by Sara Schoen
Even when I walked alone I’d hear whispers as I walked by, everyone asking who the new girl was. Then their friend would lean over and tell them who I was. There would always be a confused and very shocked “Lauren Scott?” soon to follow.
It was shocking how differently people treated you if they thought you were dating someone popular. I started to think it was all Kayden’s doing that people were staring at me now, but the longer I thought about it I think what got to them the most was my hair color. I would see everyone staring at it, or maybe it was the fake lip piercing I had clipped onto my bottom lip. I wasn’t sure how to take all the attention, but I felt more self-conscious. Normally, people looked over me, ran into me or got annoyed with me as if I was a freshman who was in their way.
Although, while people asked about why I changed, they never asked if I changed for Kayden. Not that I had, but I thought it was strange that no one asked since I changed and Kayden started dating me around the same time. I highly believed that no girl should have to change for a guy, but to most people if they were seeing me for the first time, would assume I changed so I could date Kayden. So why hadn’t anyone asked? It just seemed odd to me.
Maybe it was my curiosity when I saw people I didn’t think would end up together start dating. I always wanted to know what happened that made them consider dating, and why it suddenly happened. Though no one had asked me things like that, not even Parker, but she knew what was going on. I just thought if they weren’t going to ask me, they would immediately turn to her to get the information. She hadn’t texted me to say someone was bombarding her with questions about our relationship, which was a relief and a let-down.
Everyone in school was talking to me, and very pleasant to be around, except for a few stray individuals who weren’t pleased to see my new relationship with Kayden…Jamie and Alexis to name a few. But even they didn’t say anything to me. If I had to guess they were saving their bad mouthing for when they had Kayden alone. So far he brushed it all off, and walked away before he lost his cool. He was trying to refrain from exploding on someone else as he had done to Mac. He felt bad for telling off his friend, but he didn’t feel bad for doing it. It had saved him a lot of trouble when it came to explaining the new relationship, and no one bothered him about us again.
I walked through the hallways, passing a few people who had suddenly become fast friends with me. I was hesitant to accept them because not even a month ago they were making my life a living hell alongside Kayden. I guess because Kayden had stopped, and would defend me now, everyone else stopped and welcomed me back. I received numerous compliments and requests to have lunch with people I had never seen before.
“Hey Lauren,” Emily Davis said with a smile. She had been one of the ones who had tormented me since school started again in September. She was one of the many reasons I was praying the school year went by quickly. I was over the drama, the bullying, and even coming to school just to be ridiculed. Now because I was Kayden’s girlfriend she wanted to make amends. She didn’t want me to remember the wrongs she had done, and only remember the good. Too bad for her there was too many wrongs to forget.
“Hello Emily,” I said politely. I was just going to walk on by, and continue toward my locker so I could meet with Parker, but she held her hand up to ask me to stop. Well, she didn’t ask, she kind of demanded it.
“I can’t believe you and Kayden are dating now. I never would have guessed it,” she said with a smile, but I could read between the lines. She wanted to know the story behind it. She wanted to know why Kayden had suddenly decided to date me. She was exactly how I would be, but I wasn’t going to tell her any details.
It was cheap payback, but it was payback to me nonetheless.
“I wouldn’t have either,” I said simply. “I guess life just has a way of making it work out.” There was a pause between us, a silence fell over us. I could see in her eyes she wanted more details, but I wasn’t going to give them up. Kayden and I had created a story in case people asked us why and how we got together, but Emily wasn’t worth the time nor the breath it would take to explain it, so instead I said, “I think he liked the blue hair. He said it was hot when he saw it. I think that sealed the deal because honestly the whole teasing and picking on me thing seemed like middle school. He needed to suck it up and just ask, which finally he did.” I smiled and waved goodbye, not wanting to give her anything else.
Her face dropped when I turned away, upset I hadn’t given her what she wanted. She didn’t deserve it in my opinion, but when Kayden and I started to tell people she’d learn about it. I just wouldn’t give her the credit of getting the information first. I was still a little jaded from her previous treatment, and I didn’t care if she knew it. She should have treated me how she wanted to be treated, but then again she had no way of knowing I’d move past her on the popularity scale. So why would she have wasted her time on me?
I continued toward my locker, knowing Parker she was impatiently waiting for me and would be waiting to ask what had taken me so long. Typically she would just wait around for me, using me as an excuse to be late to class rather than just going. I knew she skipped most of the time anyway, especially her art class that she considered a waste of her time. If I could only go to one class, it would be art. While there was work, there wasn’t a lot and it was easy if you tried. I enjoyed classes like that just for the sole purpose to relax and reduce my stress levels from other classes.
Taking a deep breath to prepare myself for the rest of the school year, I rounded the corner to see Parker waiting at my locker as usual, but also noticed Kayden standing with her. He was leaning against the lockers, specifically my locker, while Parker was standing off to the side slightly so she could talk to him. Kayden was busy gesturing with his hands while he talked, and while he accidentally hit Parker a few times, whatever he said had her smiling wildly.
