Chapter 9
Karla
“How much do I have to pay you to get you to stop walking me to class each day? Everyone has a price,” I said to Ellie the next day as we walked down the hallway of my personal hell. If I had a tail, it would’ve been between my legs from how embarrassed I felt.
Hopefully, I wouldn’t have another run-in with Brian.
I didn’t need him to see me with my freaking babysitter.
Plus, Ellie seemed to act a lot like Ash—very dedicated to defending my honor.
The last thing I needed after yesterday was for someone to speak up on my behalf—especially Ellie.
Ash standing up for me? I could recover from that.
But my freaking nanny? Forget about it. That would be the end of any hope I had at gaining any kind of forward movement in high school.
Even though it was far-fetched, sometimes I’d catch Missy looking at me as if she wanted to talk to me.
Sometimes, it looked like she missed me like I missed her.
That was where the small hope of me being normal again came in—from Missy’s tiny smiles.
But I knew I couldn’t be welcomed back into my friend group with a nanny following me around.
It only made me look like a bigger loser.
“Trust me, Karla. You probably can’t match what your father is paying me to walk you to your class each day,” Ellie said with a hint of amusement in her tone.
I grumbled to myself, because I knew it was true. Dad always paid people a lot of freaking money whenever he hired them on. I knew there was no way I could give Ellie anything that would make it worth her while to betray my father’s trust.
That was unfortunate.
I really hated having her by my side.
“Touché,” I muttered, already annoyed by seven in the morning.
Ellie laughed a little. She even had a beautiful laugh, which was annoying.
Why hadn’t Dad fired her yet?
“If it makes you feel better, it’s like you’re from The Princess Diaries or something,” Ellie remarked. “Just consider me your Joe.”
“I don’t know what that means. I don’t get your old-people references.”
Ellie paused her footsteps, and her eyes widened as if I’d finally offended her. “Uh, how old do you think I am?”
“Old enough to be making references that I don’t understand.”
She moved in front of me, blocking my steps. “You don’t know what The Princess Diaries is?”
I blankly stared at her. “Should I?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s only one of the greatest rom-coms of the early two thousands. It put Anne Hathaway on the map as Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi—Mia for short—princess of Genovia. It also has the goddess that is Julie Andrews playing Queen Clarisse Renaldi.”
I kept staring at her as if she’d just glitched out or something. “Oh gosh.”
“What?” Ellie asked.
“Nothing, I just realized you’re the cringy kind of millennial who has a hard time letting go of the past. I bet you have a ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ sign in your living room.”
“I don’t!” she argued before she picked up her steps again and started in the direction of my classroom. “It’s in my kitchen,” she murmured.
I quietly snickered.
What a nerd.
Ellie arched her eyebrow. “What was that?”
I grimaced. “What was what?”
“Did you just . . .” she pointed toward me. “You just laughed at me! You laughed.”
I shook my head. “I was clearing my throat.”
Ellie grinned ear to ear. “Oh my goodness, I made Karla East laugh. We must report this to the nearest authorities,” she teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, it was a fleeting thing. It won’t happen again.”
“No, no. Let it. Let those moments come.” She grinned again and gently placed a hand against my shoulder. “More of that, Karla.”
I narrowed my eyes. “More of what?”
She shook her head and waved it off. “Nothing. Nothing. Just have a good day.”
“Doubtful,” I mumbled as I walked into the classroom. I didn’t say goodbye to Ellie, but frankly, I’d given her more words than she probably even deserved. She was so weird.
As I walked into class, I looked up to see Ash sitting at his desk. He looked at me and waved with a goofy grin on his face.
He must not have held my hostile attitude against me.
I didn’t know if that made me happy or annoyed.
I didn’t wave back. Instead, I went to my desk in front of him.
As I sat down, I saw a pack of M&Ms sitting on the corner of my desk.
I glanced around the classroom to see if anyone else had candy on their desk.
With haste, I turned to look at Ash, who was shoving a handful of candy into his mouth.
With his mouth full, he grinned widely and did his goofy wave again.
“Morning, Karla.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you leave this candy on my desk?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “You didn’t seem interested in Skittles. So I figured I’d try to give you M&Ms.”
I placed the candy on his desk. “I don’t like M&Ms, either.”
I turned back to face forward, not wanting to see his reaction. Within seconds, I heard Ash say, “That’s OK. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
My head lowered, and my hair fell over my face.
