Cool With A "K" PART 30 - CHAPTER 21

Mouse laid on her stomach on her bed, quietly paging through Leo's yearbook from the year before. She turned the page and studied a black-and-white shot of some kids standing around in front of a fence on a field trip to Valley Fair. It looked like a candid shot- only a couple of the kids in the picture were looking at the camera. Three of the girls from the cheerleading squad stood in a group, wearing sunglasses and bikini tops with shorts, laughing. On the other end of the fence were Chris and Geoffry. They had their arms around each other's waists and they were both smiling, looking at something beyond the frame of the picture.
Mouse scowled down at the photo. They looked so f--king happy. She slammed the yearbook and threw it across the room, it hitting the floor with a loud crash. She turned over and put her pillow over her head.
A few seconds later, there was a hesitant knock at the door.
"Go away." Mouse called from under her pillow.
There was a pause, then another knock.
"Go away." Mouse repeated.
The knock came again. Mouse threw the pillow at the wall and got up, storming over to the door. She flung it open and scowled at Leo. He smiled and said, "Hey, can I come in?"
"No, go away." Mouse said, starting to close the door. Leo put out his hand and grabbed the door. "Please?"
"What do you want?" Mouse said angrily, walking back to her bed and laying down on it.
Leo, knowing better than to get too close, closed the door and stood by it, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I just wanted to check on you." He said, "You looked pretty f--king pissed off today."
Mouse groaned melodramatically and complained, "Why do all of you want to talk about your feelings all the time?"
She sat up and said, "Worse, why do you want to talk about my feelings all the time? I'm Mouse, can't you just... Except that I don't have feelings?"
Leo grinned at her and she snapped, "What?"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He asked.
Mouse rolled her eyes and said, "Why do any of you give a damn? Especially you. I used to just be able to trust that you were a moron and you would stay out of my way if I scared you enough."
Leo crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at her, smiling. 
"Now, you have, like, feelings and shit and it's terrible!" Mouse said, trying hard to fight back a grin.
Leo put his hands back into his pockets and he slowly walked a little closer to her. He said, "Well, maybe I'm not the only one who's developed emotions recently."
Mouse crossed her arms and tried to keep frowning. She looked down at her lap and smiled.
Leo smiled warmly at her and said, "Mom said she'd take us out for ice cream. You in?"
Mouse looked up at him and asked, "Is there peanut butter cup?"
"You bet."
"Hell yeah, I'm in." Mouse got up and joined her step brother. Leo grinned and put his arm around her shoulders. She smacked his arm away and he recoiled.
"That doesn't give you permission to touch me."
"Yeah, sorry."

Cool With A "K" PART 30 - CHAPTER 20

Ever since yesterday when I told my friends about Mouse's crush on Geoffry, the atmosphere at school just seemed totally different. I walked down the hall, a sinking depression crawling over me. It seemed like everyone felt like that; sad and isolated, maybe angry. It felt like everyone was hiding something, like they all had something that they wanted to say, but they felt like they couldn't. Unless they were me and they already said something stupid that they wished they hadn't said.
I felt the worst for Mouse and Chris. I think that Mouse is kind of stuck, because she wants to be mad at me, but it would only prove that we were right about her being in love with Geoffry. That Geoffry was right.
Chris just seems troubled. Troubled and sad. We went home yesterday and he just sat at the kitchen table by himself, his mind off somewhere far away.
You know when you do something really stupid without thinking of how it affects others and you don't even realized that it was stupid until the damage is done? And everybody else knows that it was stupid and you feel like there isn't any way that you can fix it, so all you can do is sit there are let guilt crush you into the ground? That's kind of like how I feel now.
No, that's exactly how I feel.

