Skater Girl (Editing)

Chap 6 - Who's to Blame

"I'm just saying that it's cool that you get picked up instead of riding your board. I know how much you love it, but I gotta admit I love Terry way more."

I let out an exasperated groan. "Kenzie, please go back inside the house," I beg. He doesn't budge.

"I, for one, am enjoying your company," Terry chimes. I give him a look and he quickly looks away.

"Thank you Terry," Kenzie replies. He beckons me to come closer. I refuse at first, but give in to his lure.

He places a $50.00 bill in my hand and closes it shut. I punch him in reply and try to give him back the bill, but he dodges my advances.

"Kenzie! Take this back!" I exclaim. He scoffs.

"Why should I listen to you? I'm the older sibling."

"Because this is your hard-earned money."

"Right!" he says, a big smile on his face. "Which means I get to decide what to do with it. It's like compensation because if you hadn't slept in, then Terry wouldn't have come knocking on the door and I wouldn't have met him! It's a token of my gratitude."

I begrudgingly stuff the bill into a pocket of my bag. The satisfied look on Kenzie's face irritates me. I begin to walk away.

"Uh uh uh, where's my hug?"

"Noooooo," I prolong, but know there's no avoiding it. I turn around and give Kenzie his hug before heading back towards the car.

"I love your brother," Terry says to me on the drive to school.

"Please never say that again. I hope you never come by my house when he's there."

A moment of silence sits in the air. I ready to follow that up, afraid I've said the wrong thing, but Terry beats me to it.

"I've been meaning to ask you, about this whole car ride thing." His grip fidgets around the steering wheel. "Your foot has been getting better, and maybe this is one sided, but can I keep picking you up for school?"

I look at him in confusion. His eyes stare straight ahead, but his hands still fidget. What's changed? What's the catch?

I've never been very trusting. But I trust Terry. Maybe more than I'd like to admit. How do I know when someone wants to be around me?

"What makes you think it's one-sided?"

He shrugs. "I don't know how to tell if someone feels the same way I do. I think we're pretty good friends, so I want to keep picking you up and hanging out. I can't assume you feel the same."

***

Keith does most of the talking during our lunch session. It's evident I'm somewhere else, because he finishes the practice sheet without asking me for help like usual. I'm taken aback when looking over it, because all his answers are correct.

"Do you even need my tutoring?"

"At this point, no. It's because of your tutoring that I even got this far." He begins packing up his things and I follow suit.

"Are you gonna tell Ms. Till?" I ask. He shakes his head as we walk out of the library and towards the cafeteria. "It's not like it matters. We hang out regularly anyway."

"You want to keep hanging out?"

"You don't?"

"I do," I answer without hesitation.

"Would you have said the same thing if you weren't my tutor? If we were just lab partners?"

I'm caught off guard by his question. Did my answer come off the wrong way?

I'm scared that he's right, scared that if someone else hadn't pushed us together, I wouldn't have had the guts to try harder than I already was. Do I blame that on past failed friendships? Or do I blame that on myself?