I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about, or who. I hoped he was telling her about us, and what we had been through lately. I hadn’t seen her to tell her about the kiss he gave me at the party or the moment we shared at his house. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it though, and whenever my mind drifted back to the kiss my lips would tingle as if they remembered the feeling of his lips on mine. My stomach knotted, and my heart started to palpate rapidly. I was curious where it would go from there, but I had a feeling it had started and ended in that moment.
I pushed those thoughts away as I proceeded toward my locker. It didn’t take long for Kayden to notice me, and when he did he pushed off the lockers and approached me. He instantly wrapped his arms around me in a hug, and without thinking I nuzzled into his chest and let my head rest on his chest. For a few moments I was able to hear Kayden’s heartbeat, which picked up the longer we held each other. To my dismay, he let go too soon.
“I didn’t know you could show affection other than making out with a girl in the middle of the hallway,” I teased as he placed his arm around my shoulder and led me toward Parker.
“What can I say, I want to start off the new year strong, and what better way than to make sure everyone knows I care for you,” he joked lightly, adding a smile that made my heart flutter again.
“He really does,” Parker said, handing me the books I needed for my next class. “He got the books out, and said he’d take you home.” She leaned in before whispering, “I think he’s a keeper.”
We laughed at Kayden’s expense. He had to hate that he needed to control his urges for other girls while we kept our plan going. He didn’t seem to mind right now, but in a few weeks when he had girls making passes at him I knew he would start to struggle, and I couldn’t blame him really. He wasn’t getting anything out of our relationship currently, and he had been busy with girls since middle school. Old habits really do die hard, I just hoped he didn’t slip up or the whole thing would be ruined.
I was talking to Kayden to see if he wanted to come over after school because I had something I’d always wanted
to try, but I was distracted while he answered. We passed by Jamie and Alexis with a few other people from the party. Most of them I had seen Kayden with before, which explained why they all looked furious. Kayden had ditched them to be with me, and once again he was with me instead of them, even when his friends passed by to invite him to go outside for smoking, judging from the gestures of one guy pressing two fingers to his lips and then pretending to blow out smoke.
“I think I’m going to stay with Lauren. I have to make sure she gets to class on time, but thanks,” was all he said before pushing us back on track.
I noticed his friend’s glare as we walked away, once again with Kayden’s arm around my shoulder. I didn’t care that they were mad. Instead I felt pride in knowing that he was staying with me. I had silently hoped he wouldn’t walk off with them, and he had answered my prayers by letting them down. I was glad to know he was here for me even when I didn’t need his support at the time, at least until our deal is over. Then it was a question of what would happen, if anything.
Chapter 21
Double Trouble
I took my usual seat at the outcasts’ table for lunch. Normally the table, which sat six, would seat four. Parker would join me and occasionally two other friends who didn’t fit in would sit on the other end of the table, leaving the two middle seats unoccupied every day. Though as I sat down at the empty table, I noticed we wouldn’t be eating alone today. I caught sight of Kayden, who was glancing around as if he was looking for someone. The second his gaze found me a smile curved onto his lips. He pointed at a vacant table, and shrugged his shoulders to ask if I wanted to sit with him. I was glad he wanted to eat away from his friends because I didn’t want to sit with them, I still wasn’t ready to face them again after the party. I also didn’t want to leave Parker to eat by herself, so I waved him over to join me instead. As Kayden made his way over to join me, another guy immediately jumped up from the table Kayden’s friends were sitting at and jogged over to be with him instead.
The phrase ‘friends no matter what’ came to mind as they met up and exchanged a quick conversation. I had been feeling Kayden was avoiding his friends for another reason than the recent event. Parker and I rarely had arguments and because no one else was ever really around us we didn’t have other types of drama. I saw Kayden become angry and send his friend away. I was relieved he wasn’t bringing it to our lunch table, but it also solidified for me that there was something else going on. I was going to ask, but became distracted by a new voice.
“You have certainly have changed,” I heard Parker say as she slid in next to me at the lunch table. Her long brown hair provided a curtain over her face while she moved her chair into the table. She looked down at her food instead of at Kayden, who signed that he was going to get food and then meet us.
I nodded in response and turned back to my friend. It was clear Parker was uncomfortable with the idea of Kayden sitting with us, though I couldn’t determine why because they seemed to have been having a great time when I saw them this morning at my locker. I knew it could have been a one-time thing because he treated her poorly too through our high school experience. It was going to take Parker a long time to get used to Kayden, but since the party on New Year’s she was making progress. After I had called her to fill her in, she had thanked him repeatedly for taking care of me, she even gave him a hug when they met over break. Needless to say the gesture surprised both of them until they pushed away from each other. It didn’t last long though, she soon started to spout about what she would do if Mac ever tried to touch me again. Kayden had gone rigid, as if angered by her words
But as I looked at my best friend, I saw a blush on her cheeks and began to think that it wasn’t Kayden that was causing her discomfort. She was worried about what Ryan had said about her after we left them. She had met him over winter break, he was a twenty-one-year-old college student and co-owner of the tattoo parlor we’d gone to. She had developed a small crush on Ryan, even though she hadn’t been happy about me getting a tattoo. Once she knew Ryan gave it to me her tune changed. She would rave over his artwork and talk to him about it all the time. He took the compliments, but I think it’s because he was oblivious to her flirting.
