Today was the day to enact the plan. Last night, Penelope walked me through the steps over a call. She believed in me and my abilities. I was confident that I could pull it off.
Ten minutes before class started just as Penelope instructed I walked into my AP Physics classroom in long strides. The less ears on the conversation the better.
Ms. Ranedi surveyed the room at her desk, in between refining the lesson plans and responding to emails.
Kenna's back was to me as she spoke to Will. She sat in Eric's seat. They were talking about the study sessions they guided. In all honesty, I was still wary of him. He was close with Eric and Eric was horrible. She seemed to have protested the idea at lunch that day when she showed me the email but that attitude was different today. Perhaps Will was different when Eric wasn't by his side. He seemed more relaxed.
I pulled my chair back and in doing so, I startled her.
Kenna flinched, lifting a hand to her heart, she caught her breath.
"Good morning," I greeted her. I nodded in Will's direction. He didn't deserve a good morning. In fact, how could she be this friendly with him when he was a bystander when Eric harassed her. She was too forgiving.
You did the same thing when Wyatt told people you were a virgin. Aren't you too forgiving?
When did I become this introspective? The saying Ignorance Is Bliss made sense now.
"Mornin'," Kenna replied curtly. She immersed herself in their discussion. I took heed of her body language and didn't bother them. Their words formed a bubble around them. A bubble that I couldn't pop.
I took a seat. Eric dawdled in a few minutes later. He muttered a snarky remark. Before Kenna could defend herself, the bell rang, and she returned to her own seat.
Will surprised me when he said, "Eric, knock it off."
Kenna's eyes widened a fraction. If I wasn't observing her, I wouldn't have picked up on the way she smirked to herself. If someone defended me, I would be grateful and smile, but a smirk was different. Her smug smirk was patronizing. She wasn't simply grateful, it was as if she expected it to happen.
Penelope considered Kenna as an equal adversary. A force to be reckoned with. I assumed Penny was targeting Kenna because of a personal grudge but there was more. Kenna was numb to Eric's comments. She told me herself.
On the first day of school, I saw her as someone in distress and I defended her. She grinned at me and egged me on. She was testing me. Then, she introduced me to her friends and made me retell the story word for word. She was showing off her new puppet. They were laughing at me, not with me. How could I have been this blind?
I squeezed the edge of the table. Anger surged through me like electricity. The filter was removed and I could see her for who she was, and not who I wanted her to be.
"My bad," her soft voice drew me out of my thoughts. "Got caught up in the tutoring stuff,"
She wants to make this about her. Let her talk about herself.
"How are the study sessions going, by the way? I've been meaning to ask."
In between taking notes, we whispered to one another.
"You never think quiet when you think about high school. But at 7, it's silent. Ms. Ranedi let us use the classroom and we answer questions the whole time."
"Glad it's going well. You seemed stressed by it, a few weeks ago,"
"I wuzzz. It's jus." She paused.
Was she catching on to me? Was it obvious what I was trying to do?
"None of my business. Sorry. Wasn't trying to pry."
"Naw, it ain't that. When people got high expectations they assume you gon' do stuff. They don't ask. I at least want the illusion of a choice, you know?"
Her sentiment was a point I could never put into words. The illusion of choice was well put.
"Mmm, well it's the weekend. Time to relax." I audibly sighed.
"You got plans?"
"Nothing, but actually, do you want to see a movie at Barnett's?"
Her right foot bounced against the chair. "Ummm,"
"Oh my god, I forgot to ask if you were free. Of course, you have plans. Forget about it,"
"No, no, no. I'm planning a—" she lowered her voice. "Party. It would be great if you came." She texted me the details.
It was that easy.