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“Cami,” he whispered. He had a high, feminine voice. “Get up, Cami.”
Puzzled, I turned to look at him. I found myself staring at my little sister.
“Ah!” I jumped back and hit the floor. When I sat up, I was tangled in my covers next to my bed.
“What are you doing on the floor?” Sara, my 10 year-old stepsister, was looking down at me from my bed. I glared at her as I got to my feet.
“You scared the crap out of me! What’s your problem?” Not that she ever needed an excuse to make my life difficult.
“Nothing,” she answered cheerfully as she bounced off my bed and headed to her room. She stopped in the doorway and added, “Just thought you’d like to know you’re late for school.”
“Yeah, I bet you—” I spun around with one leg in my jeans and shouted, “What!” I stumbled over to my alarm clock, struggling to get my other leg in my pants. “Eight thirty! I’m already a half hour late!”
I sprinted to the bathroom, throwing on a random shirt. After taking care of my teeth and hair, I grabbed my flip-flops and almost tripped down the stairs in my rush. I snatched my bag and car keys off the couch without stopping.
“Stop right there, Camilla!”
I froze with my hand stretched out to the front door. Sighing in frustration, I trudged back through the living room and into the kitchen. Sitting in a bathrobe at the table was Harmony, my stepmother. She was glaring at me with her arms folded.
“May I ask why you were running in my house?”
No, you may not, I thought. Instead, I muttered, “You mean my house.”
Harmony narrowed her eyes. “What was that?”
I bit my lip. I knew better than to provoke her, so I said quickly, “Nothing. Look, I’m late for school, I really need to go—”
“I don’t care if you are!” Harmony interrupted. She stood with her hands on her hips. “This is not a barn, young lady, regardless of what your pathetic father may have taught you. You will walk in this house. I am your guardian, and until you are eighteen you will obey the rules of this house.”
I knew better than to say anything. I knew it would only get me in trouble. I should have just kept my mouth shut and I would have been fine.
I guess my mouth didn’t get the memo.
“That’s right,” I snapped. “I should obey your rules for now. But I should tell you that when I am eighteen and this house will belong to me, you will either be following my rules or looking for another place to—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Harmony slapped me hard across the face. Provoking her again would only lead to another slap, so I merely stood there, hanging my head and clenching my fists. I hadn’t realized I’d dropped my keys until she picked them up and pocketed them.
“I think walking to school might teach you a little about respecting your elders,” she said coldly.
“Fine,” I said through my teeth. I whirled around before she could say anything else and stormed out the front door. I slammed the door hard before taking off running. It was a twenty-minute walk to school and I was already late.
It was a crappy start to a crappy day.
“Well, thank you for joining us, Cami,” my teacher said as I walked into the room. “Class begins at ten after eight, young lady. It is currently eight forty. Do you have an excuse for being so late?”
I groaned. My first hour was history. I hated history, so, naturally, I hated my history teacher. The problem was he was the type of teacher that you would hate no matter what subject he taught.
“I had to walk to school, Mr. Nab, I’m sorry,” I muttered. My teacher just shook his head.
“That’s the third time this week you have been late, and for the same reason.” Mr. Nab scribbled on a slip of paper before handing it to me. I knew what it was, so I snatched out of his hand without reading it and walked quickly to my seat. It’s not like I’d never had detention before.
“Ahem,” Mr. Nab cleared his throat. “As I was saying, even though we called it the Vietnam War, it is referred to as the American War by the Vietnamese. Now, what do you think—”
A knock on the door interrupted him again, causing him to curse. Most of the students snickered. Mr. Nab motioned for them to come in. The door opened to reveal the principal’s secretary leading a young man into the room.
My first thought was, Holy crap, he’s gorgeous! He was tall, much taller than the teacher. He wasn’t buff, but there were still muscles visible under his blue T-shirt. Dark hair fell in an unruly mass around his face. I didn’t have to turn to figure out that every other girl in the class was also staring at him. While Mr. Nab and the secretary were still talking, the boy turned to stare at me, as if I had done something to call attention to myself. I felt a shiver when our gazes locked.
I caught myself staring at icy blue eyes, and just as cold. I couldn’t believe anyone could have such piercing eyes. Still, my face grew warm from his stare and I quickly looked down. Get a grip, Cami.. I shook my head to clear it just as Mr. Nab cleared his throat again.
“Please give me your attention. And put away that phone, Jeremy,” he snapped at the boy in front of me. “It seems we have a new student. This is…uh…” Mr. Nab turned to the boy. “What did you say your name was?”
The boy laughed softly, making me shiver again, but for a completely different reason. “Call me Kai.”
Mr. Nab raised an eyebrow at the strange name, but he didn’t say anything. “Anyway, have a seat Kai.” My teacher checked his watch and sighed heavily. “And since we only have five minutes of class left, the rest of you can do as you like.”
