that.
Girls who liked living dangerously were into Mike Jensen. And that was fine with me if they were into that; I just didn’t see the attraction. Jayden was another story. Yeah, I had heard about him doing some wild stuff, and he went out with a ton of girls who were nothing like me. But Mike was a cretin. Jayden wasn’t. At least that’s how I justified still having a major crush on Jayden.
I managed to get through the day without any additional creepy stalker notes, but it might have been because I was dumping my stuff at Stace’s locker and avoiding mine. At lunch, when Tyler asked about why I wasn’t going to my locker, I just shrugged. Seeing as Tyler had gotten his face pounded by Mike, I wasn’t going to drag him into this. If anything, I wanted Tyler as far away from this as possible, which was hard because he was still hanging out with us on the quad at lunch.
What was I supposed to say, though? That hanging out with me put a big target on Tyler’s back because Mike Jensen was nuts? Nobody would even believe me anyway. Mike Jensen leaving weird stuff in my locker? It didn’t even sound real to me.
I looked over to where Jayden’s group was hanging out. Mike and Jayden were sitting as far as possible from each other while still occupying the same general space. Jayden looked like he was waiting for Mike to do something crazy. And Mike was playing it all cool, making out with Emma Simmons, who couldn’t seem to get enough. Girls like Emma probably thought girls like me didn’t know what we were missing. Yeah, right! I knew enough to avoid a psycho.
Usually I wouldn’t spend so much time analyzing what the baseball guys and their groupies were doing, but I kind of felt like my life depended on it right now. Back in freshman year, I had thought the whole poem thing in Mrs. Sharp’s class was harmless, because it wasn’t like I had put Jayden’s name on it. And that had been freshman year!
Now I was afraid that everyone had known this whole time about me having this huge crush on Jayden.
When I got out to the parking lot at the end of the day, I got into Mom’s car and turned on the radio, stoked to have transportation, even if it was only temporary. Turning on the radio, I started doing my homework. Then I started getting kind of annoyed at Stace for being late. Finally I had a total “D’oh!” moment when I remembered her text about her dentist appointment that her mom had picked her up early for.
Turning on the car, I figured I’d go back to my house for a bit, get some new clothes, maybe do some laundry — and then go back to Stace’s house. Or maybe I’d just bake some brownies and take them over there to thank her parents for letting me stay over on such late notice.
Hearing a rumbling noise behind me, I looked in the rearview mirror and jumped. There was an enormous pickup truck right behind Mom’s car. Of course, I knew whose it was immediately. It was impossible not to recognize it with Monster Mike painted across the side in big, red letters that looked like they were dripping blood. All of a sudden my hands were slick with sweat, and I had to wipe them on my jeans so they wouldn’t slide off the wheel.
I looked around. The parking lot was totally deserted, and when I checked the rearview again, the truck was still rumbling behind me. I swallowed hard and shifted into reverse. The windows on the pickup were super dark, so I couldn’t see Mike Jensen, but I knew it was him. He wouldn’t let anybody else touch his truck. If someone did, he’d break that person into little pieces.
I waited for several seconds, sweating and itching to grab my phone and call Jayden. Then the truck just tore off, leaving exhaust and skid marks behind. Exhaling nervously, I backed out and turned out of the parking lot, my pulse hammering in my ears.
That was so bad.
I was shivering and shaking, and I nearly ran the stop sign as I pulled out of the parking lot. When I got to our house, I bolted
Girls who liked living dangerously were into Mike Jensen. And that was fine with me if they were into that; I just didn’t see the attraction. Jayden was another story. Yeah, I had heard about him doing some wild stuff, and he went out with a ton of girls who were nothing like me. But Mike was a cretin. Jayden wasn’t. At least that’s how I justified still having a major crush on Jayden.
I managed to get through the day without any additional creepy stalker notes, but it might have been because I was dumping my stuff at Stace’s locker and avoiding mine. At lunch, when Tyler asked about why I wasn’t going to my locker, I just shrugged. Seeing as Tyler had gotten his face pounded by Mike, I wasn’t going to drag him into this. If anything, I wanted Tyler as far away from this as possible, which was hard because he was still hanging out with us on the quad at lunch.
What was I supposed to say, though? That hanging out with me put a big target on Tyler’s back because Mike Jensen was nuts? Nobody would even believe me anyway. Mike Jensen leaving weird stuff in my locker? It didn’t even sound real to me.
I looked over to where Jayden’s group was hanging out. Mike and Jayden were sitting as far as possible from each other while still occupying the same general space. Jayden looked like he was waiting for Mike to do something crazy. And Mike was playing it all cool, making out with Emma Simmons, who couldn’t seem to get enough. Girls like Emma probably thought girls like me didn’t know what we were missing. Yeah, right! I knew enough to avoid a psycho.
Usually I wouldn’t spend so much time analyzing what the baseball guys and their groupies were doing, but I kind of felt like my life depended on it right now. Back in freshman year, I had thought the whole poem thing in Mrs. Sharp’s class was harmless, because it wasn’t like I had put Jayden’s name on it. And that had been freshman year!
Now I was afraid that everyone had known this whole time about me having this huge crush on Jayden.
When I got out to the parking lot at the end of the day, I got into Mom’s car and turned on the radio, stoked to have transportation, even if it was only temporary. Turning on the radio, I started doing my homework. Then I started getting kind of annoyed at Stace for being late. Finally I had a total “D’oh!” moment when I remembered her text about her dentist appointment that her mom had picked her up early for.
Turning on the car, I figured I’d go back to my house for a bit, get some new clothes, maybe do some laundry — and then go back to Stace’s house. Or maybe I’d just bake some brownies and take them over there to thank her parents for letting me stay over on such late notice.
Hearing a rumbling noise behind me, I looked in the rearview mirror and jumped. There was an enormous pickup truck right behind Mom’s car. Of course, I knew whose it was immediately. It was impossible not to recognize it with Monster Mike painted across the side in big, red letters that looked like they were dripping blood. All of a sudden my hands were slick with sweat, and I had to wipe them on my jeans so they wouldn’t slide off the wheel.
I looked around. The parking lot was totally deserted, and when I checked the rearview again, the truck was still rumbling behind me. I swallowed hard and shifted into reverse. The windows on the pickup were super dark, so I couldn’t see Mike Jensen, but I knew it was him. He wouldn’t let anybody else touch his truck. If someone did, he’d break that person into little pieces.
I waited for several seconds, sweating and itching to grab my phone and call Jayden. Then the truck just tore off, leaving exhaust and skid marks behind. Exhaling nervously, I backed out and turned out of the parking lot, my pulse hammering in my ears.
That was so bad.
I was shivering and shaking, and I nearly ran the stop sign as I pulled out of the parking lot. When I got to our house, I bolted
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