Cool With A "K" PART 30 - CHAPTER 19

Leo glanced at Tae-Hyun, sitting a couple of seats away at their lunch table with her iPod in her lap. She had earbuds in her ears and was watching some sort of TV show.
Leo leaned over to her and asked, "Wha'cha watching?"
Tae-Hyun looked at him, "Hm? Oh, it's a K-drama that I really like... A Korean TV show."
"Yeah, I got that." Leo said. He smiled.
Tae-Hyun quickly smiled back and returned her attention to her iPod. Leo studied her face.
She's so beautiful. He thought, I can't believe that she fooled me into thinking she was a guy for so long.
Leo watched the little screen and a pretty girl came on screen, frantically saying something to a boy onscreen.
"She kinda looks like you." Leo commented.
"Tsk, yeah right." Tae-Hyun said. She glanced at him and grinned a little.
"She does." Leo said, pointing to the screen, "See? She's got those big eyes and that look like she's really worried about something."
Tae-Hyun chuckled and Leo said, "She'd look just like you if you had long hair."
He looked at Tae-Hyun and asked, "Have you ever had long hair?"
Tae-Hyun nodded, "Yes, it was about this long until I moved to America."
She gestured to her waist with her hand and Leo said, "Wow, so cutting it was a big sacrifice... That must have been hard for you."
Leo recalled when Chris first broke up with Geoffry and how Geoffry was so desperate to get him back that he cut off his dreadlocks. Leo thought of hair as being something that was important to people, but he realized how meaningless it really was.
Leo stared at Tae-Hyun and he said, "I like your hair this way. Not many girls at this school have short hair."
Tae-Hyun studied him and smiled.
I ran up to our lunch table and forcefully put my lunch tray down, sitting across from Leo and Tae-Hyun.
"Guys," I began, "I think I messed up. Bad."
They looked at me and Tae-Hyun asked, "Why? What happened?"
I looked at her, then at Leo. I guess I had already told two people, so telling two more of my friends would probably be okay.
"I think... That Mouse has a crush on Geoffry."
Leo and Tae-Hyun's eyes widened... But they weren't looking at me. I turned around in my seat to see Mouse standing behind me. She rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, what the hell?!"
"Mouse, I'm so sorry-" I started to say.
"No, you're not sorry." Mouse said, slamming her lunch tray onto the table near me. "What the hell is wrong with you? You think you can just go around telling people shit about your friends just because it's not about you?"
"No, Mouse, I-"
"It's not okay, Angie! You can't do that!" Mouse snapped.
Tae-Hyun and Leo drew away from us uneasily and Chris and Alice walked up to the table. They looked at us and both got extremely tense.
I looked up at Mouse and said honestly, "Mouse, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Mouse rounded on me and snapped, "Didn't mean to what? Humiliate me in front of all our friends?"
She scowled darkly at me, but she slowly looked around at our table, taking in all of the staring faces. She straightened up, realizing how out of character she was acting. As if nothing happened, Mouse quickly sat down and began to unwrap her sandwich.
We all watched in silence as Mouse bit into the sandwich. She cringed and said, "Uhg, these sandwiches are disgusting. Somebody should talk to the lunch ladies or something."
I said softly, "It's... Okay if you're mad at me. I would be, too."
Mouse stopped chewing and she slowly turned her head to look at me. Her glare was deadly this time.
"Look, Blondie," She said, "I don't wanna talk about feelings with you."
We stared at each other and I could sense all of our friends watching with bated breath. Mouse turned back to her sandwich and took another bite. I watched her for a moment, feeling hurt, before leaning over my own lunch, my hair hiding my ashamed face. No one else said a word for the rest of lunch.

Cool With A "K" PART 30 - Chapter 18

The door slowly opened and Geoffry stepped out of the boys' bathroom, a smug look on his good-looking face. A junior girl slinked out after him wearing the same smirk. They looked at each other and smiled devilishly.
Geoffry turned to the girl and she said silkily, "I'll see you around, handsome."
Geoffry merely chuckled and said, "Yeah... Bye."
He turned and walked away, the girl waving flirtily after him.
Geoffry walked down the hall with his hands in his pockets, grinning like he had done something clever. He reached his locker and twisted the dial on the locker, chuckling to himself. He opened the locker and took out two books. He slammed the door and revealed Tina, standing behind the door. She was wearing a pink sweater, lavender sweat pants, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail, spilling out of the bright blue scrunchie in wisps of purple. She also had, of course, her navy blue hall monitor sash.
Geoffry, who hadn't noticed her, jumped. Recovering, he said, a bit uneasily, "Oh, it's you... Hello, Tina."
"Hello, Geoffry." Tina said coolly, watching him with a bland look on her face. Her eyelids sagged slightly, giving her a tired sort of look.
Tina turned to go down the hall, stuffing her hands into her pockets.
"Walk with me, Geoffry." She said simply.
Geoffry looked at her, compulsively checking over his shoulder to see if anyone else was in the hall. He hesitantly obeyed.
As they walked, Tina said, "I saw you with that girl just now. How was that?"
Geoffry eyed her nervously. He quietly answered, "Er, good. Fine, I suppose."
Tina asked calmly, "Did you have fun with her?"
Geoffry averted his gaze to the floor and he mumbled, "Uh, sure I did... May I ask why you care? You're not... Into me, are you?"
Tina sighed, watching her feet and looking the slightest bit brought down. "No, Geoffry, I'm not interested in you in that way."
"'In that way.'" Geoffry muttered mockingly.
"Do you know her well?" Tina asked.
Geoffry shrugged, "Well... Not too well. Why does it matter?"
Tina looked straight ahead and a small grin crept onto her face. She replied, "Well, I think I should let you try to answer that question."
She stopped walking and turned to Geoffry. He stopped, too, and faced her. Tina's lips flattened to a line and she studied Geoffry seriously, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
"You hurt people, you know." Tina said gently.
Geoffry's face softened slightly and he gave her a puzzled look.
Tina nodded and continued, "I know you've been upset with me and you probably don't want my advice..."
She didn't tear her gaze from Geoffry's. "It's not really my place... But I could name a couple of people who you have brought quite a lot of heartache."
Geoffry looked serious. He rose his chin slightly and said, "Do you?"
Tina nodded quietly and said, "Yes. I think you know who they are."
Geoffry stared into space for a moment, thinking. Tina said, "Well, I'll leave you to your thoughts."
She started to leave and Geoffry said, "Hey, Tina."
Tina turned back to look at him and he hesitated.
"... Why are you suddenly helping me?"
Tina studied him, then she smiled warmly. A new look for her in Geoffry's experience.
"It seemed like you needed a bit of a wake up call." She said knowingly. With that, she gave him one last smile and she disappeared down the hallway.
Geoffry watched her leave. He sighed deeply and walked silently to class, deeper in thought than he had been in ages.