The New Girl

"So, prom's only a few days away. Has John asked you yet?" Jess asked as we sat down for breakfast. Dad looked up from his food momentarily before ignoring our girl talk.

"Not yet, no." I said before taking a bite of my toast. Jess' jaw dropped and her mouth popped open.

"Your boyfriend hasn't asked you to prom?!" She asked in disbelief.

"I told you. He doesn't need to ask me!" I said frustrated.

"He's still got to ask you! It doesn't matter if you two are lovers." She said wiggling her eyebrows towards the end. I flushed pink. Dad was still in the room.

"What have I told you about saying that?!" I hissed at her with a glare.

"Oh, shit, sorry." She said realising my dad was in the room. I glanced up at the clock with a sigh.

"You two had better get going to school." Dad said suddenly from behind us. I groaned and grabbed my backpack. Dad waved to Jess and I as we left the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" I asked Jess as she started walking off. She stopped and turned to face me.

"To school?" She said with a questioning look.

"Aren't we walking with John?" I asked looking over at his house. She groaned.

"Can't you just meet him at school?" She whined. I sighed and joined Jess' side. We walked to school without John for the first time since we started going out. It was weird, to say the least.

Jess tried to create conversation but I just wasn't into it. Not without John. We have our morning conversations on the way to school and we talk about how school was on the way home. Walking with Jess was just... Weird.

She didn't last very long when we got to school. She immediately went to Pat and flung herself onto him. I joined the group of boys. John wasn't there.

"Where's John?" I asked everyone a little worried.

"You didn't walk with him?" Kenny asked with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head.

"She didn't want to." I informed them pointing at Jess. She blushed and glared at me.

"Sorry! But you two are constantly together! I didn't think not walking to school with him would kill you!" Jess said loudly in defense. I chuckled lightly.

Kenny pulled his rubbish old phone as it began to ring out of his pocket and answered the call. He looked at me momentarily, muttered something down the phone before he walked away talking.

"What's that about?" I asked the group. They all shrugged and returned to their conversations. I kept my eyes on Kenny as he walked in circles still on the phone. He ran his hand through his hair a couple times before hanging up. He walked back over to us with a fake smile. "Who was that?" I asked suspiciously.

"What?" Kenny asked, miles away.

"Who was that on the phone?" I asked him politely.

"Oh, no one." He said bluntly. I nodded but I didn't believe him. The bell rang for school to begin. There was no John and Kenny was acting weird. Luckily I could get it out of Kenny in English, we had that first.

"What's up?" I asked him sincerely as we sat down. Kenny looked up at me momentarily before he opened his mouth to say something. He shut his mouth again, not saying a word. "C'mon Kenny, talk to me" I pleaded, seriously worried about him.

"It was John." He said quietly. I froze as he said John's name.

"Where is he? Is he okay? What's happened? Tell me Kennedy!" I said loudly and rushed. Tears were starting to collect in my eyes.

"He's fine Katie!" Kenny said, hushing me. I sucked in a deep breath and blinked away the tears.

"So where is he?" I asked calmly.

"He's going to visit his grandparents. Well, grandma." Kenny corrected himself. I raised an eyebrow, from what John had told me, he had both grandparents. "His granddad had a heart attack last night." Kenny said solemnly. I gasped and waited in the silence for Kenny to continue. "He... didn't make it." he said finally.

"What...?" I asked in disbelief. "Why didn't John call me?" I asked panicking. John called Kenny, not me. Why not me?!

"He couldn't Katie. He could barely talk to me." Kenny said looking down at his hands. I nodded and pulled out my phone.

"I'll take that Miss. Pierce." The teacher said holding out his hand in front of me. I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. He pushed his hand towards me more.

"No." I said boldly. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Give me the phone Miss. Pierce." He repeated. I shook my head.

"No, I will not give you my phone." I said agitated.

"Get out!" He ordered pointing towards the door. I stood with a smirk and walked out the door. I waved at Kenny before I left which caused him to chuckle, earning a stern look from the teacher.

I shut the door behind me and went to sit on the floor. That's when I thought, fuck that. I walked down the hall and out of the school, not even taking a second glance at it. I started walking home when my phone began to buzz.

Nickelsen:
Where are you? I'm waiting outside biology for you!

I'm going home, fuck school! I replied with a smile. Garrett didn't reply which I took as a good sign. I walked through the familiar park which was even more empty than usual, it was a school day.

I arrived home to see John's white truck was still in the driveway. Seeing the truck wasn't what worried me, seeing a figure in the truck was what scared me. I slowly made my way over to John's house and slowly stepped towards the truck. I sighed in relief when I saw John sat in the truck.

I tapped on the window lightly and John looked up at me through the window. His eyes were puffy and red from crying. I didn't say a word, instead, I opened up the door and pulled him out of the truck. He reluctantly stepped out and I engulfed him in a hug. He began to shake and I could feel him crying on me.

I took him over to my house and sat him down on the couch. I wrapped my arms around him and let him cry on me. We didn't say a word to each other, I just knew I couldn't leave him alone right now. Ditching school was nothing compared to what John was going through.