Free Waiting for Perfect by Kelli Kretzschmar Page B

directions.   Why wouldn’t she be talking to her best friend?   This doesn’t make any sense.   “Lexi, please…”
    She tries to hold
in a sob, but it erupts from her anyway.   She’s furiously wiping away the tears that are coming freely now.   “Nick, I can’t talk about this.   I have to get to class.”   She breaks into a full sprint to get
away from me.
    I want to run after
her, but my feet don’t respond to my brain’s instruction.   I am paralyzed in the hallway.   Kids are hurrying to their classes all
around me, but I’m numb.   I can’t
do this anymore.   I need to see
Kendra.   I need to know she’s okay.

Twelve

 
    SEBASTIAN

 
    I’m late for
class.   I usually see Nick at
lunch, but I haven’t seen him since we got to school this morning.   Megan was her usual flirty self in
history, which tells me she still doesn’t know anything about what went down
with Ryan and Kendra.   Some friend.   I’m sure there’s a good reason Candace
and Lexi aren’t telling her what happened.   Those two have been avoiding me like the plague.   And from what Nick tells me, he’s been
experiencing the same.
    I guess I can
understand why they don’t want to talk to us.   They’re protecting their friend.   It’s been over a week, and Nick and I still don’t know if
Kendra is okay.   The thought of
what Ryan did to her still evokes images of his jaw open to the curb and my
foot coming down on his head.   Nick
is quieter than usual, and I know the “what-ifs” are swimming around in his
head.   “What if…I had found her
sooner?”   “What if… I had never let
her out of my sight to begin with?”   “What if… I had made more of an effort to talk with her that night?”   I can see the guilt in his eyes.   I’ve tried to assure him that he did
everything right.   But I’ve been
lying to myself.   We both think we
should have done more to protect her.
    I’m usually smarter
than that.   I should have seen a
warning sign.   I should have been
paying more attention to her and Ryan instead of messing around with
Megan.   I should have gone with
Nick to look for her.   In San
Antonio, my senses were sharper, lethal.   How could I have let my guard down so much in a few short months?
    I don’t know much
about Ryan, so Jeff has been filling me in.   He and Troy both hate the guy.   Some of the football players consider Ryan a friend, but
Jeff assures me that he and Troy will be the first ones to join us whenever
Nick and I decide to beat his ass.
    I’ve wanted to take
my own particular kind of revenge against Ryan, but I don’t want my aunt or
cousin seeing that side of me.   Instead, I’m waiting for Nick to take the lead on that.   I think he’s too worried about Kendra to
focus on planning some kind of attack.   He’ll probably run into Ryan at random and spontaneously jump the
guy.   I just hope I’m around when
it happens.
    Ryan’s face is
still cut and bruised.   He’s been
wearing a padded bandage over his nose and has stitches above his eye and
across his cheekbone.   Every time I
see him, I glare at him with everything evil I have inside me.   He tries to avoid me, and he’s better
off that way.   If Nick doesn’t do
something soon, I will.  
    I met Kendra
exactly twice, and somehow, the way she wanted nothing to do with me makes me
want to know her more.   I’m not
used to girls brushing me off like she did.   She’s smart, and she acts like she doesn’t know she’s
gorgeous.   Sweet combination.   No one that sweet deserves what that
asshole did to her.   I want to see
her again soon to make sure she knows that Nick and I will take care of this
for her.
    After the bell
signals the end of the school day, I wait by my car for Nick.   He hasn’t smiled in a week, and I guess
he’s not starting now.   His eyes are
narrowed on me, and a frown is plastered on his lips.   He starts walking faster toward the car.   As he