Revealing Kia (18 page)

I wasn’t sure what I was seeing at first.
It was a tangle of naked arms and legs and a whole lot of steam. Then I recognized the long wavy mane of jet-black hair and the showers in the school bathrooms and of my stomach dropped. It was clearly Nessie, long legs wrapped around the hips of some guy the camera had only captured the naked back of. But it was very clear what they were doing and that it wasn’t Gary she was doing it with.

“Oh God…” I gasped. “Where did you get this?”

Claudia stuffed her phone back into her bag. “Like I said, everyone got it. I’m sure even the principal. I don’t foresee your little friend being around for much longer. Too bad Mayferd only has two high schools, Margaretson and Vina and your friend has been kicked out of both. What do you think will happen next?” She leered viciously. “I’m kind of excited to find out. Aren’t you?”

I was more anxious to get a hold of Adam. I had to tell him. I had to do something.

I snatched Claudia’s tiny doll purse from her, ignoring her shouts of outrage as I ripped it open and jerked out her phone. I shoved the purse back into her chest and texted Adam’s number, telling him to meet me at the school as quickly as he could. I attached the picture and hit send. Then I hung up and thrust the phone back into Claudia’s hand.

“It must be tiring being such a bitch,” I said. “It’s starting to show around
your eyes.”

With her
vicious sneer imprinted to memory, I walked away.

Adam

I groaned the second Claudia’s name sprung up on my screen in the middle of AP English. My finger was moving towards the decline button when I saw Kia’s name and frowned. I opened the message and read the six words across the screen.

Emergency. Meet me at school. Kia.

Part of me wondered if it was Claudia trying to get me to see her again, which would have been stupid of her to use Kia’s name and risk the chance of me going all the way there and finding out she lied. At the same time I wondered why Kia was using Claudia’s phone of all people. Then I opened the attachment.

“Mr. Chaves, is there a problem?”

I had no recollection of getting to my feet, but there I was with every eye on me. Mr. Arrowood glowered disapprovingly from the front.

I hastily stuffed my things into my
bag and swung the strap over my shoulder. “Family emergency. Sorry, sir.”

I gave no one the chance to
stop me. I bolted from the room. My sneakers clapped on polished marble as I tore through the gleaming halls of Vina. Statues of Greek Gods and Goddesses watched down on me with stony disinterest. I dug my keys out of my pocket and hit the front doors of the school with my shoulder. Ignoring the blowing winds ripping at my clothes and exposed skin, I darted for my car.

I was at
Margaretson High in less than ten minutes.

The
receptionist looked up when I stalked into the office, windswept, jacketless and pissed.

“I need to see my sister, Vanessa Chaves. It’s an emergency.”

All the way there, I contemplated texting our parents. I knew it was only a matter of time before the school called them down, which was why I had to see Van before that happened. I had to hear the story before they did and come up with an excuse. This was her last shot. If our parents saw that picture, they wouldn’t ask questions. She’d be on the first plane to boarding school by morning. I couldn’t let that happen without at least trying to stop it, for Kia’s sake.

“I’m sorry, but—”

“There’s no
buts
in this equation,” I bit out, no patience in me to pussy-foot around the situation. Every second wasted was a second the principal could be calling our parents. “I need to see my sister right now. It’s in the handbook that a sibling may summon another sibling attending the school should there be an emergency, well, this is an emergency.”

I had no idea if that was true, but I was coun
ting on her not knowing either, which seemed to be the case when she picked up the phone and dialed over the intercom.

“Vanessa Chaves, to the office please. Vanessa Chaves.”

Van was not going to be happy being summoned like that, but that was the least of her concerns.

“Thank you,” I muttered, tu
rning towards the door to wait for my sister. I was surprised, yet not really surprised when Kia ran in instead.

Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing hard. She looked annoyed.

“I hate running,” she muttered, shuffling over to me. Her gaze jumped over the room before settling on me again. “You got my text.”

“I did. You’ll have to tell me how you managed to convince Claudia to use her phone. I doubt she offered.”

She snorted, rubbing her hands down her thighs. “Yeah right, but I had to get a hold of you somehow and I didn’t have your number so I … borrowed, Claudia’s cell. I gave it back,” she said when she caught me watching her. Her expression turned into one of dread as she looked towards the door. “What are you going to say to her?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know yet, but it might be done with my hands around her neck.” He glanced at her. “Why are you here?”

She eyed me as though I were crazy. “Support. She might need me.”

I said nothing. I didn’t get the chance. Van strolled into the officer, her expression perfectly bored. Her blue eyes went from me to Kia and back before doing a sweep of the room.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

I moved quickly dragging her out of the office to stand just outside
the door. I pulled out my phone and thrust it in her face.

“This is why.”

I expected embarrassment, maybe even guilt, but the only emotion that passed her face was annoyance. She shoved my hand away.

“You came all the way here to show me a
Photoshopped picture?”

“
Photoshopped?” Kia said from beside me.

Van looked at her. “Yeah, I mean even an idiot could see it’s been altered. My legs are not that long and no guy in this whole town looks that hot.”
She paused, glancing from me to Kia again. “Wow, you guys really think the worst of me, huh? I get that the rest of the school doesn’t think much of me, but I really thought you two would know me better.”

