Page 31 of The Wrong Side of Kai
For a second, I contemplate forwarding all these files over to Kai. The texts date right back to January, message after message after message. . . but then I remember that Kai has already read them. These are the messages that led him to discover the truth about Harrison and Sierra in the first place, and he wasn’t kidding when he said Harrison was persistent. At the beginning, the messages are pretty innocent. Harrison and Sierra talked about school – despite being students at different ones – and what they’d been up to that day. Harrison suggests they should hang out sometime; Sierra says no, she has a boyfriend. I skip ahead to their messages from March. Harrison has grown more full-on by then, begging Sierra to let him take her out, promising her fancy dinners and nights she wouldn’t forget. She entertains the idea, and even seems amused whenever Harrison makes digs at Kai. He continuously tells Sierra that she can do so much better, and I decide I don’t want to read the rest. I’ve already realized I don’t really like Sierra Jennings, and that I’d be pissed too if I found out someone made such an effort to steal someone away from me.
I take a deep breath and decide that it’s time to open up Harrison’s videos. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that one of the videos in this folder has caused total uproar. If Harrison had never sent out that video, we could have simply ignored one another. Nothing more than a fling that was done and dusted, rather than turning into the war that it is now.
It’s the most recent video there is.
But the truth is, I can’t even open it, let alone watch it, and I immediately delete it from my computer. I don’t want that video in my life, and that includes on my hard drive.
I search through the rest of Harrison’s collection instead. Blurred, out-of-focus videos from parties. Short clips of him and the guys at football practice. And then a video that I know could be lethal if it got into the wrong hands.
Hands such as my own. . .
A video of Harrison, Noah, Anthony and some other guys from the team. They’re sitting in the bleachers of our football field, apparently late at night and after hours because there’re no floodlights on. The image isn’t clear – Harrison’s moving his phone around too much – but there’s no mistaking what’s going on. Huddled in their circle up on the bleachers, the guys pass a burning joint around, each taking a drag. Getting stoned on school property. . . Not a smart thing to do in the first place. Butfilmingevidence of it? Harrison has gone beyond the realms of stupidity here.
Which is utterly wonderful news for me.
If Ireallywanted to ruin Harrison’s life, I could anonymously email these videos over to Couch Maverick. Harrison would be kicked off the team for sure without question, blowing up his chances of playing college football. It would be a severe, risky move to make. . . but just the power of knowing it’s an opportunity I could grab is satisfying enough. I make an extra copy of the video, just in case I ever feel forced to use it as a weapon.
Finally, I open up Harrison’s photos. There’s thousands of them. I scroll quickly through page after page of files, skimming through the images for anything that jumps out at me. There’s everything from pictures of juicy burgers to internet memes, too boring to bother looking at, but then something truly exciting catches my eye.
I enlarge the image.
And at 06:47, I let out a laugh so loud that it ruptures the morning silence.
“Oh, Harrison,” I say, shaking my head at my screen, “you’re making payback far too easy.”
12
After Chyna and I arrive at school and she heads off to grab her books from her locker, I remain outside, lingering by the bike racks. I keep my head down and try to stay under the radar, and for the most part, it works. No one bothers me today, but it’s still only day three of that video being out there in the public domain, so I would be naive to believe that everyone has forgotten about it already. The reality is that everyone is still talking about it – only behind my back this time, I bet.
I kick at the concrete for a while, pacing back and forth, until I hear the distinct sound of a bike’s wheels spinning. I look up and let out a breath of relief when I spot Kai making his way toward me.
“Good morning,” he says, squeaking to a stop. He swiftly gets off the bike and begins locking it up to the rack, eyeing me over his shoulder. We didn’t plan to meet here. In fact, I think we’re still supposed to be trying our best not to be seen together.
“Chyna got the files,” I splutter. I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet, and I can feel the weight of both mine and Harrison’s phones in the pockets of my jacket. I reach out and excitedly squeeze Kai’s elbow, unable to contain myself. I’ve been sitting on this information all morning and I’ve been dying to break the news to him. “I looked through everything as soon as I woke up, and there’s so much stuff we can use.”
Kai straightens up and glances down at my hand on his arm. I quickly let go. “Seriously? Damn, I need to give your friend more credit,” he says. “What did you find?”
“Videos of Harrison and some other guys on the team smoking pot in the bleachers. Some photos that will be useful. And I think he’s had a thing with Madison Romy.”
“The girl from the diner?”
“Yeah. That might explain why she’s so willing to help us out,” I say as the realization dawns on me. There must be a reason why no one has ever heard about the two of them hooking up. It seems like the kind of thing Maddie would brag about – getting with a guy from the football team pretty much boosts your position in the school hierarchy – so why has she kept it a secret? “Meet me at the office after school?”
Kai nods. “And don’t talk to me in class.”
I roll my eyes as he turns and walks away, but I find myself rooted to the spot, staring after him. I didn’t tell himeverythingI found – like those messages between Harrison and Sierra. It seems cruel to let him know that I’ve read them, because I’m sure those messages are really humiliating to him now. Harrison and Sierra made Kai look like a fool.
“Kai,” I say loudly. He stops walking and glances back over his shoulder. I lower my voice and can’t stop myself from asking, “Her name is Sierra Jennings, right? Your girlfriend.”
Something flashes in Kai’s eyes. Resignation, but also anger. His mouth twitches, his eyes narrow. He’s silent for a few seconds. “Ex-girlfriend,” he quietly emphasizes, then turns and keeps on walking, staring at the ground.
I watch him until he disappears inside the school building, then I count to thirty in my head before I make my way inside too just as the first period bell rings out. I head straight for my Biology class, but I do notice as I pass my locker that it has been scrubbed clean. None of the graffiti from yesterday remains and my locker looks brand new, shining a little more brightly than the rest. At least that’s something.
Surprisingly, I don’t end up rattled by nerves as I approach the science labs. I share this class with Harrison, and when I walked into this room on Monday, I slapped him. I haven’t been in here since, but I feel relaxed, in control. It’s because I have all the power now. Harrison has nothing more to use against me, whereas I haveeverythingto use against him. He’s blissfully unaware that when he and his father are enjoying their burgers at Bob Evans later tonight, a handful of so-called dates will be approaching him. He’s also unaware that I’m not doing all of this on my own, that I have a kickass accomplice. And although Harrisonisaware that I’m the most probable suspect in the theft of his phone, I doubt he has any idea that I have access to every single one of his files. Having the ball in my court feels empowering.
I walk into the lab, my head held high. Maddie Romy’s face is the first I see. She gives me a quick, small smile of acknowledgment for the first time in her life and then looks away. Evenshedoesn’t want to be associated with me in public, but I don’t take it personally. She’s doing Kai and me a favor later, anyway, so as far as I’m concerned, she’s one of the few people I can actually trust around here right now.
And then I see the face that was once so gorgeous but is now anything but – Harrison Boyd’s.
