I Slapped Mr. Popular

12

I don't see Ridge for the rest of the day, so I don't wait for him after school. I open the door, and I see Kyle coming down the stairs. "Hey," he says.

I wave. "Hey."

"What happened to your lip?" he asks, walking up to me. He goes to touch it, but I move my head.

"It's nothing, Kyle," I say.

"It's bruised and cut. That is not nothing," he says.

I groan, "Just leave it alone. I'm fine." I walk upstairs before he can say anything else. Dropping my stuff beside my bean bag chair, I make my way over to my laptop.

I click the power button and give it a minute to power up. I log into Facebook, checking what I need to, then get off.

Then, my phone brings with a text from Emma.

Check Instagram.

I text her back:

Why?

A minute later she texts back.

There's a video.

I log into Instagram and check my inbox. Emma had sent me the video through there, and I click on it. Sure enough, the video is from my confrontation with Wren. I watch it then log out.

Man, it's been only one day since Ridge and I started dating, and something has already gone wrong. What else could happen?

The doorbell rings, and I don't answer it. Then, Nick calls for me. Groaning, I get out of bed and walk downstairs. Ridge stands inside, alone. He looks up at me and smiles. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Sorry I ditched some classes. I was angry," he says.

I nod. "It's fine. Do you wanna come up?" I ask. He nods, and we both go to my room. I shut the door behind him, and sigh. "Have you seen the video?"

"Yeah, that's why I skipped class."

I shrug. "I don't really care about it," I admit.

He looks at me weird. "Why not?"

"I don't know. I just don't," I say.

"How come you don't hate her? She posted it."

I shake my head. "I told you before. I've never hated anybody," I say.

Ridge sits on the bed beside me. "Why is that?"

"Hate is a very strong word," I say, laying back.

"So? I hate her," he replies.

I laugh, "You dislike her. Hate means that if you had Hitler, Wren, and Satan in the same room with only one bullet, you would kill her, despite the worse things the other two did."

"You know, I've never met anyone like you before," he says.

I stare up at the pictures on my ceiling. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

"That's a really good thing. You're different, Braelyn, and I like that." He lays beside me. "Is that your mom and dad?"

He points to a picture of Mom, Kyle, Nathan, Nick, and my dad when she was pregnant with me. "Yeah, about eighteen years ago," I say, "He died before I was born."

"From what?"

"Cancer," I say. I point to another picture. "That's a more recent picture of her. It was taken last time she came home, so about three years ago."

"She's pretty," he says.

I nod. "Yes, she is," I say.

"So, that's where you got your good looks," Ridge says.

I laugh, "Everyone says I look like my dad."

"I think you look like your mom," He says, "You both have the same button nose, same beautiful eyes, and those beautiful lips."

"Everything comes down to lips," I say.

Ridge leans over. "Because I love to kiss them," he says then kisses me.

I roll my eyes, and he lays back down. His phone begins to ring, and he answers it. "Hey, Mom," he says.

"Yeah, I'm fine...No, I'm not with Stormy. I'm with Braelyn...Okay, I'm coming." He hangs up, groaning.

"You gotta go?" I ask.

He nods. "Yeah, the school called my mom about me skipping classes."

"Nice," I say.

He kisses me once more and stands. "Yep. I'll try to get out of it. I'll see you tomorrow at school," he says.

"Okay, bye," I say as he opens the door.

"Bye," he says and leaves.
××××××
I make my way to the bathroom later on and take a shower. When I come out, I see Nathan leaving his room. "Where are you going?" I ask.

"Out," he says.

"With who?" I ask.

"None of your business."

I cross my arms. "I'll call you at eleven and make you come home," I say, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

He glares. "We'll see about that," he says and walks down the stairs.

I make my way to my room and shut the door behind me. I sit on my bed and turn the TV on, searching for anything interesting on. When I don't find anything, I go to the kitchen, where I find Kyle.

"Hey," I greet, looking in the fridge for left over pizza. I put two slices on a plate and place it into the microwave.

"Hey," he replies, making a face as I eat one slice of cold pizza.

"What's the face for?" I ask.

My brother points to the pizza in my hand. "Cold pizza is disgusting."

"Says who?"

"Me, that's who," Kyle says.

I roll my eyes. "You're just inhuman," I say.

He grins. "Says the girl who used to eat dirt," he replies.

"Hey, everyone has eaten dirt at least once," I say as I take my pizza out of the microwave.

"Mom says I never did."

"Because you're inhuman," I say, taking a bite of my pizza.

He laughs, "Okay. I'm inhuman."

"Thank you!" I exclaim.

"But cold pizza is disgusting," he says.

I frown and eat the rest of my cold slice before moving on to the pizza out of the microwave. "Better?" I ask.

He nods. "Yes, give me a slice."

I slide him my plate, and Kyle grabs the other slice. "You're welcome."

"Thanks, Braelyn."

"Have you heard from Mom?" I ask.

Kyle frowns. "If I did, you know I would tell you."

I nod. We haven't heard from Mom in a good six months, and it is beginning to worry me. I finish off my pizza and tell Kyle that I am going to bed. I walk upstairs and sit on my bed, picking up a picture of my mom.

I put it to my chest and lay down. Soon enough I drift off to sleep.