by Mia Hoddell
“So where were you at lunch? Did it have something to do with this new guy?”
She bombarded me with questions as we walked.
“No I just went to the café down the road on my own. I forgot my lunch and don’t like the food here.” I lied, emphasising the part about being on my own in an over the top manner, stressing the words. We continued to walk down the hall when Chloe stopped and turned into the changing rooms, obviously thinking I was following but when she poked her head back around the door she looked more than confused.
“Aren’t you coming to practice?” She asked as I mentally berated myself for forgetting about netball practice.
“Yeah, sorry I forgot, I still thought it was Tuesday because of the day I had off,” I said as I hurried into the changing room to change into my kit before heading up to the courts.
It felt good to be out in the open, running around again; most of the other girls on the team were complaining about the heat, but I was enjoying the workout, it helped me release my frustration. As the coach led us through a series of drills I noticed Ian on the opposite side of the field playing football and to no surprise Alesha was there cheering him on.
“Rea go!” Chloe yelled from somewhere behind me, shaking me out from my mental trance and forcing me to run onto the ball that was already flying towards me. I barely looked in that direction for the rest of practice but when I did I could have sworn Ian was looking at me too. I just hoped that it wasn’t me being paranoid like Chloe.
Once practice was over we headed back to the changing room where coach read out the list of names of the people who would be playing in tomorrow’s match and I was glad I was on there. It would give me something to focus on for the whole day. Chloe hadn’t brought up the topic of my new guy again thankfully and we hugged bye before I started walking home, pleased that I was going to be able to talk to Kai at last.
As I entered my house I dumped my bags by the door and kicked off my shoes before heading up to my room, iPod already in hand. I had a few messages from other guys, giving me cheesy lines but I wasn’t interested in any of them, instead I messaged Kai.
Darcie<3: Hey sorry I took so long I forgot I had netball practice on Wednesdays :/
His reply came quickly and my heartbeat increased a little as I read it, wondering what had come over me.
Kai: Hi :) Don’t worry about it. Do you want to go somewhere more private? I don’t like these other guys reading our convos.
Shocking myself, I agreed and found myself setting up an account on some instant messenger app and was happy to see he was already online.
Kai: So what sports you play? He asked as soon as I signed in.
Darcie<3: Um there’s quite a few, I was at netball today, but I also play, rounders, hockey, badminton, do the hundred metres and swim. There are some others though, those are just the ones I compete in.
I replied a little embarrassed for some unknown reason. I had never been fond of talking about myself, especially my achievements as it always made me feel as if I was bragging.
Kai: Wow! That’s a lot. Guess you look good then :P
I laughed at his assumption but ignored it, not knowing how to reply.
Darcie<3: So why did you want to come on here instead? I asked, wanting to make sure I knew where I stood with him.
Kai: I didn’t like the ways those guys were talking to you and able to read our messages. He stated.
I was a little shocked by his admission. We hadn’t known each other long and knew little about each other yet he was getting possessive over me.
Darcie<3: So you’re jealous? I laughed at the idea of him being jealous as it sounded ridiculous in my head, and I wouldn’t let myself believe it.
Kai: Kinda. What’s your real name by the way? Mines Kai before you tell me to tell you first:)
Darcie<3: Serena. So what are we? I asked, unsure if he would understand my cryptic question. I hoped he would say he wanted to date me, even though part of me was shouting it was a bad idea, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
Kai: Why do you ask? You want to go out with me?
I swear my heart missed a beat as I read this and out of character I found a little courage from somewhere.
Darcie<3: Kinda ;) I replied, repeating his earlier response.
Kai: OK then :) x
His response shocked me as I hadn’t expected him to agree and I smiled to myself, realising I had just got myself a new boyfriend but had no idea what he looked like or anything.
Darcie<3: So can I see you then?
He didn’t reply immediately and something felt a bit awkward so I made an excuse about being tired and logged out, confused about the whole evening’s events and worried about how my friends were going to react to this new news.
CHAPTER FOUR
Kai still hadn’t messaged when I woke up the next morning and I thought that maybe I had crossed some sort of imaginary line. However I didn’t know what to say so didn’t message him either. Instead I headed for the bus stop and inevitably towards the millions of questions Chloe was bound to hurl at me.
“So who is he?” Chloe hadn’t even sat down before she started the interrogation. Pulling out my earphones I exaggerated my sigh but said nothing that was remotely close to answering her question.
“I hate the rain,” I muttered looking out if the bus window. “Especially after a few days of really hot weather.” I couldn’t have kept the smile off my face if I had tried, it was just too funny to see Chloe boiling with anger in my peripheral vision.
“Come on Rea, who is he? Where’s he from? How old is he? Where’d you meet him? And why did you ditch us yesterday? Was it to go off somewhere with him?”
Her questions went on and on just like I had anticipated and she was slowly wearing down my resistance as her talking was driving me insane.
“Please Rea? You’ve got to give me something to work with. What does he look like?”
