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C H A P T E R 7
Oral hygiene versus Theo. The ultimate showdown.
Another series of sharp honks signaled my bodyguard cum lover’s impatience. I reached for the mouthwash.
“Kendall!” Gerlinde’s voice was punctuated by her banging on the bathroom door combined with some more of Theo’s honks caused me to swallow my mouthful of mouthwash in surprise. Choking as the deceivingly labeled ‘mild minty green freshness’ burned my throat, I gagged into the sink before squeaking, “I’m coming!”
I hurriedly stuck my head under the faucet and gulped down the cool water in an attempt to soothe the fire forming in my gullet before stumbling out of the bathroom, grabbing my book bag and sprinting down the stairs.
“Someone’s feeling energetic today.” Father’s dry voice followed me as I dashed out the front door, slamming it in my haste. I leapt over the petunias and reached the car, breathless, just as Theo honked again, drawing it out this time so that I could feel my ear drums vibrate.
“W-Would you stop t-that?” I panted, sliding into the seat and strapping my seat belt.
Theo glared at me from under his bright blue eyebrows and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. Another embarrassing squeak left me as the scenery passed us in a blur. I looked over at Theo again and noticed his clenched jaw and whitened knuckles clutching the steering wheel with a frown. He was usually impatient in the mornings, but he’d never looked as… well, as angry as he did now.
Worry curled in my stomach as I belatedly wondered what I’d done to make him upset. Apart from being late this morning, I hadn’t done anything out of sorts—oh. I had brushed him aside when he’d tried to kiss me the other day, but he’d been drinking milk for crying out loud. It’s understandable that I wouldn’t want to exchange saliva with someone who’d just ingested cow juice, isn’t it? Or maybe that was a way for him to test my loyalty – would I risk losing my lunch to show him a bit of affection?
I blinked big, woeful brown eyes in his direction and stuck my bottom lip out in a shameless pout. Usually this tactic would get me a smile, or at least an eye roll, but he didn’t so much as glance in my direction. Frustrated, and more than a little confused, I reached out to touch his arm, only to snatch it back in surprise as he violently shrugged me off.
“Not now, alright?” his voice was cold, more of a bark than anything else. I curled my hand protectively against my stomach as if anticipating a blow and watched as he pulled into the school parking lot. When he made no move to get out of the car, I turned to look at him hesitantly, wondering if he was going to give me some sort of explanation for his irritable mood.
“I won’t be guarding you today,” he said, keeping his eyes averted. “I have…some other stuff to take care of.”
My mind stayed stuck on the word ‘guarding’. I don’t know why, but the past few days I’d begun to think of him as less a bodyguard and more of a... friend. He still waited outside class for me, and followed me around as I went from class to class, but we also ate lunch together, and talked, even though it was mostly about my homework and lack of social skills. And every day after school I’d anxiously wait for his kisses in the kitchen. We hadn’t gone beyond that, but there was a promise in the way he held my face in his hands, in each press of his lips against mine… and I realized with a start that despite all of this, I knew virtually nothing about him.
I snapped out of my musings when he reached over and pointedly opened the door for me. A soft ‘oh’ escaped me as I slid out of the car, turning back once again in hopes of catching his gaze, but he’d pulled the door shut the moment my feet landed on the cement. I heard the tardy bell clang, but it seemed far off, almost a memory as I watched him pull out and drive away without so much as a glance back in my direction.
Feeling nauseous, I turned and walked up the stairs to the front of the school with numb feet. The last week had passed as if a dream – I couldn’t remember ever feeling happier. I was still mocked at school, but the most people dared to do when Theo was around was send a dirty look my way. And I’d never felt as close to anyone as I did to Theo… we were worlds apart, but some part of me felt like we were really the same.
I barely registered the feel of the heavy oak door under my hands as I pushed it open and made my way into the hall. My usually over imaginative mind was suddenly drawing a blank for what I would do if Theo decided to end this… this whatever we had. There certainly wasn’t a word for it, none that I knew anyway. It wasn’t even so much losing Theo that bothered me as what our odd relationship symbolized: intimacy.
