Exposing Kitty Langley (7 page)

“Nothing, but I can feel it. People
are looking for an opportunity to hurt her. You’d better not leave her alone
for very long.”

I stared down at her for a moment,
thinking of Kitty somewhere in the school without me to protect her. With that thought,
I darted up the stairs, through the double doors, and down the hall, desperate
to locate her. I ran down every hall, looked into every class, until at last I
found her in the library, studying.

“There you are!” I said, breathless,
plopping down in the seat next to her.

“Yeah, well I really need to be
studying for my history exam. Are you all right? You seem out of breath.”

“I was running. Next time shoot me a
text, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

I turned to see Haley approaching.
This was definitely becoming a problem. “Um, Reed, can I talk to you a minute?”
Haley asked.

“Sure, I guess. Sorry, Kitty. I’ll
just be a minute.”

“It’s okay. Take your time.”

I got up and followed her to the
back of the library, behind the science fiction shelves. “What’s up?” I tried
to act nonchalant, but the truth is she was beginning to bug me.

“Listen, Reed, I know I’m being a
pain, and I’m sorry. I’ll make you a deal. If you make good on that kiss that
you were supposed to give me at the dance then I’ll get over the two of you and
let you be. Got it?”

I thought about that for a minute.
It seemed too easy. “Do you promise?”

“You have my word.” She smiled,
realizing I was gonna say yes.

“O-okay. I guess one kiss can’t
hurt.” I felt awkward as I stepped closer, leaning my head down to hers. My
eyes went wide when she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me close as
her lips covered mine in a forced and desperate kiss. I began to pull back, but
she held me for a moment longer.

“Are you ready to go to—?”

I jerked away to see Kitty standing
there looking shocked.

“Kitty.” I stood frozen in place. 

Her expression shifted to anger as
her gaze swept from me to Haley then to me again. “I’m sorry I interrupted.”
She spun on her heels and stomped off through the library.

I ran after her. “No wait. Kitty
wait.”

“Leave me alone, Reed.”

“No, wait. It’s not what it looked
like.”

When we reached the hallway she spun
to face me. I froze. “I’m sorry, because it looked like a kiss to me. Are you
saying it wasn’t a kiss, Reed?”

“No, I mean yes, it was a kiss,
but—”

“That’s what I thought.” She turned
and began walking again.

“Wait. Kitty, wait!”

She stopped again, turning to face
me. “I’m such a fool, because I truly thought you liked me and wanted to help
me, but this was some kind of joke. What was it, Reed? Huh?” She was tearing
up.

“What?! No!” What was she saying?

“Was it to get me to trust you so
you could humiliate me when you revealed that you and Haley were together? Was
it your plan to hurt me all along? Well, congratulations, you succeeded.” She
spun and ran down the hallway and out of sight.

I stood there in shock. What just
happened? I bolted down the hallway after her but she was already gone.

Kitty

I couldn’t believe what a fool I
was. I thought Reed was trying to be my friend. I thought he liked me, but he
was just like the rest of them. I wanted to cry, to run to my car and go home,
but people were watching me. I had to be strong until I could find privacy,
then I could cry in peace. With a heavy heart I went into my first class.

I had actually brought my lunch from
home and decided to eat at my car again. When I approached, I recognized Trent
leaning against my car door. My heart sank. I really just wanted to be alone
with my humiliation. On top of that, I really didn’t trust Trent at all.

“Hey, Trent,” I managed to say in a
nice voice.

“Hey, Kitty. I didn’t see you with
Reed today, so I thought I’d take a chance and see if you might like some
company for lunch. I thought we could talk some.”

I noticed he had his lunch in a bag
too. Had he planned this ahead of time? “Um, I guess we can do that.” I unlocked
my door and he went around to the other side and climbed in.

“So, what did you want to talk
about?” I asked as I pulled out my sandwich and took a bite.

He did the same, talking to me with
his mouth full. “Well, I wanted to know how serious you and this Reed guy are.
I thought maybe you might let me take you out sometime.”

I sighed. “Listen, Trent, if this is
all because you feel like you need to make it up to me—”

“No, it’s not that. I mean part of
it is, but I really like you. I think you’re beautiful, and I’d like to get to
know you better.” His gaze traveled up and down my body when he said that, and
I suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Well, I—”

“Kitty,” Reed said, opening my car
door. His gaze darted to Trent, sending him an unspoken death threat. I almost
shivered. “Can I please talk to you?”

“Honestly, Reed, I don’t have
anything to say to you.”

“Kitty, I need to explain what
happened.”

“I don’t want to know what happened!”
I snapped. “I want you to leave me alone!”

“But what about walking you to your
classes?”

I didn’t think before I spoke. All I
knew was that I was angry. “Trent will be walking me to my classes from now
on!” Just then Trent leaned over, taking advantage of the situation, and put
his arm around me.

Reed’s expression turned pained and
then angry as he stepped away and walked back through the parking lot, but not
before he sent Trent another death glare, clearly sending some kind of warning.

I let out a breath, slumping in my
seat.

“Wow. What was that about?”

“I really don’t want to talk about
it. Let’s just say we aren’t together anymore.”

“Well, that’s good for me then.”

I would’ve responded but rolled my
eyes instead.

Reed

I stalked through the parking lot
heading toward the school building. Haley was approaching cautiously. “Go away,
Haley! You’ve caused enough trouble!”

