Inside Job

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Before- January 9; 2:33pm 

I blew my breath out through my lips with a sigh, my gaze roamed the school-white walls of Mr. Price's biology class, before allowing my gaze to settle on the clock that seemed to be going in reverse. I still had a half hour until school let out and I was almost vibrating with the need to bolt. Kale had been avoiding me since the crazy incident at lunch on Tuesday and i was fully preparing myself to corner him in the parking lot. I risked another fleeting glimpse of the clock and nearly growled with frustration. It was exactly 2:38.

Mr. Price continued his lecture about animal-something-or-others and i really really, tried to listen, but my eyes somehow still floated back up at the ticking torture device on the wall above the board. I sighed. 2:39. 

Pondering Kales odd behavoir was giving me a headache. I mean, I've been best friends with him for a long time. He was my rock. When i was alone, i at least had Kale. I did sort of have a crush him, but nothing to act on. It was more curiosity than anything. He'd had a couple of girlfriends in the past,  and i been insanely jealous. I didn't want to admit it, but i liked him as more than a friend. And sometimes i thought he felt the same way.

Until, of course, we'd go to a party and i'd find him naked with a girl. It  hurt, but i still managed to push these feelings away. I didn't want to loose his friendship, Kale ment to much to me to throw away for something that may not even work out. So, we stayed platonic, until yesterday.

God, what was that anyway? He completely flipped out, and not in the normal way either. He didn't seem jealous, just... enraged. He acted like he'd caught us in the make out closet. One minute he'd been smiling and laughing at Ava with me, the next he was punching Derek, calling me a whore, and then he called me a bitch? Wtf? I was so confused. I groaned, and attempted to zone into the lecture, but it was pointless.

Honestly, Mr. Price was my favorite teacher, he kept his lectures fun and his class was really interesting. He liked to keep class lively, if not always fun, and he was just and all around descent human being. He never took sadistic pleasure in punishing kids and he was fair and kind. Everyone liked Mr. Price. But that still didn't mean i could focus on his class.

I looked toward the window when i saw a guy with a mop of pale hair and green canvas jacket dissapearing into the woods behind the school. I stilled and sat up a little straighter. It was Kale. What the hell was he doing? I shot up from my chair and grabbed my bag.

" Ms. Gregory? Just where do you think your going?" Mr. Price asked with a bemused voice.

Veering toward his desk I pulled out my phone and waved it in the air, exclaiming, "Sorry Mr. Price, family emergency."

He looked at me warily before sighing heavily, "Alright i guess, please get your homework from the website. I'll be letting the office know about this. Please Ms. Gregory, don't dissapoint me."

Guilt lodged in my gut, but i shoved it away and nodded. He gestured toward the door, and i strode out. 

The halls were deserted and i easily left through a back exit, following Kale into the forest.

It was cloudy and damp outside, that feeling in the air that warns you when it's about to rain. What was Kale doing out here anyway? It was the middle of the last hour of the day, and he was taking a strole through the woods?

I paused when i came to the trees. They were tall and looked, well, treelike, but something felt off. I dunno, maybe i was just imagining it, but they felt more hostile than usual. I'd been walking through these woods my whole life, so i was supposedly comfortable with them.