I threw up my hands, wondering if this kid’s main goal in life was to annoy me. “Like what?”
His eyes shifted to the side. “I can’t really tell you.”
I was done. “Alright. I’ve got to go,” I said, rolling up the window and pulling away.
“Just don’t drive too far!” Zane called after me.
I rolled my eyes. I had no clue how my mom tolerated that kid.
I drove out to 38th and my beat up car seemed to make a lot of noise as I pulled into Kathleen’s Diner. It was charming in a run down sort of way, and the only other car in the parking lot was Kayla’s truck. The back door was open so I went in and followed the sound of water to the kitchen. I came around the corner and saw Kayla standing in front of a row of dishes, attacking them with a monster sprayer.
“Um, Kayla?”
She turned around and screamed, hitting me with a full blast of water before she rushed to the wall to turn it off. I wiped the water off of my face and looked at her. She was wearing tattered sweats and a t-shirt and she was completely drenched with water and food stains. I’d never seen anyone look more attractive.
“Frog! What are you doing here?” She exclaimed.
“I... you left your phone at my house. I called your mom... I thought you’d want it back before tomorrow afternoon,” I said timidly, holding out her phone.
“Oh, I didn’t even realize I’d left it.” She crossed to me and gingerly took her phone, setting it on a towel near the door. “My mom told you I’d be here?”
“Yeah.”
“Hm.” She looked at the floor and rubbed her arm. “Well, this is kind of embarrassing...”
“I don’t think so. You were demolishing the dirt off of those dishes. It was pretty impressive.”
Kayla gave me a small smile, and then chewed on her lip. “It’s just that... nobody knows I work here. I’d like to keep it that way.”
I frowned. “Nobody? Not even Miranda or Wyatt?”
Kayla’s eyes widened. “No. Definitely not them.”
“Wow.” She gave me a pleading look, and I put my hands up in front of me. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
She seemed relieved. “Thank you. Somehow, in one night, you’re finding out all my secrets.”
“Honestly, Kayla, you’re stressing out about keeping these secrets that I don’t really think are that bad.”
She sighed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be popular.”
I snorted. “You can say that again.”
She winced, but I waved my hand dismissively. She hadn’t offended me. It was the truth.
“Thank you again,” she said quietly. “I better finish up.”
“Sure. See you tomorrow.”
I walked out of the diner, thinking about everything I’d learned about Kayla that night. For some reason, finding out about Kayla’s secrets only made me like her more.
*****
“So, how did it go last night? Did you guys kiss?”
I rolled my eyes at Milo. “What do you think?”
Milo shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes making videos can get pretty romantic.”
“Well, it wasn’t romantic, but it was actually a lot of fun.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Kayla is really easy to hang out with.”
Milo made a face. “Great, so you guys can be best friends while she ends up making out with that smarmy football player. You’ve got to step up your game! Get out of the friend zone!”
I decided not to respond and instead concentrated on the leg press. We were in physical education class, which I generally hated, especially when we had to swim, but today we were in the weight room, so it wasn’t so bad. Everybody was doing their own thing, so they usually left me alone. Milo was on the leg press next to me, but he only extended his legs whenever our teacher, Mr. Woodworth, looked over at us.
“So, when is she going to come to your house again?”
I frowned. “I don’t think she is. We finished everything we needed for our project.”
“What? Why didn’t you drag it out?”
“Because I don’t want to waste her time,” I replied, moving over to the bench press. Milo followed me.
“How else are you going to win her over?”
I blew out a breath. “By being sincere?”
“Blech. Sincere. That’s for rookies.”
I added weights to the bar and positioned myself on the bench.
“You should make something up. Tell her that all the footage got lost and you have to do it over again.”
“Nah, that’d just annoy her,” I said as I began lifting.
“Maybe, maybe not. You’ll never know unless you...” Milo trailed off and stared at me.
“What is it?” I grunted.
“How in the world are you lifting that much?”
I didn’t another rep. “What do you mean?”
“You’re lifting 200 pounds!”
“Yeah, I know. I always start with this and then work up to 220 or 230.”
“Are you serious?”
“What, can’t you lift this much?”
Milo’s eyes widened. “I can’t even lift half that much.”
“Huh, weird.” I kept lifting as I considered Milo’s shock. I thought maybe all that working out at home was doing something in a roundabout way. But before I could comment, I saw something small and sharp zooming toward my face. I quickly slipped off the bench and dropped the bar, which caused a huge crash when the weights hit the floor.
“What’s going on over there?” Mr. Woodworth exclaimed, running over to us.
I pulled out the dart that was embedded in the bench were my forehead had just been. I looked up at the ceiling and spotted a tiny hole where the dart must have come through. “I’m sorry, Mr. Woodworth, but this dart-”
“Give me that!” Mr. Woodworth yelled, snatching the dart out of my hand. “What were you thinking trying to lift this much?”
“I...”
“Do you know how dangerous this is? And you’ve damaged the floor! You’re going to have to find a way to repair that!”
“Yes sir.”
