❝finis.❞

24 || finis

time || midday

Thank God it's Friday!

This week hasn't been bad but I wouldn't call it good, either.

Justice has not been taking an end to our friendship well. I was right about her telling all her little friends including Ashley to call me a whore and to spread nasty rumors around about me.

I'd say her tactic has not been a success. The viral video of me at the protest is the talk about school—squashing Justice's plan to have everyone chew me up and spit me out.

A lot of people are coming forth and talking to me and think I'm cool because of the video and it's growing popularity. Someone had even showed me videos of people copying my dance moves and uploading them on Snapchat AND YouTube.

All I can say is they make my moves look better. I don't know what I'd been doing in that video, but I wouldn't call it dancing. I can't dance to save my life. And in that video my friend, that wasn't dancing I was doing.

I'm too distracted by the stares—you'd think I'd be used to them by now—that I bump into someone sending me falling to the floor along with my notebooks and papers.

"Watch where you're going,"

I look up and it's Justice.

I glare at her as she walks away.

After this week, I'm well aware I won't call Justice a friend of mine ever again. She's just a mean person who enjoys making people's lives a living Hell. No wonder her and Simon Moore are cousins, they both take pride and joy in humiliating people and causing them pain.

I then get up and grab my papers off the ground.

"Need help?"

Etty Williams—the only person who can rock leggings at this school without even trying—helps me pick up my fallen papers.

"Thanks," I tell her.

She smiles. "No problem," she says.

And with a roll of her eyes adds. "Justice is a bitch."

I nod in agreement. "Got that right."

We both laugh.

:: :: ::

Today in English we're just reading.

That's what Mr Howard has us do each Friday in English 4. If you don't have a book to read in his class you're going to get an automatic zero.

It's the first five minutes of class and I've delved into a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver. I'm reading a story where a guy's wife has left him and he has a problem finding someone to take care of his children when he's at work. While Carver's writing is simple and clean, the symbolism and themes interwoven in his stories are so complex.

I'm at the last page of the story when the intercom comes on.

"Mr Howard?"

Mr Howard's turns his eyes away from the stack of papers he's grading, and looks at the little brown box that's hanging in the corner of the room.

"Yes," he says.

I go back to reading.

Whenever the intercom comes on I always wish for the secretary to say that someone's here to pick up Karen Rice.

I sigh dejectedly.

"Karen?"

Mr Howard said my name.

"Yeah," I feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Someone's here to pick you up."

I must've not heard the intercom.

I then slowly get up from my chair and grab my stuff before heading out.

It's only a couple minutes before lunch. Why would Mom want to check me out now?

I descend down the vacant hallway towards the office.

:: :: ::

When I enter the office I see a young guy facing me from the back, talking to the secretary, kind of flirting with her if you want me to be honest.

I don't see Mom anywhere. She'd be at the desk signing me out right now.

Where is she?

I take a seat in one of the chairs.

A few minutes pass.

"Hello, cousin."

I look up.

My heart begins to thump.

The interesting eyes, the full lips, and the nice smile... it couldn't be.

"Your Dad wanted me to come pick you up," he says, though his eyes tell me something else like, "Go along with this."

"He got held up and he wanted me to pick you up to take you to your appointment."

I stand up and smile. "Yes, thank you cousin Brolin."

The secretary throws us a look of awe. "I wish I was close with my family," she says pressing her hands to her heart.

I motion for Brolin to go out first.

"Have a nice day," I tell her.

"Good luck at your appointment."

:: :: ::

The first thing I do when I exit the school with Brolin is throw my arms around him him.

I then reach up on my tippy toes, and put lots of kisses on his face; the cheeks, the forehead, the nose...

I hug him again and he chuckles.

"C'mon," Brolin says taking my hand. "You wouldn't want them thinking we're doing incest."

I laugh and we go to the parking lot.

He opens the door for me and I get in.

When we're both in the car we face each other.

"It's you," I whisper.

"It's me," he whispers back, though I don't miss the way he keeps looking at my lips. Like he wants to kiss me right here, right now.

He does this by cupping my face with his hands and matching his lips with mine.

Heavenly. That's the one word I can use to define this kiss. It's as if it's the the confirmation to our new beginning, no more set backs. This is it.

:: :: ::

"Next thing you know I'm being loaded into a cruiser in cuffs."

"I'm sorry, it was all my fault," I say with a frown.

He shakes his head, a smile occupying his mouth. "No, it wasn't," he says, "I wanted to go with you. It was more of my fault for not trying to stay with you."

We both need to stop blaming ourselves.

My phone dings.

Mom 👩🏼
Chick Fil'A?

I cover my mouth. "Shit," I say.

"What?"

I look at him. "My mom usually picks me up for lunch..."

Though I don't say it, I'd rather take this time and spend it with him.

Brolin has a fallen look on his face that causes me to scold myself for not thinking ahead.

I have an idea.

I'm good. I'm gonna eat in the cafeteria with some friends from my study group today. We all got a pizza.

I think she'll take that.

It's not like I've told Mom I WASN'T involved in an after school study group, it's more of a white lie than anything. Last year I'd been in an after school study group (this year I'm not). Besides I can have friends from a study group but no friends at the same time.

See, I'm not totally lying.

Mom 👩🏼
K. Do you still want me to stop by? Pick you up after school?

Me
No. It's good. See you and Dad home around 5.

Mom 👩🏼
Sounds good!

"Everything's good," I tell Brolin after receiving the last text from Mom. "What do you want to do first?"

Brolin opens his mouth to about to answer, but I almost forget to ask him an important thing. "How's your grandfather doing?"

I see Brolin's eyes slightly falter.

"He... uh, died from lung complications on Sunday. The funeral was yesterday."

I put my arms around Brolin and pull him closer.

Telling from his reaction at my question, I'm well aware he was close with his grandfather.

"Were you able to see him before he..."

"Yeah," I hear Brolin say close to my ear as I'm hugging him. "...thank God I did."

After a few seconds Brolin pulls back and gives me a long look without saying anything; his eyes are imploring and earnest, which makes my heart skip a beat.

I'm not sure if whatever Brolin and I have is everlasting or... love. But it's something and I'm willing to spend another day with him, just to prove to myself that our relationship has potential to evolve into something eternal.

Brolin kisses me again. A sweet and short kiss which has the same effect as any of the other kisses he's given me.

We both stare at each other one more time before starting our day together.

There's a language between us, I realize.

:: :: ::

When he's taking us out of Warner High's parking lot, I see Justice standing on the curb near our school's entrance looking as if she's waiting for a ride. Her arms are crossed and her face expression resembles one of a child who just got told their not going to be getting a snack today.

I wave at her and Brolin doesn't fail to drive through the puddle of water left from when our school had been getting the ground cleaned.

Swoosh!

I turn around and see a drenched Justice wiping her eyes and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Brolin winks at me.

I smile and give him a peck on the cheek.

Finis.

:: :: ::

:: :: ::

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