Atta Girl!

Chapter Six

{ 5:06 PM, 2008-Jun-19 } { 0 comments } { Link }

- “Sam? Sam, speak to me!”
- As my eyes adjusted to the bright light - Lily’s sunroof? - above me, I tried to sit up. Bad idea. My head swam, and I quickly returned it to the cool surface of the pool deck. I suppose it would be better to wait for my eyes to focus first.
- The first thing I noticed was that Keith was peering down at me. The second thing that became apparent was that his long hair was positively plastered to his face, and his entirely black outfit was soaked. Had Josh pushed him in? “Sam? Are you alright?”
- I attempted to nod, but it felt like someone was continuously slapping my forehead.
- “Thank God for that. When you were unconscious, well...” He gulped, which seemed highly emphasized with his large Adam’s apple. “We thought you were dead for a moment.”
- I couldn’t help it. I shook with laughter, which brought about more pain. He just looked so pathetic in his dampness. “Unconscious? What happened?”
- Flannery moaned from nearby, lying haphazardly on a tanning chair, David fanning her with a magazine. She had her hands on her chest, wincing in pain. Wait a second. A flash of red...?
- Keith leaned in. “Flannery attempted to kiss poor David, who panicked and pushed her off of the diving board. You were directly below, and she landed on your head.” He chuckled. “Chest first, too.”
- I grimaced. Well, it all made sense now. My head still hurt.
- Lily and Hayley sat on either side of me. Ella and Zoe were perched near my feet, the former with her hand in Jimmy’s (what a go-getter!). Josh was pacing behind them, his freckles alight. He still didn’t think we were dating, right?
- With a sigh, Keith stood. “Can you stand?” I could, with some help from him. “Do you need anything?” Water. Give me water.
- Ella and Zoe escorted me to another tanning chair while he ran off to complete my request. I scanned the room, noticing almost immediately that Willow had vanished. What was up with that girl?
- “You’re so lucky, Sam!” Lily chirped, giving me a knowing look. “No else saw the fall. We assumed Flannery was fooling around, but he was... He was watching you at the time, it seems. Dove right in and pulled you out, he did.”
- Keith what? ... Well, it explained his wet clothing. I couldn’t help but blush.
- “Yeah, and he had to give you CPR!” gushed Hayley, her pigtails dripping.
- Oh, hell.
- Josh butted in. “I’m sorry... I was chatting with Aileen and...” His face turned crimson. “I didn’t know you were in trouble, else I’d have...” At last, he knew when to stop.
- So. Keith had... given me that wacky mouth-to-mouth stuff. Nothing special there. Right? Right, you stupid brain? Right? I was fighting a losing battle. A crush on Keith had developed, and made itself known right then and there.
- “Hey, chickies!”
- No. No no no. It was Matt’s voice. I did not need this. Especially not now. Standing awkwardly, I tried to get away, succeeding only in falling onto Ella on flopping back on the chair.
- The creeper sauntered casually into view, and Delilah flew into his arms with a squeal.
- Lily stood. “Matthew Forester,” she spat. “Get out.”
- He grinned. “Oh, but Lily, I came to see you, too!” He did the double cheek air-kiss thing that I witnessed my father and Tabithina perform. Ugh.
- The fiery-eyed redhead pointed to another door. “Into the snack room. Now.” Keith must have sensed this, for he chose that moment to exit that very door and rush over to the rest of us and the pair stormed into it.
- Delilah began to blubber incoherently, and I suddenly pitied the flirty girl.
- “What’s going on?” Keith whispered as he handed me a bottle.
- I managed to stand properly this time. “I don’t know, but I’m about to stop it.” Wobbling at first, I eventually fell into a more relaxed pace and marched toward the green door (with a smiling hamburger painted on it, I might add).
- “Sam, be careful!” Hayley warned. “Whenever Matt’s around, especially when he’s with a girl, Lils gets pretty snappy.”
- Keith nodded, and planted a hand on my shoulder. “If you go in there, you’ll get hurt. No doubt about it. It might be an accident; it might not be. But you’re going to get hurt.”
- I pushed him away. “Don’t worry. I’ve had to dodge things all the time. I live near Matt, remember?” He was a ruthless baseball player.
- “You’re not going in there, man!” Jimmy continued, dragging Keith way. “She can go. She looks tough. Man, you’ve got no meat. You’re all bones. Skin and bones.”