“Go see the vice principal, Mr. Vonnegan!”
“But I...”
“Now!”
I realized that trying to explain would be useless, so I shuffled past my snickering classmates and headed to Mrs. Youngblood’s office. She was on the phone when I knocked on her window. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw me, and held up a finger, signaling for me to wait a minute. A few moments later, she finished her phone call and crossed her office to let me in.
The small space was sparsely decorated, with just a modest desk and a couple chairs, and a large, fake plant in the corner. The walls were lacking the multitude of certificates and achievements that most of the other administrators had displayed in their offices, which made the whole room seem a lot cleaner. I sat down in a hard chair on the other side of her desk and stared at the floor.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re in here or did you just drop by to inspect my carpet?”
I lifted my head and sighed. “I dropped a bunch of weights in the weight room and damaged the floor.”
Mrs. Youngblood inclined her head. “Interesting. Why did you do that? If it was to irritate Mr. Woodworth, I wouldn’t blame you. Watching that man lose his temper is pretty entertaining.”
I let out a small laugh and then looked down at my hands. “No. I was on the bench press and there was this... dart.”
“Dart?”
I winced. It really did sound outrageous now that I was telling her. “Um, yeah. I think it came out of the ceiling.”
Mrs. Youngblood peered at me. “Do you have this dart?”
“No, Mr. Woodworth took it.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat, her expression stoic. Finally, she turned to her computer and started typing something. “Mr. Vonnegan, I’m aware that a lot of unfortunate things happen to you, but this seem
s particularly implausible. Is it possible you imagined it?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I could have, but-”
“How are things at home?”
I straightened in my chair, confused by her change of conversation.
“Uh, fine, I guess.”
“Is your mother home often?”
“Lately she’s been gone a lot for work.”
Mrs. Youngblood sat back and nodded. “Sometimes when there’s not strong parental interaction in the home, adolescents will begin to fabricate outrageous experiences as a plea for attention. I’m not necessarily saying this is what’s happening to you, Mr. Vonnegan, but it’s a possibility. Regardless, I would imagine that you’re under a lot of stress, and it might be affecting you mentally.”
I swallowed hard, not sure what to make of her assessment. Was she saying I was going crazy?
“I’ll talk to Mr. Woodworth about this incident, but I would suggest you find some time to relax, Mr. Vonnegan. I’ll call you back in next week so we can discuss what to do about the damages to the weight room.”
I walked out of Mrs. Youngblood’s office more bewildered than when I had come in. I was fairly certain the dart had been real, but the whole scenario did seem pretty far-fetched. Maybe the stress I had been under along with lifting those weights had made me see things. But if Mrs. Youngblood wanted me to relax, it wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon. The talent show was in a couple days, and the thought of performing in it still made me a little sick to my stomach.
Chapter Eleven
Kayla
I slipped into the back of the diner, trying to find my mom as quickly as possible. I hated being there in the daytime, but I had forgotten to get my mom to sign a form for volleyball and I needed to turn it in that afternoon before the talent show. I found her back in the kitchen, carrying a box of hamburger buns.
“Oh! Kayla! It’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed, giving me a one-armed hug. “It seems like I haven’t seen you in a week!”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been busy with all the events, and...” I felt myself blushing, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with... a boy.”
My mom’s eyes lit up. “Oh really? With Frederick?”
I frowned. “Um, no. Well, yes, I’ve been working on a project with him, but Wyatt-”
Her expression darkened. “Oh, there’s another boy.”
“Yes, mom. He’s really great,” I said, not sure why I felt like I needed to defend him. I’d spent a few nights hanging out with Wyatt, usually in a group, and it had been a lot of fun, even though it set me back on all my schoolwork and homecoming responsibilities.
“Well, I’d love to meet this boy sometime,” my mom said as she headed out of the kitchen.
“Sure,” I replied, even though I wasn’t ready to bring Wyatt into this part of my life just yet. I followed my mom to the front of the diner and waved my form in front of her. “Could you sign this? I need to get it in today.”
My mom took the form and scanned over it, then quickly grabbed a pen and signed it. She handed it back to me and I noticed there was a grease stain at the bottom.
“Thanks mom,” I sighed.
“Are you going to stay and help out for a little bit?” She asked hopefully.
“Sorry, I’ve got to get back for the talent show,” I said, glad to have an excuse not to stay.
“Alright,” she said, squeezing my shoulder. “Maybe we can catch up tonight.”
“That’d be nice.” I gave her a hug and felt a wave of emotion come over me. I really did wish I could spend more time with her. There were moments when I felt like she was the only thing that was real in my life. As I pulled away, I caught a glimpse of a couple guys about to come into the diner. One of them was Wyatt.
I gulped and quickly stepped back from my mom. “I’ve got to go. Love you!”
She gave me a look of confusion until the chime on the door turned her attention away from me.
