Lucky Me
Chapter 038
He kissed me!
I couldn't believe that jerk did that to me and in front of all those people!
I-I couldn't do anything! All I was able to do was stare at him as he smirked, and then the other jerk. Oh man…what was going through that guy's head!? I mean I didn't even have time to think about what I was going to do or say until it came out of my mouth. Evilly.
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You." Since we were already standing up in the cafeteria, at the table we usually sat, and it took all of two seconds for Adrian to realize I was serious. Another tick and he was running like death was after him because I was about to catch and beat him into a pulp (just to make Mr. Logan proud!).
He took off down the hall, and you can bet I followed him. I didn't know what I was going to do when I caught up with him, well, besides a lot of bodily harm. But before that could happen I heard Mr. Dudley-Do-Right Drake yell after us.
"You two, to the principal's office. Now."
My mouth dropped, he was not doing this to me! "You're kidding!"
"Yeah, come on, Bobby, it was just a joke."
I shot a look over my shoulder that clearly said 'I'm-not-done-with-you-until-you-are-six-feet-under' and he must have understood because he backed away more.
"Kids," There's that word again! "I got to do the whole teacher thing, I can't let you go around Frenching ever girl in school, now can I?"
"It was just her."
Again, a hard glare in Adrian's direction.
"I'll get grounded for this, Bobby!" I whined.
"You're getting grounded for kicking me in the stomach." He smirked and then grabbed me by the arm, and Adrian's with the other hand and dragged us to the principal's office.
I was so dead after this!
"Why were you doing that anyway?" Scott asked as I left the principal's office. Apparently he was my guardian (him and Mrs. Jean of course, it's nice to know this information) and I had spent the last three hours hearing lectures from everyone who wanted to talk or rant. Adrian was banned from the next football game and I was given in school suspension, so I didn't have to go to my classes for a day.
Oh, pun-ish-ment.
Like suspension was anything bad!
"I didn't do anything! He just did it!" I defended. Scott gave me a look (at least I think he did, couldn't tell with the sunglasses). He was taking me back to the mansion early so I didn't arrested for homicide on the bus because Adrian was going to on the bus as well.
I wasn't going to kill him, only rough him up a bit (maybe a few broken bones).
"And so you were going to chase him down and beat him up about it?" I didn't even realize Scott opened the door to the car until after I got in. I guess that's because I didn't pay attention to details much, but for a moment it made me remember the only other man who ever opened the door to the car for me. I didn't want to think about it though, nothing but tears down that road.
"Sure. Why not? That's what you've been teaching me isn't it?" After pulling away from the school, he asked what that was supposed to mean. "You're teaching me that if someone doesn't agree with my point of view or does something I don't like, that I have a right to find them and beat them into submission, right?" Okay, so I was legit at the beginning, but as I continued to go, I got more and more sarcastic.
Scott for his part didn't even spare me a side glance, but the way he gripped his steering wheel, with his knuckles going all white gave me a fairly good idea I had ticked him off. Apparently that wasn't what they'd been teaching me, or so Scott thought. But that was Scott and this was Kookie, or Kerry, or Blyt-how 'bout I just call myself Multiple Personality Disorder Girl? MPD Girl! That would make the bad guys stop and think.
But still not as much as the whole 'Phoenix' thing. I didn't think Mrs. Jean was from Arizona. I was rambling because I didn't want to talk or think.
Finally Scott decided to talk to me, but he was in I-am-a-ticked-off-leader mood, and his words were clear, cut, and boring.
"We have been teaching you how to use your gifts," to beat up on bad guys, got it. "To make the world a better place," in a world that agreed with their point of view, "by learning and living with acceptance." Meaning that we are the ones that win, therefore we were right and the world had to listen to us.
"Gotcha," I sassed off again, and Scott didn't take too kindly to that (I was suddenly talking like a bumpkin from Smallville! Ah!)
"Why are you so difficult lately?"
You want I should make a list? Or just the top ten reasons? Come on! I was under stress, and you, reminded me of my Dad. I didn't want you, Scott, to remind me of him, because that meant I would want to be adopted by you and your perfect wife, and I'd forget my real dad.
Did I just think all of that? I told myself I wouldn't think about it!
"I'm a teenager," I answered, but not with the venom of my previous words. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't fly away from anyone now. And the person who would understand and wanted to know about what was going inside my head (without going inside my head) was back at the PSSC.
"You are more mature than most teens we get at the mansion." He must not know a lot of teens then, I could pitch a drama fit with the best of them. "That's half the reason you were put in charge of the new students."