- I nodded my thanks to the senior, and turned the handle. Silence. Odd. The light was also off, and I had to wait for my eyes to adjust (again).
- Not a Lily or Matt in sight.
- I began to turn back, and as if on cue, a door appeared in the darkness before me. Had they gone deeper in? Only one way to find out.
- The door was slightly ajar, so I tiptoed toward it and peeked into a room only slightly brighter than the one I crouched in now. I could see movement...
- Then, Lily giggled.
- Okay, that was not a fighting sound. Before my brain could react, my arm instinctively reached for a light switch, and the room was flooded with fluorescent rays.
- “Ugh?” groaned Matt, blinking in the light. He had his hands on Lily’s chest, and her hands were around the back of his head... and their lips were clamped together like magnets.
- “What the...?” I gasped, taking it all in and feeling stupid.
- Lily was livid, and she peeled herself away from Matt. “What are you doing here?”
- “I... I... came to...” What was there to say?
- I began to back up, but she caught me. “If you say a word of this to... to anyone, I personally guarantee I will get you expelled!”
- Gulp. “I won’t say anything... but do I get anything in return for my silence?” I said wistfully, immediately regretting the words.
- Lily paused, and her face softened. “Yes. You do.”
- What?
- “There’s a party... next Sunday. Out of my friends usually only the four of us go... Aileen and Delilah are just...” She shuddered. “Well, I only hang out with them because Delilah’s parents are rich and daddy tells me to.” She winked. “It’s the same with Matt.”
- He grinned from the couch. “Yeah, I got a call from my father... says her parents will pay for her boyfriend’s university education.”
- “She’s so uncouth. Always talking,” Lily continued. “Anyways, Matt and I always pretend to be angry with each other to keep the plan afloat. Secretly, as you see, we’re much closer.”
- “So... Instead of just you, Willow, Flannery and Hayley... I get to go, too?” I piped up, my mind racing.
- She leaned down and grinned. “You bet.” I was reminded of Tabby treating me like a toddler, and it both disgusted and frightened me. “Now, run along and tell everyone that we’re calming down, and that Matt’s going to go.”
- I nodded slowly, and then rushed off to obey.
~~~
I noisily made my way through the lush forest, grunting in annoyance as several twigs snapped
under my hooves. I was supposed to be evading the vicious wolves, who were howling in the
distance, but I was much too clumsy. I clambered over yet another fallen log, and sque

- Ugh. I had had enough of this. Hayley said she wanted to write a bit about the pig being in a serene situation, and that I would take on the bit in which he was in danger. How the teacher imagined that working a short story could be a partner’s project escapes me.
- “Sam, how’s it going?” the Briton called from across the table. Her pigtails swirled around her papers as she wrote in an amazing speed. Many library books were strewn about her, open to pictures of pigs and pig facts.
- It was Sunday, and we were sitting in the library. I could just see the aisle in which Willow and I came across Keith and Lily. Hoo, boy. I sure jumped to conclusions there.
- And what was up with Willow? She was back in the pool room when I left Lily and Matt, and she looked happy. Even though Keith was fussing over me. Didn’t she have a crush on him as well? Nothing made sense in this school.
- “Hey!” Speak of the devil. In came my favourite mussy haired youth who promptly flopped in a seat next to me. “How goes the... boaring work?”
- “Oh, Page. How droll,” Hayley muttered as she rolled her eyes. She dropped her book in the process, and attempted to reach for it.
- At this moment, Keith spun to face me. “Come and look at the science section with me for a moment.” He winked. What was this guy up to?
- The pigtail weilding blonde snapped upright. “No, no. We’re working here. Go take your foolery somewhere else.” She huffily searched for her book page.
- Ignoring her entirely, he stood and pulled me up with him. “Fear not, my love. I will return your partner... eventually,” he said in perfect solemnity.
- Hayley scoffed, but didn’t try to stop him. I only just hid my smile as we walked off toward the books on molecules and other scientific foolery.
- “What is this all about?” I demanded as soon as we were out of earshot. My eyebrow was arched, but my teasing smile ruined the no-nonsense look.
- Keith grinned. “Well, you see, my dove-” I snorted. My dove? He tried again. “You see, I was thinking last night, about how brave you were when the devil herself reared her perfectly sculpted head and terrorised Matthew. About how you received an amazing blow to the head from an impenetrable force-”
- “Get to the point!” I almost shrieked with laughter. He had a way with words, this guy.
