Karma
"Hey, Kim." The voice was familiar. I spun around to look at my caller. It was Jared.
"What do you need?" I looked away.
"Are you free tonight? I need someone to go to Port Angeles with."
"Look, if you need answer keys, just tell me. I'll go copy it from my dad's lecture notebook. You don't have to go left and right, Jared. Just go straight to the freaking point." There was a long, awkward silence between us. I was about to tell him something to break it, but when I looked into his eyes, he looked like he was in severe pain.
"I'm really sorry about last time, Kim." Agony leaked from every word in his voice. It was risky falling for that; he was better than an actor.
"Nice acting." I sneered at him.
"I'm dead serious! I am sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you."
"I thought of you every stinking second last year, Jared. I broke my back, left it bleeding and went to school bearing that one hell of a pain just to see you. I stayed up late and slept in class just to do your essays and homework so I can see you freaking smile at me! And most of all, I had my self-esteem stepped on just so you could know how much I felt for you that time. Heck, maybe I have no self-esteem anymore. Do you think it's easy making up for all that!" I was left panting like a dog, but all I got from Jared was a big, successful grin.
"Wow, how insensitive." I rolled my eyes.
"It's not that, Kim. It just feels…so odd when I hear you say those things. Like there are butterflies in my stomach or something."
"Dude, stop being cheesy. You're good at acting and I hope you're happy now that you got praised for that." I swiftly turned away from him, but as soon as I took my first few steps, he grabbed me by the arm and abruptly pulled me near his chest. I was face to face with him, unlike before when my face could only level up to his chest. There was perhaps only half an inch that separated my face from his, and his hot breath fanned against my lips. I struggled away from his feverish grip, but it was too firm that my bones might break if I struggle even more.
"Please, Kim. Please. Go to Port Angeles with me." He asked me with pleading eyes. My cold heart softened up. I had the strong urge to touch his red cheeks, to tell him that I'll go with him and hug him tightly after that. I looked at his face, and then my heart froze again when I remembered that it was the face that betrayed me and shattered my heart into pieces.
"Kim, honey. I'm really sorry but I don't like you back. I only tolerated you because you ace my papers. I mean, c'mon! You're fat, ugly, not to mention, mini me's daughter. I would never hit on a girl like you, unless you were the last one on earth, maybe I will." I remembered it all clearly, like it was a movie being replayed for the second time. He could do it again.
"Let me go." I told him coldly. To my surprise, he did; but a part of me missed the way he gripped me.
I ran out of the school and went out of its boundaries; the strong urge to look back swelled in every cell of my body. I opened the car door and climbed in.
"Are you okay, honey?"
"Wa…what?"
"You look like you lost a lotto or something."
"Nah. It's just a bad day, as always." I looked out of the open window, with no intentions of looking at anything in particular. But something that reflected on the side mirror caught my eye.
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS!" I shrieked. The car made a screeching sound as it abruptly hovered to a stop.
"What? What?"
"Dad…who the hell is that girl?"
"Who?" I pointed a shaking finger towards the mirror.
"Whew! I thought I hit something. You better calm your reactions down, Kim. You're going to give me a heart attack. That's you. That's why people thought you were a new student." Dad started the car again.
I hesitantly touched my cheeks. It was real, what I saw in the mirror. They were prominent and rosy, unlike before when it was chubby and big. My hair was perfect like mom's, my lips looked soft and had perfect curves, my face grew longer and lost its blemishes and I was way taller than before. I looked like a seventeen-year-old supermodel.
"We're home." My dad announced. I was dying to step out of the car and look at myself in mom's mirror, which I spared when I was wrecking the rest.
I jumped out of the car and ran like I've never run before towards the door, but something hideous was pacing in front of it.
"Shit, dad! There's a humongous dog by the door!" I ran back inside the car and closed all the windows and doors. The dog had chocolate brown fur and was big as a horse. It ran beside the car and screeched its long nails against the window.
"Dad!" The dog was barking at me, exposing his set of dagger-like teeth. I could imagine those sharp things piercing through my legs and I felt blood rush up my body as I did. It didn't look anything like a dog when it was near; it looked like a gigantic wolf.
