A New Beginning (Second Chance #1) (19 page)

              Karla took a deep breath as she walked away from her friends and headed toward where James stood with his friends. She plastered a smile on her face and stopped beside James. “Hey James. May I talk to you for a minute?”

              He smiled back at her. “Sure. See you in class guys.” He said to his friends as he walked away with Karla. “What’s up Karla?”

              “I was wondering if that movie invitation was still available.”

              “For you? Definitely.”

              “I’ll go with you. I’m sorry I turned you down last week, but I had to resolve some things before I could accept. Forgive me?”

              “Karla, I have wanted to ask you out since the first day of school, but then I saw you hanging out with Conner Newberry and thought you’d start dating him. When you didn’t I figured I’d take a chance. I’m really glad you changed your mind and will go out with me.”

              “Conner and I are just friends. We’ll never be more than friends.” Karla said, a touch of wistfulness laced her voice.

              “Well his loss is my gain.” James said with a wink and a grin. His playfulness caused Karla to start laughing and soon his laughter joined hers. They laughed together until the warning bell rang, signaling they had five minutes to get to class.

              “We’d better get to class.” Karla said, still laughing a little.

              “I want to stay out here and talk to you, get to know you, but I know we can’t so let’s go.” James said and they walked to class together.

              When they entered class Rylee gave her a small smile before she looked at James and smiled at him too. “At least one of my friends seems to like you.” Karla said to James as they walked to their seats.

              “Rylee and I have known each other since kindergarten. She’s a nice girl. I’ll see you after class.” He said as she took her seat and he walked across the room to his. He had just sat down with the teacher entered and shut the door.

              After class James met her at her desk “You have History next right?” He asked when she stood up.

              “Yes. Then after lunch we have Lit and P.E. together. What do you have next?” They walked into the hall together and stood talking.

              “I have Biology now. Makes lunch difficult sometimes.” He laughed and caused Karla to laugh too. “I’ll see you at lunch Karla. Have fun in History.”

              “You have fun in Bio.” She walked over to Rylee and they walked to class together.

              “So I see the invitation was still there.”

              “Yeah. He told me he’d liked me since the first day of school, but he thought Conner and I would get together. Guess he and I were both wrong.”

              “I’m sorry Karla. I thought so too, so did Callie.”

              “Guess Conner was the only one who didn’t.” A distant expression crossed her face as they entered History class. They sat in their usual seats and took out their notebooks. As soon as the door shut their teacher passed out a study guide for the final then started outlining everything that would be on the test.

              When class was over they walked to the cafeteria together like normal. Dominic and Chase were already sitting at their table and James was there with them. Callie and Rylee exchanged a glance behind Karla as they walked to the table. “Hey James. How was Bio?” Karla smiled brightly at him.

              James chuckled. “It wasn’t gross today. I’ll be glad when that class is over.”

              “Me too.” Chase chimed in. “Science is the only subject I absolutely hate.”

              “I love science. It fascinates me.” Karla told them as she sat down and opened her small lunch box.

              “I love it too, but it hates me.” James said with a laugh.

              “You’re funny James.” Conner said with a sneer. He’d always liked James, but now he wanted nothing more than to punch him. “So what movie are you two going to see?”

              “I don’t even know what’s playing” Karla confessed. “But it doesn’t matter. We’ll figure out something to see.”

              “We could bypass the movie and just hang out and get to know each other a little better.” James said and he touched Karla’s hair gently. “We’ll figure something out. As long as I get to spend time with you I’ll be happy. Like I told you earlier, I wanted to ask you out the first time I saw you, but I thought Conner was going to so I stepped back. When he didn’t I made my move. Seems like it was good one too.”

              Conner was seething with anger at himself. For someone who had always been so smart he was really stupid right now. Karla was going out with James and he had no one to blame but himself. “See you all in class” he murmured and left the table. He walked the halls until the lunch bell sounded. When he walked into Lit Karla was in her usual seat and James was across the room in his. He took his seat and knew that as long as she was happy he’d be okay. He’d been the one to say they’d only ever be friends after all.

On the bus ride home Karla looked at her friends. “Whose house are we going to today? We have a Lit and History final to prepare for.”

“Harper is sick so mine’s out.” Rylee said

“Mom has people over so ours is out too.” Callie said from beside Rylee.

“Guess we’ll be going to your house Karla. Yours is always the quietest anyway.” Conner said and he smiled at her.

“Alright. Works for me.” She smiled back at Conner.

When the bus stopped they all got off, walked to her house and straight into the kitchen. “Hey Leslie. We have finals in two weeks do you mind if we take over the kitchen table to study?”

“Not at all. I’ll just be over here working. I landed a new client today and it’s a multi sight design so I’m pretty busy.”

“That’s great news Leslie. I’m happy for you.” Karla hugged her and walked to the fridge. “Anyone want a snack?”

“Yes!” They all said together and burst out laughing.

She quickly put together a fruit and cheese plate and grabbed them all a Coke before she walked back to the table. “Let’s get ready for these tests.”

