I followed Karter to Momo's, sitting in an empty booth. Karter went into the kitchen and came out with a piece of chocolate cake before putting it in front of me and sitting across from me on the other side of the booth. He crossed his arms in front of me and just stared at me with calculating eyes.
My hands started to sweat nervously. Was I supposed to start?
"I can't seem to figure you out," Karter finally spoke.
"How so?" I asked, picking up the fork and taking a bite of my cake. Karter eyed my movement making eating uncomfortable.
"You weren't supposed to be like this," he sighed tiredly rubbing the spot between his eyes.
"Be like what?" I asked confused.
Was he having a conversation on his own? Does he even know I am here?
"You're different than how I thought you would be," he said with a neutral face, not giving off any emotion.
What on earth is that supposed to mean?
I bit my lip nervously. "Is that a bad thing?"
He stared at me for a moment, as if analyzing me. "No, I think it's a good thing."
"Oh," I smiled a small smile. I think Karter just complimented me.
Karter leaned his arms on the table, a sad look on his face. "I think maybe I should apologize, but only for one thing."
I didn't know whether to be happy or mad.
One thing only?
I raised a brow challenging him. "Oh really? And what's that?"
"You were right, I shouldn't have judged you so easily. You just don't fit the stereotype," he said casually.
"The stereotype?"
I didn't realize I belonged to a stereotype.
"You know? The pretty rich popular kids," he shrugged.
I realized two things:
One: Karter thought I was pretty.
Two: hanging out with good looking popular kids did not help me.
Karter thought I was pretty.
I didn't know why, but it made me happy.
"The only reason I hang out with them is because my brother and my best friend are a part of their group. I am okay with the rest but we are not really close friends," I was counting out the facts on my fingers. "Two, my parent's bank account has nothing to do with who I am as a person."
He put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, well maybe that is true. I just have a bad history with that group of people. So I am apologizing for judging you, I should know better since I am constantly in your shoes."
That hit a sore spot. My group of "friends" were the people who ruined Karter's school rep. They were always the ones teasing him, spreading rumours, occasionally starting a fight with him. I've tried telling them to stop at times, but it was no use, they only shrugged me off. Jared wouldn't do anything to stop them, in fact he joined them. Manny kept quiet, I felt like a part of him was always scared of any homophobic back lash. I was a single voice that was not changing anything. I would hate them too if I was in his shoes, sometimes I do.
"Don't give me that face, I am used to it," he shrugged realizing my pitying expression.
"I never believed them," I said quietly. "The rumours. I don't believe rumours until I see them."
A small smile tugged on his lips. "I think I believe that now, that would explain why you're not scared of me like most people in our school. You can also stop following me. If we are clearing the air then ask now, I'll tell you if they are true or not."
Let's start big. I needed to take advantage of this situation.
"Murder?"
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Drugs? Gangs? Fight club?"
He shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Baby daddy?"
His eyes widened. "Seriously?"
I'll take that as a no, but...
He seemed to realize my hesitation. He sighed before explaining. "That little girl you saw me pick up from school is my sister."
"The old woman?" I asked.
He looked horrified.
Karter made a face probably reading my thoughts. "God Livia, she's my grandmother. Trust me if I had a girlfriend she'd be around my age."
So he didn't have a girlfriend. A little part of me was satisfied with that answer. I knew Jared would like it, it only meant his plan had a chance of working.
"You have three jobs?" I asked and he nodded. "Any more?"
He shook his head. "I sometimes do side jobs when I have free time."
"And at night?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I study."
That explains why he was always tired. He works all day and studies all night.
I now forgot the rumours and was curious as to who he was. "Why work so much?"
Were his parents unemployed? Low income? Was he saving up for a car?
"Next," he said suddenly.
Next?
Why didn't he want to answer?
"Did I ever hurt you? I know the group of people I hang with are not the nicest, but did I ever do anything wrong?" I bit my lip nervously. I would hate if he said yes. I was not a mean person. I never bullied anyone, I hated it.
He gave me a soft look. "Don't look so worried, you haven't done anything. But I still can't figure you out."
I guess it was his turn to ask questions.
