Page 181 of We Shouldn't Be Together
“It’s my birthday,” I defend. “Cut me some slack.”
32
OnMonday,Kaiwalksinto our chemistry classroom halfway through the lesson. I sit tall as he takes the stool beside me.
“So? Did you get it?” I ask eagerly, knowing he was getting his licence today.
He smiles but his voice doesn’t have the usual cocky charm I expect. “Yeah, nothing to it.”
“That’s it? I thought you’d come in here totally bragging.”
He smirks but I still sense tension. “I’ve become that predictable, have I?”
I tilt my head. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Why?”
“Something seems off.”
He rubs his brow and clears his throat. “Did Camila tell you she ambushed Jamie this morning?”
I retch, making him lower his hand to check on me. “I’m okay. Is this about Jamie’s mom?”
Kai’s tension multiplies. “You did know?”
“I thought I’d handled it.”
“What does that mean?”
“I stole the poster,” I admit in the softest whisper imaginable. Camila’s only a few benches away.
He leans in to check he heard me correctly. “You stole it?”
I nod. “She showed me it before I met you at the skatepark. I couldn’t let her use it to ruin Jamie’s life. I had to take it.”
“Where is it now?”
“In shreds. I dumped it in a trash can and it should now be at the town dump.”
Kai brightens with a happy laugh. “You really did that?”
I cup the sides of his face. “I’d do anything for you. Jamie’s important to you, so she’s important to me, too.”
“And you did this before the skatepark?”
I nod, sliding my hands down his face and then letting them fall into my lap.
He groans. “What are the odds?”
“What do you mean?”
“At the skatepark, before you got there, Jamie told me she’s losing her scholarship.”
“Get out.”
“And this morning she had soccer practice, and her coach has benched her until she gets her grades up.”
“So, she’s losing her scholarship because she’s failing classes?”