The buzz of conversation started almost immediately. I wasn’t the only who disliked this class. I tuned them out, though, like I always did. Their drama and gossip didn’t interest me. I had my own problems. So, instead of talking, I decided it would be a good time to continue the book I had been reading. My bag was slung over the back of my chair, so I had to turn around to get into it. I didn’t notice anyone was there until a hand appeared in front of my face. Startled as I was, I wasn’t thinking clearly and made the mistake of looking up to find Kai’s ice-blue eyes staring at me.
He chuckled a bit at my expression. “Did I startle you?”
I blinked a few times before answering, “Yes.” Ignoring him, I went to grab my book again. Unfortunately, my hand was shaking, and I ended up dropping it on the floor once I got it out. I started to reach down for it, sighing, but Kai was a bit quicker.
He held the book out to me, barely repressing a smile.
I just sat there and stared at him. I couldn’t help feeling like I was being an idiot, but something about him made me want to avoid touching him.
Sighing, he placed the book in my hand and sat down at the desk behind me. “I don’t bite, you know,” he said, pouting a bit. “You don’t even know me and you’re treating me like a leper.”
I bit my lip. He was right. I didn’t know him. Here I was acting like he was some sort of criminal when I’d only just met him. All because I didn’t like the look in his eyes.
I turned to him, smiling apologetically. “I’m, um, sorry about how I just acted. I’ve kind of had a bad morning. You know how parents can be sometimes.”
Kai just shrugged, then leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “Not really. I don’t have any parents.”
I was speechless for a few seconds. “Oh…I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, grinning. “I was too young to remember them anyway. What are your parents like?”
“Parent,” I corrected him reluctantly. I didn’t like to talk about Harmony, or my family life.
“Oh?” Kai tilted his head. “So you’re parents are divorced?”
“Um, I do live with my step-mom, but my parents weren’t divorced.”
Kai was suddenly a bit more attentive. He leaned forward to rest his chin in his hands. “So if your parents weren’t divorced, how do you have a step-mom?”
I sighed. “My mother- my real mother- died when I was barely old enough to remember her. At least, that’s what the police told us probably happened.”
Kai cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘probably’?”
“Well…” I hesitated. I always hated telling people this because they always acted like they didn’t believe me. Most of the time I just made something up, but I didn’t think it could hurt to tell him the truth. “My dad told me I was only three years old when it happened. I guess he and Mom were walking around the park. They each were holding one of my hands and I was walking between them.” I paused for a second, a few images of that day flashing in my mind.
“So what happened?” Kai asked. His question startled me a bit and reminded me of what I was doing.
“I guess it was around sunset when they finally decided to go home. Dad told me that was when Mom started to get a little anxious. I sort of remember that because I recall telling her she was squeezing my hand and it hurt. Dad said he’d noticed her glancing at the shadows a lot, so he asked her if everything was okay. He told me he would never forget the way she looked when she answered him. She looked defiant and resigned at the same time. Like…she knew something was going to happen...” I stopped again, blinking.
Kai tilted his head. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” I said slowly.
Several seconds went by before Kai asked impatiently, “What is it?”
I shook my head, clearing it. “Nothing,” I answered. “Anyway, when Dad asked her that, she said, ‘You have nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine soon.’”
As I chewed on my lip thoughtfully, the bell rang.
As usual, everyone was rushing to get out the door. I decided to stay in my seat for a minute, not wanting to get trampled. A heavy sigh told me Kai was apparently doing the same thing.
“Is this how class always ends?” he asked, rolling his eyes.
I shrugged, surprised to find myself smiling. “More or less. It’s a lot worse during fourth period.” I stood up and grabbed my bag from the back of my chair and waited for Kai to do the same.
“Oh? Why is that?” He seemed genuinely curious, which seemed a bit weird to me but I ignored it. “Fourth period is right before lunch,” I explained as we followed the throng of students out into
the hall. “So what’s your number?”
He blinked. “My…number?” He was looking at me like I’d just asked him for the meaning of life. The first thing that popped into my head was, God, he looks even better when he’s confused.
Shaking my head, partly out of amazement and partly to clear it, I said, “You’re locker number. Where’s your locker?”
Kai smacked his forehead. “Locker, right. Um, I believe it’s 237. Although,” he continued thoughtfully, “I have no idea where it is.”
My heart skipped a beat. “I know exactly where it is,” I said.
“You do? Well, that’s just wonderful.” He gave me a huge smile, the same one that made me shiver earlier. He didn’t look surprised at all now.
“Yeah,” I said, suppressing a groan. “It’s right next to mine.”
