Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater

Chapter 17

"Kaitlyn, just stop running! Just hand over the camera!" Jared yelled.

I ignored him and stumbled out of the school and onto the steps, to be greeted by the chilling February air. Without looking to see if a car was coming, (My parents would not be proud, they've spent like, fifteen years of my life explaining the importance of looking both ways when crossing the street. They didn't even let me cross a parking lot by myself until I was thirteen.) I ran straight across the street.

I dodged the cars that came towards me and ignored the furious honks that the irritated drivers let loose. I ran along for about two blocks until I caught sight of the park, When I did, I quickly dashed into it. My feet pounded against the damp grass and I found it even harder to move along. These heels have brought nothing but trouble for me.

I maneuvered onto a dirt-filled path, thinking that it'd be easier to run, but it was another reckless mistake. The path was full of fallen branches and in my hurried state, I didn't notice them until I tripped over a couple. As soon as my foot connected with the branches, I lost my balance and flew face forward into the dirt.

"Uhhh," I groaned. Somehow, I managed to inhale dirt, so I began to have a coughing fit. I managed to pick myself up to get away from the puffs of dirt, but then as I was stepping onto the grass, I fell forward again. This time the camera flew out of my hands and landed a couple of feet away from me. "No!" I shouted at it.

I dragged myself forward and when I was just inches away from the camera, a pair of feet planted themselves in front of me. I didn't need to look up to see who it was.

Jared.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here?" Jared said.

"Oh, Jared, hey," I replied brightly. " How's it going?"

Jared shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at me with a menacing smile. "Oh, just perfect, Kaitlyn. You know, I just absolutely love chasing you around all day."

"Oh, well, you know Jare, can I call you that?" I asked, "Anyways, Jare, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself. Honestly, it just brightens my day to know that you're happy."

"Mmm, yeah. That's nice, Kait." He bent down and grabbed the camera. "Huh? That's weird, I wonder what this camera is doing out here in the middle of the park."

"Oh, that camera? Yeah, well, it's mine. So, if I can have it back now, that'd be great."

"Oh no, I don't think it's yours. I'm pretty sure that this belongs to someone else. Oh wait, I know! Maybe it belongs to the yearbook staff."

"Well, I borrowed it, okay?" I explained. "And I'll be giving it back to the yearbook staff after I show some pictures to..." I trailed off.

"To?" Jared asked.

"To...my...mom, I need to show some pictures to my mother." I lied horribly.

"Uh huh, because your mom needs to see whatever pictures that are on here right now, tonight?"

"Yes, because uh, I promised to take pictures of the school gym, because she wanted to see what it looked like right away, tonight."

"Look, Kaitlyn," Jared said harshly. "I'm not stupid. You and I both know what the pictures on this camera are and who they really are going to be shown to."

He punches a couple of buttons on the camera and stops when he reaches an image. He holds out the camera towards me, showing me the screen. It was a picture of Jared and Sandra kissing.

"Because I'm so sure that you were going to show this to your mom."

I picked myself up into a sitting position, brushing or more like trying to brush away the grass from my dirt stained dress and I look ed Jared straight in the eyes. "Well, she'd find some of those pictures interesting." I let out a somewhat deranged laugh. "In fact, I can almost here what she'd say, oh definitely, she'd say, "what? I thought Jared was dating Leah, why is he lip-locking with some other girl?" and you know what I'd tell her?"