Chapter EIGHT

"Did you see Kyler's face?"

   I heard Sam Rollins, a girl who sat behind me in my Health class, whisper to somebody, at school on Monday.

   "Yeah, I heard he got decked at a party on Saturday," the girl answered.

   "Steph said he won't say who it hit him," another girl spoke up.

   I closed my eyes, trying to stay calm. I'd seen Kyler's face that morning, and it looked worse, for sure. He had avoided eye contact with me when I passed his locker, so I knew he was serious about what he had said in his car. He was going to ignore me, now. Great.

   At lunch, I saw him with Kane and Gibson, Mandee and another girl Trish, hanging close by, on the bench by the field.  It wasn't long ago that I was sitting there with them, flirting with Kyler. But now I was back with Kaylee and Georgia, eating lunch at our regular picnic table. Neither of them were saying much. I had made everything weird.

   "So," Georgia began, pulling out her container of fruit from her lunch bag. "What actually happened to Kyler's face? Do you guys know?"

   Kaylee smacked her arm, giving her a look. I just shook my head. Georgia didn't know, because she wasn't at the party. And I was glad about that.

   "I can't do this. I'm going home sick," I said, packing up my lunch quickly.

   "Hey!" Kaylee called after me, as I headed towards the school. 

   I ignored her, going right for my locker, then to the office to sign out. I told the secretary I had a bad headache, then tossed my backpack on and went towards the doors to leave. I was actually surprised that Kaylee and Georgia weren't already following me.

   "Marley?" someone said from behind me, before I made it to the door. I stopped, but didn't turn around. "Hey. Do you know what happened to my brother? He won't talk. Our parents want to know -"

   "Sorry, no. I'm actually going home sick," I said to Stephanie, Kyler's sister, shaking my head. I had looked back, over my shoulder. But I knew it was here, before I even looked.

   "Well, were you with him?" she asked, looking desperate.

   I knew I wasn't a good liar, but I did it anyway. "No, I wasn't."

   And then I was gone.

   Why are you protecting Kane?  I texted Kyler first, once I was home, in the safety of my bedroom.

   Lunch would be over now, so he would be in class. I waited, but he didn't reply.

  I sent a text to Kane, a few minutes later. Are you happy now?

   After watching a whole movie, I painted my finger nails. Being home alone during a school day was strange, especially since I wasn't even sick. I so rarely missed school, that I didn't even know what to do. I got a text around 2:30P.M., and practically ran across the room to check it. I was hoping it was from Kyler.

   You okay?  Kaylee. Of course.

   Yes, fine, I told her.

   Can I come over? Leaving soon, she asked.

   Okay.

   But as soon as she was in my bedroom with me, I couldn't hold it in anymore.

   "I don't get why Kyler isn't talking," I said, pacing from my bed to my closet and back. "And why the hell is he with Kane, acting like nothing happened?"

   Kaylee shrugged. "Easier than causing more drama, I guess. I heard Kyler got kicked off the football team last season, for fighting. He probably just wants to move on."

   "Yeah, move on from me," I said, sounding pathetic.

   Kaylee rolled her eyes at me. She was now painting her own nails, at my desk. "Did you talk to Kane?"

   "No. I'm afraid I'll slap him," I said, but forced at smile at her. "My dad put him up to it, you know? He told him to watch out for me."

   "Oooh. I honestly thought Kane was just jealous -"

   "What?" I stopped, now staring at my best friend.

   "You know, when he saw you making out with Kyler."

   "What the hell are you saying?" I asked, my eyes wide.

   "Nothing. I just assumed Kane was into you, so that's why he wanted Kyler to stay away?" This didn't seem weird to Kaylee.

  "Kaylee, no," I said quickly. "No."

   "Okay, sorry," she laughed, looking back down at her nails.

My phone buzzed when I was at the dinner table with my family, a couple hours later. Andy was beside me, pushing around some peas with his fork. I wasn't supposed to text at the table, but I looked down at my phone, in my lap.

   I'm actually protecting myself.  It was from Kyler.

   I ignored it for now. I was still mad at my dad, but was trying hard to act normal. Hiding my feelings was not exactly something I was good at.

   "Homework tonight?" my mom asked casually, refilling her glass of water.

   "Yeah, I'll do it in my room after dinner," I answered, then finished my vegetables quickly, so I could excuse myself from the table.

   I didn't reply to Kyler, but Kane texted me back while I was writing a book report, for English. I saw his name on the screen, but waited awhile before I actually opened the message. I wasn't sure that I was ready for what he had to say.

   Actually, I'm not happy.

   Good. You get off easy because Kyler has to stay out of trouble. Nice, I sent back right away.

   Kane: You don't know the whole story.

   Me: I don't care. You got Kyler to stop talking to me. You win.

   Kane: It's not about winning, Marley.

   I sighed. So what's it about? My Dad?

   Kane: What? No.

   Me: I know that he asked you to basically follow me around and tell him what I'm doing.

   Kane: No, Marley. Just leave it alone.

   Me: Leave it alone? This is my life.

   Kane: It's just high school.

   Me: Yeah, exactly.

   I don't know if he replied after that, because I was so mad at everything that I turned off my phone for the rest of the night.