I turned to face her, ready to answer some of her questions but burst out laughing when I saw her face; her lips were pursed into a pout and she had the biggest puppy dog eyes ever. She swiped at my arm at my reaction, eliciting a few apologies from me in between giggles.
“OK, OK, I give in, I’ll tell you, just stop with that face, it’s in no way cute.” She took another swipe at my arm but stopped herself, probably worried I wouldn’t tell her if she did.
Chloe sat back against the chair, a big smile on her face as I began telling her about Kai, choosing my words very carefully.
“OK so his name is Kai and he’s nineteen. I ditched you guys yesterday because I didn’t want to answer the questions as I didn’t know what was going on between Kai and me; but last night confirmed we were going out. And before you ask, no I wasn’t with him when I ditched you, he lives in Maveria.” Ian happened to pick that precise moment to get on the bus and walk past me, glaring at me as he did so. What do I care, he cheated on me, we broke up so I’m free to date whoever I want. I thought as he did so.
“So how did you meet him if he’s from Maveria?”
Mentally kicking myself for the slip I tried to think of an answer but couldn’t come up with a suitable lie.
“Please don’t judge me because of this, or tell anyone okay Chlo?”
She nodded in response, clearly only interested in my answer.
“It was on one of those games Nat was on. When you told me about it, I thought I would try them out. You know, harmless flirting to help me get over Ian but something about this guy was different.” I don’t know why I felt the need to justify my choices to Chloe but when I saw her eyes popping out of her head and her mouth hanging open I just continued to talk.
“Rea! Are you crazy? He could be anyone, and lying about anything,” she said, using her disapproving tone.
“I just needed a distraction OK? It’s nothing major, not like I’m driving off to Maveria or anything, we’re just talking.” I sighed heavily, knowing I should have kept my mouth shut.
“OK
fine. So what’s he like?” Chloe kept talking as we got off the bus and moved towards the main building.
“I’ll talk to you at lunch okay? There’s some stuff I need to do in photography before first period.” I lied, really I just needed some time to think of the answers to her questions. It was then that I realised that Kai knew a lot about me but I didn’t know much about him so I made the decision that that was going to change tonight.
My mental dilemma was interrupted momentarily when I reached my history class and replaced with a new one. As I made my way to my seat, weaving through the tables I finally sat down, all the while Ian’s eyes were following me. As I took my notes out he continued to stare, and I tried to calm myself, not wanting him to know that sitting near him was making me want to flee the room. I had missed my history lessons due to my sick day so sitting next to Ian had slipped my mind. Well at least up until that point anyway.
“So who’s this Kai guy I heard you talking about on the bus?”
His question stunned me and I stopped what I was doing, my arm hovering mid-air with my pad as I turned to glare at him.
“None of your business Ian,” I said, slightly annoyed by his assumption that he had the right to know what was going on in my life.
“Wow I didn’t think you were that type of girl Rea, bit quick for you to move on isn’t it?” He smirked, knowing he was getting to me.
“Like I said before Ian, it is none of your business,” I hissed, as Mr Baits had started to talk about something at the front of the room.
“Fine, whatever, don’t tell me.” He shrugged nonchalantly as if he didn’t care what I was saying. “Just make sure I don’t see him around okay? Because I doubt it will end well for him, if you get what I’m saying.” His gaze had turned cold and I was instantly enraged by the fact he still thought he had any control or claim over me.
“What the hell Ian? And as if you can talk about moving on quick. At least I waited until we had broken up, unlike you. And why should me moving on bother you anyway, you have Alesha, so let me get on with my life,” I whispered furiously, not wanting to draw attention to our fight as it would only start more gossip.
He just shrugged in response, his eyes focused on the front of the class where Mr Baits had started to write something on the board, before saying. “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”
That history lesson couldn’t have ended soon enough. Ian and I had spent the rest of the lesson in an infuriated silence, and I couldn’t have left the room quicker if I had tried. Before Mr Baits had even finished his sentence, dismissing us, I was already out of my seat and hurrying towards the door. I had a free period next with all of my friends so I headed to our usual spot in the cafeteria to reluctantly to meet up with them.
Sitting down besides them I knew Chloe had already filled them in on our conversation this morning.
“So...spill. What’s this Kai guy like?” Chloe was almost bouncing out of her seat as she asked the question and the others all perked up a bit too at the sound of new, interesting gossip that didn’t involve Ian.
“I’m really not in the mood guys, I just had to spend an hour sat next to Ian in history and he was being really weird, saying stuff like he better not see me with Kai. I don’t know why he’s bothering though, he moved on so why can’t I?”
Everyone at the table looked slightly uneasy, like they were trying to cover something up.
“Okay, what are you hiding?” I stared at them until Chloe swallowed her mouthful of food, before coughing guiltily.
“You haven’t heard?”
My blank stare must have answered the question for her as she continued speaking.
“Alesha dumped him yesterday night, something to do with always whining about you or something along those lines. Anyway when she saw him pull you into that class the other day she kinda freaked. I must have forgotten to mention it to you.”
Rendered speechless, I toyed with my bottle, spinning it around the table, as I tried to process what Chloe had just said and find a suitable reply.