"Why are you suddenly so curious about me? Was it just to find out the truth behind these rumours?" he asked curiously.
"No," I said truthfully. Because I was threatened to by my brother. "Because I want to be your friend."
It was only half the truth but it was the best I could give him. I wasn't about to expose the whole plan.
Karter sighed looking slightly irritated. "I am not one of those cliche good girl fixes bad boy projects."
"I never said you were," I crossed my arms in front of me defensively. "You always assume the worst in me don't you."
His fingers came up to rub between his eyes. "It's hard for me to trust a Murphy."
Again with this!
"Fine, give me one week. Let us be friends for one week, if you don't like it then I will leave you alone for good. Deal?" I bargained. This was risky for the deal I made with Jared, but this wasn't about him anymore. It was about clearing my name.
Karter's eyes roamed my face, wheel clicking behind his head. When his face set, I got my answer. "Fine, one week."
Yes!
Karter got up to work as I took out my homework and ordered some food. I knew I was going to get an earful when I got home for skipping my last two periods when I followed Karter out the cafeteria. However, I didn't care. Some good had come out of it.
Unlike last time, Karter didn't ignore me the whole time. Occasionally he would look at me, I would smile, then he would turn away with crimson cheeks. I think I was getting somewhere. He even took a few minutes to look over my math homework and tell me where I went wrong. I had finished my homework and packed it up ready to go home. I paid for my meal before waiting for Karter to emerge from the kitchen. Finally, he came out with the grey bucket on his hip. He went to a now empty table and started cleaning it up. I walked up him earning his attention.
"You're leaving?" he asked and I nodded.
"Yes, but I will see you tomorrow! Day one of our friendship," I smiled brightly but I could tell he was not excited.
Gathering up my courage, I took a step closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his torso only to feel his whole body tense up.
"What are you doing?" he blurted, shock evident in his voice.
"Hugging you goodbye, duh," I said in an obvious tone. "Friends do that."
"Well don't," he tried to push me away, but I held tighter.
"Don't fight the friendship Karter," I mumbled into his shirt.
His voice was frustrated. "This is not friendship, it's sexual assault!"
"Stop being such a baby and hug me back, I'm not letting go until you hug me back," I gave my terms. Karter swore under his breath, almost making me laugh at his distraught state. Very slowly, his hands came around me. It was a tense and awkward hug, but it was a start.
"Well have to work on this next time," I said as I pulled back.
The red faced Karter looked relieved upon me letting him go, but worried at my words. "No Livia, there is no next time!"
I shook my head. "Uh, uh, uuh. One week Karter. That's one week of hug giving."
He groaned running his hands through his hair, pulling them slightly. "You are going to make me regret this aren't you?"
"Psh, regret this? You are going to love it! We'll even braid each other's hair!" I squealed earning the most horrified look from Karter. He turned pale, as if he was about to faint. "It's a joke Karter, relax. No hair braiding... well, not unless you want to."
He shook his head quickly. "Hell no."
"Okay, no hair braiding it is, see you tomorrow friend!" I smiled widely before walking away from the terrified Karter. This was going to be fun.
The next day came and I waited outside Karter's locker with Manny. He didn't believe me when I told him Karter agreed to be my friend for one week. Karter spotted me as I waved to him, a look of panic crossed his expression before he looked to my side and saw Manny. Suddenly, Karter turned dark.
"Oh shit," Manny whispered beside me. Karter slowly made his way to us. "He's going to kill me."
Manny looked very nervous.
"Don't worry Manny, he won't hurt you," I promised him.
Manny shook his head. "Maybe next time okay?"
Before I could convince him to stop, Manny scurried away. Damn it! I knew Karter hated my group, but Manny was different! I wanted them to become friends too!
Karter finally reached his locker, his dark look still there. "What did he want?"
"Good morning to you too!" I said all cheery. That did not change his expression. I sighed realizing there was no way around this. "Manny is my best friend, I wanted to introduce you to each other."
"It's a good thing he left then," he grunted, turning to open his locker.
A gasp left my lips. "Karter!"
He didn't seem fazed. "Hey, he didn't want an intro either. Go yell at him. Plus our deal was to be friends with you, not anyone else."
