Page 6 of Transition

Just like that, another argument ignited, and while Aaron sent me a ‘save me’ look, Mason simply watched with growing interest.

I rolled my eyes and finished my sandwich quickly, hoping for the bell to ring and allow us all to escape, when something caught my eye. I wiped my mouth with the tissue Aaron had waiting for me and smiled my thanks. “I have to go. I’ll see you guys in biology,” I said, ignoring the look of betrayal on Liam’s face.

I chuckled to myself as I strode past the tables on my way out of the cafeteria. Just as I was about to exit, I heard the familiar voice of Leila, one of the three menaces that made my time in Redwood High close to unbearable.

“Hey, fatty, it looks like those jeans can’t handle all that extra flesh of yours. I sure hope they don’t rip,” she snickered, alongside her other three friends.

I rolled my eyes, ignored her, and walked on. Leila was the school’s head cheerleader, and she thought that meant she automatically had a right to Mason. Sure, they’d dated for a while, but Mason - who never dated a girl for long - dumped her unceremoniously during summer break just before I arrived in town. It was clear that she had thought they would start dating again once school started back up, but now that I was in the picture, she seemed to think that I was the one stopping Mason from getting back together with her.

It would have been slightly better if I was in a relationship with anyone of these guys. Even Tiffany, who had reason to feel threatened by me, wasn’t because she knew we were all just friends. I didn’t understand why the girls were so horrible toward me when the guy I was really attracted to wasn’t even on their radar.

I smiled when my eyes found their target and proceeded to take my seat on the bench beside him. His dark eyes stared into mine.

“What do you want, Dawson?” Jake snapped after squashing the stick of the cigarette he had been smoking under his heavy, chained boots.

“Hey, we match,” I observed, my smile still in place as I referred to the similarity in our footwear.

He simply stared at me like he couldn’t wait for me to get the hell out of his face. My confidence dwindled, and my smile dropped. “I just… I saw you headed here, and I wanted to…” I trailed off.

Ever since I’d arrived at Redwood High, I had noticed a lot of things, but the one that stood out the most was Jake Grayson’s persona. Unlike my boys, Jake was in a different element entirely. Everyone at school knew him, but no one talked to him. Even the teachers stayed out of his way. It wasn’t that he got into trouble, which was unusual because he was your typical bad boy; he was a total outcast.

I stood up to leave when it became clear that my brain had suddenly developed an inability to conjure words, and my mouth simply refused to project.

“Come on, Katrina, just speak up. I don’t bite… at least not at first.” He smirked.

I glared at him for using my full name when secretly I liked the way it rolled off his tongue. It was either Dawson or Katrina, and my whole being craved the sound of my name on his lips.

I sat back down - my confidence renewed - and faced him. “Why don’t you eat with the others at the cafeteria? Why don’t you speak to anyone at school? Why do you keep to yourself so much? Why do you ignore me here?”

“So many questions, Katrina.” He released a slow grin; that along with his wind-ruffled hair made him look so incredibly sexy. “Which one should I answer first?”

I swallowed, suddenly feeling the heat rise above my neck, which was funny since we were seated on the bleachers. “Why do you ignore me? Whenever I try to talk to you, you just walk away like I’m invisible,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too bitter or disappointed. Or both.

“I talk to you at home, and I’m talking to you now.”

He raised a perfectly arched brow.

For the third time that day, I rolled my eyes. “You only say ‘hi’ to me when my mom is around, and you’re talking to me now because there’s no one around to see us,” I countered.

“Well, it’s in your best interest not to be seen talking to me, Katrina. We wouldn’t want you to be tainted now, would we?” he spat out bitterly.

“Tainted? What’s that supposed to mean? Did something happen to you?”

For some reason, my question made him laugh briefly before his face turned blank again. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“I’m just trying to be friends with you, get to know you,” I protested.

“Well, I already know you, Katrina. Rich girl, who has got everything, in a new town prancing around the school and enjoying popularity while feeling sorry for the poor boy who no one talks to.”

His words hurt because they were anything but true. My eyes stung, but I willed the tears not to fall. “You don’t know me, and I do not feel pity for you.”

He stood to his full height, his form casting a shadow over me. “I don’t care what you feel for me, Kat. Just stay the hell away from me.”

He turned around and left me sitting there as the tears finally fell from my eyes.

*****

After dinner with my mom that day, I heard something hit my bedroom window. When I looked down, it was Jake throwing stones at it. I opened the window and watched him climb the tree effortlessly and jump into my room.

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