Secrets in the Dark by KD Blakely Page B

cheerleaders looked at me with scorn. I
felt the blood rush into my cheeks and knew my face must resemble a
tomato.
    I snapped, “At
least I don’t
need a bunch of reject friends to help me find my class.” I scolded
myself all the way to History. That had been so lame. Why couldn’t I ever think
of something cool to say?
    I almost didn’t tell the
others. But being able to share stuff, even embarrassing stuff, is
what best friends are for. And like good friends, Faith and Olivia
tried to hide how lame I’d been. Instead, Faith said, “No Kat, its
perfect. They are a bunch of rejects.”
    “ Yeah,” Olivia said,
“We’ll call them Ray’s Rejects.” Olivia and Faith high-fived each
other like they were actually excited about the idea.
    You know you have great
friends when they turn something stupid into something
good.
    After that, I was Ray’s
favorite target, and Wednesday was his day to make me
miserable.
    First, he tripped me in the
hall between classes. It was partly my fault. I’d been thinking
about Chimera, excited there was only a week to go. I didn’t notice
Ray lurking in the hallway like my own personal
boogeyman.
    It felt like half the
school was there, laughing, as I sprawled over the dirty beige
linoleum. I’d never realized how messed up the floor was until my nose ended up an inch away.
    Yuck!
    To add to my humiliation,
my books and papers went skidding out of my backpack in an untidy
mess. I kept my eyes down, not wanting to see any of the faces
around me. Hearing the laughter was bad enough.
    I saw Ray’s black tennis
shoes move up next to me, uncomfortably close, as I gathered my
stuff. I refused to look up as he said — loudly, “What a klutz, Taylor.
You’re a menace. You could have hurt me, falling down in front of
me like that.”
    I was so angry I would have
hit him. If I were bigger. And stronger. And if I could get away
with it without being suspended. Instead, I gritted my teeth and
fought back angry tears. No way was he going to see me cry! I
ignored him, and felt my muscles go limp with relief when the bell
called him away to his next class.
    By the time I gathered
everything up, half of my papers were scrunched or smudged with
footprints. I almost screamed in frustration when I saw my English
essay — it was beyond salvaging.
    As I took off for class I
muttered, “I hate Ray Tate! I hope he chokes on a bug!”
    Too bad wishes don’t work
in Santa Ramona.
    Later that same day, Ray
tripped me in the cafeteria. I hope no one else ever has to wash
their lunch out of their shirt and hair in a school bathroom. I was
so angry I actually did see red for a moment. It was weird, I had
no memory of leaving the cafeteria or going to the bathroom. One
moment my tray was smashing into my chest. The next I was staring
at myself in the mirror while water ran in the sink. Just as well
really. I could picture the humiliating scene in all its gory
detail.
    Thankfully, I was wearing a
black hoodie that day. It hid most of the carnage. The hamburger
hadn’t been too bad, but the ketchup and chocolate pudding smeared
all over my chest could have been seriously
embarrassing.
    And you should never mix
those things together. They smelled even worse than they looked. I
know this because I had to smell damp cotton, chocolate, hamburger
and ketchup the rest of the afternoon.
    Fortunately, the next two
days were better. I was careful to hide or go the other way anytime
I saw Ray. I was getting lots of exercise
taking back routes around the school to any of the classes I didn’t
share with Olivia and Faith.
    I understood a little
better now, how Faith felt the first day we ended up in Chimera.
I’d do almost anything to keep away from Ray and his Rejects. I
slunk around school trying to see everywhere at once. Sometimes if
I caught a glimpse of Ray down the hall, it made my knees
shake.
    I dreamt about tripping
him, knocking him into a vat of sticky strawberry jelly, and
covering him with permanent