The Challenge (4 page)

"Can this get any worse?" I asked.

"Look on the plus side: at least he's not trying to get you back anymore," Lukas said.

I kicked him.

"Just...don't talk, sweetie," Amanda advised him.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was a moody bitch and snapped at everyone but Lena.

"Your behavior is a frequent disruption to this school, Miss Williams." Also, I was stuck in the principal's office-I practically lived in those beat up green chairs lately. Mr. Coughlan was sitting in his chair facing me. "What are we going to do to solve this problem?"

"Expel me?" I guessed.

"If only I could, Miss Williams," Mr. Coughlan sighed. There was a knock on the door and both of us looked to see Henry and the history teacher, Mr. Burnham. "Mr. Wilson, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company, this time?"

"Fighting in class," Mr. Burnham explained.

Henry sat down in the other seat and the teacher left.

"You two are the biggest troublemakers we've had this year," Mr. Coughlan said, tapping his fingers on his desk.

"What about Jesse Stevens?" I countered. Jesse was Darla's older brother. He graduated last year, to the surprise of...everyone. He had pulled pranks like there was no tomorrow.

"This year," Mr. Coughlan reminded me. "You two have detention for 30 minutes after school every day this week. And..."

"And?" Henry asked.

"Lunch room duty," Mr. Coughlan said. I made a face. Lunch room duty was horrible. "Only on the days you have a free period after lunch." I groaned on the inside, but resisted reacting this time. "Is there a problem with that from either of you?"

"No, sir," Henry and I grumbled.

"Good," Mr. Coughlan said. "Now...since you have a free period right now, you can start your duties." We stood up and left. As soon as we were away from the office, I kicked a locker.

I muttered, "God, I hate him!"

"Who's that? The principal or your ex?" Henry inquired.

"Both, but right now it's the principal," I said.

"I ruddy hate both of 'em, too," he agreed, but more to himself than me.

When we got to the lunch room, the lunch lady was expecting us. Luckily, we didn't have to clean the tables where the students on their free period could see us. We got to stay in the back, and clean the trays and whatever dishes were used.

"How often do you get this punishment?" Henry asked.

I looked at him. We had been quiet for a few minutes. I was cleaning the dish they had put gravy in. "Not a whole lot, but I've gotten it a few times," I said. "Why?"

"Well, you've obviously done this enough to know how to clean these things right proper," Henry commented.

I rolled my eyes, and turned my attention back to the dishes. My old job required cleaning dishes this way, so that's how I knew how to do it. Of course, I didn't tell Henry that.

I was lost in my own thoughts for a while, until I felt hot water hit my arm. I jumped, and looked at Henry, to see him unsuccessfully try to hide a grin.

"You jerk!" I said, spraying him with the hose for rinsing dishes.

"Hope you don't mind, pet." Henry said.

"I'm not your pet!" I shouted, groaning. Henry gave me a look, but I just rolled my eyes again and went back to cleaning.

Last class was Drama. I knew I needed to get past the damned kissing with Henry. There were a few parts in our sketch that had us kissing, so I had to suck it up. We never managed it, though. Every time we had to try, we either stopped or something happened that got us distracted. I'm not complaining. The drama teacher complained a lot though and said that even simple "mock" kisses would do. I loved acting most of the time and I'm usually willing to do just about anything to make things believable, but...this?

Normally I was able to escape it all after Drama, but then detention came. To top off my bad mood, I was forced to sit next to Henry. I occupied myself with doodling in my notebook. That was, until a folded piece of paper landed in front of me. I looked over at Henry and he nodded at the paper, which I unfolded.

Want to get back at them?

I frowned and drew just a single question mark before passing it back to him. I drew a bit more and he handed it back.

Dave and Lauren

I stared at the paper and mulled it over in my head. I wasn't a fan of Henry's, but I absolutely hated David. Then, smiling, I wrote a reply.

What do you have in mind?

I folded the paper, waited until the teacher wasn't looking, then passed it back. I continued drawing and, whether I realized it or not, I had wound up doing a rough sketch of Henry's face. I turned the page over, just as he passed the note back.

You and I pretend to be dating in order to make them jealous.

I grimaced, and wrote a reply.

I don't want to make David jealous. I just want him to leave me alone.

Henry's reply was quicker this time.

Make him suffer, then. Come on...I need your help!

I grimaced and shook my head, not even bothering to write a reply. I then refused to look at Henry or even reply to any more of his notes. When detention was over, I went to my locker and put everything away.

"You know it's not really my fault, Henry," David said. I turned to see him, Henry and Lauren all standing by the entrance. "I'm just so damn good looking."

"I don't bloody believe this!" Henry said. "That's the best excuse for taking my girl?"

I put my backpack over my shoulder, still watching them.

"I couldn't resist," Lauren said, in a dreamy tone, then I thought back to Henry's notes. He looked so sad. I know I'm a bitch, but right then I felt like a softy. I slammed my locker door shut, making all three of them jump and look at me.

"Hey, baby, thanks for waiting for me," I said, completely ignoring David and Lauren, then put an arm around Henry's neck and kissing him.

"What the fuck?" I heard David say under his breath. I pulled away from the kiss and winked.

"Right...ready to go then, love?" Henry asked. I resisted the urge to tell him not to call me that and just nodded. I let him put his arm around my waist and we left.

"Whatever confuses or makes David feel bad is a good thing," I said, then suddenly gagged. "Dude, do you smoke?"

"Yeah," Henry confessed.

"No wonder," I remarked. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Lauren and David watching us. "Can you give me a ride home?"

"Sure," Henry replied.