For the next two hours they made outlines and study guides for their classes. They laughed and joked together and just hung out. Everything was exactly as it was before and that made Karla really happy. She couldn’t stand the thought of not having Conner in her life. She just wasn’t going to wait around for him anymore.

“So Karla you’re really going out with James?” Conner asked from the other side of the table.

“We’re going to see a movie, that’s it.”

“I think he thinks it’s more than that.” Callie told Karla. “The way he looked at you and touched your hair led all of us to believe that you’d agreed to be his girlfriend.”

“I didn’t. I would’ve told you all that if I had. I agreed to go see a movie with him.”

“He told Dominic that you and he were going out. Dominic told me that when we were talking after lunch.” Rylee told her.

“He did what?”

“He told Chase the same thing.”

“Wow. I swear to you all I agreed too was a movie.”

“I think you may need to tell him that then because he thinks it’s more.” Conner told her, his mood was greatly improving the more he talked to Karla. Chase and Dominic, as well as Evan and Matt, had all asked him when Karla had started going out with James. They’d all known that Conner liked her and hadn’t made a move to ask her out because of that.

“I’ll talk to him in the morning.” Karla said. She was afraid that this wasn’t going to go well. She didn’t deal well with male anger and didn’t know how James would react. This could be bad.

“Karla? Are you okay?” Conner asked, worried about the expression on her face.

“Umm.. yeah. I’m okay. Just don’t want to hurt James.”

“He needs to be set straight. Unless, of course, you want to be his girlfriend. Then just leave things as they are.” Conner told her quietly.

“No. I don’t want to be his girlfriend. I never wanted to be his girlfriend. I just wanted to go see a movie with him.”

“He needs to know that Karla and you need to be the one to tell him.” Callie told her. “We have to get home. Mom wanted us home by six thirty for dinner.”

“Oh crap. I was supposed to be home by six. Mom’s going to ground me if I’m not careful.” Rylee said as she started putting her stuff in her backpack.

“Come on everyone. I’ll drive you all home, then we can pick up dinner and go eat with Andrew at the hospital Karla.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

After they dropped Rylee off they took Callie and Conner home then picked up Chinese take-out. Once at the hospital they found Andrew in his office going over paperwork. “Ready for some dinner babe?” Leslie asked as she shook the bag of food in his face.

“Yumm…smells like Chinese. I’m so ready for dinner. I missed lunch because of a double trauma and I’ve only had a cheese Danish from the snack machine since breakfast. Let’s go to the cafeteria where we have room to eat.”

Once they were seated Leslie looked at Karla. “What was that you and your friends were talking about before we all left the house?”

Karla sighed. She should have known Leslie would ask about James. “A boy named James asked me to the movies and I said I’d go, but now he’s telling everyone that I said I’d be his girlfriend. I never said that though. Conner is the one I want as a boyfriend, but that’s never going to happen.”

“Well honey, the only thing you can do is tell him. If he likes you he’ll back off until you say differently, if he doesn’t then he isn’t the type of guy you need to be dating anyway.” Leslie said to her. “Now let’s finish eating so Andrew can get back to work.”

Karla thought about what Leslie said throughout the rest of the meal and on the way home. When she climbed into bed she had a plan figured out and wasn’t as scared as she’d been before. Tomorrow was going to be a long day though.

Karla was quiet on the bus during the ride to school the next morning. She was afraid of what James was going to say after she told him that she wasn’t going to be his girlfriend and that she was beginning to think that going to the movies was a bad idea too. She was going to apologize for the misunderstanding and she really hoped they could be friends. When the bus stopped she followed Rylee and Callie off the bus and immediately spotted James leaning against the building. She hugged Callie and Rylee, smiled at Conner and walked toward James.

“Hey James. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure babe. What’s up?”

“Did you tell everyone that I’m your girlfriend?”

“I told a few friends of mine. What’s the big deal? We’re going to the movies together and I was planning on asking you to be my girlfriend after the movie. I knew you’d say yes so I went ahead and told a few people.”

“The big deal is that you never asked me and I never said I would. All I agreed to was a movie, nothing else. Furthermore, I would not have said yes. I don’t want a relationship right now. With finals coming up and the holiday break there just isn’t time for one. I’m sorry if you misunderstood my acceptance of your movie invitation, but that is all I ever agreed to.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want a relationship right now? What if Conner Newberry asked you to be his girlfriend? Would you go out with him?”

“We’re not talking about Conner, we’re talking about you and me, but no. Right now I don’t want a boyfriend at all. Since you know very little about my past you wouldn’t really understand, but I have my reasons.”

“I bet Conner knows why and I bet that’s the reason he doesn’t want to date you. I bet once he found out everything he decided you weren’t worth the effort and that’s why he backed off.”

If he’d slapped her it wouldn’t have hurt as much as his words just did. Even though she knew he was lying, she couldn’t help but wonder. “Leave Conner out of this. He’s a friend, nothing more.”

“That may be true, but I know you want more and he doesn’t. Why is that Karla? Is it because he found out something from your past? If I dig around into your past what will I find?”