Maybe it was because, besides Gerlinde, I’d never really had a maternal influence in my life, but I hadn’t felt comfortable near anyone other than my father for the longest time. My stuttering was an autonomic thing; I could control it about as much as I could control my heartbeat. Theo had been the first outsider I’d felt safe around, and if—if I’d done something wrong and he didn’t want to see me anymore…
I opened the door to the classroom and Ms. Lutz’s malicious green gaze landed on me. “Styne.” She snapped. “So nice of you to join us.”
I lowered my eyes and shuffled over to my desk, not bothering to duck as a wadded paper ball hit the back of my neck. I had enough presence of mind to check my seat for any pieces of gum before I sat down.
“The last grading period of this semester ends in two weeks,” Ms. Lutz’s voice droned. She sauntered around the classroom, and I wrinkled my nose as she passed my desk and left a TicTac sceneted doom cloud hovering over my head.
“I’ll be assigning a project as your final grade.” She continued, “You will work in pairs, and I have already chosen the topics. They will all center on the history of Pikesville.”
Ignoring the numerous groans that arose due to this monumental announcement, she fixed her gaze on me as she spoke, “You will write a research paper on the topic as a pair. I will expect an unbiased recounting, regardless of your… position in society.”
Half of my classmates turned their heads to stare in my direction at her words, and I resolutely traced the ‘fuck you’s carved on my desk in an attempt to ignore the prickling at the back of my neck.
“Find a partner!” she barked suddenly, “You have three minutes.”
I didn’t bother getting up. As always I was either going to be stuck with whoever was left unpartnered, or I’d end up being the odd one out and she’d stick me in an unwilling group of three. I continued to trace the carvings on my desk, willing the hubbub to quiet.
A loud popping sound caught my attention and I looked up to come face to face with a rather impressive pink bubble. I watched, startled, as it continued to grow until it almost completely eclipsed the face behind it and then exploded in numerous little bits of gum, accompanied by pink spittle. I leaned back as far I possibly could and wiped my unsoiled hands on my pants as I shuddered. The girl in front of me was lazily picking at the gum stuck to her face and depositing it all back in her mouth. Oh, gross.
“Wanna partner?” she asked as she peeled a rather stubborn piece from the tip of her nose. I watched with a morbid sort of fascination as she continued to tug until it stretched a good three inches from her nose before snapping back.
“H-Huh?” was the only response I could come up with in the face of such… ew.
“Partners.” She elaborated, licking the tip of her index finger before pointing at me and then herself with a shiny black nail. “You ‘n me. Right here, right now.”
I blinked at her, wondering if I was the only one thinking that that sounded uncannily like an offer for sex. She popped another bubble, obviously willing to wait as long as I took to respond. I glanced around the classroom quickly and noticed a few people snickering in our direction. I looked back at her and found her staring at me, eyes crossed, blowing a bubble that once again on its way to becoming massive.
“O-Okay.” I managed.
“Sweet.” She took the gum out of her mouth, holding it daintily between two fingers, before sliding her hand down and placing it firmly under my desk. My mouth dropped open in horror as she casually brought her hand back and wiped it on her jeans before hopping up and making herself comfortable on top of my desk.
“I’m Alice.” She stuck out the same hand in my direction and I stared at it for a few moments before realizing she wanted me to shake it.
“O-Oh.” I mumbled, reaching out and gingerly sliding my hand against hers before snatching it back just as quickly. “I-I’m K-Ken.”
“I know, Mayor’s kid, right?”
“Y-Yeah.” My voice had dropped to a whisper as I wondered what she was doing, wanting to partner with me in the first place. I stilled, fully expecting her to ask me for a “favor”, to get her into some exclusive club, or, perhaps, a limo ride around town…
“My dad’s your dad’s coordinator.” She chirped, and I looked up, genuinely surprised. “We just moved here last week.”
Taking my silence as a plea to continue, she plowed forward. “This place is a real drag, ain’t it? I’ve been wanting to go rob a bank just to get some excitement. I think I could get past the guard at that one on Sterns Street, he looks kinda wimpy, kinda like you actually, now that I think bout it.”
