Finding Laila: Some Changes are Necessary (9 page)

“You
think?” I almost yell as I stare out to my three friends who are chatting with
my little sister. I look up at Braxton. “What about you? Anything I should
know?”

“Nope,
sorry Lai. As much as I’m sure you wish I was into you, I’m not.” He winks and
I kick at his foot.

“That’s
not what I mean,” I laugh. “I’m learning that everyone has secrets, and I
thought we shared everything.”

“Where’s
the fun in that? Everyone needs a little mystery. Otherwise, what’s there to
learn about each other?”

“Yeah.”
I shrug. “Well, don’t keep your deep darks too deep and dark for long. Okay?”

He
gives me his signature one-arm hug and kisses the top of my head. “You got it.”

“Let’s
go rescue Luka from those three,” I say as I step toward them.

“Since
when do you care about your sister?”

“I’ve
always cared,” I argue. “She’s just really good at doing what little bratty
sisters do—annoy me. But… we came to an agreement today.”

“An
agreement with a five-year-old? This I gotta hear.”

“I
told her she can have Haden when I’m done with him,” I laugh just as we reach
everyone. Luka looks up and smiles at me, but Braxton sits next to her on the
bench.

“Hey
Luka,” he says, pulling her to his lap, “why don’t you be my girlfriend? I’m nicer
than Haden.”

Cole
pipes up, “The hell—
heck
—you
are.” He sits in the seat Luka left. “I’m cuter than all three of these fools.”

Joey
looks at
me and shrugs
. “I guess I better make my
pitch. Luka, I’m smarter than all of them.”

She
glances my way and I throw my hands up, but Haden squats in front of her and
asks the question I want to know myself: “Why me?”

“Because
you got all the pretty bracelets and you got Lala flowers for her birthday last
year. I like flowers,” she says shyly.

“Speaking
of birthdays,” Joey interrupts. “Someone’s birthday is coming up.”

“No.
Joey, I mean it. No.”

“You
only turn eighteen once,” Cole argues.

“Party,”
Haden laughs, knowing that I’m staunchly against it.

“We
can do it at my house,” Braxton offers. “I’m sure my parents won’t care.”

“Guys,
I’m serious. Can’t we hang at the quarry, just us? I don’t want to make a big
deal about it. Besides, you four are my only friends, remember?”

“Too
late.” Cole pulls out his cell phone. “I’m going to start texting people to
make sure they save the date.”

“If
y’all want a party so bad, just throw one—you don’t need my birthday as
an excuse.”

“Lai,
if we want to throw you a party, we’re going to throw you a party. And you’re
going to smile and have a good time, because it’s your damn birthday.” Joey
points as if it’s the final decision.

“Can
I come?” Luka asks.

“I
think it may be past your bedtime, but we’ll talk to your mom and dad,” he
answers.

We
all turn when we hear laughing and carrying on, realizing that my parents have
arrived. I take Luka’s hand and walk her to Mom and Dad, and they give us both
a hug before taking her off my hands.

“You ready for this?” Braxton asks when
we get out of his car.

He
came by to pick me up for school since we both have early tutorials, so I’m not
sure what he’s asking about.

Am I ready to study?

Am I ready for people to
find out about Haden and me?

Am I ready to get the day
over with?

It’s
a loaded question.

Instead
of any of the questions running through my head, I say “Yeah, let’s do it.” I
toss my bag over my shoulder and walk through the parking lot. There aren’t
many people here yet, but the few that are stare a little more than necessary.

“So
you and Haden,” he says, throwing an arm over my shoulder. “It wasn’t so
weird.”

“Yeah,
me and Haden,
” I agree. “What about you, Brax? When
are you finally going to choose someone?”

“How
do you know I haven’t?” he challenges.

“Have
you?” I ask with wide eyes. “Is there someone catching your attention?”

“Maybe.”
He cocks his head to the side and smiles. “Maybe not.”

“You
are one frustrating guy. You know that, right?”

“So
I’ve been told.”

Most
people around here have Braxton and other starters—football starters,
that is—on a pedestal, and no one dare talks anything about or to them.
There are a few who’ve been known to cross that line, but for the most part,
there is a strange sense of respect among them.

Usually.

“So
you finally tappin’ that, Braxton?” someone from behind us calls out.

Braxton’s
not stupid. He knows the things people say about and to me, but he isn’t
exactly privy to the constant barbs hurled my way on a daily basis. He stops
mid-step and turns around to see two of his teammates laughing and carrying on.
He looks at me and I shrug my shoulders and give him
a
what
are you gonna do
look and try to continue walking, but he tugs at
my hand and stops me.