“You’re such a jerk James. I’m glad I found that out now instead of wasting my time with you.” She turned to walk away and he grabbed her arm and jerked her back to him.

“We’re not done here.” He pushed her against the brick wall of the school and pinned her there.

“We have to get to class James. Let me go. Please just let me go.” She begged. Her fear was mounting and she was starting to shake uncontrollably.

“I’ll let you go when I’m finished.” He snarled and kissed her brutally. When he broke the kiss he pushed her harder into the wall and pressed his body against hers. She screamed then and he slapped her hard across the face. She tasted blood in her mouth where her lip split.

She was so shocked by the slap that she stopped screaming, but it had already been heard. As Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Wright walked out of the building they heard it and rounded the corner at the same time James ripped her shirt down the front, popping the buttons off. “I’m going to teach you what happens to girls who don’t give me what I want.”

“Mr. Greene, I suggest you step away from Miss Hall this instant.” Mr. Johnson said as he placed a restraining hand on James’ shoulder.

“Mr. Johnson, I can explain. Karla and I…” He stopped talking when he saw the look on Mr. Johnson’s face.

“Stop right there Mr. Greene, before you get into even more trouble for lying. I saw and heard enough to know what happened and there’s a camera right there that can tell me everything else I need to know. Miss Hall, why don’t you go with Mrs. Wright and get cleaned up. Then we can call Mrs. Peterson to come and get you. I’ll be sure to talk to your teachers and let them know that you are not to be marked absent today and to email your assignments to you.” When Karla and Mrs. Wright walked off Mr. Johnson looked at James. “Well Mr. Greene, let’s go to my office and watch this camera footage.”

****

Once she was safely in Mrs. Wright’s office Karla broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Mrs. Wright led her to the couch and sat down with her. Once her sobs lessened Mrs. Wright got her a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and a box of tissues off her desk, “Are you okay honey? We saw him rip your shirt, but your lip is bleeding, which leads me to believe he hit you too.”

“He slapped me when I screamed. Can you call Leslie now please? I just want to go home.”

“Sure honey. Anything else you need?”

“No. I just don’t want to be here any longer.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

When Mrs. Wright walked off Karla pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to her friends letting them know that she wasn’t feeling well and went home. She was just putting her phone back in her backpack when Mrs. Wright walked back to her. “Mrs. Peterson will be here in a few minutes. Anything you need in the meantime?”

“No. I’m okay. Just so tired.” She closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. As soon as her back touched the back of the couch she yelled out in pain and jumped to her feet. “Mrs. Wright, can you look at my back please?”

Mrs. Wright lifted her shirt and gasped in horror. “He must have pushed you into that wall really hard. Your back is already bruising.”

“Great. I’m really not cut out for this whole dating thing.” Karla pulled away from Mrs. Wright and pulled her hoodie on. She was glad she’d brought it with her today.

She’d just sat back down and dropped her head into her hands when Mr. Johnson walked in. “How are you doing Miss Hall?”

“Other than a busted lip and a bruised back I’m fine. What’s going to happen now?”

“I looked at the surveillance video and it’s very clean that Mr. Greene attacked you. He says that you provoked him, but I never saw anything on the video that even suggests that. When Mrs. Peterson gets here you may go home and if you don’t feel like coming to school tomorrow just have her call me and I’ll make sure it’s taken care of. I am very sorry this happened to you Miss Hall.”

Before she could say anything the door opened and Leslie walked in. “What in the World happened here? Mrs. Wright said Karla got hurt, but Rylee sent me a text saying that Karla sent them all a text saying she didn’t feel well and went home.”

“Leslie, if you’ll sit down I’ll tell you. I was about to tell Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Wright anyway.” When Leslie was seated beside her on the couch she began. “It started yesterday actually. James had asked me to the movies one day last week and I originally turned him down, but over the weekend I changed my mind and yesterday before school I told him that I’d go. Apparently he thought I was agreeing to more than a movie and told everyone that I was his girlfriend. This morning when I got here I asked him about it and apologized for the misunderstanding. He got very angry and started saying very hurtful things about my friendship with Conner. When I tried to walk away he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. Then he pushed me into the wall and kissed me. When he broke the kiss he pushed me harder into the wall and I screamed. I screamed and he hit me, which is how my lip got busted. Then he ripped my shirt and said he’d show me what happens to girls who don’t give him what he wants. That’s when Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Wright walked up.”

“Thank you Miss Hall. We got most of that on the video and with your statement added in I have all I need to expel Mr. Greene and I can assure you he’ll never be allowed back in this school.”

“I’m okay Mr. Johnson. I’m just glad you showed up when you did, Thank you.”

“Miss Hall I am sorry this happened to you.”

“Thank you Mr. Johnson. Karla let’s get out of here and get your back and face checked out. I want to make sure he didn’t break your cheekbone when he hit you.” Leslie thanked Mrs. Wright and then led Karla out of the school and into the car. She’d text Rylee and Callie after they got home and have them come over. Karla needed her girls tonight.