Sure I was doing an impressive impression of a goldfish, I pointedly shut my mouth and continued to stare at who was no doubt the strangest girl I had ever met. Her eyes crinkled as she grinned at me and I realized with a sudden jolt that she was actually kind of… pretty. Well. If you could get past that clump of gum on her chin.
“Take a seat!” Ms. Lutz’s high pitched voice cut through the noise as people scampered to their seats. Alice just swung her legs to the other side and executed a smooth slide that would’ve made a tumbler jealous into the desk next to mine.
Ms. Lutz started taking down names of the pairs and assigning topics, but I could hardly peel my gaze away from the blonde at my side. She looked surprisingly normal without the gum blocking her face, but I got the feeling that she was uncomfortable without something to chew on. I felt a sudden burst of kinship towards her, despite the fact that stuttering and compulsive chewing had absolutely nothing in common.
“Styne and Bredgwin?” Ms. Lutz sneered and I returned my attention to the markings on my desk. “You two will work on the… the DeMonsey Construction Project.”
The odd tone of her voice caused me to look up and I discovered that she had an even odder look on her face. She was staring at the piece of paper she was holding and blinking rapidly. And then her gaze lifted to meet mine and I reeled from the sheer hatred that was directed at me.
“Wood and Prakash.” she broke our eye contact and continued recording names.
“DeMonsey construction?” Alice griped. I looked at her questioningly. “I thought this was gonna be on the history of this place. What’s a construction project gotta do with anything? Totally lame, man.”
I shrugged morosely, Ms. Lutz’s unusual expression reminding me of Theo’s unusual behavior earlier this morning. I heard Alice huff impatiently from beside me and then a manicured hand was clutching at my arm and turning me to face her.
“Sheesh, don’t you ever talk?”
“Y-You talk e-enough for the b-b-both of us.” I mumbled, and then looked up in shock at her laughter. She had a pleasant, surprised sort of laugh, as if she hadn’t expected to find anything funny. I blinked at her slowly as her laughter trailed off to soft huffs.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said between giggles, “I get that a lot.”
She opened her mouth to say something more, but the bell cut her off. I slumped further in my seat as someone roughly elbowed me as they joined the mass migration to the door. She jumped up and hopped from desk to desk, much to Ms. Lutz’s consternation, before reaching her own, grabbing her backpack, and scampering back to me.
“So, when d’ya wanna meet for this project thing? We gotta do research, right? Hot shit, where’d I put my gum…”
I paused in arranging the books inside my backpack and looked at her consideringly. “W-Well…” I started.
“Why dontcha come over to my place tomorrow, yeah? Or, no, the library, yeah. My bro’s gonna be home all day and he likes to pretend he’s a drummer, ya know, so we prolly won’t get any work done, but the library’s supposed to be quiet like, right?”
“U-Um…”
“But not the public library, it smells like old people, hey! How about here, yeah? Tomorrow after school? Works for me! See ya laters, Kenken.”
I watched her prance out the door in a daze, all worries about Theo momentarily vanquished as I wondered just what the hell I’d gotten myself into…
A/N: Sorry to all the folks who already read Chapter 7, and reviewed, but I really wasn't feeling it so I thought, what the hell. I might as well turn it into something I like.
I know this is taking the story in a bit different direction than most of you thought, but I felt the need to get away from Theo and Ken and introduce some minor characters. So... whaddya guys think of Alice, aye:3
Oh! And, I managed to get the plot sorted out, yay me. So now there is a reason behind Theo's sudden pouncing of Kenken, and there will be a reason behind this assignment and a reason behind Theo's weird behavior and a reason behind... well, everything! Plot's a lovely, lovely thing, really. I hope all of y'all will stick around until I get my ends sorted out, cause you are my inspiration.
Please review, lovies! I really, really crave some feedback on this. I'm feeling kind of insecure about this entire fic now and your reviews just make me feel that much better. Peace!
