Miss Complicated

Chapter 2

"Let's go," Mrs. low called out.

"What happened?" I jogged my way toward her.

"Oil was overheated in the cafeteria and that set off the alarms," Mrs. Low explained rather dryly. I wasn't the only one who couldn't wait for graduation. Mrs. Low was set to retire after this year she couldn't care less about what was going on.

That was better than some stupid prank. I turned back toward Madison and Devin. They were busy discussing something.  As I was staring at them, I felt someone knock into me. I looked to see who it was and all I could see was the back of Alyson's head. What was her problem?

"Hey,  Zara do you want to go to K-town with Madison and me after school?" Devin slowed to a stop beside me.

"Sure...can't...I have Homecoming stuff to do." I glanced at Madison who was starring daggers at me.

Once we were back in the school I saw Kenzie getting a lecture from Principal Carter. I was hoping he didn't catch her doing something she shouldn't. Kenzie had her hand on her hip, staring back at Principal Carter with a look of defiance.

"Not again," Madison muttered. "That idiot is going to get detention."

"I'll see if we can avoid that. Tell Mrs. Low I'm going to talk to Principal Carter."

Madison nodded before following Devin back to homeroom.

"Are you kidding me? My volleyball shorts are shorter than this!" Kenzie pointed toward her skirt.

"What seems to be the problem." I made my way over toward them, hoping that I could play peacekeeper.

"Miss Kaliyev here seems to have forgotten the dress code," Principal Carter explained. He matched his posture with Kenzie. He placed his hand over his hip as his stomach protruded out like he was on his third trimester.

"I'm sorry Principal Carter, but I woke up today and saw how amazing my legs looked and decided to show them off," Kenzie said sarcastically. She really had to watch her tone before she got detention.

"At Westwood, we do allow our students to be free from the mandatory uniforms, but it comes with a stipulation. For example, if we allow girls to wear skirts as short as yours then the poor boys would be distracted," Principal Carter lectured.

Oh, how unfortunate. My plan was to actually distract the girls,' Kenzie replied. She placed her hand on her heart for dramatic effect.

I had to hold back a smile. As President of Student Council, I couldn't afford to get in trouble.

"Mackenzie," Principal Carter growled. I could see the red rising to his face.

"Principal Carter." A soft voice called out.

We all turned toward the direction of the voice and to my surprise it was Alyson.

Once Principal Carter saw Alyson, all the anger on his face dissipated. "Yes, Alyson. How may I help you?"

"My dad wants to do something special during Homecoming. Do you have any ideas on what he can do while he is here?" Alyson stared back at Principal Carter with her blue-green
eyes that I felt like we would both would melt from looking at her.

Principal Carter almost giggled at the thought of Reagan Crawford coming to Westwood. He was a total fanboy of the 80s action star. He would go above and beyond for his idol's children.

"All he needs to do is show up," Principal Carter answered. "We need to make some changes. Order some better food." He scurried away like a man on a mission.

"Wow." I turned my attention to Alyson. "Thank you."

Her eyes lingered on mines for a few moments before she shrugged and walked away.

"What a moron," Kenzie declared. "This skirt goes passed my fingertips, so technically it's allowed."

"Please don't get into any more trouble, " I muttered.

"I'm surprised the Westwood Princess knew how to talk, " Kenzie stated.

"Yeah." Why was Alyson acting so strange? She was always quiet. She was always content with being in the background. She was the perfect partner for Braden since he basically basked in attention. "Come on, let's just get back to class."

                                                                                                  ***
The school day dragged by and I was finally happy to leave.  I was waiting for Kenzie and her younger brother Aslan by car since I drove them to school. I was leaning against the trunk of my SUV when I heard Patrick shrieking like a mad man.

"My baby!" He walked around his candy apple red Porsche, patting it like it was a dog. "Who hurt you?"

Why did I have a feeling this is what Kenzie did when she left during the fire drill?

The moment Patrick saw Kenzie and Aslan walk toward my SUV, he made a beeline to her. He pointed to the large scratch on his car. "You did this!"

"Where's the proof?" Kenzie folded her arms against her chest as she stared him down.

"I know you did this, you crazy bitch!" He stomped on his feet like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Hey, watch how you speak to my sister, " Aslan growled. He had a good two inches on Patrick but his lanky figure was not something you would consider intimidating.

"Or what?" Patrick challenge, shoving a finger into Aslan's chest.

"I'll snap that finger off." Kenzie pushed Patrick away from Aslan.

Before I could utter a single word, Braden beat me to it.

"Come on Patrick, it's not a big deal," Braden called out from his convertible. "You can pay for it."

"But my baby, " Patrick whined. "She got hurt."

Like the supportive girlfriend, Alyson was seated beside Braden. She whispered something in his ear.

"There's no chance that Kenzie could have done it. We had classes with her, " Braden added.

Patrick stomped his feet and glared at the Kaliyev siblings. "I don't know how but I know you did this." He stormed back to his car.

"What a waste of time," Kenzie said with a yawn.

"What happened to not getting in trouble?"  I couldn't help but scold her. " Did you do it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kenzie walked passed me and into the passage side seat.

"Hi, Zara." Aslan waved awkwardly at me.

"Oh, hey." What else could I say to my friend's little brother who had a crush on me?

"Never going to happen. Now get in the car, "Kenzie ordered.

Aslan smiled sheepishly back at me before getting into the SUV.

Thank you, Kenzie for your bluntness.

Braden drove to a stop in front of me.  "Hey Zara, after Homecoming we're going to have a party at Aly's place since her parents are going to be away."

I glanced at Alyson who didn't spare one glance at me. "Umm...okay?"

"See you there." Braden beamed his megawatt smile that would normally melt any other girl before driving off.

I couldn't help but hate him. He was dating Alyson and there was something about his personality that felt fake. I had to work with him for student council and he did have the charm of a future politician.

Wait a minute. Didn't Alyson tell Principal Carter that her dad was coming to Homecoming? She lied? Why did she do that?