day never seemed to end. She asked Neil to save her a seat on the afternoon bus. They could always talk about the movie. He could re-enact every scene, sometimes better than how it was.
Neil took his backpack off the seat next to him. Kara sat down, glad today was over.
“Can I ask you something?” Neil began, waiting for her to nod. “What happened with you and Scott?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him, today. Maybe he’s sick or something.”
“I passed him on the way to Chem. Lab,” Neil pressed.
Kara took out her water bottle.This was her chance to start the right rumor. “We went to the dance Saturday and it didn’t work out. It’s me…maybe I’m just not ready to date.”
Those words were hard to say without her voice shaking. She took a long sip before putting her water bottle away. Neil was quiet, like he was thinking. The bus screeched to a halt.
“When WILL you be ready?” Neil managed.
“What did you say?” she asked, not hearing a word over the noise.
“Maybe we can do that, again … the movies, I mean,” he answered, losing his nerve.
“Sure. We had a good time. See you tomorrow, ok?”
Kara moved to the front of the bus, anxious to get home. She leaned against the back door after closing it, struck with two thoughts. It was over between her and Scott. The other one was … Neil repeated something different on the bus, just now. What he said the first time had nothing to do with the movies.
pb: ‘The worst part is…everyone wants to know what happened. IT’S OVER BETWEEN SCOTT AND ME! Why isn’t that enough? Why did I let Annie talk me into The Onion in the first place? All I wanted to do this year is pass Algebra. Ok so I miss him something terrible.’
RE-UNION
Kara looked forward to most weekends, but not this one. She agreed to go to The Onion on Saturday for one reason only. To get Mom off her case. It was so annoying the way she kept asking, “What’s the matter? Are you hiding from someone?” Of course Mom wasn’t totally wrong. With the exception of afternoon runs, she WAS spending more time in her room.
Kara led the way to a table with Annie and Neil close behind. She was even more nervous than her first time here. She didn’t look around; that was Annie’s job. She sat down and joined in a discussion about an English paper due next week. It got so quiet she could hear herself talking.
“Hey.”
She turned to see Scott behind her. “Hi, Scott,” she managed, trying not to sound surprised.
“Mind if I …?”
Kara shrugged an ‘ok’. Someone moved so he could sit next to her.
Scott looked around the table, saying a group ‘hi’. They struck up a conversation about a recent locker search. He waited for everyone to start talking among themselves and whispered to Kara, “Can we talk?”
She followed him to a booth, aware everyone was watching. As soon as they sat down, words poured out to break the tension.
“Can you believe I got a ‘C plus’ on the first algebra quiz? Just one more point for a ‘B minus’.”
“About the dance,” he interrupted. “I didn’t have to stay with the team, not for so long anyway. I spend enough time with them as it is.”
Kara felt her anger return. “I kept thinking…you don’t need me to talk to them. So why am I even here? I DID ask you to dance first, remember?”
“Ok,” Scott conceded. “But you didn’t have to dance…for so long.”
Kara had a bigger issue. “You called me ‘stupid’.”
“Yeah…I’m sorry,” he said, looking at her. He wanted to make this better.
“Look, Neil and I have been friends since grade school. You didn’t want to dance; he did. It’s that simple. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?”
Scott nodded in agreement. “Sunday’s coming up.”
She saw anticipation in his eyes. “I don’t know, Scott. I just don’t think I’m ready for this…to date, I mean.”
“We’re cool, right?” He questioned, shifting in his seat. He stayed long enough for her to say ‘yes’.
They both got up and went in opposite directions. Kara returned to the table, her seat still empty. Neil sat next to her, where Scott had been. Everyone looked at Kara like they just settled an argument. She missed something important; Annie would have to fill her in.
DECEPTION
After The Onion, Annie made it clear she was spending the night. Kara knew she was in for it.
“You just don’t get it do you, Kara?”
They sat down on the twin beds in Kara’s room.
“Ok, maybe I don’t. So why don’t you explain ‘it’.”
“Why do you think everyone was at The Onion today?”
Kara shrugged…she really didn’t care.
Annie rolled her eyes. “To see what’s up with you and Scott, silly! It’s not every day a junior goes out with a freshman. You’re the talk of our class!”
“Then today was a major disappointment for everyone.”
“He’s not only a junior, but a quarterback! No one in their right mind would pass him up.” Annie paused for her words to sink in. “Wait ‘til Monday. You’ll see what I mean. Everyone’s going to treat you differently.”
“What you’re saying is,” Kara surmised, “Everyone thinks more of me because I had a date with junior quarterback? That doesn’t make a lot of sense, not that it matters. ‘Everyone’ has to get Scott and I aren’t going out.”
Annie stared back. “You’re making a big mistake, Kara. You and Scott were together at The Onion. That means you’re still dating. Think about what you’re doing before you shut him out.”
Kara crawled under the covers and turned the light out, ending the conversation.
All she wanted was an ordinary Monday. She didn’t see Neil on the bus and hurried to homeroom. Kara told herself ‘everyone’ had forgotten about The Onion. “They have better things to do,” she decided, stopping at her locker.
“Kara, way to go,” Neil yelled from down the hallway. “You sure took HIM down!”
She couldn’t believe he said that! What did HE know, anyway? Kara threw a book in her locker, making a loud ‘bang’. To avoid him, she walked over to a group by the windows. Allison Meyer was among them. Kara couldn’t believe it when she
