to talk about it—you’ve made that pretty clear—but just promise me you’re going to be okay. That the threat that T guy made to you won’t really happen.”
He stares out the hole, chewing on his food. “I’ll be okay.”
“Promise?”
He looks at me, his eyes smoldering. “Isa, you don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“I know I don’t need to worry about you,” I say, sounding a little worked up. “But I do.”
“Why?” he wonders, still keeping his intense stare fixed on me.