Page 23 of Fine, Dork

I scrubbed my scalp and turned the water temperature down. It was getting too hot in here.

???

Fourteen Years Old

“J, look! I found this super pretty bird and took a picture. I think it looks kinda cool, the way the light is shining through the branches.” Kinley flopped down next to me in front of our school and handed me her phone.

I smiled at the little yellow bird on her screen. “Cool bird, K.”

She rolled her eyes at the advanced algebra book open on my lap. “Jaxon, it’s Friday, dude. Don’t do your homework!” Kinley slammed the book shut and slid it off my lap.

I reached for it, but she pushed it away with her foot. “Kinley, give it back! I got an A- on my test today, and I need to figure out why!”

Kinley gaped at me. “You psycho! I would kill for an A-!”

“Yeah, and my parents will kill me.”

Kinley’s phone buzzed in my lap, and I picked it up. When I saw the text that showed up, a wave of nausea washed over me. What’s up, girl? Send me some pics tonight?

“Kinley, what the hell? Who is this?” I held the phone up to her.

Her eyes widened, and she snatched it away from me. “No one!”

“K, who is it?”

“I said no one!”

“Kinley!”

“Jaxon!” She slid her phone into her back pocket.

“Who are you sending pics to?”

Kinley squared her jaw and folded her arms. “Just a guy.”

“Shit, K, who?”

“His name’s Caden.”

“Hold up. Like Caden Comforth?”

Kinley rolled her eyes. “Maybe.”

Red-hot rage flooded my body. “Kinley! He’s my brother’s age!”

“So?” Kinley glared at me.

I clenched both fists around handfuls of grass. “So, you’re fourteen, and he’s eighteen! That’s so messed up!”

“Oh my god, Jaxon. Relax! I’m not like sending him…” She glanced over her shoulder and then whispered, “nudes!”

I felt my cheeks warming at the thought of Kinley without clothes.

“Why the hell are you so mad about it, J? Do you like me or something? Are you jealous?” Her tone teased me.

I stared at my math textbook, and my body trembled with anger and embarrassment. I studied each white block letter that formed the words Advanced Algebra and refused to meet Kinley’s gaze. I didn’t like her. I loved her.

“Jaxon?” Kinley shoved my shoulder. “Do you like me?”

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