The '68 Camaro Between Kenickie and Me (Pacifica Academy Drama Book 2) Read online

  I looked around at my other club members and saw wide eyes. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not knowing how to interpret Mr. Yates’s silence. But Warren had six slides to go.

  “Thank you, Ms. Simmons.”

  He clicked to the next slide, a summary of how everyone responded to our first question. Not our strongest point since we’d lost several kids after Mr. Yates went to that meeting almost a month ago. Though we all blamed him for losing so many kids.

  “We’ve lost kids in the last month,” Warren said while doing a great job not looking at Mr. Yates. “But before a month ago there were twelve of us in here.” He went to slide three, a summary of question two. “And, yes, kids showed up because of personal relationship reasons.”

  Our nice way of saying we’d been dumped or rejected, and were mad as hell about it.

  Warren chose slide four. “A few original members still come to the meetings. Their main reasons for coming to the meetings are for the close friendships they’ve found here and support.” He smiled. “Some kids wrote they also liked being in here because nobody judged them.”

  I’d written that, but so had a couple of other kids.

  “Reasons for kids leaving” —he chose slide five— “varied.”

  Which really meant we didn’t include the answers, “Because of Mr. Yates.”

  “Many kids left only because they were ready to move on from whatever brought them in here to begin with.” He looked right at Mr. Yates. “And they wrote we helped them with their confidence by being supportive. And listening. These kids also consider most of us in here to be their good friends.”

  Definitely one of our strongest points, as was the next slide.

  “Our last poll question was kids needed to list two things they love about the club.” He went to the slide. “The two things that came up the most again were the friendships and support. But our group activities also came up. Like other school clubs or groups or the sports teams, we’ve done things to build each other up.” He extended his thumb to get ready to list our group activities. “We’ve gone to two school dances together, and not because we didn’t have dates. And some of us plan on going to prom together.”

  Mr. Yates released another laugh-grunt.

  I’d refused to go to Snowflake Formal with them in December. I’d gone to some party with Ella, Quinn and her boyfriend. A stubborn, not-supportive decision made by that Natalie.

  “We’ve done movie nights,” Warren went on. “We got together in December to study for finals and want to do the same thing in May. We’re also going to be in the lip sync competition.” He lifted his shoulders. “So the only difference between this club and the other clubs and groups in this school is what we talk about.”

  Warren chose the final slide—our final argument. “No, we don’t talk about fundraisers or themes for dances—no offense, Jade.”

  I glanced at Jade, sitting behind Kassidy, and she laughed.

  “We don’t talk about how to win the next game or computers or chess maneuvers.” He took a step forward. “Mr. Yates, we talk about way more personal stuff. And this got back to you as us hating on other kids in this school. But it’s not like that. We’re just venting.” He stayed focused on Mr. Yates. “We’re teenagers. Aren’t we supposed to vent? Not hold it all inside so we don’t explode?” He gestured toward the classroom. “And most of the stuff we talk about in here isn’t serious enough to go to a teacher or the counselor. We just want to talk to each other. Because we understand what it’s like to be a kid in this school.”

  Mr. Yates stayed silent and continued sitting there with his arms folded across his chest.

  “In conclusion,” Warren said, straightening, “we feel to be successful in our classes and with our schoolwork, we have to feel good about ourselves. And that’s what this club—this group—is really about.”

  I smiled. Because Warren had nailed it. But the room remained silent.

  “I’m done,” he added, his eyes skittering over us.

  Ms. Simmons sat up. “Excellent work.”

  She turned in her seat to face all of us, and I wished her proud smile meant everything would be okay. But we were trying to convince Mr. Yates.

  “Do you have any questions for Warren?” she asked Mr. Yates.

  He shook his head and stood. “No. But I do need to talk to all of you before I leave.”

  Oh…That so didn’t sound good, and I tried to control the dread building inside me.

  Ms. Simmons raised her eyebrows, and I shared a fleeting glance with Kassidy.

