Chapter 14- Moral Change

Chapter 14 - Moral Change

Kim's POV

I walked out of Home EC class, still feeling sticky and slimy from cracking eggs to make French toast, and flour still powdered on my dark washed jeans. The boys in the group thought it would be funny to crack eggs whole, as in let's just throw them really hard in the blender so they crack and call it a day. So when I had to go fishing for shells, then they started a flour war. Everything went all downhill after those two minor accidents. Emphasize on the word minor, you don't even want to get me started on the major.

Dragging my feet through the halls, I slumped into a cushioned library chair for free period. Two more periods and I would be free from this disastrous day. See, I used to really enjoy school, love it actually, I know I'm such a weirdo. Now I just tolerated it. Freshman year was fun, sophomore year we were pressured to take exit exams, if you don't pass then you don't graduate. Junior year, they prep you for college, AP classes begin, and you take SATs. Senior year, not so bad until you have to start really considering what college or university you want to be committed to, application deadlines, financial papers, FAFSA, papers upon papers to fill out, and writing essays for college. When senioritis comes, it hits hard and there's no going back.

I took out my homework and started on it. There was a light knock on the wooden table. I look up finding Spencer on the other side of the table smiling at me. "Hey," he whispers, kissing my cheek.

I could feel my cheeks burn, but I tried to ignore it, "Hey?" I replied with a puzzled look. "You don't have free period now, do you?"

"Nope, creative writing. I'm trying to get out and do something else. I write enough for Mr. Bass and Ms. Nelson as it is." He chuckles, taking a seat across from me, "I didn't really feel like sticking around. Guidance said they'll make the fix by the end of the week," he shrugged, crossing his arms on top of the table, leaning towards me.

I giggle, shaking my head, noticing how he close he is to me. "Ditcher."

He snickers, shrugging his shoulders. "Like you've never done it before."

"Nope," I said proudly while popping the P.

"What!-"

"SHH!" screeches the librarian from behind her large wooden desk. She pushes her glasses further up her nose as she looks down at us. Honestly, we weren't even that loud, there were other people in here louder than us.

"Sorry," we both whispered back nevertheless. "I've never ditched class. I've skipped school, but that's different," I correct before he spoke minimizing the debate.

"No, it's not," he counters, shaking his head. Who did he think he was? The Lord of Ditching? Pretty sure you're not in school either way.

"Not coming into school is different from coming into school and not showing up to class," I began to say, defending my point. "Not coming to school can indicate that you were sick. Skip class and teachers will find out, which means you're a lazy ass, you're going to get into trouble, and you're stupid for getting busted."

"It's not ditching if you don't get caught," he chuckles, "My motto," he points to his chest while leaning back on his chair, rocking back and forth. Darn, he looks sexy. His black cropped hair is all tousled and silky looking and his green T-Shirt woven on him to outline his muscles perfectly. He's definitely something to drool over.

"Actually, it's not ditching if you've got a believable excuse," I correct with a smirk.

"A little bit of both," he agrees with a positive smile. "So, what are you working on?"

"Sociology homework," I reply, doodling on the edge of the paper. He nods his head, looking around the place as I went back to my work. Drumming my pencil on the wooden desk nervously, I couldn't figure out the answer to number four. My pencil slams on the desk just as the librarian lady yelled out a Shh again to me. That lady seriously needs a brake. Lighten up!

I look up at Spence, who smirks and threads his fingers through mine. After a couple of minutes of staring and me getting totally lost in his hazel color eyes, he tugs at my hand and stands up grabbing his bag. "Come with me," he says, jerking his head towards the doorway.

"Where?" I whisper, looking at my stuff sprawled around the table.

"You'll see," he answers. Gathering my things together, I walked up to the door with him, lacing my fingers through his as we make our sneaky way exiting out to the courtyard.

"So." I began, curious as to where he was leading me.

"Yeah?" he responds questionably.

Awkward moment.... Awkward silence....

"I had a fun time on Friday," I state to him smiling as we walk, "We should do it again." Saying anything now to make some small talk.

"I'm glad you said that," he replies, with an even bigger smile than before."Then I supposed you won't mind going on another date with me?"

"I suppose not," I smirk, pretending to think about it.

"So, how about Saturday? We can go to the ice rink," I smile, feeling all anxious and jumpy inside now. If I wasn't holding his hand or in the same proximity as him I would be dancing up and down and doing something stupid and crazy.

I pretended to think about it, internally ecstatic about the idea, stopping and looking at the sky, "Hmm? A date to the ice rink." I repeat, mumbling to myself. JUST SAY YES! SAY YES!

"I know what you're thinking." He states, with a smirk on his face.

"Oh do tell." I giggle.

"You're thinking: How can he possibly top a date like the last one. Almost impossible." He boasted playfully, spiking some kind of joyful feeling in the pit of my stomach that made my smile stretch so wide that it hurt. "Almost impossible though." He pointed out. "It'll be just as good if not better."

