Page 36 of The Wrong Side of Kai
“I’m sorry, Nessie. I gotta go,” Kai blurts, moving my hands away from him and scrambling to gather his stuff. He grabs his phone from the dashboard and reaches for his hoodie on the floor.
“What?” I squeak in disbelief as I watch him slide out of the car. Did I do something wrong?
Kai turns, one hand on the edge of the door. His expression looks stunned, almost panicked. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, his breath visible in the air, carrying his words. He shuts the door and rushes into his house, never looking back.
I’m paralyzed with humiliation as I sit alone outside his home.He didn’t want tokiss me, I realize.Oh, God, why did I dothat?Kai never said he liked me back. He was joking around with me, because that’s just how Kai is, and there I was, throwing myself at him like some crazed maniac.
I groan so loud I’m convinced the car rumbles and I slam my head down against the steering wheel, absolutely mortified. If the ground opened up and swallowed me whole right now, I’d send it a thank you card.
Kai wasin lovewith a girl. He’s the type of guy who does fall in love, the type of guy who kisses girls because he cares about them. I’m not the type of girl guys like Kai go for, and there’s no doubting the fact that heknowsthe kind of girl I am, because he’ll have heard what everyone is saying about me. And I kiss people because it’s fun, because I want to, but I wish I could tell Kai that isn’t what I was doing with him just now. I don’t like him in the way ofI like you because you’re hot andfun to hook up with.I like him more in the way ofI like you because you’re gorgeous, and funny, and your presence seems to fill my lungswith the fresh air I so desperately need.
I lift my head from the steering wheel, my whole body still flaming hot with embarrassment, and my eyes widen at the sight in front of me. Flurries of snowflakes are landing on my windshield. I glance all around, looking out every window of the car, and now excitement fills me. It’s snowing! Finally!
I remain parked outside Kai’s house, watching the weather in true fascination, wrapped up cozy inside the car with my music playing on low. Snow is my favorite thing in the world. It starts off light, wisps of snow blowing in the air, then gradually grows heavier until I’m trapped in the middle of a snowstorm. My wipers aren’t fast enough to keep the windshield clear. The streets around me turn white, beautiful and crisp.
I gaze helplessly at Kai’s house, its roof and windowpanes dusted with snow, and think of how perfect it would be if Kai was still sat here with me. I imagine us watching the snow fall together, exchanging kisses every once in a while. But when I glance at my empty passenger seat, my heart sinks. Kai doesn’twantto kiss me.
I turn the music up to blast my thoughts away, pull on my seatbelt and drive away from Kai’s house, leaving behind fresh tracks in the snow.
14
“It wasawful,” I whine, throwing my head back to the dull sky, a groan building in my throat. “Not the kiss. The kiss was amazing,” I say quickly. “But the circumstances. . . Oh God, I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life!”
Chyna raises a questioning eyebrow at me. “Didn’t your sex tape just get leaked on Monday?”
“You’re not allowed to make jokes about it until after Christmas,” I warn, jabbing a threatening finger at her.
It’s first thing on Thursday morning and we’re trudging through the snow from the student parking lot toward the school entrance, wrapped up in warm coats. Even wearing boots feels weird, like suddenly we switched from fall to winter in the blink of an eye. It snowed heavily all night, covering the entire region of Columbus in a gorgeous white blanket for us to wake up to. Ohio weather doesn’t disappoint. Ilivefor this. I’m decked out in my new navy cotton hat with matching scarf and gloves that I bought months ago and have been dying to wear.
“I’m sorry,” Chyna apologizes. She shoves her bare hands into her pockets. “So, he really just got out of the car and left?”
“Chyna, you should have seen his face,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut as I recall that awful moment last night when Kai was beyond desperate to leave. It was so clear he hadn’t wanted to kiss me, like he regretted even letting it happen in the first place. “He couldn’t have left quicker if he’d tried. Just grabbed his stuff and pretty muchranaway.”
Chyna thinks for a minute as we head through the school entrance and into the warm hallways. “Maybe it’s not you,” she says inquisitively, and we exchange a look. “Maybe he’s still in love with that ex-girlfriend of his.”
Her words take me by surprise, because I’d totally forgotten all about Sierra Jennings. I’m silent as Chyna and I walk down the hallway together. Kai did say he was no longer in love with Sierra, and that he doesn’t want to be with a girl like her anyway, but hecouldbe denying how he really feels. It’s not like it was his choice to break up – by the sound of things, it seems Kai would have happily stayed in that relationship with Sierra if she hadn’t cheated. Besides. . . why would Kai be going to such lengths in the first place to ruin Harrison’s life if hedidn’tcare about Sierra anymore?
“Crap,” I whisper under my breath, my head spinning. I. Am. An. Idiot.
We stop by Chyna’s locker – there’s never been any graffiti on hers, because Chyna doesn’t make mistakes like I do – and blow one another a kiss before separating. We’ll meet up again at lunch as always. It sucks that this semester we don’t share a single class together.
I head further down the hallway to my own locker – great, someone’s drawn the outline of a naked woman on the door – but before I get the chance to enter my combination, someone’s hands are on my shoulders. Firm and with a tight grasp, their thumbs digging into my shoulder blades.
“Vanessa,” a familiar voice hisses in my ear, breath hot against my cheek. Harrison.
I steal a glance over my shoulder. Harrison’s body is pressed close against mine, holding me tightly, and Noah and Anthony hang back behind him. Noah fires me a wicked smirk.
“Get off me,” I order with as firm a tone as I can muster. I try to elbow Harrison away, but he doesn’t budge.
Suddenly, he squeezes my shoulders even harder and pulls at me, yanking me away from my locker. We’re in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by the final stragglers who have yet to make it to class, but no one is paying attention the one time I need them to. Noah lurches forward and wraps a hand around my wrist. Alarm bells are ringing in my ears and my chest tightens with an awful feeling of doom.
“We just want to talk,” Noah says, but the laugh that escapes his mouth begs to differ. It’s menacing and sadistic, borderline evil.
“Get the hell off me!” I demand, this time louder. I try to shake Noah’s hand off my wrist, keep trying to elbow Harrison in the chest, but they won’t let go. They’re grabbing me too tightly, pulling and pushing me down the hallway. I feel powerless, and my mind’s racing with terrified thoughts. Where are they taking me?
Anthony opens the door to the janitor’s closet, and I’m dragged inside. The three of them join me, closing the door behind us and flicking on the dim light. I’m finally released from their grasp, but the lack of space in here feels suffocating. I glance around, surrounded by shelves and mop buckets, and decide that, if necessary, Iwillbear arms and use a mop.
“Did you think it was funny?” Harrison asks, folding his arms across his chest as he looks me up and down. His face turns ugly when he glowers like that. “Sending those weirdos to Bob Evans last night? I know it was you. Were you watching?”