  “Warren,” Mr. Yates quietly began, “you and everyone else did a good job on this. And if it were for a grade, you’d all get an A. You made some good points.”

  No. We’d made nothing but fantastic points.

  I gripped the edges of my chair to stop myself from jumping up and speaking my mind.

  “And I appreciate you putting all this together for me.”

  No one spoke as we waited for the but, and my dread doubled in strength.

  “But if students in this school are struggling that much, socially speaking, they should be talking to an adult,” Mr. Yates said. “Be it a teacher, the counselor, their parents, older siblings or other family members.” He eyed each one of us. “Like Warren said, you’re teenagers. Meaning you’re children. And have no business counseling each other.”

  I started to shake as anger joined my dread at the way he emphasized “counseling.”

  “What you say and do off school campus is obviously your business.” He shook his head. “But this isn’t the place for venting. That’s not what school-sponsored clubs and groups are for.”

  Kassidy did jump up. “Then why were we allowed to start it at the beginning of the year? JF—Josh told me what we had to do to start it and that’s what we did. And Warren explained what this group really does for kids in this school.”

  I wanted to hug Kassidy for being able to say what I wanted without losing my temper.

  “You weren’t given all the proper information,” Mr. Yates stated. “And that isn’t your fault. But this club started before I authorized it, and I took it to Mr. Hathaway.”

  We looked at each other with wide eyes since Mr. Hathaway was our principal. And everyone seemed as lost as me.

  “Ms. Simmons and I met with him in September,” he continued. “After listening to her, and her positive feedback, Mr. Hathaway decided to let the club stand.”

  Even back then, Ms. Simmons had been fighting for us. For the club.

  I wanted to jump up and hug her, too.

  “But, and I’m sure Ms. Simmons remembers this, it came with a warning.”

  I swung my eyes her way to find her face had become stony.

  “If it started causing problems, which it has,” he added, “I could shut it down.”

  I held onto a frustrated sigh.

  She’d never told us that. But I’m sure she, like us, never expected—

  “And because of the negative comments I’m still getting about the club, this will have to be your last meeting.”

  Wait…what did he just say?

  My mouth fell open as I turned toward my club members. Their eyes were also wide with their mouths hanging open.

  No. He couldn’t have said that. Not after the poll and how hard we’d—Warren and I— worked on putting together the presentation, and Warren’s awesome—

  “Ms. Simmons, I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance today to meet with you about this.”

  She was silent for several seconds, then said, “Yes. That would’ve been nice.”

  If I hadn’t been stuck in shock, I would’ve smiled at her icy tone.

  “But Mr. Yates—”

  He gave Kassidy a sharp look and said, “I’m sorry. But that’s my final word on this.” He nodded at Ms. Simmons and walked out.

  The silence in the room made the tick, tick, tick coming from her wall clock the loudest sound I’d ever heard. And with each tick, my anger began to pulse inside me.
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  “Why did he make us go through the presentation if he knew he was shutting us down?” Kassidy muttered to one in particular.

  Because he’s a twisted, miserable old man who needed a power trip.

  Warren dropped into the seat on my right as Ms. Simmons faced us. Her expression had relaxed a bit, but her eyes held a mixture of irritation and sadness.

  “All of you did such a good job on everything. I’m so sorry about this.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Lexi said. “I can’t believe that’s it. And what about the competition? We’ve been rehearsing so hard and it sounds like we never even had a chance with Mr. Yates.”

  Nobody spoke.

  The longer I sat there, the stronger my anger became. With Mr. Yates. And this horrible week. Trying to deal with my cracked heart while listening to Maddie talk to her new bestie, Quinn, about Shane this and Shane that. He, of course, had been sitting across the cafeteria with his buddies and not caring his ex was sitting at my table. I also listened to Ella and Quinn talk about their rehearsals and girl power routine. Which sounded like it could be unbeatable.