"Okay, okay," I put my hands up in surrender. Karter finished from his locker and began walking to class. I sighed and followed his long legs with trouble. "Okay, so friendship 101: don't ditch your friend. You need to also slow down. How tall are you anyways?"
I was 5'8" and struggled to keep up with him. He had to be over 6 inches. Karter only grunted in response.
"Also, friends hold conversations that last longer than two seconds and go both ways," I said as we finally reached class. Karter took his usual seat and dug his face into his arms as he tried to sleep. I sat in the seat in front of him turning around to face him.
"What time did you sleep yesterday?" I whispered. Karter lifted his head only to give me a dark look. I'm going to take that as late. I put my hands up in surrender before he put his head back down. I guess I should let him sleep.
I went to my original seat, with the hope that at lunch he won't be asleep. Lunch came and to my luck he wasn't. I quickly sat on his table earning a look from him. His usual angry expression was only half as angry. I was getting to him, I know it.
I opened my jello container and began eating the weird sweet. "Mr. Garner is giving me such a hard time in biology. I forgot to do my homework once and he's been on my case since. I think it's because Jared caused him a lot of trouble last semester."
Karter was giving me a look. It wasn't an angry one, no it was more on the amused side.
He picked up a fry bringing it up to his lips that were almost tipped up in a smile.
"What about you? I always wondered how you got away with sleeping in your classes. I swear if I ever even closed my eyes for three seconds I would get an earful," I sighed. I was the less liked twin.
Karter shrugged. "As long as I get good grades they don't care what I do in class. It makes them look good too. Plus, I think some of them are scared of me."
I tipped my head back laughter. I couldn't believe anyone that actually believed these rumors about Karter. They were outrageous.
My laugh earned a smile from Karter that he was trying to hide.
"Some good came out of it I guess," I told him and he nodded.
"Keeps most guys away from Maddy too," he said, his expression softening upon talking about his sister.
"You see, I never got that. Your sister deserves to be with someone she wants to be with, don't you agree?" I asked. It wasn't fair.
"She's not going to date your brother if that's what your asking," he rolled his eyes.
I clenched my jaw in anger. Jared might be annoying as hell, but he was still my brother. "Whats wrong with my brother?"
Karter shrugged his shoulders shoving a few fries into his mouth. "Lots."
"Hey!" I yelled at him. I was sitting right here! "Jared is a good guy!"
"To you maybe," Karter shrugged me off. "I haven't seen any of this goodness to anyone else."
"Well it's there!" I frowned. "Jared goes beyond for the people he cares about."
"It doesn't matter. I've heard locker room talk, Maddy is a conquest. If anyone dates her it's to win a game. I protect my family, I don't care how amazing everyone thinks a guy is, I need to see it," he said firmly, his eyes daring me to challenge him.
A game?
Jared didn't like Maddy as a game. Did he? I thought of the way he looked at her, they way he spoke about her. Jared was genuine this time, I knew my brother.
I opened my mouth to give a sassy response, but Karter beat me to it. "How come you aren't dating anyone?"
I was about to reply, but closed my mouth in realization. Jared was like Karter in the whole protect your sister from men aspect, well despite forcing me on to Karter.
"Exactly," Kater said all smug like. "Look at that, I found something I like about Jared."
Instead of forcing Karter to like me, maybe I should show him all that is good about Jared.
"Jared only protects me from his friends, outside our group no one has had the balls to ask me out," I explained my pathetic love life to him. "See my dilemma?"
Karter's eyebrows rose as if surprised by my words.
"I always thought I was pretty, am I attractive enough Karter?" I asked curiously. Manny said I was. What if he was lying? What if it was all in my head?
He began coughing as if taken by surprise. He completely ignored the question and did a little twirl with his finger. "You know, everyone is looking at us? Rumors have probably started spreading."
I shrugged my shoulders taking one of his fries earning a dark look from him. "I don't care, let them."
A small smile tugged on his lips. I think that Karter secretly liked having a friend. Maybe I didn't need to end the friendship when Jared is dating Madeline. I think I liked being around Karter too.
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