Chapter Three
"What happened?" my mother asked as soon as I stepped into my house. My father took one look at me with a curious expression before walking right out of the room. Neither of them were very involved parents, so my father's disregard for the upcoming confrontation with my mother was no surprise.
I sighed and set my bag down. "Long story."
"Weren't you supposed to stay after school longer today?" she wondered.
"Okay, long story short, I had an...argument with someone during art class, and it got a little out of hand. Now I have to stay after school every day as punishment," I told her. I knew she'd find out about it when the principal called my parents anyway, so I might as well just give her a heads up.
"Dakota! How many times have I told you—"
"I know, I know, 'don't get in trouble, don't start fights, act more like your sister, blah blah blah'. I seriously didn't start it this time, though. Anyway, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed early. Tell Mr. Kimble I said hello when he calls later," I said, heading off to my room before she could chide me anymore.
I took a long shower, making sure all the paint was out of my hair. I practically scrubbed my own skin off to get that damn paint off too. Once I finished, I went straight to bed, not having much of an appetite. I was still upset about everything that happened, and I had a feeling I'd be upset about it for a while.
*****
"Jackie!" I called, wondering where my sister was. Usually Harlow gave me a ride to school since I didn't have a car yet, but today she said she couldn't because her mom had to use her car for something. I didn't bother asking Mason for a ride, hoping my sister would just drive me to school for once.
"Honey, she left already. She said something about how she remembered having a student council meeting," my mom told me. I let out a loud, frustrated growl as I ran out the front door.
"Screw you, Jackie," I said to myself. Luckily the high school wasn't too far from my house, but I didn't exactly look forward to walking to school this early in the morning. It was already unbearably hot due to the Florida weather.
It might seem like I hate my sister, but I really don't. Jacqueline and I used to be really close, up until she entered middle school the same time as Gage and Mason. Then she became a total snob, probably because many other popular kids were snobs too. She also became a slut, a lovely quality my parents had no idea about.
Another quality my parents had no idea about was Jackie's ability to steal almost any guy from anyone she wanted. It was this ability of hers that drove the wedge farther between us. Since I started high school, every guy I've dated has either A) cheated on me with my sister, B) left me for my sister, or C) used me to get to my sister, breaking up with me in the process.
Literally, every single guy has done one of those things. There were a couple times I broke up with guys before they could hurt me, but I knew they got to my sister sooner or later. I guess that's why I don't date too often anymore. If I do go out with a guy, it's only for a couple of weeks before I eventually break up with him.
There was one guy who I thought was different though. His name was Zack Brent. It was two years ago when I was a freshman and he moved here as a sophomore. I started to get to know him pretty quickly after he moved here. I had a lot of classes with him since his school curriculum was set up differently. Once I got to know him, along with everyone else, I started liking him more and more.
Zack was really a genuine guy at first. Moving to a new school might be hard for some people, but he was a likeable, funny guy, so he made friends quickly. We eventually started going out and I thought he was the one exception from all the other guys at school. He always treated me well and did everything a great boyfriend should do, until he started getting closer to my sister.
To end my fairytale story, he ended up breaking my heart when he cheated on me with Jackie. She claimed that she didn't know we were still going out, but I never fully forgave my sister for taking Zack from me. That heartbreak was worse than any other because I really did love him more than anyone else I was with.
Although this all happened two years ago, I felt like a young and naïve girl then compared to now. After finding out about Zack and Jackie, I seriously moped around for a month or two. I spent most of that time at Harlow's, where she tried to comfort me any way she could. Mason offered to beat the crap out of Zack—an offer I almost took—while Gage didn't offer anything, like always.
But that tough time I went through made me grow a thicker skin. Since then, I've been the one to break things off with guys usually, and when I find out they wanted my sister all along, I don't cry over it anymore. It's weird how I almost expect the guys of my school to leave me for Jackie. As much as I hate how nobody ever just wants me, I only have to survive this school year before Jackie leaves for college.
"It's about time you showed up! You were almost late," Harlow said as I walked on the school campus.
"Blame my sister. She told my mom some lame excuse about a student council meeting. Does she honestly believe Jackie would be on the student council?"