“Cami!” My head snapped up. “Would you please lift your head and pay attention? Or would you rather stay after class?” Mr. Lansing, my seventh hour grammar teacher, was staring at me with his hands on his hips.
Well, what he had of hips. Mr. Lansing wasn’t exactly small. He didn’t know it, but the students called him Bruno behind his back. Something to do with how much he looked like his bulldog.
“Well? Are you going to answer me?”
I shook my head a bit. I’d been nodding off the whole hour. I was always like that in grammar. It being the last hour of the day coupled with the fact that it was an incredibly boring class didn’t help me to stay awake. I was particularly drained anyway.
“Uh, sorry, Mr. Lansing,” I said, stifling a yawn. He just rolled his eyes and turned back to the board. I guess he’d been asking me to tell him if the sentence was written right or something like that.
“Psst, Cami.” The person behind me was apparently trying to get my attention. I already knew who it was, and I didn’t feel like talking to him.
Kai was the reason I was so drained. We only had two classes together, but he always managed to be at his locker at the same time I was at mine. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t help but feel tense around him. It was probably nerves from being around such a gorgeous guy, but I couldn’t help thinking that it might have been something else. His smiles seemed real, and his comments were innocent enough. It was just something about his eyes—they always seemed to give me a weird feeling.
I couldn’t help staying tensed until I’d made it to my next class and was sitting safely at my desk. Then I’d finally let out a big sigh and relaxed. I did that for five hours, excluding lunch—I took my tray to the library and tried to catch up on some reading.
So, needless to say, I was a bit tired, and it was making me irritable.
Closing my eyes, I hissed through my teeth, “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”
“Of course not,” he whispered in my ear. I jumped, startled by how close his voice was to me. “I just had a question.”
I sighed heavily. Leave it to him to bother me with something trivial. He’d been doing it all day. Whether it was asking what the weather was usually like around here or if I thought marshmallows tasted better roasted. I mean, what kind of questions were those? Granted, I did answer him—and yes, marshmallows taste way better roasted—but I was just trying to be friendly.
“What is it this time?” He lightly tapped my shoulder, and I turned my head slightly to see why. He was holding a folded piece of paper in his hand. I quickly grabbed it. “I thought you said you weren’t trying to get me in trouble!” I whispered fiercely.
“I’m not,” he whispered back. “Oh, and I guess I have two questions.”
I glanced up front to see if Mr. Lansing had noticed anything yet. Thankfully, he was lecturing one of the kids in the front row on the faults of iPods. “Well?” I asked as I turned back around. “What did you want to know?”
Kai sat back and thought for a second. I ground my teeth, glancing at the front of the room nervously every few seconds.
“I was thinking, since you had to walk to school today, that I should take you home.”
I spun around, my mouth open. “Did I hear you right?” I asked a bit too loudly. Some of the students stared at me.
Kai nodded and put a finger to his lips to remind me to stay quiet. I leaned towards him a bit, lowering my voice again. “Why on earth would you want to take me home? I mean, you just met me. Besides, I have detention,” I added in annoyance, having temporarily forgotten.
He shrugged. “I was in the office when you signed in late. Seems you live pretty far to be walking to school.” He’s right about that, I thought. “I wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if I let you walk back home.” He gave me one of those smiles that made me doubt his motives, but distracted me all the same.
“But you don’t even know where I live,” I argued, shaking my head a little.
“That was actually my second question.” Kai dug around in his bag. “Just write your address. I’m sure I could find it.” He held out a piece of scrap paper.
I just stared at him for a second, wondering if he was serious or not. When he didn’t move, I just shrugged and took the piece of paper. I used my own pencil to write down my address, along with a short description of my house.
When I was finished, I handed it back to him, making sure the teacher wasn’t paying attention.
“Well, isn’t this convenient,” I heard Kai whisper. I turned around to look at him, raising an eyebrow. His gaze met mine, his blue eyes dancing. “It seems we are more than just locker neighbors,” he explained with a grin.
I tilted my head. “What exactly are you saying?”
Kai rolled his eyes. “I’m saying,” he started, writing on another slip of paper and handing it to me, “that I live right next door to you.”
I stared at the address he had written down. He was right. It was the address of the house next door to us.
“This is all starting to sound a bit too convenient to me,” I muttered. To Kai, I said, a bit sarcastically, “I suppose there’s no reason for me to say no, since you live next door to me and all.”
“Great!” He smiled widely, though it looked wrong somehow. “See you after detention,” he said as he started to get up.
“Hey, what are you—” The bell interrupted me. I checked the clock and was a bit surprised that I hadn’t even noticed the time. When I turned to ask Kai why he didn’t tell me it was almost time to go, he was already gone.
“I swear, that boy is really starting to irritate me.” Sighing, I grabbed my bag and hurried out the door, insanely wishing detention lasted longer.
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