He
is the only one who stands back to let me take care of myself and I relish the
confidence he has in me.

“Tappin’
what exactly?” He starts to walk toward them with an eerie calm.

“C’mon,
man, don’t get all pissy about it. It was just a joke,” Jason Cannon, the
second string quarterback laughs.

“I’m
not pissy.” He turns to face me with a confused look on his face. “Do I look
pissy, Nixon?”

“Nope,
not at all. You look downright relaxed, Brax. It must be from all that
tappin’
you’re doing,” I say with a
straight face.

“I
suppose so,” he agrees and then turns back to the two
roided
-up
jerks in front of him.

His
teammate is not amused and decides not to back off. “Damn, Jameson. If you
can’t get the job done, maybe you wouldn’t mind if I took Laila out.”

I
can’t help but laugh and walk over to tell him exactly what he can do with his
idea.

“Just
in case you can’t understand me, I’ll speak in terms you might recognize.” I
nod at him, still smiling. “You will never make the team, Cannon. You will
always be second string and will never even get to suit up. Got it?”

His
grin fades and the guy standing next to him, Marcus Taylor, slugs him in the
arm and starts laughing. Cannon isn’t as amused with my rejection as the other
guy and takes a step toward me, but Braxton places a hand on his shoulder and
stops him.

“I
didn’t know you had a incriminating plate,” he says.

I
try to stifle my laughter, but it doesn’t work because Braxton lets out a
gut-busting laugh. I join in and watch confusion cover Cannon’s face.

“It’s
a
dis-
cern
-
ing
pal-ate
,” I correct, breaking the word up in
explanation. “And I do, I have a very discerning palate—and illiterate
assholes don’t make the cut.”

“Oh
damn!” Marcus shouts before walking away, laughing the entire time.

For
his part, Jason looks at me with wounded pride while he tries to think of a witty
comeback—something to put me in my place—but when he remains at a
loss I walk over and pat Braxton’s shoulder.

“Thanks
for the ride, I’ll see you before class—I need to get to Mr. Garcia’s for
tutoring.” He gives me a nod of
approval,
all the
while Cannon tries to stare me down. I can feel his eyes burning into me when I
walk away.

I
hear Braxton lay into him when he thinks I’m out of earshot, but I’m not
interested in the exchange. I said everything I needed to, so I know Brax is
backing me up. He’s one of the good guys.

Thankfully,
I have a few minutes to stop by my locker on the way because my bag is heavy. I
make quick time of stuffing everything in there and grab my notebook so I can
go over the notes from the other day.

Physics
is not my favorite subject and I’m already struggling to maintain a B average.
While my grades aren’t low, if they continue to drop I’ll have a hard time
keeping my class rank, and thus getting into my first choice for college. Joey
has helped when he can, but he’s been tutoring several students in other
subjects and I don’t want to overload him. Mr. Garcia is a decent enough
teacher, so maybe he will be able to explain projectiles to me.

As
soon as I enter the room the thought that I wish I were struggling in a
different subject crosses my mind. My legion of fans is very small, and my
haters—well, I’m staring at three of them spread across the room.

Kasey
Daniels is the senior class
it
girl.
Every girl wants to be her and almost all of them hate her. But of course they
follow everything she does because that’s what you do—follow the
bitchiest girl and try to be just like her.
Right?
Kasey has been interested in Braxton for years—part of the reason for her
scathing attack on me at the football game. She’s gone out of her way to get
closer to him, but he’s never showed her any attention. Since she can’t be a
jerk to him—
you know, because it
would ruin her potential chance of ending up with him
—she lashes out
at me.
Whatever
.

Cate
Landry is not your typical popular girl. She’s pretty, average smarts, and a
star athlete who has already lettered in three sports. I think that’s why she
and Cole were drawn to each other. They dated for a few months at the end of
junior year and into the early summer. I really liked her and I thought they
made a pretty cute couple. She and I actually got along well, and for a moment
I let my guard down and thought that I might actually have a female friend. It
didn’t last. Rumors started to spread
mid-June that Cole had cheated on her and suspect
numero
uno
was one of his oldest friends—
moi
.
Needless to say, she’s not spoken to
me again and makes sure to let me know how much she hates me.

And
then there’s Bailey Butler, Joey’s girlfriend. She has that all-American
girl-next-door thing happening. Her naturally blonde hair is cropped just below
her shoulders and has a cute wave to it. She’s not the type Joey has dated in
the
past,
Bailey is curvy with a great sense of style.
I’ve had to listen to him endlessly drone on about her electric blue eyes as if
they hypnotize him.

