TEEN AMONGST THORNS

Kayden shuffled his feet where he stood leaning on the brick wall of the locker room, amidst the noisy din of students. “Kayden!” His friend came swaggering towards him, long arms swinging about. “Jake.” Kayden pulled his lips into a half-hearted smile as they did their special handshake. “Waiting for the class captain to paste the results?” “Mhmm.” The young, langy Black-American threw his face into a lopsided grin, flashing white teeth. “I know you’ll be alright. Straight A’s.” Jake popped the gum in his mouth and winked. “I don’t know about that.” Kayden tapped his feet . Jake tsked. “Seriously, I mean it. I think we both agree that the examinations were much tougher than they used to be. Besides, things haven’t exactly been rosy-sweet back home.” “Says the smart boy. By the way, did you just admit you’re going through domestic violence?” Jake’s eyebrows went up in their usual mischievous manner. Kayden sighed. “You know that’s not what I meant…There she comes.” Kayden rolled his eyes as Irene walked into the locker room, , clutching a roll of paper to her chest, her huge glasses balanced on her nose as usual. “She never comes to class- or school…without a sweater- even in summer.” Jake frowned. “You think she always feels cold, or something? Well I know her heart’s as cold as ice.” A few sophomores stood blocking the notice board. Kayden watched Irene walk towards them. “I’m pasting the results. Express instructions from the Maths teacher.” She tapped her black shoes on the tiles, one hand on her waist. “Oh, so you’re the one pasting the results now, aren’t ya?” The sophomore smirked. Irene smiled quickly, her blue eyes hard as stone. “I see you no longer see the need to use a zipper, right, Henshaw?” A red colour seeped into the young man’s face as he hurried to zip up his pants. A series of ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s erupted in the hall. “Get out of my way.” She smiled again when Fredrick Henshaw stalked away. “Can you see them from here? Are there A’s?” Kayden asked his friend “You’re going to have to see for yourself, buddy…and why are you even whispering?” Kayden walked to the notice board, stopping a few feet away. Irene walked right past him, her nose in the air. “There it is. You got your A’s. Straight as stick.” Jake rubbed his hands together, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Kayden sighed. “There’s a ‘B’” “There is?”Jake peered at the paper. “True. I think I need to get glasses.” “Don’t be ridiculous…I think I expected a B in Physics, though. There were some crazy questions.” Jake suddenly fell quiet, as he searched the paper again. “I had a ‘D’ in Physics. Again.” Kayden sighed and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “At least you’re getting better.” They were the best of friends, but at moments like this, it was glaring that they had nothing at all in common. “Yeah.” His voice was low as he spoke. “Anyway! Let’s celebrate.” “Celebrate what?” Kayden laughed. “I’m sure your father would have a different opinion when he sees your result.” “What a cruel thing to say!” Jake folded his arms. “You look a lot like Dorothy right now.” Jake chuckled. “I think that girl will kill you one day with her sneers.” “I agree” They stood at the centre of the crowd, Jake’s elbow on Kayden’s shoulder. “We’re celebrating your grades, not mine. And, by the way, my father’s too busy to care about some stupid grades.” “Your grades aren’t stupid, Jake.” “Well, a ‘D’ is stupid, to me.” “You know what I mean. If you continue this way, you might not get into 11’th grade.” They stared at each other. “Hey!” A fresher walked up to them. “Coach wants to have a word with us.” “Okey-dokey.” Jake replied. He turned to look at Kayden. “What? Is this still about my grades?” “Yes!” “Oh, come on. Heaven knows I’ve never been good at studying. The world won’t come to an end because of that.” “Go see coach. I’ll be with you in a minute.” “’Kay.” Jake said quickly and winked. “See ya.” “No probs.” They did their usual handshake again, and Jake left. Kayden tapped his palms on his trousers as he observed the result sheet. At least Jake managed to have a ‘B’ in English. “You’re obstructing my view,” A female voice suddenly snapped behind him. “Oh, sorry.” Kayden stepped away and a plump girl pushed closer to the notice board. It was Dorothy. He watched her search the sheet, then let out a frustrated sigh. She had an ‘E’ in Mathematics and a ‘D’ in Physics. “What are you looking at?” “The…” Kayden swallowed. She was just a fellow classmate, and a girl, at that, so why did she make him this uneasy? “I…you didn’t do very well in the mock exams.” “Mind your business.” She threw him a dirty look and muttered something that sounded like ‘smart brats like you’. “Excuse me?” Kayden turned, offended, but she had already stalked away. *** Kayden’s fingers rubbed hard metal where he stood beside his bike, unlocking the padlock securing his bikes to the chains. The key to the padlock slipped from his fingers, along with the metal chains and did a series of small haphazard hops before landing on a manhole cover and slipping into the hole. “Oh, fuck.” He crouched and brought out his phone from his pocket, turning on the flashlight. “You’re not going to pick that up, are you?” Kayden’s gaze slid from small brown heels to milky-white legs, to short denims, up to a pretty face framed by wild red hair. “Lexi.” He exhaled and stood to his feet. “I see you didn’t attend football practice.” “I had a few things to do.” “You have a spare.” “Actually, I don’t…” Kayden began, but realised the other duplicate key had detached from the metal spiral, and lay on the pavement a few feet away. “It’s not exactly a spare…” “Well, it’s not down there.” Lexi smiled. “No, it isn’t.” Kayden nodded and picked up the key, tossing it into his backpack. “Hey, Jake!” “Danny!” Kayden greeted, and watched a group of boys in his soccer team walk past him. “Yeah, so I’m gonna get going…” He smiled tightly. “Don’t be in such a hurry.” She clasped her hands together in front of her, smiling ever so widely. “What is it?” The long-legged redhead traipsed the floor in front of him, her hands playing with locks of hair. “I’m having a party tonight at my house. Eight prompt. You don’t wanna miss it.” “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.” He held on to his bicycle handle and made to climb unto the seat. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud.” She suddenly bridged the distance between them, and gently took a hold of the hem of his shirt. He could smell strawberry. “I said I’ll pass.” She frowned. “No one misses my parties. Everyone attends my parties.” “Now, that’s just narcissistic.” He pulled on his helmet and placed his foot on the pedal. He paused for a while. "You might wanna invite Jake. I’m sure he’d attend anyway.” She shrugged and leaned into him. “See- you- at- the- party.” Her lips stretched into a small smile as she let go of his shirt. Kayden shook his head as he watched her sashay off.