“Listen, Reed. I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to mess things up with you guys. How was I supposed to know she’d come
around the corner when she did?”

I let out a deep breath in
frustration. “I know.”

“Really? You’re not mad at me?”

“No, I guess not. I mean you had no
way of knowing she would catch us. It’s no one’s fault. I just need to make her
see the truth before she gets hurt.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Look for yourself,” I said,
motioning toward her car.

Haley turned to see what I was
seeing. “Wow. He didn’t waste any time, huh? What are you gonna do?”

“What can I do? I’m just gonna watch
every move that loser makes. I’m not giving him another chance to hurt her.”

“You know she doesn’t like him.
She’s just trying to get back at you.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“You really like her, don’t you?”

I let out another deep breath,
turning to peer down at her. “Yeah, I think I do.”

I spent the next two days watching
Trent hang all over Kitty. He was at her locker helping her with her books. He
walked her to every class. He ate lunch with her at her car, and walked her back
to her car at the end of the day. Any idiot could see she was trying to make me
jealous. And it was working. It took all my strength to leave him in one piece.
When they would walk toward me in the hall, she made sure to loop her arm
through his. Of course this pleased him, and he would smirk at me as they
passed. As if this didn’t bother me enough, I watched in annoyance as twice he
tried to steal a kiss, but she turned her head both times causing him to kiss
her cheek. This guy was seriously pushing his luck.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I
caught sight of Bunnie watching them closely. The look of anger on her face was
unmistakable. Rumor was that she had a crush on Trent. I had to get this guy
away from Kitty—and soon.

By the third day, I had had all I
could take. They were together at her locker and she was pretending to laugh at
something he said. I knew she was faking because she rarely ever laughed. That
was it! I was about to approach them until Haley stopped me.

“Reed, I need to tell you
something.”

That caught my attention. I followed
her around the corner and out the door. Once we were outside she began. “I
talked to Kitty this morning.”

I froze. “You what?”

“I followed her into the bathroom
this morning, and I told her everything. I told her about the bet you lost and
how you were supposed to kiss me at the dance because you lost that bet. I
explained that that was why you kissed me in the library, because I made a deal
to leave you two alone if you fulfilled your bargain. I think she believed me.”

This was the best news I had all
day. “Ah man, thanks, Haley. I really appreciate that. So you really think she
believed you?”

“Yeah, and that’s not all. I think
she’s getting really tired of Trent following her around everywhere.”

“Really? Why do you say that?”

“Well, she seemed annoyed that he
was waiting when we came out of the bathroom. I can just sense it. You know,
women are good that way.”

“Well, this is good news. Now all I
have to do is get her to talk to me.”

Kitty

I was staying after school, and not
because I was in trouble but because I was getting really tired of Trent trying
to make passes at me. I couldn’t figure out if his intentions were harmless or
not, but I didn’t want to find out. I had told my history teacher, Mr. James,
that I needed a quiet place to study, and he said I could stay as long as I
needed.

It was taking too much out of me to
keep pretending to be happy without Reed. Making him jealous was exhausting.
And yet, somehow I couldn’t let him know how much his kiss with Haley had hurt
me. I saw the hurt in his eyes when I was with Trent, and it confused me. When
Haley explained everything about the kiss, I had allowed myself to hope. What
if what she said was true?

My phone vibrated alerting me to a
text message. It was Reed. He was worried because I didn’t show up at my car.
He begged me to message him, letting him know where I was and that I was okay.
So I did.

“There you are!” I looked up in time
to see Trent stepping into the classroom and shutting the door behind him.
“When you didn’t come to your car I wondered if you had gotten held up in your
last class. And I was right. What are you doing in here?”

I tapped my pencil nervously. My
senses told me this wasn’t good. “Oh, well, I needed to do some studying, and
it’s quiet in here.”

“Well, you should’ve let me know. I
spotted that Reed looking for you. Lucky for him he left. I’m getting really
sick of him watching every move I make.”

He was getting agitated as he talked
about Reed, and I was becoming more nervous by the second. “You know, since
we’re in here alone.” He smirked as he came up beside me, taking my hand and
ushering me to my feet.

“Um, Trent, I don’t—” His lips
silenced mine as they pressed in hard and eager. I tried to push him off, but
the harder I resisted the more forceful he became. He pulled me to the floor, covering
my body with the full weight of his. “Trent, stop!”

“Shh, it’s okay. No one will know.”  

“Trent, stop! I don’t want this! Stop!”
When he didn’t I began fighting him with all my strength realizing it was too
late for words. “Get off me!” I yelled, struggling and pushing.

I heard the door swing open. “Get
off of her!!” Reed tackled him and they both went flying into the nearby desks,
sending them scattering. Reed was on his feet and swung—first left then right.
Trent fell backwards but regained his footing. “Get out of here!” Reed yelled
down to me. Trent took advantage of his distraction, punching him in the face.
He went flying back on a desk and flipped over it, landing hard on the floor
below.

“Reed!”

Trent was moving toward me, but Reed
was up so fast, tackling him again. They flew into a desk, knocking it over and
struggled, both throwing punches. Reed hovered over him and punched him hard
one last time. Trent stopped struggling and went still, all but a slight
moaning.

Reed ran to me, helping me up and
taking me in his arms, wrapping me tightly. “Are you okay, Kitty?” He pulled
back to study me.