Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Seven - Piercings & Ripped Pages

The Woodward's mysterious disappearance after the cafeteria incident on Tuesday had done nothing to ease the worry in my mind, nor had it done much to stop the rumor mill from spinning out of control as the week progressed. Things had quickly jumped from a simple argument between cousins to a full-blown family feud, which somehow, I was placed right in the middle of. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when a distraction arrived that very next Monday morning in the form of hotheaded, pink haired, slightly crazy Jenna Donovan.

"Class," Mrs. Steward said as she stood facing my Monday morning English class "This is Jenna. She moved here from San Francisco just a week ago."

Everyone was silent as they stared at the girl with the short bubble gum pink hair. She was tall, thin, dressed in black, and I would've even said she was pretty if it wasn't for the scowl on her face.

Sensing the student's lack of response, Mrs. Steward resumed talking "I hope you all make her feel welcome, as she will be graduating with you this coming spring semester." She then turned to Jenna, gesturing towards the class "Go ahead and take a seat Jenna."

Not needing to be told twice, Jenna sauntered over to the back of the class where she plopped down in the seat that Caden had occupied only a week ago. Like glue, the eyes of every student in the class followed her, lingering for a moment too long before Jenna scowled "What the fuck are you looking at?"

Everyone quickly shifted in their seats, turning back to Mrs. Steward, who too was looking at Jenna in amazement. "Well then," she coughed "If you'll excuse me, I'll let Mr. Donnely resume his class." She turned to walk away "And oh, Miss Donovan." She gave Jenna a pointed look "Watch your language."

Not waiting for any sign of acknowledgement from Jenna, Mrs. Steward left the classroom, the clicking of her heels echoing down the hallway and into the still stunned classroom. Mr. Donnely coughed uncomfortably before standing up from the chair behind his desk "Yes, well... Where was I?"

The rest of the morning passed slowly, and though I was glad to have the attention taken off of me for a while, the fact that neither Caden nor Brody had returned to school was eating away at my mind. If not for the fact that they had vanished right after having a sketchy conversation about payback (which I was now convinced had been about me), then for the sake of my copy of E.E. Cummings' Complete Poems. It was my most prized possession after all.

The gnawing feeling didn't follow me around for much longer though, as my eyes fell on Caden sitting quietly at his lunch table when I entered the cafeteria early that afternoon.

I ignored the jump of my heart as my eyes further scanned the cafeteria in search of Brody. He was there, at his usual table, surrounded by his friends. I almost let out a relieved sigh, but caught myself, knowing he certainly wasn't worth it. Their sudden absence may have worried me, but not enough to be relieved at the sight of that boy's face.

Joining at the back of the lunch line, I took the five-minute wait to mentally prepare myself for the oncoming conversation with Caden. Just to get my book back. I told myself. Nothing else.

Breathe, Nina.

Caden barely glanced up from his sandwich as I slid my platter in front of him and sat down.

"Becker." He acknowledged before taking another bite out of his sandwich. His green eyes peered up at me from behind his dark lashes, and I almost forgot how to breathe.

When I didn't respond, he lifted an expectant eyebrow at me, and I quickly coughed to rid myself of the lump in my throat "Woodward."

"What brings you to my table on this lovely Monday morning?" The quirk of his lip did nothing to hide his sarcasm.