I dropped to the floor behind the grill, praying that Wyatt hadn’t seen me. I listened to my mom welcome them and take them to a booth. I crept along the floor until I reached the kitchen, then ran out the back door and got in my truck as fast as I could. I couldn’t imagine why Wyatt would come to this run down diner on the outskirts of town, but I hoped it never happened again. I blew out a breath as I started driving back toward the school. I knew I couldn’t keep these secrets forever, it was exhausting. But the thought of everyone knowing what my life was really like scared me even more.
*****
“Hey, Kayla, the tickets are all sold out, but there are about 20 people still wanting to get in.”
I stared at Sadie. It took a few moments for her words to sink in. I was still unsettled from my near run in with Wyatt at the diner and I was having trouble focusing. And 5 minutes before the talent show was about to start was not a good time to lose focus. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mental fog.
“Let’s bring in some folding chairs and set them up along the sides. We can add up to 50 people before we’re in violation of the fire code.”
“Okay, great. Should I charge them?”
“Yeah, but take two dollars off.”
“Thanks Kayla, you always know what to do.”
I watched my vice president grab some helpers and exit the theatre. I was so glad she was here. I needed as many people as possible to help me stay grounded. I scanned the crowded theatre in search of Frog. Another source of my distraction was the recent interactions I’d had with him. We still had fun in world cultures class, but I couldn’t help but feel a little strained around him. Knowing that he knew all my secrets made me feel vulnerable, and I wanted to make sure that I could still trust him. I didn’t see him in the audience, and concluded that he probably wasn’t there.
Sadie came back in with the chairs, and I ran to help set them up and get everyone seated. The theatre was electric with energy and anticipation. Knowing that we had sold out meant that the funds would definitely cover the costs of the homecoming dance. Sadie went backstage to help with the performers, and I headed up to the sound booth. It may not have been the most effective place for me to be, but I loved running the music and light cues. If everything else fell through, I could always be a DJ.
The show started with a lively dance number from a group of three girls from the drill team. Then some freshman prodigy played an impressive and entertaining piano piece where he played part of it with his toes. Next, James Huckston did a fake magic show and got everyone laughing with his brilliant comedic timing. After James finished, I followed the cue to dim the lights, and the stage crew brought out a large, white screen. Confused, I looked at the program and saw that the next act was “The Shadowed Singer.” I suppressed a groan. Sadie had contacted and reviewed all of the performers, but I had been so busy that I forgot to ask her for details. I really hoped this wasn’t about to be awful.
Someone walked on stage and turned on a light at the back so that, fittingly, people could only see their shadow on the white screen. They sat down in front of a microphone and began to play a guitar, and then they started to sing.
My heart just about melted in my chest. Whoever this guy was, he had the best voice I had ever heard. Why in the world would he want to hide? The longer I listened to him, the more my curiosity grew. Finally, I slipped out of the sound booth and into the hallway so I could access the door to the backstage. I crept in, peered around the curtains, and gasped. It was Frog.
He looked so comfortable sitting there playing his guitar, and now I understood the need for anonymity. They would have laughed him off the stage before he even had a chance to begin. Suddenly, he looked my way, caught my eye, and jerked so badly that he knocked over the microphone. The microphone collided with the white screen, and the whole thing came toppling down.
Now visible to the audience, Frog stood up uncertainly, and for a few seconds, there was absolute silence. Then the laughter started. Unrelenting, awful, mocking laughter with people
pointing their fingers at him and yelling insults. He swallowed and walked off the stage with his guitar and continued out the exit. I wanted to follow him, but I couldn’t leave. I ran back up to the sound booth while the stage crew cleaned up the screen. James Huckston, ever diplomatic, took the microphone and called for a round of applause for Frog’s number. There was a bit of clapping and then they went on to the next act. While some girl was doing a tap dance, I pulled out my phone and texted Frog.
Hey, I’m so sorry about that, it was my fault. This is Kayla, by the way.
His answer came back in seconds.
No, it’s okay. I was really nervous. Something like that was bound to happen. I should have known I’d make a fool of myself.
I thought you were incredible!
Thanks.
Seriously, where did you learn to sing like that?
My parents both sing. I guess it runs in the family.
The tap dance ended and I almost missed the cue for the next act. I started the music for the group of guys that were lip-syncing and then I went back to my phone.
Well, you sounded amazing. I’m sorry it turned out the way it did.
Yeah. That’s life. My life anyway. Good luck with the rest of the show.
Thanks. See you tomorrow.
I put my phone away and brought my attention back to the talent show. The guys on stage lip syncing were being really idiotic, but everyone was cheering for them. It just didn’t seem fair that Frog, who was really talented, had been mocked while these guys were being praised. I shook my head. High school was a confusing place.
Chapter Twelve
Frog
I peeked into the pool area to make sure there weren’t a lot of people looking my way. The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself while I was half naked in my swim shorts, my scrawniness on view for everyone to see. Knowing my luck I’d slip and fall or knock something over. I crept around the side of the pool, holding up my suit which was constantly in danger of falling off, and stood near the back of where everyone was congregating. A couple people looked back and smirked at me, but there were no snide comments about my physique. Milo had managed to act sick enough to get out of class today, so I was truly alone, and I was counting down the minutes for this period to be over.
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