"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I thought she was like perfect, but she's like kinda clingy. And I swear, the only time SHE kisses ME is in front of Dawes. It kinda pisses me off."
"Yeah, I kinda noticed that."
Bryce says, "Speaking of Dawes, what's up with you two?"
"I don't know. We're hanging out, having fun. It's new, chill, we're getting to be really good friends. I like him."
"Are you worried he and Peyton will get back together, and he'll dump you?"
"Well, we aren't going out. He says he doesn't like her anymore, and I think he had A LOT of um, rebound girls this summer, but does that mean he's ready for a relationship with me, or anyone else? I really don't know."
Bryce says, "It looks like your uh, relationship is doing just fine."
"Stop insinuating shit. I hate when people do that. If you wanna know something or say something, just say it."
"You seem pretty tight, like maybe having sex tight."
Jake, "Wait. So I'm going out with Peyton, can't hang with other girls, getting zero and you aren't going out with Dawes, he can do what he wants, and he's getting it? Dude, that's jacked up."
"I never said he's getting it, but yeah, pretty much. He asked me if we should be going out, but I said no. I mean, I don't wanna rush things. I want to be sure he's over Peyton and even though he says he is, I'm still not sure. Plus I'm still kind of getting over someone myself."
"Heard what the surfer dude did to you. That was pretty low."
"Oh my gosh! How do you hear this stuff?"
"Football practice. We stand in line a lot. We talk," Jake says.
"Dawson told me," Bryce says.
Jake looks at me closely. "Riley told me. He have a crush on you? Cause someone said something about you, and he about came unglued."
"What happened?"
"Well someone made a remark about you and Dawson and it um, well it was sorta derogatory toward you. And Riley like slammed him up against the locker and told him to shut the fuck up."
"What?! When was this?"
"Yesterday, after practice."
"Why did he not tell me?"
"I don't know."
"Wait. Who said something about me and Dawson?"
"Uh,"
"Tell me!"
"Um, it might have been Peyton's bro."
"Aiden???!!!!"
"Yeah."
"WHAT DID HE SAY??"
"That Dawson was just using you. Well actually he used a different word than using. Sorry." (Aiden! How could you?!) "I know I haven't been here very long. I told Dawson last week that his reputation sucked. It needed a makeover. Does my image need a makeover? Do you guys think I'm slutty? Do people think that?"
Bryce says, "Well, I don't. I think you're fun. You have kissed a lot of guys though, but you just kissed them, right? I mean that's what I've heard."
"Yeah, well except for Dawes, we did more than kiss this weekend. And I haven't kissed anyone since."
"Three whole days, huh?" (Point for Jake.) "Shut up."
"You're cute and you're chill. Guys like hanging out with girls that aren't all high maintenance. Like at the cave, you can just chill. You don't sit there talking the whole time about how we could get in trouble, about your hair, about whatever it is that most girls babble on about. And this weekend, I heard you got up in the morning, rolled out of bed and surfed. No hour of getting ready, no insecurities about how you look in a bikini, no complaining that it's too hot or too cold, or that the guys were hitting on girls."
I laugh. "Haha, no way I'd complain about that. That was like the most entertaining part of the weekend. Watching Tyrese in action. He's got that smooth, baby you sexy, thing. Then Riley. He just like throws it out there. You're hot. Let's hook up. Dallas is like the boy you think is all sweet and innocent and adorable and boom, next thing you know he's kissing you. And Ace. He just lets his body do the talking. Walks around all buff and girls are like, Heyyyy. And then when he can't talk to them about like something intellectual, he dismisses them as too boring."
"Wow, you pegged them all. That's funny. How am I?"
"Bryce, I really haven't seen you in action, but what do you think of Maggie? She's so cute."
Jake says, "Maggie is very pretty. Her hair always looks so shiny."
Maggie is very pretty. She's got gorgeous natural auburn colored hair and green eyes. And even though she is probably naturally fair skinned, she tans to a really pretty light bronze color. She kinda glows.
Bryce agrees, "She's hot. I'd totally do her."
"I meant like as a date, not doing her."
"Oh, well we could do that first. Introduce me tomorrow night at the game?"
"Okay. And Jake, you seem to be like a chameleon. You are whatever you think the girl wants."
"Oh, dude. That is you. You change every time you date a different girl."
"Is that good or bad?" Jake wonders.
"I'd rather get to know the real you. Because I think you're kinda naughty. I think you have a devious little mind. You size people up quick, figure out what they want, and fulfill their need in order to get what you want from them. You're the used car salesman of dating." (This is so Jake.) Bryce bursts out laughing, the teacher yells at him. We go back to staring at our clay.
