Free Exposing Kitty Langley by DeAnna Kinney Page B

slung it over his shoulder and leaned over to kiss me. I was surprised, but
in the good way. He rested his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his
side as we made our way through the parking lot toward the building.
    He pressed his lips to my ear and
whispered, “You look very beautiful. Your hair is gonna be a hit whether anyone
admits it or not.”
    I lowered my head, smiling. “Thanks
to you. Thank you, by the way.” I stopped and faced him. “You saved me
yesterday. I was a mess and once again you rescued me. I don’t deserve a friend
like you, Reed.”
    His expression turned frustrated. “Now
why would you say that? You’re an amazing girl. You deserve much better than
me. But I am your friend so accept it, okay?” His expression lightened. “And
you’re welcome.”
        I smiled and turned to continue
our walk.
    “Ohmigod!! Your hair!!” Haley
blurted out at the first sight of me. She studied me for a brief moment. “I
like it.” She smiled, but I could tell she still wasn’t sure if she liked me or
not, but it would have to do for now. She had saved my butt after all.
    “Thanks, Haley—for everything.”
    “Oh you’re welcome, Kitty. I guess
you’re not as bad as I once thought.”
    I laughed. “Thanks.”
    We walked into the building together
and everyone stopped to stare. There were lots of whispers but no one said
anything. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Did it really
matter anyway?

Chapter Twenty-two
     
    Reed
     
     
    I felt proud of her as we made our
way through the crowded hallway with everyone staring and whispering. Aside
from the hair cutting incident, she said she was no longer receiving physical
injuries, but the verbal abuse still continued. Most happened during her
classes, along with notes being stuffed in her locker daily. They didn’t seem
to bother her anymore, or at least she didn’t act like it to me. It still made
me mad though. This girl was amazing, and I hated that everyone was choosing
not to see it—to see that she had changed. Even her old friend, Phoebe, the one
she had stood up for and started this whole thing, wasn’t talking to her. She
passed us every day with her head held low, ignoring Kitty completely. I knew
that had to hurt her, but she never complained. She just went about her day as
if everything was normal.
    We had just entered the cafeteria
when we noticed Bunnie and her friends taunting a table full of girls. They
were making them give up some of their food because they didn’t want to stand
in line. They hadn’t noticed us yet so we made our way across the room to our
usual table. About that time my phone rang. “Oh, Kitty, this is Charity. I’ve
been waiting for her call. I’ll be right back.”
    “That’s fine.”
    I walked outside to take the call. I
spent the next few minutes explaining to Charity the situation we were in. I
told her all about Kitty and her recent changes and the abuse she had been
receiving. This seemed to anger her. I sensed she had a big heart and a strong
pull toward the underdog. I liked her instantly. She said she would call me
back to set up a time to meet.
    I walked back into the cafeteria but
didn’t see Kitty anywhere. “Where is she?” I asked my friends trying to keep
the panic out of my voice.
    “She was hungry so she went to stand
in line,” Jessie said with a shrug.
    “And you let her go alone?!” I
snapped.
    “What?!” he said as he took a huge
bite of his hotdog. “She’s just over there.”
    Haley ran up and interrupted us.
“Um, Bunnie just heard about Kitty’s new hair style and how cute it was. She
seemed really pissed.”
    Before any of us could react, everything
seemed to shift into slow motion, and three things happened almost
simultaneously. Bunnie marched through the room and straight up to Kitty,
grabbed a drink out of some poor guy’s hand, and launched it at her, drenching
her from head to toe. Kitty shrieked, drawing attention from the entire