Page 36 of Fine, Dork

“Will you open the damn door?”

I could hear shuffling and the click of the lock. I turned the knob to find Kinley already back under the covers. All I could see of her was her caramel brown hair poking out above the white comforter. “K,” I sighed. “Why are you acting like this? I thought—" My heart constricted in my chest. I thought we were going to start dating, but she was confusing the hell out of me.

I glanced at the floor near the foot of her bed and saw a white lace corset and a pair of white lace panties. I crossed the room and bent to pick them up. “Kinley?”

She peeked over the blanket and sat up with a start. Kinley ripped the lingerie from my hands and stuffed it under the comforter. “Don’t even ask. It’s so stupid.”

“That was from my e-mail.” I grinned at her. She didn’t smile back.

“Like I said, it was stupid.”

“Were you wearing those yesterday?”

Silence.

“K?”

Silence.

“Kinley! What the hell is going on? Why are you so mad at me?”

“I’m not!” she shot back. “I’m fine. I’m just tired from my trip.” Kinley sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “Don’t worry about me today. I’m going to finish some editing. Go to work. I’m fine.”

I wasn’t stupid. A woman saying “I’m fine” was code for, “Watch yourself, boy, because I’m about to fucking murder you.” Knowing she wasn’t fine, though, didn’t mean I knew what to do with the situation.

“So you don’t want to talk then?”

Kinley’s eyes met mine with a strange detached look. “Like I said, there’s nothing to talk about.”

Ouch. This was how she wanted to play it? Like we were kids again, fighting on the playground? I rolled my eyes and turned to walk out of the room. “I didn’t fucking do anything wrong, Kinley.”

“I know you didn’t!” she snapped, “Because you’re fucking perfect! I know!”

???

Eight Years Old

“Kinley, I said no! We always play what you want to play!”

Kinley glared at me and put her hands on her hips. “No, we don’t! We never play what I want to play!” The freckles on her nose always stood out more when she was mad.

“We played freeze tag with your stupid friends from Mrs. Olsen’s class yesterday! And we played kickball the day before, and your dumb princess game before that!”

Kinley blinked her big brown eyes and stared down at the asphalt. She ran the toe of her white sneaker through a thick stream of tar that had melted a little in the sun. I watched her shoe, and my stomach twisted into knots. My mom would kill me if I got my shoes covered in tar that way. Kinley didn’t even care about that stuff.

Kinley dropped her arms and let them hang limply at her side. “J, do we even like any of the same things? Are we even supposed to be best friends?”

I just shrugged and folded my arms across my chest. “I’m going to play my dice game under the slide. Come if you want, or go play with your other dumb friends.” I stomped off toward the playground without waiting for Kinley’s answer. I reached the slide and tried to ignore the fact that Kinley didn’t follow me. Maybe she did like her other friends better. Maybe we weren’t best friends anymore.

When the five-minute warning whistle sounded, I gathered up my math dice and slid them into my pocket. I headed back toward the school because I didn’t want to be late coming in from recess.

The final bell rang, and I lined up with my class against the red-brick wall. Kinley wasn’t there. I rolled my eyes. She was probably still playing with her stupid friends from Mrs. Olsen’s class and ignoring all the rules like she always did.

But the grassy field was empty. The playground was deserted. Where was Kinley? Our teacher wasn’t at the door to bring our class in yet. Maybe I had time to find K. I stepped out of line with my heart racing. I had to find her fast. I didn’t want to get in trouble.

I jogged toward the playground and didn’t see her anywhere. Over by the basketball courts, I spotted her white tennis shoes with black tar on one toe sticking out fromunder the bleachers. “K!” I called out to her. “Come on! We’re going in!”

When I reached her, she looked up at me with big fat tears spilling down her cheeks. She looked away and curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Then go!”

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