Page 23 of Reviving Kendall

An hour later, we’re sitting in the food court with some delicious Chinese food in front of us. It’s been awhile since I splurged any kind of money of myself. There’s normally none left after bills, even if I wanted to. Having a little extra money in the bank makes me feel less guilty for buying the skirt. Ryleigh beat me to paying for lunch, but we cut a deal for me to pay next time. So, I’m feeling pretty good as I dig into the food and it almost makes me forget about my face.

She’s not going to let me off that easy, “You ready to talk about what really happened today?”

I take a sip of my drink and try to wash down the lump in my throat, “I wasn’t lying when I said I hit the corner of a locker. I wasn’t really paying attention when I was texting you, got bumped in the back and ran right into this chick’s locker.”

“Bumped?” she asks skeptically.

I shrug, “More like pushed, but I don’t think he meant for me to trip and hit the locker like that. It was my own clumsy feet.”

“What?!” she asks loudly causing people around us to turn and look. Lowering her voice, she says, “I thought we were dealing with some bitch face. It’s a guy?”

“Yeah, this guy named Derrik. He’s been a pain in my ass since the accident two years ago,” I tell her.

Giving me a sympathetic smile, she’s says, “I’m sorry about what happened. The guys were talking about a train accident and I put two and two together.”

“I know I’m supposed to say thank you or it’s ok, but it’s not. It hasn’t been ok for a really long time. Honestly, I feel like I’m waking up out of a coma right now. Everything is still kind of raw.” I’d rather not talk on that subject, so I switch it back to Derrik, “Anyways, I think Derrik has always had a thing for me, because he’d always pick on me and shit in school. Will kicked his ass one day for it and I thought I was in the clear. Then two years ago, after the accident, he started relentlessly torturing me.”

She scrunches up her face in confusion, “Something about the whole situation just doesn’t sound right to me. I mean, I can already tell that you’re an awesome person, and effing gorgeous to boot, but I just don’t understand why he would hold on to that much hatred and resentment just for you rejecting him. Have you tried asking him about it?”

I’m not used to getting compliments, so I don’t really know what to say. I choose to ignore them, “I never saw the point. He’s such a douche hole that I’d rather not even let on that he’s bothering me. If I give him the opening, I know that he’ll be so much worse.”

Ryleigh lowers her voice again, “You’re not scared of him, are you? I heard about the way you stood up to Mav and no one ever does that.”

Thinking back on that night makes me laugh, “He was being a bossy asshole. To answer your question, no, I’m not afraid of Derrik. I’ve only got a few months left in high school, then I’ll never have to see him again. Those people mean nothing to me and the last thing I want to do is give them any kind of leverage over me.”

She nods, “Makes sense I guess. But you can’t let him get away with shit like this. You better hope that we can find some phenomenal cover up for your face, because shit is going to hit the fan if the guys see this. He’ll get payback whether you want it to happen or not.”

“You promised,” I remind her.

Letting out a short laugh, she says, “Yes I did, and I’ll probably pay for it later, but they have their ways of finding out shit. No one can have secrets around them for long.”

Her familiarity brings a question to mind, “Have you ever wanted to date any of them?”

Coke spews from her mouth and she quickly cleans it up with a napkin, “Please tell me you’re kidding. I’ve known all of them since I was a little kid. I can’t even think about them that way. It would be like dating Teagan.” When she shudders, I laugh again. Her next question pulls me up short, “Do you want to date any of them?”

Isn’t that kind of what I’ve already by accident been doing? They’re all best friends and I’ve kissed one and almost kissed another. I wonder if they kept that a secret. If it ever came down to choosing one over the other, well let’s just say that I have never been great at choosing.

I shake my head at myself, but Ryleigh takes it as an answer to her question. Surprise shows on her face, “You’re not interested in any of them like that?”

Putting my face into my palms, I groan.

She giggles, “I knew it.” When I look up to her she says, “You don’t have to tell me which one or ones, but you have to promise me something.”

I nod in reply and she says, “Just don’t destroy them. They’ve got a lot riding on this year and I just don’t want to see any of them, or you, for that matter, getting hurt.”

Teagan’s kiss flashes through my mind. Shit. I may have already fucked this promise before it was even made.

Assuming

Friday comes and the school day rushes by. Fortunately, Derrik hasn’t bothered me since giving me a face full of locker the other day. Unfortunately, the Prim Wood game is tonight, and my face looks like hammered hell. The bruising looks horror movie bad and no amount of that cover up Ryleigh has is working on it.

She tosses the tiny sponge thing on her bathroom sink, “I give up, Kendall. There’s nothing I can do that’s going to hide it. Fingers crossed that they’ll leave that kid alive when they find out who did it.”

Fuck me sideways with a wooden spoon. This is so bad. “Thanks for trying,” I tell her.

She laughs, “It’ll be a dead giveaway if your face says you’re headed to a funeral.”

Sucking in her breath, she looks to the floor. It takes me a minute to figure out why she would be acting like that and when it hits, it’s not as hard I think that it would be. I reach out and one arm hug her, “It’s ok.”

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