Harlow chuckled as she patted down my long light brown hair, which was probably starting to get frizzy in the humid weather. It was straight and boring, but spending time in the humid weather made it look messy. I sighed and shrugged away from her, putting it up in a messy bun. I didn't care if it wasn't stylish or whatever.
"Again, sorry about not picking you up," my best friend apologized.
I waved her off as we started walking to class. "It's not your fault my sister's a lying snotface. I'll just embarrass her at lunch when I tell her she has to drive me home in front of her idiot friends," I replied, smiling evilly as I pictured the scene in my head.
"Can't wait to see that," she laughed, walking toward her math class while I headed to history.
*****
"You missed a spot, Dakota," Mrs. Wilson said, pointing to an area of the table I didn't wipe yet.
"Kody," I corrected her, for the third time today now. Did she seriously not understand I didn't want to be called Dakota?
"Kody is a boy's name," she stated, pointing to another area for me to clean. I heard Gage snicker from across the room, though I ignored him. We were cleaning yet again after school and I didn't want to screw it up by attacking him...again.
I called Mrs. Wilson a few bad names under my breath as she went to check on Gage. Eventually our hour after school was up and we were free to leave. As I walked out of the classroom and toward the parking lot, I looked at the separate building where the dance studio was. If only the school kept it open longer than an hour after school, I would certainly stay longer at this dump school to practice.
I sighed and took my phone out, dialing Jackie's number when I noticed her car wasn't here yet. "Where are you?" I asked after she picked up.
"I'm...out," she said, along with a few giggles. I heard a guy's voice in the background, which made me roll my eyes.
"Well you were supposed to pick me up after school, remember?"
She laughed a few more times and whispered something in the background. "Yeah, well I'm kind of busy right now. Give me another hour."
"Hour? Give you another—you know what, never mind. I'll just walk home," I snapped, hanging up on her. I looked up toward the sky with open arms and yelled, "why me?"
"You look like an idiot," Gage said from behind me. I turned to glare at him as he opened his car door. I flipped him off before I started my journey home, ready to take on this damn heat.
Just as I was going to cross the street, a familiar red Mustang car cut me off, almost hitting me. "Are you crazy? You almost killed me!" I yelled once the window was open.
Gage rolled his eyes at me again. "Do you want a ride or not?"
With narrowed eyes at him, I answered, "Or not." I started to walk around the front of his car when he inched forward and cut me off again, giving me a mini heart attack.
"Listen, I know you hate me or whatever, but do you seriously want to kill me? There are other ways than by car, Jenson," I said. He smirked at me, probably because I used his last name like I always did. Whenever I talked to him, I either didn't call him any name, referred to him using a bad word, or used his last name. I never called him by his first name to his face, probably because I didn't want to be compared to the bimbos of our school who did just that. Really, every five seconds someone would go 'Gage this' and 'Gage that'.
"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't use my precious car to do it, Dakota," he replied smoothly. I continued to glare at him, mentally weighing my options here. I could walk home in the scorching heat and have to face my annoying family at home, or I could take his offer and tell him to go to Harlow's.
I sighed, trying not to think about what I was getting myself into. "Fine, take me to Harlow's."
He raised an eyebrow at me while I got in his car. "I offered to take you home, not Mason's home."
"What's the difference? Either way you're driving me somewhere," I argued as he drove in the direction of Harlow's house.
"Well, for one your house is closer. And two, you'll just end up getting another ride from someone to drive you home later."
I rolled my eyes before shutting them as I leaned my head on the headrest. "If you're seriously not going to drive me to Harlow's, then I can just get out now."
"Relax, I was going to Mason's anyway. I knew you'd want to go there too," he said. I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
The short drive there couldn't have been any longer. Secretly I didn't mind though because I absolutely loved Gage's Mustang. I've only been in it a couple of times—most of which were not by choice—and I loved every second of being in it (minus the fact that Gage was there with me). He also had a motorbike, but I've never been on it before. As much as I'd love to ride on it, there was no way I'd willingly sit that close to Gage.
"Well this is new," Mason commented as we both walked into his house. I playfully rolled my eyes and gave him a quick hug.
"Hey, Mason. It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!"
"You saw him yesterday," Gage interjected.
"I said feels like, meaning I wasn't being literal. Geez," I replied. Mason chuckled and wrapped his arm around my neck, ruffling my hair.