Jake whispers, "Tomorrow's topic of discussion is how long a girl will make you wait and why? Do some research on that Kiki."
You're my hero.
lunch I tell Dawson that I'm gonna go sit with my friends today, cuz I wanna talk to Riley.
"Riley!"
"What-ee?"
"You shoved Aiden up against the locker yesterday?"
Riley gets kinda shy looking, "Oh that. Uh, yeah, I guess."
"Why didn't you tell me? You want to put a nail in me and Aiden's love coffin, him saying shit about me would do it."
He rolls his eyes. "I just...it's not a big deal. I just kinda reacted."
I look him in the eyes. "Riley, it's a big deal to me. You stood up for me. It's sweet."
"See, I knew you'd go the whole all, it's so sweet of me, thats why I didn't tell you."
"That and he didn't wanna hurt your feelings," Dallas tells me.
I give him my awww that's soooo sweet eyes. Like the eyes you use when you see a newborn, or a floppy eared puppy, or the boy who just slammed a god into a locker for you. You feel a little love.
"You're my hero." (Mine too.) "I told you, I feel this strange need to protect you. And for some reason, I think you're going to need a lot of protecting." He rolls his eyes at me.
I think about what I read about demi gods on that weird kid's website. About how sometimes you don't know you are a god until you meet your.....shit, what was the word he used? It was like satyr. Is that even a word? Anyway like he's your god guide, and he helps keep you safe til you learn to use your powers properly. I say, "You're like my satyr."
"You're a freak, and you're taking this whole God of all Hottie thing way too far."
"Did I tell you I figured out his mother must have been the goddess, Aphrodite. And I need to take Greek Mythology class because that woman was interesting. She's supposed to be the goddess of love, but she like tricked this dude into thinking she was just a pretty maiden, and he knew she was way too hot for that, but she seduced him and got herself pregnant, then was a total bitch to him. She is also a slut. She like got out of god jail or something by promising some other god her body."
Parker chimes in, "Dude, I wanna take that class too. Damn."
We chat happily about naughty things for the rest of lunch.
And what is it with boys? They really like to talk about a certain body part. I tried really hard to seem cool and unembarrassed.
And after hearing them go on and on, I'm pretty sure each one of those boys think their own penis is a demi god.
As we're throwing what's left of lunch in the trash and putting our trays away, Riley says, "If you like my brother, why are you looking up god stuff on the internet?"
"He's using his powers against me. I was looking for ways to ward him off. Like garlic to scare off a vampire kinda thing."
"You're so weird."
Dawson walks up, says, "Bro" and slaps Riley on the back. "We're gonna work on that two step drop at practice today, k?"
Riley grins and says, "Sure!"
Then he turns to me and says, "Keatie." And gives me his sexy, you can't resist me eyes. Plus the way he says Keatie. Like I seriously melt. "How was your lunch?" (Keatie. It was literally all he had to say. That nickname made me melt.)
"Sucked without you. What were you talking about over there?"
"Did you know your brother slammed Aiden up against a locker yesterday for talking shit about us?"
"Everyone knows that."
"I didn't."
"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Or make you regret it."
"People suspect. They don't know. Speaking of that. Do you want to again? I mean I thought that would be like all you'd want, like a lot of my friends after they do, they say it's like all their boyfriend wants. Not that you're my boyfriend, they just had boyfriend at the time like, and I'm rambling. I'm sorry."
He kisses my nose. "I don't want us to be about just sex. I like you."
"I like you too."
"But trust me, I want to. I've just been trying to be good. Oh, I have a question. Why are you embarrassed to tell me about your parents?"
"Why don't you tell me about your parents first?"
"Okay, we'll talk about all that this weekend. In bed." He grins.
"You think you can use your romantic ways to get me to tell you a secret? Maybe they're international spies, and it will put your life in jeopardy if I tell you. Maybe they're in the witness protection program because my mom had a baby with a mob boss, and then stole some secret files. Maybe if I tell you, I will have to kill you."
"You're cute."
No response French Go to french class on cloud nine, until I see Aiden and remember what he said about me.
I turn around and say, "Heard about practice yesterday, good to know you think so highly of me."
He doesn't respond.
It's a fake ass kicking.
5:40pm Call mom.
I know she probably wont answer, but I call anyways. At least she will see my missed call. I am surprised when Tommy answers her phone.
"Hey Kiki, hows life, baby?"
"It's okay. How come you're not like filming or whatever right now?"
He clears his throat. "Well, your mom is. She's kissing our co-star as we speak. I couldn't watch. Good news is, later in the movie, I get to kick his ass."