  I should’ve spent the week hiding in the library with my lunch and schoolwork. But Ella’s she-devil look on Monday had also felt like a challenge, and I hadn’t wanted her to think she’d won that battle. I still didn’t know what had caused the war between us.

  I’d lost the boy I wanted and had to work on that stupid fucking car with him for the next three Saturdays. I’d lost Ella. I’d lost my club. All in one week.

  “I think we should still do the competition,” Warren said. “It’ll be good for us.”

  “No,” I snapped. “I’m so done.”

  I felt everyone’s eyes as I stood and picked up my backpack.

  “Natalie, we’re all upset,” Kassidy said. “But Warren and Lexi are right. We’ve been working hard on the routine and—”

  “I don’t care, Kassidy. Not anymore. I’m out.”

  I flung my backpack over my shoulder and fled the classroom.

  I was sick of being two different Natalies. I needed to choose one. Since I couldn’t have the boy I wanted and my club, that made the choice easy. Hopefully I hadn’t lost Quinn.

  I stepped outside and pulled my phone from my sweater pocket. My mother wouldn’t be here for a few minutes. Plenty of time to text Quinn about the party tomorrow night.

  I could finally tell them I wasn’t grounded, with the competition being a week from today and being out of it altogether. And so much weight came off of me I thought I might start to float.

  Totally forgot to tell you I’m not grounded anymore and can go to the party.

  I took deep breaths of the dreary, salty air while I waited for her reply. With each breath, the guilt of leaving my club members—former club members—the way I did left me.

  I felt more control over myself. My emotions.

  Yay! You and Ella will stay the night with me. Like always. We’ll get ready here and Chad will pick us up. So excited.

  I read her message a second time and smiled, already feeling like the old Natalie.

  Chapter 25

  “You look nice today,” my mother said as she drove me to community service.

  I’d taken the time to put on makeup and pull my hair up into a fancy ponytail. I’d also chosen a snug pair of jeans and my favorite, snug, Linkin Park black tank top I’d bought at one of their concerts. But I had to put on a light zip-up hoodie because of the chill in the air.

  I woke up this morning so done with people telling me I looked like shit.

  “Thanks.”

  “But couldn’t you have chosen a nicer shirt than that tank top?”

  I rolled my eyes.

  Why did most of her compliments come with a but attached to them?

  “I’m going to community service.” I ground the words out. “Not a beauty pageant.”

  She didn’t respond to my bitchy jab, and I continued staring out my window.

  I so didn’t want to deal with her. Or community service. Or him and the car we had to start building today. The only thing keeping me going right now was the party tonight.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you your dad and I talked about Chloe.”

  I looked at her, but based on her frown and firm tone I knew the answer.

  “We decided she belongs with your grandparents. In a house. And the subject is closed.”

  My cracked heart shattered and turned into cold rubble in my chest.

  “No, you decided that,” I snapped. “Dad doesn’t care.”

  We came up on the school, and I wanted to get as far away from her as possible. I also didn’t know when I’d ever speak to her again.

  “Natalie, a dog belongs in a house. And I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to me. If it continues, you’ll be grounded again and for much longer. Do you understand me?”

  She pulled up in front of the school.

  I unbuckled my seatbelt, got out of her Beemer and slammed the door behind me.

  She wasted no time driving off.

  I approached the doors on shaky legs, and with equally shaky hands I pulled out my I.D. and let myself into the school. I had to calm down before I walked into the auditorium. Before I had to face him. I couldn’t let him see me weak. Not after the last rotten ten days.

  I started breathing deeply. By the time I reached the auditorium doors, my shaking had almost stopped. I took a bigger deep breath and opened the door.

  I immediately saw him on stage with Paige and Liam. They were standing around a pile of materials I assumed he and I would turn into Kenickie’s stupid Greased Lightning.

  I, with my chin angled up, headed right for the stage. And I sensed his eyes were on me, but I made it a point to ignore him since two could play that game.

  I stopped next to Paige and said, “Hi.” I then smiled at Liam.