- He sobered. “I somehow managed to learn through the grapevine - that is, Flannery told David who told me - that you were invited to the party on Sunday. The one at that swanky new place Lily often raves about... Anyway, Justin, bless his soul, got me in.”
- I giggled. “Amazing bloke, that one.”
- He nodded and continued. “I am, at the present, dateless.”
- Erch! My laughter screeched to a halt. “Are you, now?” I said lamely.
- Smirk. “And, if what I hear is correct, Josh was a sham?”
- “Yep.” I must have looked like a moron, standing there, wide-eyed, swaying nervously, uttering syllables.
- “Which inevitably means you are, too, dateless?”
- “Yes...” Gah, where was that witty brain of mine? Holland?
- Keith leaned against a row of books. “Sam...?” He looked so cool, with his Rolling Stones t-shirt and black jeans. Having lost my arched eyebrow, he chose to take it up, and I practically fell over in the moment.
- I instead leaned nonchalantly (at least I hoped so) against a spinning rack of literature, and regarded him. “Yes, Keith?” I responded with the same tone of superiority.
- He looked like he was about to say something when the rack gave way, and I flopped onto the ground, surrounded by Stephen King. He looked down at me, blue eyes and all.
- “You’re attractive,” I blurted stupidly. Thank goodness ‘The Stand’ hid my face.
- He was taken aback. “Really?” He chuckled. “I approve.”
- My cheeks burned. “Uhm, why is Stephen King in the science section?” Quick to change the subject, I was.
- “The school’s a heap of insanity,” he whispered. “So, I will take your previous statement as a yes?”
- I went all incoherent and stopped myself quickly. “Yeah!” Then, my mindless brain (wait, did that make sense?) took over. “We did kiss after all.”
- Keith blinked. “We did?” Finally, it must have clicked. “Oh! That kiss.” He grinned. “I suppose we did... Though, for professional reasons, of course.”
- If I could have gone any redder in the face, it happened now. “Of course.”
- “Here.” He extended a long arm and helped me up. “Let’s pick up these books before that librarian eats us.” He gestured to a rather dark-looking woman in a pinstripe suit.
- I tried to rid myself of my blush, and hastily began stacking the books. Hopefully they hadn’t been ordered alphabetically. Keith didn’t seem to be putting them in any sequence, so I followed suit.
- “I suppose I should get back to Hayley now,” I said quietly, backing out of the row.
- He caught up with me in two strides. “Indeed. Hey, for the dance, should I wear an orange tie?”
- I gave him the look.
- “What? Lily was always obsessed with that. I thought maybe...” He trailed off, smiling. “I guess you aren’t as lost as I thought.”
- “Now, what would you mean by that?” We were nearing the tables.
- “Oh, you know. The brain-washing powers of Lily are immense.”
- As I contemplated this, I noticed that my partner was missing from our table. That and all of the library books were neatly stacked up with a note:

Hey, Sam!
Thought I’d finish up yours. It’s looking good.
See you in English!

- I pouted. “I was going to finish. I was.” Tossing the note into a nearby garbage can, I turned to Keith. “Will the librarian put the books away, or is that up to us?”
- He laughed. “Where do you think all our money is going to? The cafeteria?”
- “I should hope not!” I laughed.
- The library suddenly seemed very empty. Where was the pinstriped lady? Where were the students silently writing up essays and the like? Were we alone?
- The young man beside me glanced around. “Hey, where’d David go? Maybe Flannery scared him off.” He fumbled with his hair. “I don’t blame him.”
- Giggling somewhat nervously, I headed towards the library door. “Uhm... I should probably get back to Ella soon... she... she wants help with... math!”
- “Yeah, right, Sam. It’s Sunday. Ella is shopping with her parents.”
- Oh, crap. He’d found me out. “Oh, right. Hahaha... Silly me.”
- Suddenly, his arm was around me. Thoughts of Josh, always touching my back... my shoulders, flooded into my mind, and I panicked.
- “I know what I was talking about. I meant Zoe. Zoe needs help!” I pushed him away, and as though nothing had happened, I said good bye cheerfully and ran like hell.
~~~
- “Sam? What’s up?” Hayley asked brightly. Her pigtails had been tied up into twin buns today, and she looked, as always, adorable.
