Page 50 of The Wrong Side of Kai
“You have nothing to worry about,” I reassure her, scooting closer and crossing my legs. I pull her hands away from her face and the smile I give her is sincere and genuine. “You’re the most amazing person I know. Any college would be lucky to have you. Hey, you can even add to your application that you’re skilled at phone hacking now too!”
Chyna rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
We laugh a little, but I’m quick to turn serious again. Anxiously, I play with my hands in my lap, twiddling my thumbs. Admitting to my flaws is tougher than I thought. “I’m sorry for being a shitty friend the past few days.”
“You’ve had a weird week, Vans,” Chyna says, still defending me even now. “Seriously, don’t sweat it.”
I look up from my lap. “That’s not an excuse. I’m sorry, and I hope you’re ready for the party tonight.”
“So, we’re going?” Chyna says, eyes shining with excitement. She loves parties. I know she’s prepared to miss out on tonight for my sake, but I don’t want her to have to make any more sacrifices for me. I want to go to this party with her so that she can sing too loudly to the music, bust a couple of her awful dance moves, and potentially hang out with this childhood crush of hers. It’s the least I owe her.
“Yup! We’re going.”
I need to go to this party for myself too. I can’t let Harrison think he’s filled me with so much fear that I can’t be seen in public.
It’s time to come full circle. At Maddie’s party a week ago, Harrison and I hooked up for the very last time, and seven days of hell have ensued. The video he filmed that night changed everything. This all needs to end now – no more messing with Harrison. I refuse to be terrorized by him any longer. He’s hurt me and I’ve hurt him. There’s nothing more to be done, and I know that if I don’t turn up tonight, then he’ll think he has won. The truth is, neither of us have won anything. We’ve both lost something. Mostly our dignity.
Chyna jumps up from the bed and twirls over to her closet. She begins rummaging through her clothes, pulling out different pairs of jeans and an array of cropped blouses. “I’m so unprepared. Do you wanna go to the mall? I need something to wear with these jeans,” she says, holding up a pair of ripped, black jeans. Of course I say yes.
*
We park in the lot of Polaris Mall on the edge of Westerville. We’ve driven here in Chyna’s car, because even she doesn’t want to be seen rolling around in the Green McRusty, and we stroll toward the mall’s entrance together.
Most of the snow from a few days ago has completely melted and disappeared by now. Only lumps of hardened ice remain in the gutters, but the sky above is full of thick, gray clouds that cast a shadow over the entire region of Columbus. It’s forecasted to snow again later.
“Is Kai going to the party?” Chyna asks as we head into our first store. It’s a casual, harmless question. I haven’t yet told her what happened between Kai and me last night, mostly because I’m embarrassed by it, but also because I don’t want to burden her with even more of my personal drama.
“No idea,” I say, staring straight ahead as we walk. Chyna must immediately notice the forced nonchalance in my voice, because she shoots me a look that I ignore. Honestly, IhopeKai isn’t going to the party tonight, and I can’t imagine that he would be. His only friend at Westerville North is me. And maybe Maddie, at a push. It would be seriously bold of him to turn up alone, especially knowing that Harrison and Noah are likely to be there.
Chyna stops to search through a rack of discounted tops. “Did something happen?” she asks softly, her attention focused on the clothes in front of her. I know she’s listening closely though. All I’ve done this past week is gush about how gorgeous and hilarious Kai is, and now I don’t want to talk about him at all. She already knows something has so obviously happened, but she’s gently coercing me to open up about it.
“Ooo, that’s cute!” I say, pointing to the blouse in her hand.
“Vans,” Chyna says, narrowing her eyes. She dumps the blouse back into the rack and angles her body toward me. “You can tell me.”
I lean back against the mirror and shrug. “Well, usually when the guy you like insinuates that you’re easy, it kind of ruins everything.”
Chyna’s expression mirrors mine from last night when Kai said the hurtful things that he did. First shock, then disbelief. She parts her lips, her jaw hanging wide. “No way.”
I try to ignore the pain in my chest and play it off, to act disinterested. If I think about last night, I’ll get upset again. It’s easier to just rummage through the clothes rack, pretending to look for something, even though I’m staring blankly into the distance. “Yeah. The Kai thing is over.”
And the fact that it’s over before it even began is the worst feeling in the world. I’ll never know what could have happened, if Kai really could have been the one to make me feel different about things.
Chyna knows not to linger on the topic. She returns to searching through the racks, asking my opinion on different items that she holds up, and by the time we get to our fourth store of the day, she finally finds a top she likes to go with her jeans back at home. Now it’s time to stop for smoothies.
We’re standing at the counter, watching the blenders while our drinks are made, when Chyna suddenly stiffens beside me. She grabs my arm and holds me still.
“Don’t turn around,” she says. She’s staring at something over my shoulder, her eyes wide, and I do the exact opposite of what she tells me.
I crane my neck to look behind me and at first, I don’t know what it is that I’m not supposed to be looking at. The food court is behind us, rammed with people and the babble of voices and screeching of trays. I scour the tables until my searching gaze lands on Kai.
Now my body goes rigid too. My limbs turn to blocks of ice like those outside.
Kai isn’t alone. He’s with a girl, and I recognize her immediately. It’s the same girl who approached me in the diner on Tuesday, the one with the pretty makeup and blond hair, the one who asked if Kai and I were dating. It’s Sierra Jennings. It’sher.
“I told you not to turn around!” Chyna wails.
“Sierra,” I mumble, but my throat has gone dry. I can’t tear my eyes away from Kai and her. “That’s the ex.”