Poor girl.
“What was your first clue, Parker? The blue hair or the fact that Kayden is going to be sitting with us today?” I asked curiously, knowing exactly what was going to come out of her mouth.
Parker had been telling me how happy I was lately. She told me she noticed a small change when we first met over break to tell her about the shopping trip Kayden and I took. It continued to become a commonplace topic in our conversations because before I wouldn’t have had the courage to walk out on my father after a fight, get in a car with a rookie race driver, or get a tattoo, but now it was blatantly apparent to her that this change was for the best. It was true, I was starting to enjoy myself more. I was happier, and I could only explain it because I felt free.
“Well, the hair was a dead giveaway, but I meant more internally. You aren’t the same quiet girl I grew to love,” she said, giving me puppy dog eyes to make me feel bad, as if I wasn’t the same girl she made friends with in our early years.
“Parker, you were forced to hang out with me because our moms thought it would be cute to arrange play dates for us. I was your science partner for two years in a row at the start of high school. So even if our moms didn’t know each other, you eventually would have been stuck with me either way. You didn’t have much of a choice in this matter,” I said with a cheeky smile.
Parker and I were occasionally interrupted as people stopped by to talk to me. Most of them just commented on my hair color, I would be surprised if it wasn’t trending on social media right now from how much everyone was talking about it. Others stopped by to meet us for the first time, wanting to make sure they were in a good light in case Kayden ever heard anything about them talking to his girlfriend. A few even threw Parker a wink or a coy smile before turning and leaving. She was thriving under the attention.
“I could have had my choice of guys if you and Kayden had gotten together earlier,” she stated as Kayden sat down across from her with a confused expression on his face. He glanced at me, trying to determine if it as safe for them to sit down in case we were having an argument.
“What’s going on?” he asked curiously as his eyebrows furrowed together, creating a crease in his forehead. His hair had moved slightly with the new expression and was now covering his blue eyes, making him look mysterious like the men on book covers.
“Nothing,” Parker stated quickly before gesturing for him to sit down. “We were just talking about all the attention she’s been getting lately. We’ve had more people stop to talk to us, well her really, in the last day than in our entire high school career.”
Kayden let out a soft laugh before he wrapped his arm around me to say something. I always pictured him saying something along the lines of ‘that’s my girl,’ but I never got to find out because Jamie and Alexis had the audacity to interrupt our conversation.
They stood behind Parker, and I just glared at them to show how unwelcome they were. They didn’t care, and brushed me off as if I was dirt on their shoulders. Their gaze turned to Kayden, and I once again realized there was more to this than the small fight at the party. I hoped they would bring light to it, I didn’t want to ask Kayden in case he didn’t want to talk about it. I’d respect his privacy in the matter, but I wanted to know why he was avoiding his friends.
“What do you want, Jamie?” I found myself basically growling at her. I hadn’t realized my voice could become dark and angry when I protected my friends, probably because before now I had never tried to protect anyone. I just wanted to stay out of trouble, not drag myself into it, but now I had to protect not only Parker, but myself too. I wanted to make sure Jamie and Alexis couldn’t mess with us anymore, and it felt great to stand up to them, to be honest.
“I was coming to talk to Kayden, not you,” she sn
eered as she sat down next to Kayden. Alexis followed her lead and took the seat next to Parker so she could talk to Kayden face to face.
She positioned her body so she was facing him and brought his attention to her by leaning over the table slightly to show off the low cut of her shirt. She was attempting to shut us out of the conversation, but Kayden was completely oblivious to their attempts. He turned to talk to me, and I rolled my eyes before glancing over at Parker, who just looked annoyed.
“Are you coming to the party Friday night? We really missed having you stay through the whole party at the New Year’s,” Alexis chimed, directing her question to Kayden alone.
Parker and I both scoffed, causing Jamie to glare at us before turning back to Kayden. He glanced down at me and quickly kissed my forehead and told me not to worry. Jamie and Alexis didn’t miss the scene playing out before them, and quickly tried to get his attention back on them. It failed though, Kayden seemed immune to their attempts, probably because he had experienced them many times before. I just laughed, which caused Kayden to smile before turning to them and nicely telling them he wasn’t interested. After all, he was taken.
“Actually, my friend Ryan and I have a double date this weekend with these two ladies,” Kayden said with a smirk as he looked at Parker and I.
“We do?” I asked curiously. I felt my eyebrows lift, as if on their own, in pure shock. I had been unaware of plans for any date, let alone a double date with Parker and Ryan. When I looked at Parker she had a blush on her cheeks, and a smile on her lips that told me she knew this was going to happen. Why wasn’t I informed?
“Yeah, we do. Don’t you remember, sweetheart?” he asked with a feigned hurt tone. “I’m hurt, Lauren, and after Ryan worked so hard to convince me to let him come with us so he could have an excuse to ask out Parker without looking like a total tool. You’ll just break his little heart,” Kayden said with a cheeky smile as he flashed a wink in Parker’s direction. He seemed to know more than I did in the Ryan and Parker department as well.
