Mayberry Academy

Carter’s POV

I watched as Kailey left with Jason, leaving me stuck here with Ami and Lance who were obviously smitten with each other but either liked thinking the other didn’t know, or really, were not that bright. Evan and Matt, my two best pals, came over and sat down next to me.

“Dude, what was that about, thought she was supposed to be “swooning” over you by now,” Evan said and then laughed. I punched him in the arm. I looked over to see Lance and Ami had left. Good, I thought.

“Just wait, she will be “swooning”,” I said, smirking.

“Then how come I don’t believe it?” Matt said, feeling the need to chip in. “If she was, then she would be by now, wouldn’t she?”

“She’s just a little harder to break into than the others,” I said. Evan laughed.

“What are you going to do if she doesn’t?” he asked.

“What makes you think she isn’t?” I answered right back. Matt answered this time.

“She looks like she’s more into Jason then you,” he stated. I shrugged.

“Just give it some time, just watch,” was all I had to say.

Jason’s POV

I watched Kailey’s shocked expression as she took in the theatre and the REC room.

“Do you guys honestly need all of this?” was what she wound up saying. I laughed.

“Well, no, we really don’t need it all, but just about everyone here comes from a wealthy family, so of course we have to have something this big.” I answered her back.

“But still, wow,” she said and laughed. I laughed, too. “Hey when do we get schedules?” She asked.

“After tomorrow. We still have people coming in. If you think there’s a lot of us now, just wait until the end of tomorrow,” I said and laughed.

“Oh god,” she said and laughed. “What’d my dad put me in?” I smiled.

“A crazy place for escaped lunatics,” I said. She was really easy to talk to, I was starting to be glad that I’d given her a chance. I still don’t remember anything about us meeting when we were younger, but maybe that was just too long ago. She laughed along, too.

“Hey,” I started, “I think you should watch out for Carter.” She looked at me and raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Just he’s not as good of a guy as you might think. Trust me, he’s my cousin, he just uses people, especially girls.”

“He’s your cousin?” she asked. “He seems…nice, but look, I think I’m able to decide who I get to talk to. Thanks for the warning but even if he does, I don’t believe I’m stupid enough to get caught up in those kind of games.” I laughed. She looked at me again with that confused face. I just shook my head. She always seemed to feel the need to defend herself.

All of a sudden, her phone buzzed and she picked it up to look at who was texting or calling. She looked shocked for a minute before she looked at me and told me she’d be right back. If I had to guess who that was I would’ve thought her boyfriend. I sat down on one of the benches and waited for her to finish up her call.

Kailey’s POV

I walked away from Jason and answered my phone. It was Jarrod. I can’t believe I forgot to call him back not only last night but this morning. He had to be pissed. Hope he could understand how confusing things were at the moment, though he really doesn’t need to know about Jason, does he? He’d just flip out.

“Hello,” I said as I answered.

“Kailey, finally, I miss you, you never called me back,” he said. “Things still hectic there I guess?” he asked. Thank you, I thought.

“Yeah, just a bit. Still getting settled in and meeting people. I miss you, too, hun. I don’t know how I’m going to make it this year without you,” I said and laughed a little.

“You will, I know you will,” he said and I could hear a smile in his voice.

For the next fifteen minutes we talked, I told him about some of what was going on here, with Mel and Jason and all of it, but I left out the fact that Jason was my roommate, or that we were even starting to become friends. He told me everything was good back home, aside from the fact that I wasn’t there. Then we said our goodbyes and I told him I loved him and we hung up.

I was still smiling as I walked back to where I’d left Jason. Then I noticed someone else was also waiting with Jason. I didn’t even recognize him, well her. I’d walked close enough that I now noticed that I was wrong. There was no way she was a guy. Jason saw me and waved me over.