  “Hey,” she answered. “You look like you’re feeling better. Are you?”

  I knew what she was asking, but I smiled and said, “I’m fine.”

  She frowned, but out of concern. “Are you sure? You were really upset when you left yesterday. Warren and Kassidy were going to chase after you, but Ms. Simmons talked them out of it. She said to give you some space.”

  A burst of warmth tried to piece my heart together at hearing Warren and Kassidy had cared enough to want to come after me. But I’d left that Natalie in Ms. Simmons’s classroom. And damn, Paige, and her big mouth. I wanted to muzzle her. I didn’t need her saying anything else about yesterday in front of Kenickie.

  Before I could tell her nicely to shut up, Theresa and her minion walked by us.

  It looked and sounded like everyone was back today. The noise level being higher with activity and excited talking.

  They stopped, and Theresa’s eyes fell to the Greased Lightning materials.

  She smirked at me. “I didn’t know princesses knew anything about building cars.” Her gaze shifted to Kenickie, standing across from me. “I feel really sorry for you.”

  Oh…This bitch did not just say that and call me princess. For the second time.

  A dark silence surrounded us. Everyone seemed frozen in place.

  Until Kenickie said, “Theresa, you need to—”

  “No.” I looked at him. “I’ve got this.” And I, feeling the full power from this Natalie, unleashed the she-devil stare I’d learned from Ella. “Look everyone,” I enunciated, “isn’t it awesome Theresa made it back from visiting her evil monkeys?” I leaned forward. “Without getting water dumped on her head and melting.”

  Paige and Liam, standing behind me, released muffled laughter. I even saw, from the corners of my eyes, Kenickie’s shoulders shaking with quiet laughter as he looked down.

  Theresa and her minion returned my glare, but theirs wasn’t nearly as powerful as mine.

  “You and your little minion can go now,” I added.

  “What’s going on over there?” Mr. Lowry yelled from across the stage.

  Ther
esa and I continued staring each other down. Until Mr. Lowry appeared between us.

  “Girls, I’ve talked to you about this. What’s the problem?”

  I gave him a sweet smile. “We were getting ready to start working on the car when Theresa walked up. She was trying to give us suggestions, but we really don’t need her help. Do we, Shane?” I glanced sharply at him and, with my eyes, dared him not to go along with my lie.

  He smiled. That smile. “Nope. We’re all good.”

  I tore my eyes from him and looked back at Mr. Lowry, now frowning at Theresa.

  “You two have your own assignments today. So get to it. And I better not see you two over here again. I don’t have time for this nonsense.” He faced us. “Paige, Liam, you need to get to work, too. That backdrop has to be done today so we can get it up and out of the way.”

  Everyone scattered at Mr. Lowry’s borderline barked orders.

  Guilt tried surrounding me, but I pushed it away and dropped to my knees.

  Kenickie silently knelt down across from me. “Feel better?”

  I heard the humor in his voice and lifted my eyes from the hot mess of materials between us. Our eyes did that dumb magnetic thing, but I broke it before his eyes affected me.

  I also tried not noticing he looked better than good. Wearing tight jeans, a tight, faded-red Vans T-shirt and no baseball hat. I sensed him checking me out, too, and squashed the tingles.

  “Yes,” I replied. “I do. She deserved all of that.”

  He started laughing again. Which pissed me off. Especially after everything I’d been through this last week, including the recent moment with my mother.

  I glared at him. “Don’t you dare sit there laughing like we’re friends. Because we’re not. We’re nothing!”

  He stopped and stared at me. As if he couldn’t believe what I’d said to him. And I immediately regretted it since I’d sounded beyond bitchy. Almost cruel. Like Ella.

  “Ouch,” he murmured. “Right for the jugular again, Sunshine.”

  The hurt in his voice matched the hurt I saw.

  He’d said something like that to me in the office when I’d made it clear I didn’t know his name. I’d hurt his feelings then, only he’d done a better job of masking his hurt.