Watch Kaylee Practice

I shot a text to Paige before eighth period telling her she could take the car home since I was going to stay after school. It took less than twenty seconds for her to respond with a jumble of characters that vaguely resembled words. I’d apparently made her the happiest sister on the planet. Somewhat understandable since I never let her drive. This was for two reasons. One, I was older and therefore had older sibling privilege. Two, she was a fucking terrible driver. Every trip with her behind the wheel turned a few more strands of hair grey and shaved a few minutes off my life.

A second message arrived seconds after the first.

We need to talk tonight.

A frown formed as I mentally translated her text into actual words. Talk? About what?

Pushing that aside, it was a slog trying to pay attention to the teacher as the lesson dragged on. Sometime after the heat **** of the universe, the bell rang and released us from our torturous hell. Students shot out of their seats, the teacher yelling something about homework as we all rush out the door. The halls were packed with students. Groups of girls walked down the hall at a leisurely pace. A few clusters of guys spoke to each other, watching the girls pass. Every so often, a girl would fall away from her group and start talking to a guy. Some were friendly conversations, others were angling for something else.

Ignoring as much as I could, I darted through the crowd. Arriving at my locker, I shoved everything inside I wasn’t taking home before slamming it closed and locking it. Next stop, Kaylee’s locker. Getting there was a pain in the ass. If I ever wanted to know what a salmon felt like trying to swim upstream, it was getting to the second floor while the entire school tried to get to the first.

After a colossal struggle to get upstairs, I took a second to catch my breath before heading down the hall. I passed a pair of students making out, the guys hand moving rhythmically under her skirt. Seeing them causes me to roll my eyes. Doing that in the hall was asking for trouble. They were going to get chewed out by a teacher for not going to a couple room like they were supposed to.

Rounding the corner, my eyes immediately fell on Kaylee. Her back was to her locker. A guy loomed over her, hands pressed against the locker on both sides of her. I immediately recognized him as Rico. He was a transfer student in our junior year. Rumor had it he got kicked out of his last school. He certainly caused enough trouble here for me to believe it.

A few seconds of assessing the situation, I could clearly see Kaylee wasn’t enjoying his company. She wore a flat, lifeless expression. The usual glimmer in her eyes was gone as she met Rico’s gaze. Yet despite her collected demeanor, I could see the tension in her legs and arms and how her shoulders hunched slightly together. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but I had an idea. Rico was all smiles as he spoke in long sentences. Kaylee’s answers were short bursts.

After all the times Kaylee has stood up for me over the years, now was my turn to repay the favor. Walking up and telling him off wouldn’t do it, but maybe I could ‘remind’ Kaylee of that… thing… we had to do. Whatever that thing was. I’m sure I’d think of something when the time came.

Then again, Rico was twice my size and had a short temper. The guy could pick me up and snap me in half with only mild effort. Okay, so maybe not that bad. Still, he had a group of chattering minions that could potentially make my life miserable if I put myself on his radar.