Not because I was the only sap who said yes and didn't want to find out how the robots worked? Or because I didn't throw things at anyone's head when they woke me up at four in the stinkin' morning to go globe hopping? Sheesh, I was in a rotten mood.
"Maybe I should just let the state take me." I really meant to grumble that into my hand where he could hear but not understand what I said…oops. No such luck.
"What?" Scott about slammed on the brakes (I think we were taking the scenic route back to the mansion because we would have been there by now!).
Somewhere, something inside of me finally snapped, but I didn't fly off into a rage, instead I brought my knees to my chest (yes, stuffed in that little car) and started to cry my heart out. I didn't see this coming! And there was no person to hold me until I was done. I hated crying in front of people.
Especially without a reason, though I did have a pretty good reason.
Between my mental fussing and lack of fighting the depression, Scott stopped the car, got out, came around to my side, opened the door, and somehow I ended up crying into his shirt. I didn't think he was this showy. I didn't think he would let me do this. Scott wasn't my him, and it was him who I wanted to talk to.
"What's wrong?" Scott sounded worried, as if he had done something wrong. Technically he didn't, but I wanted to blame him. What right did he have to want to take the place of my real Dad? It was hard to accept my mother's declaration of indifference, but I knew my Dad would have loved me still. I knew because he said he always would. I would always love my Dad, but no one understood, because no one realized that I had forgotten until now.
I had completely forgotten about it.
"I know chicks are supposed to have mood swings, but from romance, to anger, to tears?" Adam sounded astonished, and I was pretending to be asleep when the other guys were discussing it. Again, they were walking around on eggshells afraid I would start crying again.
That's why I really hated crying in front of people. They seem to never forget it!
I never told Scott what I was blubbering about, and that was how it was going to say.
Mrs. Jean stopped by to ask if I wanted to talk about it. My natural reaction was try to push the thoughts into other ones, like she taught me, and be leery of the woman who could completely erase my mind or invade my head at her convenience. So I just told her it was personal, and did the whole cold shoulder thing.
He was smart enough to stay away from me. I was ticked off at him as it was for what he pulled at school. Because of him I got into huge trouble, and ended up crying in front of Scott. The one that acted like nothing should affect a leader. And some great leader I was turning out to be.
They were going to have me on Prosac before tomorrow, I just knew it!
"Man, shut up." Was Chris' response, if I wasn't pretending not to be listening, I would have asked him if he was sick or something. He actually defended me! Shock, gasp, disbelief! "Didn't you ever have a bad day?"
Or a bad year?
"Yeah, but she's always in an unstable, weird mood." That's it. Adam had just gone down in my book. "But that's what makes her, her. She's just normally not that bad." Okay, so not as far down.
"Who wouldn't go wacky here? Especially with her mom," Adrian piped in. I wished he would have just kept quiet. "But her sister's okay."
"Break it up, guys!" Bobby-Jerk ordered, "Have your Jerry Springer time somewhere else."
I'd have to thank that Jerk for it later, whenever I decided to talk to anyone again.
"Today is the day." Daisy-Mae shouted, slamming open my door.
Never slam open a door when the person in the room was sleeping. I fell out of bed, screamed, and hit my head in under two seconds (that's a record for me!). And when my eyes stopped spinning in my head, I gave her a death glare, "Don't ever do that again!"
"Oh, it speaks!" D-M acted all astonished as she shook her head and plopped down on my bed as I clambered up to my feet. "You've been so quiet the last few past days, Ah thought that you were taken over by a brain sucker and were nothing more than a hollow shell."
I raised an eyebrow in complete question to what the heck she was talking about; D-M only shrugged and said it was a late night freak show all night on channel Horror.
"So you spent the night with Chris?" And I swear I was joking, but the girl blushed and stuttered out a no. This was so worth investigating. "And what is today and why are you in here?"
"Because!" She got up and started the dramatic acting bit again, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, it's Friday, and it's time to pick state or Summers."
"Oh, that." I went back into my closet, and started to get dressed (which mostly consisted of tank tops that I had to do this funny wiggle into, wiggle out of thing to get them on thanks to my wings). And jeans, of course I wasn't going to go marching around in tank top and underwear. I lived on the guy's wing, they might feel comfortable walking around in boxers, but I was still a girl and was still modest (except in that uniform).
"So, are you packing or are you staying?" D-M seemed serious about this.
Hello! Defensive mechanisms!
"Oh come on! This is my way out of here! Who would want to hang around a place like this when I could live in a place full of people my age?" I kept back the comment of 'oh, wait, I already do'.
