Chapter 12

“I’M BAAACK!!” The voice of the one-and-only Diane Turner spilled like a frail coffee cup down the hallway.

“DIANE!!” I shouted and ran to her. I jumped on her, I thought she was going to catch me, but she didn’t, and so we ended up falling to the ground.

“That was called a glomp!” I said, smiling so big my eyes squinted.

“A glomp? What’s that?” Diane replied as we got up off the ground.

“It’s when someone tackle-hugs you. Think of it as an extreme hug!”

“Ha, then why is it called a glomp?”

“I dunno.”

“Haha, it sounds funny!”

      The two of us laughed. Diane had been gone the first couple weeks of school. After she hadn’t shown the first 2 days I got worried, so I messaged her one night on Facebook asking if she was ok. She was just sick, it was really bad though. But I was able to keep her up-to-date on the latest happening, and just like me, she wasn’t a big fan of Bea.

“It must be a drag that you have most of your classes with her.” She said while we stood outside the main doors, waiting for the bell to ring.

“Yeah, but I don’t really talk to her anymore so it’s not really a bother.”

“Well that’s good. You’ve got better friends than her. Like me!” We both giggled. I remember when the three of us, Diane, Bea, and I, were actually friends. And then Bea got mad at Diane, when I think about it now it was for a really dumb reason. But Bea got me to think Diane was the bad one, so I shunned her away. Then when I fell victim to Bea’s judgmental rule, I found out that I was wrong about Diane. Bea was the one at fault, not her. I’m still so surprised that Diane was able to accept me back as a friend, after all the mean things I had said to her because of Bea.

“You’re such a liar! You’re a boyfriend stealer! A flirt! A gossiper! How rude, how impolite! Apologize!”

Ah, but I was the one who ended up apologizing in the end.

            Finally the bell had rung and we headed to our classes. Since Diane was still recovering from her cold, she got to sit out in P.E. today (lucky). But when it came to free time, her and I got the rubber bouncy ball out and passed it to eachother.

“So according to what you’ve been telling me, you’re caught in a serious love triangle here, missy.”

“Well, not really. I don’t know if the other guy likes me back. I know I like him though.”

“But what about the second boy? You told me there were two.”

“Oh yeah…” That’s right, I didn’t even tell her about Justin having a twin. But I just couldn’t! It would be rude of me telling her, especially because I didn’t know much about the details either. But I was really confused about Kevin’s relationship with me.

 

    “I’ll get to hug you and hold your hand and everything else that Justin wanted to do with you… Don’t start falling for me now...!”

 

     The way he said it, it was just too serious! But he’s been acting like he was Justin for the past 3 weeks now, maybe he’s just a good actor (besides being a total jerk-off, which wasn't Justin at all). But I’m the only one who’s not buying into it. But whatever it was, I had the strange feeling that maybe, somewhere in his cold heart, Kevin… Liked me? And maybe...... I liked him back?

“HELLO? Earth to Aika!” Diane shouted and threw the ball at my face.

“OW!” I covered my face with my hands and rubbed my nose. “You could have broken a nose bone!”

“Sure… Anyway, what about that other boy? He likes you right?”

I didn’t know what to say back. I wasn’t even sure myself! “Well, it seems like it. I don’t know.”

“Hmm. Well who is he? Is he in this class right now?”

Yes. “Nope.”

“Ah..! Well do I have any classes with him?”

Just in college-prep class. “I don’t think so.”

“Man, well that just stinks… But if you get any more details or scoops, tell me! I might be able to help you out! And who knows, one of them might be your lucky date to homecoming.” She smiled and winked.

       OH MY GOSH!!! HOMECOMING!!! I had totally forgotten, with all the other crazy things running around, I must be behind on a lot of things!

“B-but wait! You just got back to school today, how did you know about homecoming?” I trembled. Am I the only one who had forgotten?

“Honey, just because you’re out of town doesn’t mean the newspapers stop and waits for you to come back.” She smiled.

“Uh, I don’t quite get that expression.” I said hopelessly.

“Well, maybe that’s just because I made it up,” she laughed. “but really, I still get to hear things from other people.” And then the bell rang.

       While I was on my way to next period (science), I was hoping to see Justin today, but to my disappointment I ended up seeing Kevin instead. But something was different about him today. The way he walked down the hall, all I could see (or notice, anyway) was him. I felt myself turning red as he approached me.

OH NO! I can’t be… I’ve fallen for him!! AAAAH!!

         He drew closer, in a daze, and I slammed myself against the nearest lockers.

“Whoa!” He backed away from me. “I understand I’m not your favorite person in the world, but no need to move away like that.”

     He grinned a little. It felt weird. The boy I hated was now the boy I only noticed in the hallway among the other dozen of students.

“Right.. Well, I thought the lockers were closer behind me so I ended up throwing myself farther back than I had anticipated.” That was a lie; I really just wanted to get away from him.

    He looked around and noticed a group of girls watching. That group became the Justin Hue fanclub. Apparently, he and Justin really did have it with the girls, they all idolized them. But that’s also another reason why I tried to avoid him: So I wouldn’t get trampled by the tween paparazzi.

“Hmm.” He was thinking something. He glanced at the group of girls, then he glanced at me and gave me this grin; It gave me a weird feeling. I tried to leave, I had to get to my next class anyway, but then Kevin did the unthinkable!

“No no…” He said smoothly. He put his hand on the wall, blocking my way so I couldn’t leave. Then he moved towards me, causing myself to lean back against the lockers again. “Stay right here.”

I heard the other girls gasping in fear, scared that their prince had found a princess before they could get the nerve to even talk to him.

“W-what are you doing?” I asked, trembling.

“Nothing, it’s just to get those girls away from here. And a little show for myself.” He grinned.

“Oh, do you think this is funny?”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Ugh, you’re such a jerk.” Maybe I didn’t like him after all… It was just those eyes, they were captivating, and plus he had the same face as dear Justin. But his personality… Ick!

“Ok, the girls are gone…” I moved his arm out of the way so I could continue going to class.

“Huh, I thought you’d like this. You do like,” he paused, then said in a whisper, “my brother, right?”

I paused in my steps. “Yeah, I do. But you’re the one who’s here, not him.” And I went on to second period. Just like the one day I followed him home, I kept walking and I didn’t turn back. But, I kind of wanted to turn back… And if you ever meet Kevin, don’t tell him I told you this, but: “I actually, kinda, wouldn’t really mind going to the dance with him.”