The Battle of the Bands ✓

The Battle of the Bands | 14

After my shopping spree with Trevor and Maxwell, I'd almost completely forgotten about Charlie standing me up.

That is, until I got a text from him, saying that he was sorry for ignoring me but 'something came up'. I figured that was just his way of saying that he didn't feel like hanging out.

Anyway, I made it back to Asheville at around seven, the thoughts of the day still fresh on my mind. I was incredibly curious as to what Maxwell and Trevor had been talking about, but I figured that if I questioned them about it that they'd either lie or deny the conversation entirely, neither of which were responses that I wanted to hear.

I tried not to think about it too much as I pulled into the driveway, stepping out of my car and heading inside the house. I let myself in and was instantly engulfed by the smell of pot roast, a grin forming on my face.

"Damn, it smells good in here," I stated, walking into the kitchen, where my mom was preparing bowls of food.

"Oh, Kylie, you're just in time for dinner. Lawrence, this is my daughter, Kylie. Kylie, this is Lawrence, he and I work together."

I smiled politely at the man sitting at the table, who seemed a bit awkward in my presence.

"Well, I'll eat in my room and leave you guys to it," I said, waggling my eyebrows at my mother as she handed me a bowl. She blushed and smiled sheepishly, reminding me to do my homework before heading to bed.

I let out an annoyed sigh as I remembered that I'd left my bag in my car. I set my bowl down on the counter and fished my keys out of my pocket, heading back outside and quickly grabbing my backpack. Once I had my bag, I grabbed my bowl and went back up to my room to get a start on my homework.

After working on my homework for a long hour and a half, I finally had all of my assignments finished. It was growing late and I decided to call it quits for a night, quickly taking my bowl downstairs and setting it in the sink.

I went back up to my room and grabbed some clean clothes, then went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Once I'd finished my shower, I quickly brushed my teeth, then headed back into my room and climbed into bed.

The tiredness my body felt suddenly washed over me, and within a few minutes, I was out like a light.

*^*

When I awoke for school on Wednesday morning, I really didn't want to get up. I reluctantly got out of bed after Mom yelled at me to do so, then I trudged to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

After I stumbled back into my room, I quickly changed into my new hoodie and some leggings, then I put on my blue crocs.

It sure was one hell of an outfit.

Once I was fully dressed, I headed downstairs to see my mom at the counter, finishing up a plate of pancakes.

"So, how'd your date go last night?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Oh, you know. Lawerence is a nice guy, but he didn't know that I had a daughter, so that might be a problem," she pondered aloud, causing me to smile slightly. Mom always did know how to look out for me.

"Well, I'm sure Mr. Right will come along eventually," I mused, taking the plate as Mom held it out to me.

I sat down at the bar and dug into my pancakes, finishing quickly and grabbing my stuff for school. Once I had everything ready, I called out a goodbye to my mother and headed out the door.

My crocs drug the ground a bit as I walked, and I did my best to pick up my feet as I unlocked my car. I quickly slid into the driver's seat and set my stuff aside, backing out of my driveway and pulling out onto the road.

I made it to school fairly quickly and met up with Kenzie before class. She held a mischievous grin as she stood at my locker, and I gave her my best-unimpressed look.

"So, how'd your day with Max go?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"How'd you know about that?" I answered her question with a question, raising my eyebrow suspiciously.

"Oh, I have my sources," she replied with a grin, "but give me the deets. I wanna know what happened!"

I rolled my eyes slightly at her persistence, opening my locker, and grabbing my World History book.

"It went fine. It wasn't too awkward because Trevor was there, too," I sighed, closing my locker once I'd shoved my book into my bag.

"Trevor... The one who threw the afterparty at McKinley a while back?" she questioned.

"Yeah, he's a friend of Maxwell's," I replied easily, leaning against my locker slightly. My composure quickly changed from easy to tense as I made eye contact with Carter, who happened to be walking past at that moment.

He gave me a not-so-subtle wink and I fought the urge to throw up, glancing over at Kenz, who probably had the same thoughts as me. We shared a laugh and exchanged goodbyes, then I headed off to my first-hour class.

My morning classes went by without much work, aside from a couple of mild homework assignments, and I was happy when lunch finally rolled around.

I walked into the cafeteria and headed for our usual table, setting my stuff down before going to get a tray. Once I had my food, I headed back to our table and sat down, listening in on the twins' current argument.

"I'm telling you, Jack, the vine goes 'Road work ahead, yeah, I sure hope it does'."

Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"Nope, it's, 'Road work ahead, well I sure hope it does'," Jack replied.

"You two really are hopeless, you know that?" I sighed, sitting down next to Kenzie, who'd already been listening in on their argument.

"C'mon, which is it?" Jack asked eagerly, wanting Kenzie and me to choose sides.

"I hate to tell you this, Jack, but Nick's right," I sighed, shaking my head slightly. Those two were so stupid, it would be an insult to fifth graders to put them in with their classes.

"Anyways, you wanna hang out later, Kylie?" Kenzie asked, glancing at me as she tossed a chip into her mouth.

"Sure, I don't have anything planned," I replied, leaning on the table slightly.

"Speaking of planning, I have to call someone real quick." Kenzie stood from the table abruptly, leaving the twins and me slightly confused.

Oh, who was I kidding? The twins were always confused.

I sighed and turned my attention back to my food, making small talk with Nick and Jack. Apparently Jack had gotten over his awkwardness because all was good with us again.

Sadly though, my pathetic love life got dragged into the conversation somehow.

"So who are you seeing, Kylie?" Jack asked, trying to sound casual, though I could tell that he was interested in my answer.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm seeing anyone," I replied, "but I have been talking to someone,"

Well, I wasn't exactly sure that talking was the right word to use, either, but that was the basis that I thought Charlie and I were on.

"Who is it?" Nick asked, but thankfully, Kenzie sat back down and averted the attention from me. She had a grin on her face that rose some suspicion from me, though.

"What are we talking about?" she asked, easily flowing back into the conversation.

I gave her a skeptical look that she avoided, causing me to let out a sigh of defeat.

What exactly was Kenzie up to?