"They're watching," I said. "Don't look." Henry, whose arm was still around me, pulled me even closer to him. We got to his car and he opened the door for me. I resisted the urge to laugh and just smiled before sliding into the seat. He closed the door and went around the car. This time I did laugh when he waved at David and Lauren, who were still watching us, before he got in the car.

"Yeah...that was a bit mental," Henry admitted.

I shook my head and he drove. Surprisingly, he actually remembered where I lived. We didn't talk during the drive and I kept thinking about what had just happened. He pulled into my driveway, parked the car and looked at me.

"Do you still want to pretend?" I asked.

"Are you on board now?" Henry asked.

I sighed again. God...this was nuts. "Fine...I'll do it," I said. "My uncle's at work and my sister said she was going to be out, so there's no one home." I got out of the car. Henry followed me into the house and we sat down on the couch. "No one can know that this is fake," I warned him.

"So everyone is going to think we're actually together?" Henry asked to which I nodded. "Okay, you're the drama queen. How are we going to do this?" he queried.

I smiled. This was going to be fun.

I WAS SITTING at the kitchen table the next morning, staring at the clock on the stove. Henry and I had spent from three o'clock to nine o'clock talking about what we were going to do, how we were going to act. Then Megan came home and he left. I called Lukas and Lena, telling them I didn't need a ride to school the next day, much to Lena's chagrin. Then, I went to bed shortly after deciding on my outfit for the following day.

I wound up wearing jeans that had a rip in one knee and a blue midriff-baring shirt with off the shoulder sleeves. My hair was in a half pony tail and I simply did dark blue eye liner and lip gloss for makeup. Now I was just waiting for Henry to show up.

"So what do you girls have planned for the weekend?" Uncle Ethan asked.

"Nothing much," I said.

"I'm going to stay at Tiffany's," Megan notified us.

She looked at me and I nodded, before looking back at the clock. Seven forty-five. There was a knock on the door, and I got up to answer it, finding Henry standing there.

"Right on time?" Henry asked.

"Right on time," I said. "I'm going to school now! Bye, guys!"

I slammed the front door shut before they could answer back. I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Henry to his car. Then I stopped and looked at it.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked.

"That's not your car," I said.

"Yeah, it is," Henry replied.

"The car I saw you with last time sucked," I said.

"That was only a rental," Henry said. "Not a good one, either, mind you, but I made sure to get my real car back for today."

I stared at the car. It was a dark blue convertible with a black leather interior-very sharp. You really do know how to treat a girl in style," I said.

Henry laughed and opened the passenger door for me. We wound up arguing on the way to school about me possibly telling Lena, because she was bound to get suspicious and ask questions. Henry agreed, but not after putting up a fight, as long as she didn't tell anyone. He pulled into a parking spot at the school and then looked at me. I was staring at the school, but suddenly didn't want to do this. I jumped when I felt his hand on mine, and looked at him. He looked like he was feeling the same, but he also had a determined look in his eyes.

"Okay, I guess I can do this," I said. "Let's do this." I pulled my hand from his, retrieved my bag from the backseat and met him in front of the car.

"Show time, love," Henry encouraged me, smirking. His slid his arm around my waist, and waited until I relaxed, before we started walking towards the school. "Those poor gits are going to be fooled so easily," he whispered to me. I laughed at that remark.

"But we're not kissing...yet," I muttered. People were staring at us but I just smiled and snuggled closer to Henry. That was...until we reached my friends. They all stared at us, especially Lukas, whose jaw dropped.

"Oh, my God! What the hell happened to you, Kris?" Curtis asked.

"Umm...nothing," I said. "Just decided that I wanted to date the hottest guy in the school."

"I think it was me who asked you out, love," Henry corrected me.

"I love it when you call me that," I said, smiling up at him.

"Oh, this is all wrong," Lena said. "World: upside down! Kris, we've got to talk."

I slowly got out of Henry's hold, making it look like I was reluctant to do so. I followed Lena away from everyone else, but kept them in view.

"What is going on?"

"He wants to get Lauren back, so I...I felt sorry for him and agreed to help," I said. I looked over at the group to see Henry talking with the boys. I continued, "It sucked so much. There was David and Lauren, so near tearing each other's clothes off right there yesterday after school and flaunting it in front of him. I guess I'm a softy."

"You just want to give David a taste of his own medicine," Lena said, smiling.

I shrugged and nodded. "Don't tell anyone else," I said.

Lena rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Le, I've kept
your
secrets!" Her eyes widened at that. "Keep mine."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone, and you won't tell anyone but me," Lena agreed.

I smiled and nodded, before hugging her. We went back to the group, and I threw my arms around Henry as if I missed him. He smiled, putting his arms around me too. "We should be getting to class," I said.

"Yeah," Henry said, with resignation in his voice.

"Sure you should," James said.

I shot him a look, before leaving the group with Henry at my side.

"No offense or anything, but your friends are easily convinced, aren't they?" Henry observed. I just smirked. "And as to your earlier comment, we
are
going to kiss, eventually."

"Tomorrow's party," I said.

"There's a party?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, James's birthday," I said. "It's a costume party at my place, because it's the biggest house."

"That's for sure," Henry said. "It's bloody
huge
!"

"There are going to be two costume parties," I said, "this one and one at Halloween. Think of today as like...practice, for tomorrow."

Got it," Henry said.

We stopped at my locker and I got my books. "Do you need to get your books?" I asked, figuring I had to at least be nice to him.

"Nope," Henry said. I shot an eyebrow up at him but he wasn't paying attention and we walked to Homeroom. We got there just as the bell rang and everyone stared at us as we took our seats in the back. Even the teacher gave us a quizzical glance. We sat down and smiled at each other, before looking at the teacher, who had just started roll call. Eventually, everyone turned their attention to their work and, after a while, Henry passed me a note.