Celadon Bay - Book One

Retaliation

"This is it!" Martin says to me. Normally, this would mean my cousin is talking about a girl, but no. Not this time.

We're sitting at the cafeteria having coffee, something we just recently discovered, because this is one crude winter morning, and coffee is definitely the best way to inject some warmth into your bones, at least without drinking alcohol.

"This is exactly it!" I say, sipping on my own Styrofoam cup.

"I don't really get what you guys see in coffee," Vee says. Yep, I have finally started calling her Vee, just like Martin does.

We're holding hands under the table, and I squeeze hard because her hand is so cold, I want to pass on some of my own heat to her.

"Here," I say. "I know you don't like it but, just hold it in your hands for a bit." I offer her my cup and she hesitates for a moment, then takes hold of my coffee. I can see how the heat warms her hands, because her relief is fully visible on her face. I lean over and kiss her cheek. Martin looks at us and smiles at us proudly, like we're his own children or some shit.

Our English teacher is on medical leave, so we have two free periods. Vee and I are okay just sitting here, but Martin is clearly getting restless. He takes his last sip of coffee, and just as he's ready to leave, Leslie Durham, aka tenth grade's famous bombshell, aka nine out of ten, and the girl most CJ High guys would definitely bang, and now aka Poor Leslie, walks down the stairs and into the cafeteria. There's this moment when her eyes meet Martin's, and she almost flinches, but she keeps walking towards the counter as if she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

That smile, the one born from the fourth ring of hell, flashes across my cousin's face and I know what he's thinking. He's gonna make Leslie his plaything again.

"You seriously shouldn't do this, Marty," I say to him, and Vee nods her head in agreement.

"You're such a bad person, Marty," Vee completes. "Why do you keep messing with poor Leslie?"

'Poor Leslie' is sort of her new nickname. When Martin can't decide on someone's heart to toy with, he goes back to Poor Leslie. One would think that she should hate this guy and kick him all the way to Croatia when he tries to get back with her, but no; this girl is one of those hopeless, helpless girls who still believes she's going to be the one, even after he's played her a second time, only two weeks ago.

It seems that Leslie had undergone a lot of kissing practice since her first round with Martin, so he broke up with her in a fit of jealousy because, how could he even date a girl who would kiss just about anyone? Of course, Martin wasn't jealous. He just wanted an excuse to dump her.

As expected, and just like the first time, the rumor spread like wildfire. She stopped being the bad kisser and became the girl who is a pro because she makes it her habit to kiss anyone and everyone. The list of guys claiming having made out with her is very long. And it's getting longer, even now. Other rumors say she's looking for a school transfer to run away from her bad reputation, but apparently that's not an easy thing to do in July.

So Poor Leslie is now trying very hard to keep a very low profile, because everyone at school is making fun of her. And when she sees Martin, the way she does right now, she just doesn't know where to hide.

In short, Martin is being pretty shitty.

I watch in disbelief as he walks straight over to her, paying no heed to what Vee and I just told him. Leslie clearly wants to flee, but her feet don't move.

"I can't watch this anymore," Vee says, leaving my coffee cup on the table before getting up and walking away.

I gulp down my coffee, drop the cup in the trash, and rush after her, reaching her halfway into the hall. She's walking fast: she's pretty annoyed.