Phoebe

The hallway was deserted, probably to give what I was seeing some room. (Maybe that explains the other crowded hallways.)

Ivy was kissing Kevin. Or Kevin was kissing Ivy. I can't be too sure. They were glued together and going at it so I'm guessing it doesn't really matter who actually initiated.

But it mattered that the gossip was true.

I walked up to them, and, when me being close enough to breathe down their necks wasn't enough, I coughed. They jumped apart from each other, obviously thinking I was a teacher about to reprimand them for PDA, public display of affection. (To me that means holding hands, a hug goodbye, and maybe a kiss . . . on the cheek, not full out make-out -- and that especially not in a school building.)

Kevin sighed in relief upon seeing it was just me and wiped the slobber or lip gloss or whatever off his face. His left eye – like that girl Kara said – was dark as night, a dark purple that looked like it hurt. Apparently Sara can throw a punch. Good for her.

"Why are you here?" Ivy questioned, taking a more vocal approach to having been, uh, interrupted.

I could say the same, both about myself and her. "I just wanted to talk to you for a bit," I said as calmly and normally as possible. "Alone, please."

Taking this as a reasonable enough request, Ivy stood on her tippy toes and kissed Kevin on the cheek. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, babe," he said to her before directing at me, "Bye, Copper."

Ivy's eyes flashed and I thought it was because he addressed me but as he was leaving she faced me. "Copper?"

I thought back to last week when I ran into him and fell -- all because I had worn eyeliner that day at the suggestion of Ivy. I had forgotten all about that incident until now.

"Yes. That's what he and his friend -- uh, Riley? -- said that they were going to call me. Remember last week when you made me wear eyeliner? Well, my eyes got all teary and I ran into Kevin and . . . well, there was something about a party and me crying and---"

"You bitch," said Ivy. Two words quietly said but oh so full of malice. It was then that it hit me that Ivy was no longer that girl in a yellow sundress. She was something different now; the years had changed her in more than just appearance.

"Excuse me?" I asked, doubtful that she had said what I heard.

"You heard me." It always amazed me that no matter what the conversation was about if someone asked what other said, they would always answer with those three words. "You're trying to steal Kevin away from me -- is that it?"

I shook my head at her paranoia. "No, that's not it at all, Ivy. I don't see what the big deal is. He called me by a nickname! You call me Phee all the time. It's not any different."

But it was different to her. "Don't talk to me. You're trying to take Kevin away."

She started to walk away and was halfway down the hall before I lost my usual calm façade. (Even when I was angry, I always kept my voice the way it normally was -- cool and low-pitched and mostly the same throughout.) The temper I knew I always had had finally broken through my wall of unshatterable ice. My words came out viciously and with varying degrees of pitch and tempo.

"Why is that such a big deal to you, Ivy? Isn't that what you did Saturday? Steal Kevin away?"

Ivy stopped cold in her tracks and turned around. "What did you say?"

"You heard me."
Oh, so that's why people said those words, because it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Listen to me. He kissed me."

I nodded. "But do you honestly think he meant anything by it? Just because someone kisses you doesn't mean they love you. Chances are that he'll cheat on you, too. It's just a matter of time."

"I can't believe you're taking the side of that . . . that bitch Tara or Hara or whatever it is!"

"And I can't believe that you would think I would take someone's boyfriend. To me, that's something even worse to be ashamed of than taking sides. The fact that you were kissing him back proves if nothing else that you are a slut."

And it was my turn to walk away.