Miffed

Chapter 12

I spent that weekend mostly recovering and eating. I also took time to catch up with my dad and new mum over their honeymoon. It had been cut short by a day, seemed a booking they had made never eventuated and since they were vastly disgruntled by that they decided to simply return a day earlier, which was fine by me. I was happy to see my room again. I leaped onto my bed and burrowed beneath all my very many pillows and blanket and before I knew it was lost in the most blissfull sleep I've had for what seemed like weeks.

But then all good things come to an end and Monday swung by all too fast, I decided to walk to school, out of habbit I stopped by at Stef's along  my way, Craig lived not that far off but I wasn't about to swing by and ask him if wanted to walk to school with me. Stef was safer, she at least knew boundaries exist, Craig was nothing if not oblivious. I could not abide too much scrutinity, as it were Jim called me on my phone the night before to get that explanation I knew he'd be seeking. Still he had been good enough not to tell on me to dad.

Anyhow, I simply told Jim the truth, "Kay was a childhood friend, that deserted me right when the going got tough, then out of no where he just waltz back in and tries to claim we were buddies all the while. But I was not having that. So he kidnapped me and took me to the middle of teh Arizona desert where four of his pals joined us and then they took me down to this underground basement that had been the size of a hangar and proceeded to ask me bizzare question to which I refused to answer. I was kept in interrogation for four hours before they got the sense to send me home. Along the way I had a nervous breakdown and Kay decided to take advantage of it. After I shoved him off he dropped me home."

Jim's response to that was even more bizzare, "If you want to press charges, just let me know."

"Don't worry, I will," was the only reasonable reply I could manage, for I had not expected him to believe a word I said, I was having a hard time believing it myself.

Stef swung the door open even as I was about to hammer on it, I didn't do door bells. She leaped forward to embrace me almost toppling me over in the process.

"My God! You are all right. I was so worried! Pepin ran to the Mr Bolton's office right after that ape Kay stole you away. He hammered on the door and there came Bolton bolting out out of there but before Pepin could even get a word in a swarm of those jerky quarterbacks sort of shoved him out of the way and escorted Bolton back into his office. We tried to go for several of teh teachers but there was alwaysa  fucking Kay groupie about. In the end, Janet called in her brother who was a cop and he swung by and after listening to the lot of us he questioned the teachers. Kay'ss friends had miraculously disappeared by then. The sum of bitches!"

I could see that Steff was about to launch into another torrent of explanations on that day but I had had enough of it besides we were running late for school. So without a word, I merely did an about turn and started to walk off there without her.

"Hey, wait up!" she yelled at me then after seeing I was not about to stop, she plunged back into the dark hole doorway back into her house shouting to her mum all the while, "Mum, Mum? Mum! I'm off," she grabbed her bag then was out the door in a blink slamming it shut behind her. Her long loping strides had her by myside in a jiffy.

"So aren't you going to tell me what happened, all I heard from you was that lousy text, that Craig said he'd got too saying you were fine. We were worried sick and you didn't answer any of our calls. Why did you do that? To me, your best friend. You know I care don't you," she paused for a breather and because we were now in the vicinity of school, her tone dropped to a whisper before she continued her inquisition, "What happened, what did Kay do, where did he take you? Common Ariane, you've got to tell me."

I stopped to look her in the eye. I saw that she meant what she said, she did in fact worry. I felt bad about that but I did not exactly want to share what happened, at least not yet. So I said, "Look come to my place after school and we can talk then."

She looked a little worried at my flat reply so I put in some effort and managed to dredge up some semblance of a smile. At that she beamed back momentarily blinding me, at least that was the reason I later gave for what happened next. A step or two forward and I slammed right into a hard wall that sent me toppling back and onto my ass. Bewildered over what it was I had bumped into, I looked up to see a tall stranger standing before me dressed in what must be designer jeans and white T. He was so chisled perfect that even Steff, who was known for her choicy selection of what was teh epitome of hot in a dude. This guy was an inferno all by himself. A freaking flame fatale. Curse Kay for waking up this dormant appreaciation for the opposite sex for I was as speechless as Steff as I gazed up at him. Worse still, I was still in the middle of the street and on my ass.