"Oh Kody, you're so cute," he joked, continuing to mess up my hair more than it already was. This was how he always acted; he always openly flirted with me and I'd always joke around with him right back. I knew it annoyed Harlow and Gage sometimes, which is exactly why we did it.
"Release my best friend!" Harlow said, appearing out of nowhere. I was convinced she was a ninja at night sometimes.
I finally pushed Mason enough for him to let go. I glared at him for a moment, but his grin was just too much. It was almost impossible to stay mad at Mason. On the other hand, I could stay mad at his best friend for an eternity.
"I thought you were going home today?" Harlow asked.
"Oh Harlie, when will you learn—hell, when will I learn?—that my sister is a complete jerkwad? She was supposed to pick me up, but decided to screw around with some guy instead," I explained, plopping down on the couch. She sat next to me while Mason sat on my other side and Gage sat in the recliner next to Mason.
"Well we all know she didn't used to be like that," Mason said.
I nodded. "Yeah, but she is now and there's no way I can change her. Anyway, let's watch some TV." Gage grabbed the remote first, turning on some sports channel.
"As much as I love watching football, I hate both of these teams. Change it," I ordered.
"No way! I want to watch this," he argued.
"Please change it?" Harlow asked politely. Knowing he'd ignore her polite request, I reached over Mason for the remote.
"Give it to me!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes! I growled. By this point I was practically on top of Mason, trying to reach for the damn remote that Gage was waving around.
"Kody?" Mason interjected. I turned my head to face him, noticing he was only a few inches away from me.
"Yeah?"
"As much as I love you on top of me, I don't think now's the time. We could always take this upstairs though," he joked.
"Ew gross," Harlow said, causing me to laugh and roll my eyes at her older brother.
"I'll get off when your stupid best friend gives me the remote," I said sweetly, along with a fake smile.
"Fine, take it," Gage growled, tossing the remote at me, which promptly hit my head.
"Ow!" I yelled, falling off Mason and onto the ground.
"Damn, I didn't mean to hit you," Gage said immediately.
"What the hell, man?" Mason said, helping me off the ground. However, I must've not had a grip on him because I fell yet again on my butt.
"Just stop! I'll get up on my own," I snapped. I wasn't angry with Mason, I just was angry in general. Okay, so I was angry with Gage, but I know I shouldn't have taken it out on Mason.
Once I did get up, I made my way into the kitchen to get an ice pack. When I came back, Harlow and Mason were nowhere to be seen. Great, they left me with him. I sat back on the couch, staring blankly at the current commercial on the TV. After a moment of silence, other than the sound of the TV, I leaned back and shut my eyes, trying not to focus on the slight throbbing of my head. That damn remote must've been heavier than I thought.
"I'm sorry," Gage stated. My neck couldn't have turned faster than just then as I turned to look at him. Did Gage Jenson just apologize to me? Did I hear that correctly?
"What?"
He cleared his throat, avoiding my eyes. "I said I'm sorry," he repeated. I gaped at him for a few moments. "Did you hear me that time?" he asked, smirking slightly. It wasn't his usual signature smirk though.
I shook my head. "No, I heard you. I guess I'm just surprised."
Another moment of silence passed until he broke it. "Why?"
"Why what? Why am I an idiot for trying to get the remote from you? Or why are you stupid enough to throw it at me?"
His eyes darkened for a minute until he regained composure again. "I meant why are you surprised I apologized? I'm not that horrible."
"You are to me," I mumbled, unsure if he heard me. It looked like he did, but Mason and Harlow interrupted us before I could give him a better answer.
"C'mon Kody, I'll take you home," Harlow said.
"Thanks, Harlie. I'll see you later," I said to the guys, even if it was more of a goodbye to Mason than Gage.
"Sure, make sure to keep ice on your head," Mason said. He gave me a quick hug before I left.
"He didn't really mean to do that, you know," Harlow said as we were on our way to my house.
I nodded, staring out the window. "Yeah, I know. It still doesn't make me hate him any less. After all, we are still enemies," I joked.
"Sure you are," Harlow chuckled.
I wasn't exactly sure what her comment meant by the way she said it, but I chose to ignore it anyway. I'll let Gage win this round, but next time he's going down.