SEVEN

 

Morning came and I had it all figured out.  Clearly I wasn’t some kind of necromancer; otherwise, I would have seen ghosts all my life.  So this had to just be related to Carolyn and Benjamin.  Unless something else had triggered this… me seeing them…  I needed to find out how to help Carolyn so that she could leave and everything would go back to normal. 

My plan was to go to school and act normal, and after school I would try to find a way of talking to Hunter without anyone seeing me. After the Justin and Ashley fiasco more rumors was the last thing I needed.

I went downstairs and was surprised to see that Kelly was home.  Most days she was gone by the time I got up.

She sat at the dining room table, looking as if something was bothering her.

“Morning sickness?”  I asked her as I attempted a smile.  

“No, Kayla.  Why don’t you sit down?  I want to talk to you.”

“I will be late for school,” I said, trying to get out of whatever was coming my way.

“It is important, and this won’t take long.”

I sat down.

Kelly put her hand over mine, and meeting her gaze I noticed how concerned she looked.

“Kayla, I’m worried about you.”

I rolled my eyes.  Here we go!

“Why?  There is nothing to be worried about…”

“Kayla, I heard voices coming from your room last night…your voice.  Sounded almost as if you were having a conversation with yourself, and this is not the first time.  What is bothering you, Kayla?  It is the baby, isn’t it?”

I took my hand away from underneath hers.  “What is it with the paranoia about the baby?  I’m totally fine with the baby coming, last night I was…umm… I was on the phone.”  Okay, terrible lying job!

“Kayla, I know something is bothering you.  If you won’t talk to me, can I at least arrange for you to talk to someone?  It will make me feel better.”

“You mean, like a therapist?”

She nodded.  “Yes.”

“Sure, if you want to waste your money, whatever.  Just know that I don’t need one.”

“At least try it out.  One session.”

“Fine!”

Knowing Kelly, she already had everything lined up.  She likely told whoever that was to find out what was bothering me in that one single session.  Kelly was very persuasive and intuitive, which never worked out to my advantage.

“I will set everything up.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Alright.  Gotta go or I will be late” … again.

***

I got to school and Hunter was standing out in the parking lot, away from everyone else.  As soon as I parked my car he came in my direction, and so did Justin.  This is going to be one of those days…

Justin got to me first.

“What do you want?”  I asked Justin.

“Come on Kay, don’t be like that.  I just want to talk.”

“Well, we got nothing to talk about.”

“Is everything okay?”  Hunter asked as he approached.

Justin snapped.  “This is none of your business, dude.  Just turn around and go back to do whatever it is you do.”

Hunter didn’t move.  He stood there staring at Justin and without looking away for a second, he asked me, “Do you want me to go?”

Justin was already smiling, and I knew that in his mind, he was so sure that I was going to tell Hunter to get lost.  That same smile made me say something that surprised even myself.

“No, Hunter.  I want you to stay.  Justin, we have nothing to talk about!”

Justin was clearly pissed off.  We noticed that quite a few people were watching us, some laughing at Justin, until he said,  “Sure, I will go.  I just wanted to make sure to tell you that not for a minute do I regret cheating on you with Ashley.”  So much for staying away from rumors…

I didn’t know how to react to that and I was glad I didn’t have to.  All I saw was Hunter moving in front of me and punching Justin right in his face. 

Justin threw himself at Hunter, but Hunter got him again.  This time, punching his stomach so hard that Justin seemed to have trouble catching his breath.  Then I saw quite a few people moving around and I knew that someone was coming. 

Great!

Mr. Clarkson was having one of his bad days, which wasn’t uncommon, and he ended up sending all three of us to the principal’s office.

Hunter and I were sitting in the guidance counselor’s office.  Justin was sent to the nurse to get some ice.  For some unknown reason, our principal had this thing with listening to everyone’s side of the story without being interrupted, so she wanted to see us each separately.  Hunter was the first to go talk to the principal.

When Justin got back I was still waiting for my turn

He held the ice pack up to his eye.  “So, are you with that guy?”  He asked in an annoyed tone.

“Not that it is any of your business, but no, I’m not.”

“It sure doesn’t seem that way.”

I ignored him.  Truthfully, I wanted to lie and tell him that I was and that I had cheated on him just like he had cheated on me with Ashley, but it wasn’t fair to get Hunter mixed up in my personal drama.

Hunter came out of the principal’s office, Carolyn walked by his side, and she actually seemed to be in a good mood. 

Carolyn looked right at me and said,  “Just go with it.”  I almost responded but I was able to act as if she was not there, which was really hard to do. 

Right before Hunter told Justin that it was his turn to go in, he came to stand by my side, he grabbed my hand, fingers entwined with mine.  He looked at Justin who was staring right at our hands, and said,  “You know, I’m sure Kayla also doesn’t regret cheating on you with me.”

Justin looked as if he was going to throw a punch again when the principal came out.  Hunter quickly let go of my hand, which I hadn’t even realized that he was still holding.  Not that it was something meaningless.  Him holding my hand just felt…normal.

“Is there a problem?”  Mrs. Jones, the principal, asked.

“No, Mrs. Jones,” I said.

“Well, good.  Kayla, Hunter explained what happened and you may go back to class… Justin, in my office.”

I walked out in the hall, side-by-side with Hunter.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

He shrugged.  “No, but it was the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

I did have to admit that watching Justin’s reaction was priceless.

“You didn’t get in any trouble for what happened outside, did you?”

“One day suspension.  I will be fine.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.”  He glanced at Carolyn.  “She said you needed to talk to me.” 

I hesitated.

“I thought she—she couldn’t really talk to you.”

She responded.  “Sometimes it is easier than others.  Most times he can’t understand me, or it just takes too long to communicate what I need.”

“So, do you need to talk to me?”  He asked.

I avoided his gaze.

“Well, when you decide you want to, here is where you can find me.”  He handed me a piece of paper and walked away.

Inside there was his number along with a message.  ‘You can trust me.’

I took a deep breath, folded the piece of paper, put it in my pocket and went to class to face what I knew would be a gossip-fest.