Kellen stalked into the cafeteria, and something about him was simply off. The expression on his face was anger, loathing and so much more. He ripped Katia up out of her seat at the table behind us. "How the hell could you be so stupid?"
"What is your problem?" She pulled her arm out of his grasp.
Jess and Ashley jumped from our table and quickly joined Kellen, whispering frantically, "Kellen, it's not true."
It appeared he didn't hear. "My problem? You're incubating that asshole's spawn and you want to know what my problem is?"
Katia's face fell momentarily before anger flared up on her features. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ashley and Jess warn Jackson and Leon to shut Kellen up. But the damage, already done, was made worse by what he said next, "Why did I have to find out from some little shit newbie Hellhound?"
"You are such an ass!" Katia hissed, her eyes darting around pointedly—people all over the cafeteria were craning their necks to see. Kellen was confronting Katia about being pregnant? Katia was pregnant? I would have caved instantly under that kind of attention, but despite her glassy eyes, she merely straightened her posture, dug her fingers into his arm and dropped her voice. "How is this any of your business?"
"I tried to tell you he just wanted to get with you! But did you listen-"
"Why would I ever listen to you?" Her eyes danced over the people sitting nearby as she ground the words out.
"No, you wouldn't, would you? Do you listen to anyone?" The vein in his forehead bulged and it occurred to me I'd never seen anything other than a forcibly zen Kellen before.
"God, you are unbelievable! You're gonna pretend you give a shit about me now? So everyone can think you tried to protect me?"
He didn't really allow her another word in, because despite his rant about her not listening, it was clear he didn't hear a thing she said. Or, he was determinedly ignoring her words. "I told you he would mess with you and leave you! How stupid could you be?! Did you think about Dad at all? This will kill him!"
"Dad? What the hell? How is this about him?"
"It'll destroy his reputation if people find out!"
"If people find out? IF??" Katia screeched, a quiver working its way into her tone as she gestured at everyone openly watching them. "You might have thought about you and Dad and your precious reputations before you started yelling it for the world to hear."
"This will kill him, Katia," he said quietly, looking almost sad. Sure, now you're quiet Kellen, how about when we tried to stop you from making an idiot of yourself?
"You just think you can do whatever you want, don't you?" Shut up, Kellen, I thought as he narrowed his eyes at her lack of reaction. "Seriously, like we need people talking about what a slut you are?!"
With those words, I couldn't listen anymore! All around people were stunned, varying expressions on all their faces. Some sided with Kellen, some with Katia and even more that were just plain confused, unsure, shocked. I couldn't believe that no one was stepping in. Outrage filled me with an uncontrollable urge to yell. I couldn't believe that Kellen would put her through that.
Katia swallowed hard, blinked more than was necessary, and softly uttered the words, "It's not even true, you shit."
Yes, I understood that they didn't get along, but to drag her through the dirt like that? His reaction did nothing to help the family reputation he was so stupidly concerned about. Not to mention that reputation would be intact if he'd just listened to Jess and Ashley.
Gathering my courage around me, I decided that I would be the one to step in. I was finally going to stop being a bystander; I would finally stand up for something I believed in.
I burst into a tirade, "You're being a complete jerk, Kellen! She doesn't deserve this! And are you seriously going to be the idiot that makes a girl feel bad about being used?"
A cacophony reached my ears, voices that seemed to argue both with me and against me. How absurd! Who the hell would side with Kellen on this? Hadn't anyone else noticed the tears in Katia's eyes, the waver that shook her voice as she fought with him. Things started to get worked up in the dining hall, much too fast; people yelling all over, food and trays starting to fly.
I was so caught up in my anger at Kellen, and the entire situation he'd created that it didn't occur to me to back down. A strange thought entered my mind instead—it appeared I had waited a moment too long to decide to voice my opinion, and blended in with everyone else.
When it came down to it, I wouldn't have been a voice against Kellen and his shockingly stupid behavior, I would be only a voice in the Thunderbirds army against the Hellhounds army. The thought irritated me even more and when things got violent, I was too far gone in my fury to care about consequences.
"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!"
The entirety of the student body froze at once as Headmaster Sorenson's voice bellowed over all the noise. All of us heaved with the effort of our actions, glaring at those we'd been fighting with. Somehow it felt like all the rage that we collectively had, for things that had nothing to do with Kellen, Katia or the alleged pregnancy, had been spent.
A wave of contrition flowed through the room, and as a collective unit we all looked sorry, embarrassed, guilty. I looked away from everyone, examining my nails and noting from the corner of my eye that Ms. Penzant, the guidance counselor, and Mr. Burrows, the head of security, were hovering in the doorway. No one had answered his question, so Headmaster Sorenson, with a deep grumble asked, "Who is responsible for starting this?"
Again, no one said anything. Who had started it? All I know is Kellen and Katia were arguing and I had started yelling. Oh God! Was it me? I chanced a quick glance at them.
"Kellen Fitzpatrick and Katia Morgan, you two stay!" he barked, when everyone's eyes seemed to swivel to them at once. "Everyone else: Outing privileges for the next two weekends are revoked. Wash up and immediately return to classes."
-.-
Twice a week after classes since we'd started attending the Academy, Jess and I watched TV in Jackson's dorm in between room checks. After the fiasco in the dining hall, waiting patiently for that time to come wasn't easy, and Jess and I blew into the room eager to know what had happened.
Of course, Jess, ever the loving sister, was worried about whether Jackson had caught any extra flak for what had happened.
He hadn't. But, he was pacing his room when we showed up, glaring at the phone in his hand, as if willing it to ring. He, like everyone else, hadn't seen Kellen yet.
It wasn't a problem for too long as Kellen soon shuffled into the room, tired looking and still covered in bits of food. He paused as he took notice of Jess and I. "Get out."
Jackson put a hand out to stop Jess and I from rising, almost confrontational. "They're fine here. What the hell happened? I've been texting you forever!"
Kellen sighed and headed into his room. "Sorenson made us clean the mess. We have kitchen duty for two weeks. I trashed my phone," he said blankly and flicked the door shut behind him.
After an eternity of awkward silence, Jackson closed the front door and went into Kellen's room. Jess rushed to turn the lock so we wouldn't be caught in the act if Leon wandered in, and then we shamelessly pressed our ears to Kellen's door.
"What happened?"
"Don't wanna talk about it."
"Kel... you trashed your phone, so it had to be bad."
"I said, I don't wanna talk," Kellen's tone was impatient.
We prepared ourselves to retreat quickly if we needed to, but it sounded as if Jackson wasn't going to let it be.
"Jacks! Get out. I said-"
"I know what you said, Kellen, but I also know you. What happened?"
"They called my dad and told him that Katia and I incited a huge fight. He's livid. He canceled Christmas."
"That's not what's bothering you."
"It's why I broke my phone. I just couldn't listen to him saying how much of a... never mind. He didn't just cancel the trip to Aspen, Jacks, he canceled Christmas. He decided that since I'm such a fuck-up, he's going to go to China on business instead."
There was no noise in the room for some time, and Jess and I grimaced empathetically at each other. As the kids of a media conglomerate CEO and famous actors, Jess and I both got it. Neither Kellen nor Katia, saw their international hotelier father very much, and from what we'd learned over the last couple years, they were close. It was suddenly apparent to me that Kellen might have been crying.
Are we Pro-Kellen or No-Kellen right now?