"You cannot be serious!" She about tackled me after I got out of the closet. "You can't leave!"
"Of course I can't! You got me in a choke hold and I can't even breathe!" I tried to get out of her monster embrace, which was more like she was crushing my stomach in because she was holding on to it so tight.
"And you have school!"
That seemed to snap her out of her convince-Kerry-to-stay death crush.
"Oh right! Ah'm going to be late!" Daisy-Mae got up and ran to the door, but as she was leaving she shouted, "Don't leave!"
It took a moment to shake off that thought, and I decided it was better not to compare myself and D-M. We were two totally different people. And as for the whole adoption issue?
I had made up my mind.
As I was leaving my room, I saw him standing cross armed, leaned against the door leading to the stairwell. I looked at him and about passed out, I thought for sure he'd be gone by now. He didn't try to hide his face or his eyes, have mercy, his eyes were not happy.
"Have fun, Kerry." And he was gone. Not another word.
I guess he heard my teasing D-M about leaving.
We had been at Paul's office for over an hour and finally got to see the annoying little man. Surprise of surprises, my mother was there (no Darcy) and so was her two-bit-hick lawyer (I was not upset-riiiiight). She barely gave me a passing glance as I sat down with Paul. The Summers' said they would wait outside, but knowing Mrs. Jean she'd be listening in anyway.
"We are here to discuss whether or not Mrs. D'mon is going to take the proposition offered by the guardians of her daughter." Paul started; I didn't mister him because he was too mean to deserve it. My mom bristled when the word daughter was used. Was she that hateful she refused to recognize that I was part of her?
Argh! This woman was so on my nerves! Especially since it was so close to the anniversary—it was right after—No! I couldn't let her win by wimping out at the finish line! I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing my heart break again.
"Mrs. D'mon has agreed that despite the charges, she will put Kerry up for adoption. She has expressed no concern over what happens to the child from there." I was really getting sick of being called kid and child.
"As we have discussed, there are those who are not so closed minded that are willing to care for the young lady, if her biological mother no longer wants to be there for her." Whoa, go Paul! Elegant, and yet just as much a stab as the best of them!
"There is no need to be on unfriendly terms." Oh sure, she's just ditching me. Heck, where was the cake and the wine? Let's celebrate!
"Of course not," Paul added dryly, this guy was turning into my most favorite lawyer I had ever met!
He's the only lawyer I'd ever met, but let's disregard that fact for right now.
"As requested, Mrs. D'mon will have her few minutes alone with Kerry."
Huh? Why? She could be packin' a pistol!
"Of course."
They left and left me with psycho woman extreme. She was my mom, but she was also the one person who I never thought I would have not wanted to be alone with in a room.
We sat in silence, and she never looked at me. I wouldn't look at her, I was staring at the door where the lawyers went out, and my jaw was still hung open. I turned my eyes to her first, and then my whole body.
It felt so weird, "So, uh," and that was all I got out before she cut me a look.
"Don't talk." and Kerry shut it up at that command. "This is my time to tell you some things."
I was going to die and there were no witnesses.
"You probably hate me." With all the love in your voice right now? And your actions in the past? Nah, I still think the world of you, Mommy-dearest. "And I think you have every right. From now on we will be strangers, legally."
"I guess so," I replied, trying not to let my heart break too much while I was in front of her.
"I'm sorry, though, that this had to happen so close to your father's death."
Strike and crumble goes my heart. That's what I had forgotten, and I felt as if I betrayed him. I swore to myself I would never forget the day he died. It was two years ago and yet, it seemed so much longer.
"But it is done, and it is done for the best," she continued and then reached into her purse. I was ready to duck and roll, but instead of a gun (I was pessimistic about this conversation, what could I say). "This was something your dad had made a while ago; you were supposed to get it on your birthday, but since I won't know you then. I might as well give it to you now. But this is not from me. This is from your dad." yeah yeah, I got it, you hate me. Don't worry, no one could mistake that.
She tossed me a small jewelry box. I didn't bother to open it; I didn't want to share any memories with her. Now that she wasn't mom, she was only Heather. I never dreamed this would ever happen. Who does?
"And as for your adoption. What would your father think?" She questioned with a cruelty I thought only fairy tale step mothers were capable of having.
A knock on the door and then with the lawyers came back in.
I didn't have time to give any reaction to her last stab at me, so I ignored it.
Heather signed some papers, more legal babble was spoken, and I knew I made the right decision. Once Heather and her lawyer were gone, and it was only me and Paul, he looked at me with (dare I believe) sympathy and asked if I had come to an answer?
"Yeah, I know what I'm going to do."