“Don’t waste your time with him Rea, he cheated remember and I hate to say this but he’s probably only talking to you because he thinks you will be easy to win back.”
“How could you forget to tell me something like this Chlo? And don’t worry I don’t want that asshole back,” I said, slightly annoyed.
“Sorry, it must have slipped my mind. It’s not important anyway, what is important though is, what’s Kai like?”
Sighing I gave in, admitting to myself that there was no way out of the situation.
They hung on my every word as I described what Kai and I spoke about, well some of it anyway, and told them what his personality was like and how he made me laugh. Carefully I tried to avoid the topic of what he looked like and I think I got away with it by giving them just enough detail about other aspects to satisfy their curiosity.
After that the rest of the day seemed to go by quite quickly and without too much hassle. I went to my other lessons, which were free of Ian and Alesha luckily and then just as I thought I was free I remembered I had been selected to play in the netball match that day. Groaning inwardly I headed towards the changing room where everyone else was already getting dressed, including Chloe.
“I got you goal attack and I’m playing centre,” she said thrusting the pale, blue bib with GA written on it towards me.
“Thanks,” I replied, smiling at being able to play in my favourite position. Once everyone was ready we moved up to the courts where Chloe led us through a series of drills and warm up routines as we waited for the other team to turn up.
It didn’t take long for their bus to arrive and before we knew it, we were stood on the edge of our third waiting for the whistle to signal the start of the game. I looked to my left just before the whistle was blown and froze as I saw Ian leaning against the fence. His hands were in his jean pockets and he looked really relaxed just like he did every match I played when we were together. All of a sudden the whistle was signalling me to run towards Chloe, to catch the ball and within seconds Ian was forgotten, my mind totally focused on the game I was playing.
The match was one of the hardest I had ever played and after an hour the final whistle went leaving the score at twenty-one to nineteen to us.
As we all shook hands, congratulating each other Chloe came up and hugged me.
“Can you believe Ian’s nerve? He’s here like your still his girlfriend,” she whispered as she held onto me.
“Oh, I had forgotten he was here,” I said, surprised something like that had slipped my mind. “Just forget him yeah? I don’t want to see him, that match has put me in a good mood.” I led Chloe towards the other side of the court, while a few other team members came up to me, praising me on the goals I scored.
I was elated when I got home and to make it better the weather seemed to have brightened up. Entering my room I grabbed my iPod and decided to lie in the sun for a bit, checking it as I made my way downstairs and smiling as I saw the message Kai had left. Even though he was using his real name and knew mine, I wanted to remain as Darcie, it made me more confident for some unknown reason.
Kai: Sorry I went so suddenly yesterday, I had to go to work. Here’s the pic you wanted.
I fumbled with my iPod, suddenly nervous about opening the attachment. The image loaded slowly on my screen and I gasped as I saw the picture, shocked by how good looking he was. In front of me was a black haired guy with tanned skin and deep brown eyes. His shoulders were strong and it was evident from his fitted black shirt that he had an incredibly well built body and worked out a lot. I didn’t know whether to believe it was him or not.
Darcie<3: I was at a netball match. Is that really you?
If it was I considered myself extremely lucky.
Kai: Yeah of course, if you don’t believe me accept the webcam link and you’ll see me :)
Making sure it wouldn’t bring up my image as well I clicked on the link and up came the same face tha
t had been in the picture, only this shot was further away and I could clearly see the well defined abs through his shirt as he waved. Closing the camera so I could type again I couldn’t control the biggest grin that formed on my face; not believing my luck.
Before I could comment on his looks or say anything, another message popped up on my screen.
Kai: So can I see you now?
I didn’t know what to say, suddenly self conscious. I had never thought I was exactly pretty, I wasn’t bad but I wasn’t super hot like Chloe who could have any guy she wanted, but I couldn’t find a way out of it. Looking through the picture on my photo album I chose the one I thought I looked best in and sent it him, nervous of the reaction I was going to get.
Kai: Wow you’re hot ;) I definitely chose right on that game.
Laughing I made no comment as I didn’t believe what he was saying. Instead I changed the topic to a completely different subject, remembering something he had said previously.
Darcie<3: What’s your job then?
Kai: Nothing interesting really, the usual stuff people our ages do. What happened in the match you played? Did your team win?
I noticed how he had casually avoided answering my question but seeing as I had done that on more than one occasion I couldn’t exactly say anything, even if it did feel wrong.
Darcie<3: Yep 21-19 :D I scored 18 of them, it was a hard match though and the spectators weren’t great either...
I wasn’t boasting or anything like that just informing Kai and I hadn’t had a chance to tell him about my ex, Ian yet but then seemed about as good as any.
Kai: Wow! Congrats. What was up with the spectators though?
Darcie<3: Well there was only one of them and he was my ex...
I didn’t know how he would react to hearing about my ex but I wasn’t really thinking about it, if he wanted to listen to me he was probably the only person I could talk to who wouldn’t gossip about it.
Kai: Oh, bad break up or something?
I took that as a sign he didn’t mind talking about it so continued.