"Okay, here's what we'll do." My dad shouted from the inside. "On three, you come out of the car and I'll carry you home. Ready?" I deliberated for a while. The thing was too big that it could surely steal me away from my father and bite me like a doll. But then I remembered this segment on TV when this girl stayed in her car for too long and suffocated. I'd rather get bitten—I was used to it.
"Ready." I told him hesitantly.
"One, two, three." I barged out of the car and jumped into my dad's arms, heart palpitating rapidly. The brown thing followed my running father with no effort.
"Run faster, dad! Run!" I frantically screamed at him and realized that I was unconsciously hitting him like a horse. We finally reached the door and we closed it just when the thing was about to enter the house.
- -
"Shut the hell up!" I closed my window as I finished shouting at the howling dog. Even if the rain was pouring down violently, his howl was still clear as a bell. I took my pillows and stomped my way to my dad's room.
"Hey, dad. Mind if I sleep with you tonight?" I was surprised when he rose in an instant. It usually took some minutes of slapping before he wakes up.
"Sure. That dog's getting really annoying, Kim. Is the pound open at this hour?"
"Nah, I don't think so. I laid down at 10 and it's 4 now. That dog never stops."
"I pity him a bit, though. There's a storm outside and it's out in the cold."
"He'll make his way back to his owner, I'm sure." Man, who would ever want to own a beast?
"I don't know, honey. It seems like it likes you."
"Tss." I rolled my eyes. "Night, dad." I lay down on the bed beside him, trying my best to ignore the seemingly pained howling of the dog.
- -
"Take your seats, everyone!" I followed my dad into the classroom. There was a big chunk of girls in one corner; perhaps the one they were surrounding was deep inside their circle.
"O, Jared! You're sick as a dog!"
"Do you want to sleep in my house tonight? I could take good care of you."
"Aww! Poor Jared!"
"I said take your seats, everyone." My dad repeated sternly. All the girls dispersed and unwillingly took their seats, revealing a very sick Jared as they did. His hair wasn't gelled today; it was left on its natural way. I hate to admit it, but he looked better than his already incomparable self. His lips were red as berries and were a bit inflamed, and big purple eye bags lay beneath his sleepy eyes.
"Achoo!"
"Jared, are you alright?" My dad asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I think you need to go home."
"No!" His loud, instant reply surprised us.
"Well, we can't have you here. We might get your sickness. I'll have to send you to the clinic. Who do you want to accompany you?"
"Kim." He said without sparing a second to think. Dad looked at me, then I shook my head. He looked at me in a sharper way so I had no choice.
"Let's go." I said lazily. I unwillingly rose from my seat and walked to his chair. He stood up, placed one heavy arm around my shoulders and we both walked out into deserted hallway. He was hot as fire, his body heat still managed to pass right through my sweater. Though my back was facing them, I could tell that my girl classmates were bewildered.
"What's up with you?" I asked him as the door flung closed behind us.
"Flu, sore throat, fever, lack of sleep." He said as he blew his stuffy nose.
"How did you get all those things?"
"Crazy things you do out of love." I paused for a while to think. I don't recall any drastic things he did for me yesterday. What the hell, Kim? It could be another girl! You're not who he's talking about! He's just acting, remember? A surge of pain went through me as my conscience spoke.
"Who's the girl?" I asked him bitterly.
"You."
"Yeah, right. I don't reckon anything you did for me to get you these illnesses."
"You'll never know." He said in a mystique voice. "I bet you were annoyed last night, huh?" He spoke again.
"What?"
"That brown dog didn't let you sleep."
"How did you know about that?" I felt my forehead fold into creases.
"I have my sources." He said proudly. "I'm just like that dog, Kim. I'll be standing in the pouring rain all night for you. I'll never give up until you take me."
"Once again, nice acting." I shrugged his arm off by the time we reached the clinic door.
"Just remember what I said. I'll never give up 'til you take me. See you tonight, Kim." Tonight, I wondered. Nevertheless, I walked away, not minding the nonsense that came out of his mouth.