Chapter Fifteen:
February 17, 2002

I can't believe what happened today. The hits just keep on coming for Kay—I don't know how she can deal with all of it.

She actually managed to find the courage to go to school today, which surprised me. After the way that she refused to face her father or the rest of her family, I almost expected her to want to go and hide under a rock for a few weeks!

So she went to school, probably to show Jordan that she wasn't afraid of him. It's amazing what pride can do for you sometimes.

But then something happened. Something that even I had never expected.

Something that rocked her to the very core.

Something that involved our dumbass of a friend, Miguel.

"So what are you planning to do today?" Reese asked as they ate breakfast the next morning.

"Gee, Reese, I don't know," Kay replied sarcastically. "Seeing as how it is Monday, I was thinking about going to class. What about you?"

"Really?" he replied in shock. "I figured that you'd want to avoid school for awhile—you know how nasty rumors have a tendency to be started over the littlest things. It might be better if you just lay low for awhile. We could drive out to Castleton and hang at the mall or something, if you wanted."

Kay's mouth dropped open in shock. "Is this Reese Durkee, Class A Nerd, volunteering to skip school with me?"

Reese had to admit that he was almost as surprised by his words as Kay had been. He had never even considering cutting class before, but he supposed that Kay's current situation had changed everything. He figured that she wouldn't want to go to school and that she could use a friend, so he had volunteered.

"Yeah. So you up for it?"

Kay paused for a moment as she contemplated his offer. "Reese, I should go to school. I shouldn't miss school if I expect to pass my midterms in two weeks. I am so lost in Calculus it isn't even funny! This whole anti-derivative stuff is just way over my head."

Now it was Reese's turn to drop his jaw in shock. Kay was choosing to go to school when she clearly had a legitimate reason not to go?

"If that's what you want, Kay," Reese agreed, oddly disappointed.

He quickly questioned himself. Why had he had an urge to skip school? It's not like he and Kay would have done anything worth mentioning!

No, it was because he had grown to enjoy Kay's company. He still loved Kay and worried about what was in store for her at Harmony High that day. After the embarrassment that she had put Jordan through, he surely wasn't going to take that laying down, was he?

Yeah, chances were that Kay was in for a day filled with adversity. Hopefully, with his help, she would be able to deal with everything that was thrown her way.

~*~

"So, Reese, are you and Kay back together?" Missy Hernandez hissed before the bell rang in European Literature.

Reese sighed as he turned to face the nosy gossip seated behind him. So that's why everyone had been giving him weird looks all morning.

"No, Missy, we're not back together," Reese replied, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. He and Kay had had a not so neat breakup a few months ago because she was in love with their best friend. And now Missy thought that they were back together?!?

God, how he wished he had even the slightest reason to believe that there was any hope for him and Kay to restart their broken relationship. But there wasn't.

They had spent the whole weekend together, with her treating him as nothing more but her "good friend Reese."

He was glad that he had been able to get past the discomfort that had been there following their break-up and think of him as a friend. Really he was.

He just wasn't sure when he would be able to do the same.

"Really?" Missy pressed, leaning in closer as if that would allow her to read his mind. "So then it was just a one-night stand?"

Reese's brows furrowed. What the hell was she talking about? "One night stand?"

"Reese, you don't have to play innocent. Everyone knows that after Kay had her way with Jordan, she ran over to your place where you guys did the dirty all weekend long. You don't have to hide it."

Brrrrrrring!

Reese's jaw dropped. When Kay heard the rumors that were circulating, she was going freak out.

He had to pull her aside and tell her before someone else broke the news in an untactful manner. As he headed out into the hallway, he scanned the crowd for Kay.

He saw Miguel approach her with a disgusted expression on his face. Dammit, Miguel had heard the rumors and, apparently, believed them.

He had to get to Kay, save her from the onslaught that Miguel was sure to begin.

But as Reese was jostled through the crowded hallway, he saw Kay's mouth drop in shock and tears begin to well up in her eyes.

He had told her. No, chances were he had accused her without proof.

And he had the nerve to call himself their friend.