"Alright, alright, you've persuaded me." I concede, agree to the date.

"So is that a yes?" he ask in confirmation cheerfully.

"It's a yes." I confirm with a stern head nod.

He smiles delightfully kissing the back of my hand that was intertwined with his.

In the middle of the oval track is a patch of green cut grass. We both lay there looking up at the sky, naming cloud shapes like little kids. It wasn't too cold out even due to the fact that it snowed over the weekend. Plus, this week is a short week thanks to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving isn't one of my favorite holidays. I'm always stuck with my mom cleaning the house or running last minute errands. It's the worst dreadful week off ever, but still I'm thankful for the days off. I don't even have the motivation or energy to go out Black Friday shopping the next day! I don't even know how my parents still do.

I like my family, don't get me wrong. They're pretty interesting and funny, but like all families, they're annoying at times and embarrassing. Usually, the only best part of it all is that my mom invites Asher's family over, especially when Asher's dad is out on business. My mom feels bad that they don't really go out during that time, plus they're almost like family to us anyways.

Asher keeps me sane when I'm running around chaotic all about the house or around my family. If he wasn't there, then I'd most likely be hiding myself in my room bored out of my mind or having to listen to my grandfather's made up childish stories.

"So, are you doing anything special this week for Thanksgiving?" I asked Spencer, turning my head in his direction.

"I guess. Usually our tradition is my grandparents cook and my whole family goes over. Later, we end up playing card games or watching football, or both at the same time." He explains, tucking an arm behind his head while shifting his gaze to me.

"Usually? Is it going to be different this year?" I wonder, shifting my head on the grass so I could look at him properly.

"Kind of; it's complicated now," he sighs, rubbing his hand up his face and through his hair. By the looks of, it he really didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, so I didn't push him for more.

"Would you like to come over to my house? Even if it's just for dessert or coffee, I'm sure no one would mind really," I giggle nervously. After I said those words and processed them through my mind, I couldn't help but cringe. Dammit. Oh God, I feel stupid! He's going to think I'm going to make him go through the whole 'Meet the Parents' thing! I don't want to scare him off. We've only been going out for four days!

Luckily, his response is casual and not worried. "I'll see about that. Thanks for the offer," he grins. I nod my head smiling, looking back up to the sky as I point out a makeshift of some castle, bird's nest type thing.

Asher's POV

I'm sitting in my sixth period class; Calculus. I see from the side window of the courtyard a couple passing by holding hands. They look cute standing side by side hol-wait! EW, no that's Spencer! Oh hell no! Why the fuck is Kimmy skipping class, no she had free period now so no teacher really cares. Scary how I know that shit, huh? Why the fuck is she leaving campus then?

Taking out my phone discreetly from my jean pocket, I sent a quick text to Kimmy asking what she was doing. She better answer my text and not ignore it or lie to me. If so then I'll seriously be pissed. Watching her leave out of plain sight and not seeing her receive my text rose a bit of anger and jealousy boiling in my veins. That Spencer kid is going to be the death of me one day, I swear to it! Who the fuck does he think he is?!

Kimmy is my girl, have I not made that clear?! Well, not really, but I'm pretty sure I made it look clear that no one messes with us. Waiting for the time to pass by, I swear to God it's moving slower on purpose now. I drum my fingers on the desk, anxiously wanting to get out.

"Dude! Knock it off," Ty whispers in the seat next to me.

I give him a death glare, indicating to cut the shit and stop fucking talking to me. I'm still pissed at him for doing that to Kimmy. He hurt her surely and I have never seen her cry that much in my entire life. I think things got worse when she realized she couldn't remember anything that night and what had happened. I didn't think girls could cry as much as Kimmy did. Kimmy isn't one to cry much either.

Finally, the bell rang. I stalk out of the classroom, not even bothering to hear the last sentence of what the teacher was ordering us to do. About half way down the hall, a hand touched my shoulder, pulling me to a stop.

"Get the hell away from me, King," I grunted, rolling my eyes and shoving him by the shoulders. Does he honestly think that I'm going to forgive him after what he did to my best friend? Sorry for sounding like a chick, but no matter what, that isn't right.

"Dude, are you mad at me? Still?" he asks shocked. My ex-friend really is stupid. I'm glad it's not a catchable thing.

"What do you think, Ty?! You're a heartless bastard, you know the morning that Kimmy found out it was you and that you played her, she came to me crying her eyes out and shaking in fear. She didn't know what the fuck you did and what the hell happened! And what do you do about it? Nothing! You did nothing! You probably teased her about it later like you normally would do. Just grow up will you, for Christ sakes," I ranted on to Ty, earning a few glares and stares as people walk by us. I wasn't too loud; I was using a normal livid voice, not trying to put up a big show. I don't need a crowd or fans gathering up to watch a fight; this is personal business that no one needs to know. But then again, its high school and everyone knows everything.