Shaking her head
in disgust, she turned on her heels and marched down the hall. The crack of her heels ricocheted off the walls like thunder. Then it was just me and Kia.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I saw the picture and—”

I shook my head. “You’re not the only one who was fooled. I took Photoshop last year. I should have seen it.”

She sighed. “This officially makes me the worst friend in the world.”

I turned to her. “You were looking out for her. That’s what a good friend does.”

“Right, well, tell her that, because she’s right. I took one look at the picture and automatically jumped to conclusions. A friend doesn’t do that.
Maybe a small part of me really did think her capable of something so … reckless.”

I glanced in the direction Van had gone. “Yeah, well, she’s capable of a lot of things. It wouldn’t be a far stretch.”

“She’ll never forgive me.”

I rested my hand lightly on her stooped shoulder. “She will. Vanessa’s too lazy to hold a grudge.”

That was a lie. Van could hold a grudge like nobody’s business. But Kia looked so down that I didn’t have the heart to tell her.

“I wish she’d stop running from me so we could talk,” she murmured. “She’s so angry with me and I don’t know why.
”

I touched my fingertips to her cheek. “Come over tonight. She’ll be home and you can talk to her.”

She shook her head. “She doesn’t want to see me. She made it clear this morning.”

“You can try.”

“I could.” She sighed. “I have work tonight, but I can come over after if you think that’ll be okay.”

I nodded. “I’ll pick you up.”

I kissed her softly.

She pulled back. “I better get to class. Ms.
Beir thinks I’ve gone to the bathroom.”

I chuckled, pressed another kiss to her lips and took a step back. “Yeah, I have English notes I need to borrow off someone. I’ll see you later.”

With a wave, she darted away and I left.

No one seemed to
have noticed my absence when I returned to school. My parking spot remained vacant and I pulled into it. For a moment I sat and stared at the building, inexplicably exhausted despite the fact that it was barely after ten in the morning. The dash clock tempted me to drive home and nap before Mom and Dad got home. I may have been able to get away with it if the school didn’t see it mandatory to phone home.

Dejected, I pushed open the door and slumped out. Not even the cutting winds could propel my feet to move faster. If anything, the thick blanket of snow reminded me too much of a goose down duvet.
It only made me more tired.

Inside, I went to my locker and switched books.
The halls were empty except for a few random kids hurrying to get to class. I swung my bag on and shuffled to Spanish, one of my more favorite subjects. I knew just enough to ask where the bathroom was, if the water was drinkable and how much for a night. The latter was something Kenny repeatedly asked every girl he passed for a solid month before one threatened to punch his lights out. It was hard to forget it after that. The guy in question was already reclined in his seat, his feet propped up on his desk, his arms folded beneath his head. He glanced up when I walked in.

“
¿Cómo está mi amigo
?”

I took my spot behind him. “Why are you so cheery?”

He twisted his neck around to peer at me from over his shoulder. “Why not? I passed my Calculus test.”

It was a little pathetic how bad
Kenny was at numbers. You could give him a busted piece of crap computer and he’d have it purring as though it was brand new, but as soon as you put down a set of mathematical problems, he was done. I, on the other hand, loved numbers. I loved solving problems and calculating answers. I liked putting together the pieces of a puzzle. Whether it was math, or computers, or finding a way to keep the girl, I loved a good challenge.

“What did you get?”
I asked him.

He twirled a pen around his long fingers. “
Twenty-five out of fifty.”

“Dude, you got half wrong.”

Kenny shrugged. “Still got half right. Glass half full, man.”

I shook my head, but wisely kept my comments to myself.

“So, how’s your sis?”

I unconsciously stiffened. “What do you mean?
Have you heard something?”

Kenny
turned even more in his seat so he was almost all the way around. He eyed me warily. “Um, only what was going on over the holidays. Why? Did something else happen?”

I
expelled a deep breath, dropping lower in my seat. “Yeah.” Señorita Barreda swept into the room then, interrupting our conversation. I straightened quickly. “I’ll fill you in later.”

He studied me
for a minute before turning around to face front.

I never got the chance to talk to him that day. Class ended and we parted ways.
Kenny called out that we’d hook up later, but my mind was too preoccupied to ask when.

When I picked Kia up from work, I had already made up my mind that I would
tell my parents about what happened. It wasn’t because I was a snitch. I personally hated people that tattled, but this was different. Someone was deliberately sending Van those images. Someone was going out of their way to ruin her image. Whoever that person was, I wanted to find them and break their nose. But I knew that was impossible. Bullies no longer lived on the playground. Bullies lived in phones and emails and behind doctored photos. I had seen enough young girls get hurt in the media because of things like this. I wasn’t going to let my sister become one of them.

Mom and Dad weren’t home when I pulled into the driveway. I cut the engine and rolled out of the car. Kia was already making her way towards me when I reached the hood.
She gave me an uncertain smile as we made our way to the front door. We stomped the snow from our shoes before entering.

“She’s probably in her room,” I said to Kia as I yanked off my coat and hooked it on a peg. I reached for hers as she did the same.

She looked at me. I could see the worry in her eyes. “Wish me luck.”

My response was a quick kiss on her lips.

I watched her walk upstairs and I went into the kitchen to make the call.