- I glanced up. “Nothing really... Just tired...” I had spent Sunday afternoon rocking back and forth on my bed, like some crazy person, until Ella and Zoe came back. The latter bad been off with her parents as well, and I wondered if Keith had also known that. Today I had done my best to avoid him, just in case. How ever was I supposed to survive being his date at the party?
- The Briton beamed. “Well, I finished up your story. How does it sound?” She handed me a paper, typed up in a font unknown to my computer.
- “I’m sure it’s-” I broke off after I read the first line. That wasn’t mine. I continued further. Nothing I had written was in the first paragraph. Soon I was fervently reading the story over and over, my eyes getting wider and wider.
- “What is it?” Hayley inquired, noting my change in expression.
- “It’s just that, well, n... none of this is m... my work,” I stuttered.
- She blinked. “Really? That’s strange. I just took out any bits that didn’t...” She giggled. “I’m sorry. How stupid of me. I took out the bits that didn’t sound like my writing style... those must have been your lines, then.” She smiled apologetically.
- Holding back my rage, I mumbled, “It’s alright. You did a fine job.” I silently returned to my seat, grimacing as I noticed Josh hiding behind his binder.
- “Josh, it’s okay. We can still talk. We can be friends,” I assured him as I pulled out my notebook. I glanced over at him quickly, and saw him shaking. “Ohmigosh, are you crying?”
- He looked up darkly. “No.”
- I flinched, and spun to face the front. Miss Dilsa was waving a grammar textbook around, squealing, “We’re going to start out in my favourite place... Prepositional phrases!”
- Hayley was still beaming. “Ooh, I just love prepositional phrases! They have such a nice rhythm... ‘across the field’... ‘over the bridge’... ‘around the barn’...”
- They exchanged mutual giggles, and finally, the teacher returned to the lesson. “Like I was saying, prepositional phrases are lots of fun. If they had a job for some chick to sit around circling prepositional phrases, I'd so take it!"
- Everyone around me rolled their eyes.
- In an attempt to keep the teacher happy, I raised my hand.
- She looked at me expectantly. “Oh? What’s on your mind, Sam?”
- “Uh... I think these phrases help you in your quest to finding indirect and direct objects. And some other grammatical functions as well.”
- Miss Dilsa threw up her hands. “Yes! Precisely, my dear! Turn any dull grammar questions into a breeze with these babies!”
- There came a knock at the door, and all but Hayley seemed relieved as the teacher went to answer it. As the door opened, a girl stepped in, looking embarrassed. Her mocha-brown hair was luscious and long, falling around her pierced naval, and lined with small blonde streaks and toned with a darker brown below. She was rather thin, I noticed, as her black-dotted, pink top was belly-revealing. She had the typical denim-mini-skirt-over-black-leggings look akin to the various mallrats in my hometown, and wore a lot of eyeliner.
- I smiled warmly, knowing how it felt to have all eyes on you, and not the good kind of staring. The smirking kind, reserved for new kids, or those who were late for class, etc.
- The newcomer noticed my smile and her blush faded, but it was replaced by a look of disinterest. She coldly made her way to an empty seat as directed by Miss Dilsa, and kept her eyes downcast.
- “Class, please welcome Katrina Fediulk,” the teacher announced brightly. “She wasn’t able to reach the school until now, so she’ll need to be caught up on all of our assignments!”
- Katrina snapped her head up. “Kate. Call me Kate.”
- Miss Dilsa blinked. “Oookay. Anyway, speaking of assignments... Has everyone completed their animal impersonations?” As the class nodded, she began to march around collecting them, and my mind slipped back to Hayley’s actions.
- Why did she have to change everything? Wasn’t I apart of this group? And my work wasn’t that bad, was it? I felt cheated of my existance in this class.
- “Hayley! I am excited to see what you’ve written. Uh, you, too... Sam.” You could tell she wasn’t thrilled on my account.
- After she had written down our grammar homework on the board, I began to work on it but I couldn’t help but glance at the new girl, Kate. What was eating her? She had the look of someone who wasn’t as cold as she seemed... Perhaps she’d warm up eventually.
- “Kate... Kate...” Josh whispered behind me.
- I frowned. “Plotting for another unwilling girlfriend, Joshie-kins?”
- Blushing, he shook his head. “No, no. She just looks so... familiar...”
- “That’s what they all say,” I laughed. Back to the grammar I went.

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