It’s
funny because Bailey and I haven’t talked much, but I know more about her than
I care to. She’s one of the few trust-fund kids in town, and when she and Joey
started to date everyone wondered why. They are complete opposites, so I suppose
that’s the draw. When he told me that they were going out on a date, my first
thought was
how much is he paying her?
But then I remembered the fund and realized that she must really like him. That
is all I need to know. She must be good people to see the awesomeness that is
Joey Parker the third. Yet, she won’t hang out if I’m around, so I’ve made
myself scarce.

It would be cool if we
could actually talk and maybe she’d realize I’m not the enemy.

“Ms.
Nixon,” the teacher calls when I take my seat, “glad you could make it. What is
it that you need help with this morning?”

“Life,”
Kasey mutters under her breath, but I ignore her.

“Projectiles,”
I answer, turning to the page in the class textbook.

“Excellent,
that’s why Bailey is in here, too
.
Why don’t you two
get together and I’ll be there in a few minutes?”

Great.

I
glance back at Bailey, who seems to share my unease at the pairing, but I get
up and do as instructed and she moves her bag so I have a place to sit.

“How’s
it going?” I ask her with a small smile.

“Could
be better,” she answers. I’m not sure if it’s a jab at me, but I choose to
overlook it.

“Why
isn’t Joey helping you with this?” I point to the page in the book.

“
Dunno
.” She shrugs.

“You
realize he’d drop—pretty much everything—to help you out, right?”

“I
didn’t ask,” she responds as she keeps her eyes trained on her paper. Her
cheeks turn slightly pink and it looks like she’s fighting a smile.

“Well,
you should,” I tell her, looking at my own paper. “He’s really into you.”

“You
think?”

“Don’t
play that game.” I shake my head and turn to face her. “You know he’s into you,
and I know you’re into him—so no games. Okay?”

She
slowly turns to look at me and narrows her eyes because I know I came off
harsher than I intended—but I don’t sugarcoat.

“I
don’t like you much,” she says.

Apparently she doesn’t
sugarcoat either.

“You
don’t know me, and I could say the same thing about you,” I challenge.

“Fair
enough.”

“So
tell me, what have I done—
to you
—that
makes you not like me?”

She
taps her pen on the top of the desk and I know she’s trying to rifle through a
list of my rumored offenses.

“That’s
what I thought. So why don’t we do the clean slate thing?”

“Ye-yeah,”
she stammers. “Okay.”

We
don’t have time to talk more because Mr. Garcia walks over and begins to
explain the lesson we have been working on. I got lost somewhere last week in
class and haven’t been able to catch up. He hands us each a sheet with examples
of projectiles and continues talking animatedly about the subject.

Gotta
love teachers who are passionate about what they teach, even if it’s the most
uninteresting subject ever.

He
walks away to help another person and leaves us in silence looking over the
information.

“Look,
Joey is one of my best friends, and since you are dating him, I would really
like to see if we can get along. You good with that?”

“Yeah,
I think I’m good with that.” She smiles somewhat timidly.

“Then
I am extending an invitation to the party,” I say.

“Your
eighteenth?”

“Yeah,”
I exhale and cover my face with my hands. The guys have started putting it out
there that I will be having a party. One I want no part of and they are
handling completely.

“All
right,” she starts to pack her things up because it’s almost time for school to
start, “let’s go find Joey and the guys and see what they’re planning so we
know what you need to buy for this thing.”

“Oh
no.” I grab my own things and follow her out the door. “I do not shop. Like
ever. If I can’t buy it online and it doesn’t fit, then I don’t get it.”

“You
are such a tomboy,” she retorts and I find the banter easy, though she doesn’t
know me well enough to say what type of person I am.

“Look,”
I stop her and find myself defensive, “you might not like my style, but it’s
done well for me so far and I like it.”

She
bites the side of her lip and forces a smile. “I wasn’t saying there’s anything
wrong with how you dress. I actually think you have a great style…I was just
thinking that maybe you and I could hang out and see if maybe we have anything
in common outside of Joey.”

“Sorry,”
I relent and force my own smile. We start walking toward the guys and I see
Haden watching the two of us with fascination. As we get closer to them I nudge
her with my elbow. “Movie. My house, Friday night—but something funny,
okay?”

“Yeah,
that sounds good.” She walks into Joey’s arms and gives him a hug.

“What
sounds good?” Joey asks as he looks between the two of us.

“Your
girlfriend and I are going to watch a movie Friday night—you guys aren’t
invited,” I add with a smile.

“Good
thing it’s a bye or I’d be pissed,” Braxton warns with his trademark smirk.

“So
what are your plans then?” I ask of the group.

“I
was going to take my girlfriend on a date, but since you stole her for the
night, I guess I’m going to head to the gallery to see Searle’s art.”