My heart skipped a few beats, and a tiny smile fell on my lips.
What was the deal with that odd boy?
And why did his oddities make me feel so flustered?
* * *
The next day, I placed the Nerds Clusters candy that was left for me back onto Ash’s desk.
He frowned. “That’s top-tier candy.”
“I don’t like the gummy feeling.”
“You’re a strange human, Karla East.”
I turned back to face forward. A tiny smile came again.
“Don’t worry.” He leaned toward me and whispered. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
* * *
Thursday was Kit Kats.
I returned to sender.
Ash leaned forward after I turned away from him. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
* * *
Friday was Jolly Ranchers.
“Too hard on my teeth,” I told him. “Try again come Monday.”
He smiled. “Can you give me a clue?”
I shrugged as I turned to face forward. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Oh? So we’re having fun now?” he questioned.
I felt my face heat up as those words left his mouth.
“Before I know it, you might consider eating lunch with me,” he added.
“Don’t hold your breath,” I told him.
“Can’t help it. Holding my breath until we share a nasty chicken patty.”
* * *
On Monday, he brought me Reese’s Cups.
I kept those ones.
He grinned big when I looked back to him.
He dusted invisible lint off his shoulders. “I knew I’d figure you out, Karla East.”
“Why do you say my whole name like that?”
“Because it makes you a whole person.”
“You’re so weird, Ash.”
“Thank you,” he replied.
I smiled a little. I sort of liked his weirdness. “What’s your last name?”
“Banks.”
“Thank you for the candy, Ashish Banks,” I said.
I turned around to face forward, opened the candy, and began to eat the chocolate edge from around one of the Reese’s before eating the middle part. I always ate them like that, because Mom used to do the same.
It was her favorite candy, too.
Without thought, I turned back toward Ash to thank him. Instead of being able to say something to him, I just smiled.
“I like that, Karla East.” He grinned back. “I like it when you smile.”
I didn’t tell him, but I liked it when he smiled, too.
* * *
Thank goodness for teachers who pitied the high school experience.
Mrs. Rivers, my AP English teacher, was my saving grace when it came to lunchtime. After the experience in the lunchroom a few days ago, an incident that was spread around to not only students but teachers, Mrs. Rivers told me she had her lunch period at the same time I had mine.
She offered me her classroom so I could eat in there without the possibility of being bullied. I even convinced Ellie to start packing me school lunches so I wouldn’t have to go to the cafeteria at all.
Mrs. Rivers was one, if not the only, teacher that I loved. She was extremely smart and loved reading and writing—the two things I was really into myself.
She was an older lady in her sixties, and she always talked about how much her students meant to her.
I figured she really showed that when she invited me into her classroom to eat lunch each day.
She didn’t even bother me when I’d eat, either.
She didn’t try to talk about the incident in the cafeteria or anything at all.
The day she invited me to her classroom, all she said to me was, “I eat my lunch in my classroom at the same time that you eat your lunch. There are free desks if you’d like to join me. ”
She didn’t ask if I was OK or if I needed anything.
Instead, she’d sit at her desk, I’d sit at mine, and we’d eat in silence.
Over the next few days, I noticed she ate the same thing from her lunch bag: a turkey sandwich with Swiss cheese, a Fiber One bar, and a bag of Cheetos.
She ate her Cheetos with chopsticks in an attempt to not get her fingers all cheesy, and then she’d wash everything down with an extra-icy Diet Coke.
She did all this while using one hand to read a novel.
It was in those moments that I realized Mrs. Rivers was living the dream.
I sat at my desk and ate my food, too. Ellie was always a little extra and would leave a piece of paper in my lunch bag telling me to have a great day, or she’d add some quote that sounded cheesy.
The quotes were always by some guy named Fred Rogers.
I had no clue who he was, so I’d roll my eyes at each note and put it to the side of my lunch.
That afternoon’s note said, “Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. ”
I couldn’t believe how cheesy Ellie was, but then again, it wasn’t shocking that a millennial was corny. I could imagine her making my sandwich in the morning and smiling ear to ear, thinking about how happy the quote was going to make me.
She even signed it, “XOXO —Ellie.”
I was stunned that her dorkiness hadn’t annoyed Dad enough for him to fire her yet, but maybe there were no more nannies in town, seeing as how he’d let go at least five million thus far.