"Asher, are you alright? I brought her to my house just to freak her out when she woke up in my room the next morning. It was a harmless prank. Yeah, I know what I did to her and I know I was a complete ass, but on Friday night, I went to her house and I apologized! She forgave me. I don't know about you, but right now you seem like the ass. If Kim, out of all people, can forgive me then I would think my best friend would at least forgive me," he defends, scowling and shaking his head at me.

What the hell did he mean by apologize? Friday night? When?! Why didn't Kimmy tell me this? He's lying, Kimmy would have told me. "Wait. What?" I question confused, shaking my head.

"She didn't tell you?" he asked a little surprised. When I shook my head he continued on. "Yeah, before she went out with, uh, Spencer I went over and I apologized. I said sorry, she said sorry, we laughed, we insulated each other. We're good. She even glared at me this morning. Wait, she didn't tell you this? I thought she would."

"No, she didn't," I said, shaking my head. Boy, do I feel pretty stupid now. "Listen, man, I didn't know. I thought you just left it like that I didn't think you would apologize. Damn, you never apologize." I said, cracking a smile and a light nervous laugh.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, well. I knew if I ever want to live and still be your friend, I thought I would apologize to your girl. I guess I knew it was the only way."

We both chuckle, grinning at one another. I could hate Ty's guts at times, and sometimes I really want to punch the living shit out of him and I would be pissed at him to the ends of the Earth, but when it all came down I knew at some point we'd forgive each other. We always do. We've known each other since diapers. We go back, we're best friends, and we'll always make up at the end.

"So we cool, man?" Ty questions, holding his hand out with a smile.

"Yeah we're cool, King," I chuckle, doing our little hand shake that we made up when we were kids. Don't worry, we made it more cool looking and advanced since fifth grade.

"Cool. Guess I'll see you around. Wait, Ash, is Kim dating Spencer?" he asks looking at me with a confused look. I groan, not really wanting to talk about them. I don't even know what to call them. But one thing is for sure, I'm never going to be cool with them being together. Boyfriend and girlfriend? More like pass me a barf bag. I just have to look like I'm OK with it. Kimmy doesn't know that I deep down still disapprove.

"Man, don't even ask. I hate it on so many levels. It's weird for me, and I can't imagine how weird it is for you," I point to him as we start walking through the halls again.

"I was so confused the other night when I went to her house and he's just strolling up on her front lawn. I thought: oh hell no! You've got to be kidding me. He's going to get his ass cooked!"

I nod my head in agreement. Oh hell no is right! I'm glad Ty and I are on the same page here. "Him and her, I don't know. I'm not trying to be the jerk here," I defend, holding my hands up apologetically to him. "I told her I'm cool with it, but to be truthful I'm so not."

"I get it. He's a good guy though. Truth is, and I hope you don't get offended, but I thought she was into you," he said a bit more silently, looking at me straight in the eyes.

"Really?" I say flatly, pretending to be a little shocked. Which I am. I just thought it would have been the other way around and I would get caught. Does he really think Kimmy is into me? That seriously just made the rest of my day and gave me better hopes.

"Yeah, man. You guys have been inseparable since elementary school. Thanks to me of course," he smirks, pointing to himself and taking all the credit.

"Even as a little shit head then, you cause misfit and always had something to tease her about," I say, rolling my eyes.

"She'd be lying if she said she could live without me. You, my friend, wouldn't last much longer without my presence," he chuckles. We both walk into science class laughing, arriving just in time as the bell rang. I take my seat at my normal lab table where Kimmy would usually be, but she isn't here. I looked around the room and to the door to see if she's already here. Kimmy isn't usually one to get to class late, maybe early or on time, but never late.

"She spends four days with the kid already and God damn he already hasher skipping class," I mutter to Ty from behind me. Spencer is somewhat known for skipping classes from time to time, not doing anything wrong or illegal, but just ditching because he feels like it. He's hardly ever in marketing class and I don't care if he is.

Ty shook his head, shrugging his shoulders at me. "Get used to it, man.

Three minutes into Mrs. Clemens lecture about scientific equations, Kimmy strolls into class and walks straight to the table, sitting down next to me. "And where were you, Ms. Taylor, besides being late to my class?" Mrs. Clemens asks, pushing her glasses up her face and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Um, I was having a little trouble in the nurse's office. Stomach bug," she mumbles.

Mrs. Clemens sighs, staring at her for a few seconds before speaking. "I'll let it slide this time, Ms. Taylor, since you are a good student, but next time get a pass or face detention."

"Yes, Mrs. Clemens," she replies quietly, organizing her things.

As Mrs. Clemens goes forward with her lecture, I stare at Kimmy as she tries to avoid my gaze that I fix upon her, and no way am I going to look away. When I finally catch her attention giving her a disapproving look. My eyes saying it all as I thought we'll talk about this later. God, I sound like her father!

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