When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)(76)
“You ready to go to school?” I help her off of the hood of my car opening the passenger side door for her. She quickly gets in getting comfortable. I run to grab her backpack and crutches from the sidewalk. Mrs. Conrad’s standing on the front step smiling at me. She knew I had been here the whole time. I called this morning to explain that I would be picking Kennedy up instead of Violet. She made the arrangement for me. I smiled back and she nodded approvingly.
Kennedy’s scanning through my iPod looking for something to listen to when I get into the car. I love the way her lips move as she reads through the songs. She’d stop every few songs as if her life depending on choosing the right one. When she decides on a song I smile over at her once the music comes through the speakers.
“What’s with the obnoxious smile, Black?” Kennedy asks staring over at me waiting for my answer. I love it when she calls me by my last name. It sounds natural coming from her. Not forced like the rest of the girls who do it flirtatiously trying to catch my attention. Kennedy already has my attention without much effort.
“This song reminds me of you,” I confess nervously. Maybe I gave too much this time.
“I’ve never heard it.” she grabs my hand holding it in her lap. This is when I used to recoil from Amanda. Not today. There would be no holding back anymore.
“Fix You by Coldplay. I’m sure you’ve heard it before.”
“Why does it remind you of me though?”
“Listen.” I squeeze her hand in reassurance.
I know my life isn’t perfect although everyone else seems to believe that it is just that---perfect. My father makes it his mission to beat the shit out of me whenever he gets the opportunity since I was a defenseless kid. Instead of fighting back like I desperately want to, I take every blow and every slap because that’s what my mother wants, what she needs. She doesn’t have the courage to stand up to him or to walk away. I take the brunt of the punishment for her. No one knows this reality except Kennedy. She never asks any questions or gives me a pitying look. She fixes me when I’m broken before I even realize I need it.
The song comes to an end. The car is bone chilling silent. Kennedy looks out the window staying silent still holding on tightly to my hand. I don’t know what she’s thinking. I wait until she’s ready to talk.
“That’s how you really feel about me?” Kennedy turns to face me once we pull into the parking lot of the high school. The place is littered with our classmates busy talking about what happened over the weekend or some other mundane subject. I don’t pay any attention to anyone as I pull into my parking spot until I turned to face her. She turns her body towards mine. I can’t resist reaching up and brushing the fleck of hair that’s always weaseling its way onto her face.
“God, you’re beautiful Kennedy. It never gets old looking at you,” I smile at her as she leans into me resting her cheek perfectly in my hand. “And that song is exactly how I feel about you.”
She thinks about what I said for a minute. Her gaze scans the parking lot several times, but her glance always lands back on me. We catch the attention of a handful of people who are leaning against different cars nearby. Kennedy and I haven’t had the chance to discuss what was going to happen once we left the shelter of her bedroom. We just sort of just ended up here anyways.
“I guess we should get this over with then, huh?” she says letting out an over dramatic sigh.
“Get what over with?” I ask turning the car off and pulling the keys out of the ignition.
“Don’t think that I’m not going to walk into this school without you by my side. I don’t care what anyone has to say and quite frankly what else could possibly get in our way that already hasn’t tried?” She reaches in the backseat for her backpack with confidence. I scoop it out of her reach before she can lay a hand on it.
“I can carry it for you,” I offer returning her smile with eagerness. She’s right. It’s no one’s damn business what’s happening. The only thing that matters is the two of us.
Took you long enough to realize that, dumbass.
Kennedy swings her door open. I run around to her side to help her out. I can feel the eyes turn on us as if they are watching a train wreck occur. No one could turn away. The ones that have enough tact to ignore us only last a split second. Their eyes are back on us quickly.
I focus only on Kennedy placing a hand on the small of her back allowing it to go a bit farther down than is necessary. This catches the attention of a group of girls standing two rows back from where we are. I hear their dramatic intake of breaths. They all whisper and glare in Kennedy’s direction. As if on cue the group parts and Amanda, the ring leader and my latest mistake, steps forward squinting her eyes as if she’s trying to focus in on the picture she can’t believe she’s seeing.
Everyone will have an opinion about Kennedy and me. Before I would have cared, now as I’m guiding her through the parking lot I can only focus on the way she smells. Coconut and vanilla. Every time the wind blows it assaults my senses and I forget everything else around me. What the hell has gotten into me? I’m such a chick.
Everyone’s eyes stay on us as we make our way into the school. The sea of students practically parts to make room for us. I hear a handful of whispers. It’s safe to say the rumor mill is running rampant already after five minutes of our arrival.