Role Reversal

3. Spiteful Nickname

Once Biology was over, true to her word, Kate came to meet me at my locker, ready to walk home together. "Shall we go?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear and regarding me with a thoughtful expression. Gah! Her whole cute playing with her hair thing is driving me crazy!

"Uh, sure. Come on," I said, closing my locker and turning quickly so she wouldn't see my slightly red face. She fell in step next to me and we walked in silence for a few minutes, dodging oncoming traffic- i.e, students who were rushing through the halls like headless chickens- when Kate punched me playfully on the arm.

"Hey what was that for?" I asked, turning towards her, putting on my saddest face and pretending to be deeply wounded.

This earned some giggles from her before she said, "Well, I just want to make sure you aren't worrying too much about her. I mean come on; it's not like she can kill you right?"

I just blinked at her and shook my head. Oh, if only this girl knew. Megan probably is capable of killing me, but only God knows why she hasn't done it already.

"I guess you're right," I said, deciding to keep my thoughts to myself. I gave her a weak smile and together, we walked out the front double doors.

                                                                        ********************

We chatted about Biology and if how Mrs Brock's moustache grew any bigger and hairier, it could rival Mr Hickson's. We were talking and laughing so much I nearly forgot about the terror awaiting me at the school gates until I saw it. I mean her. My good mood immediately evaporated, as did my smile. Kate must've noticed because she narrowed her eyes in the direction where I was looking and her laughter ceased.

Megan was leaning against the wall, her black and red rucksack on the floor next to her feet. The hood of her hoodie was pulled up and she was regarding the students milling around her with disinterest. But when she saw us, she visibly perked up and waved me over. To anyone else, it would've looked like we were friends, but to me and Kate, it was a completely different situation.

"Ri-ri, good to see ya!" she greeted, slapping me on the back. I ignored the spiteful nickname and adjusted the shoulder strap of my bag, shrugging her arm off, glancing to see if Kate was still with me.

She was standing just to my right, arms crossed over her chest, looking on curiously. She caught my eye and flashed me an encouraging smile. I attempted to smile back, but it probably ended up looking more like a grimace.

Sighing, I turned back to Megan, who was watching us with mild interest written on her face, and I knew that she was going to start asking questions. About Kate.

"Let's just get this over with, Megan," I said, trying to avoid the imminent. It wasn't fair on Kate to be here, and moreover, it wasn't fair on me.

"Who's that?" she asked, jerking a thumb towards Kate, totally ignoring what I had just said. I sighed again, knowing that this was going to happen anyway, and was about to introduce the two girls when Kate spoke first.

"I'm Kate, I'm in Adrian's Bio class. Nice to meet you, Megan," she said boldly. Megan just stared dumbly at her and then grinned wickedly.

"Hey, same here," she said, giving a small nod, still staring. What is she playing at?

This made Kate shift uncomfortably and start to fiddle with her hair again. Dammit, why does she do that! Does she not know what it does to me?

"Look, I just wanna go home and away from you, so just hurry up and beat me up already," I pleaded, looking longingly at the lovely road ahead. It looked so inviting, just asking for me to walk towards it and away from it.

But I had no such luck as Megan stepped forward and glared at me, her mouth slowly forming into an evil smirk. "Beat you up? Why my dear Ri-Ri, I don't remember saying anything about beating you up. I just said meet me after school," she replied, shrugging and stretching her hands lazily behind her back. "Lovely weather today isn't it?" She grinned at Kate again, who just shrugged timidly, not knowing what else to do.

By now, I was getting extremely annoyed and impatient, and was considering walking away, dragging Kate behind me. But knowing Megan, she wouldn't let me get away that easily, so I gritted my teeth and forced the words out of my mouth.

"But you said something about a fight. So what other kind of fight could you mean? I don't think you meant a thrilling literature debate."

Megan snorted and shook her head. "I was joking Ri-Ri. I just wanted to scare you a little bit." Oh yeah, 'cause you don't do that already. "Besides," she continued, "I wouldn't waste my precious time fighting a weak little boy like you."

I ignored the insult, clearly meant to rile me up, and clenched my teeth. "Then why did you want to meet me after school, Megan? You don't think I have better things to do than stand around outside school with you? Because trust me, you're the last person I ever want to be spending time with. I'd rather get hit by a car."

No sooner had I said the words did I regret opening my mouth at all. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now you're dead. Dumbass. Even Kate shot me a surprised look. Shit.

But instead of Megan advancing towards me and beating me snotless like I thought she would, she did something completely unexpected.

She took a small step back and for a second, just for one second, she lost her 'cool girl' façade. Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened a little. She almost looked hurt.

And seeing that expression, I immediately felt bad. Call me soft, but I just didn't like seeing anyone upset. Had I really gone too far?

However that feeling soon vanished when that smirk was back on her face again and she reverted back to the good ol' bad girl Megan. I felt somewhat relieved to see she wasn't upset, but that relief was short lived as she stepped towards me again, until we were only inches apart.

She had to look up at me, since I was taller than her by two heads at least, but nonetheless, her hard eyes sent an unpleasant shiver through my body.

Man up, Adrian!

"Oh yeah? Well guess what Ri-Ri, standing here and conversing with you and your little girlfriend isn't exactly my idea of fun either," she hissed. "But there's something I need to do and you are coming with me, whether you like it or not."

And with that, she gripped my arm tightly and dragged me towards the road.

The sun was still shining brightly, completely mismatched with the tight atmosphere surrounding us. The light blue sky was almost cloudless, with just a few snowy white wisps hanging in the heavens. It looked so peaceful that I almost forgot what was happening.

Almost.

I dug my heels into the ground and forced her to stop moving, yanking my arm violently out of her hold. She staggered back a bit before regaining her balance and shot me her famous venomous look.

"Wait,"I stated, gathering all my courage. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where. And I'm not leaving Kate either," and with that said, I walked back towards Kate, who was looking up at the sky as if cloud-spotting was her new hobby. I stood next to her and folded my arms to prove my point, making sure to stand between her and Megan. Megan sighed and walked back towards us, shooting me daggers with her eyes.

"Fine," she huffed, picking up her backpack from the floor and slinging it easily onto her right shoulder. "Follow me."

Kate and I shared a look, silently deciding whether we should obey her or not. She stared back at me with amber eyes twinkling with curiosity and a hint of worry. I sighed and shook my head, wondering why I had allowed her talk me into letting her come with me in the first place. She had no reason to be involved in any of this, but after contemplating the consequences, I nodded my head in the direction she had gone and Kate understood. She started walking ahead, leaving me to follow reluctantly behind.

Where were we going? And why did Megan want me to come with her in the first place?

I knew one thing for sure though: I wasn't going to get any Algebra homework done today.