I finally got to the classroom door, and Nina was standing there just like she said she would be. I limped the last few steps, and just as I got out of the room, I saw Tyler walking down the hall toward us.
'Damn it,' I thought. 'Of all the people to show up right now.'
He stopped right in front of Nina, completely ignoring me like I was not even there.
"Hey," he said to her. "Are you coming to the party with us today?"
"I will be right there," she said. "I just need to talk to Kofi for a minute first."
Tyler finally looked at me then. The nice, chill guy I met in the hospital was gone. He just gave me this cold look, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. He thought I was trying to get with his girlfriend. After a second, he looked back at Nina, shrugged, and walked away without another word.
'Great,' I thought. 'That's just fantastic.'
Seeing him and getting that look just made me want to leave even more. I had enough drama for one day. I did not need to get into it with some popular kid over his girlfriend.
I was about to tell Nina I had changed my mind when she bumped her shoulder into mine, but not in a mean way. It was like she was trying to get me to lighten up or something.
"Come on," she said, and then she just started walking down the hallway.
I did not really have a choice, so I followed her. We walked away from the main group of students until the hallway was mostly empty. She was quiet the whole time, and I had no idea what to expect. Finally, she stopped and turned to face me.
"Do you hate me?" She asked, getting straight to the point.
I was a little taken aback by how blunt she was. "What? No, I don't hate you."
"Then why did you tell me to stop talking to you?" she asked. "And do not sugarcoat it. Just tell me the real reason."
I looked at her, and I thought about just making up some excuse. But what was the point? I was tired of all this crap.
"Because I don't want rumors spreading about us," I said. It was the truth.
She just stared at me for a second, and then she started laughing. It was not a mean laugh, but she was definitely laughing at me.
"Rumors?" she asked, like it was the dumbest thing she had ever heard. "You are really worried about some dumb high school rumors?"
I didn't find it funny at all. "Yeah, I am," I said, and my voice was serious. "Do you enjoy it? Do you like having people talk about you like that?"
Her laughter stopped immediately. She went completely silent and just looked at me.
"I mean, people are already saying stuff," I continued, because I figured I might as well get it all out. "That guy Jake told me everyone thinks you are already looking for another guy. They say you move on quick. I don't want to be a part of that. I don't want people whispering about me or having guys like Ronnie and Tyler getting pissed off at me because of you. I just want to be left alone."
I saw her expression change when I said all that. She just stood there, looking at me like I had slapped her. I could have stopped right there. I probably should have. But I felt like I had to make her understand, to really drive the point home so she would finally leave me alone.
"Look," I said, and my voice was a lot quieter now. "I'm sorry if I'm being a jerk about this, but it's the truth. And I'm pretty sure a part of you knows it is."
She didn't say anything. She just kept staring at me with those wide, hurt eyes.
"It's nice of you to be nice to me," I continued, feeling like I had to fill the silence. "But do you even know anything about me? Like, one single thing that doesn't have to do with me getting hit by a car?"
She flinched when I said that, and I felt a little bad, but I kept going. I had to.
"You don't," I said, answering my own question. "And I don't know anything about you. We're not friends. We're just two people who got stuck in a shitty situation. You can stop feeling guilty now. You don't owe me anything."
"Stop," she said, her voice was all shaky.
I stopped talking and just looked at her. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
"That's enough," she said, quieter this time.
'Okay,' I thought. 'I guess that's it. She's finally going to walk away.'
But she didn't walk away. She took a shaky breath, and then she yelled.
"Just shut up!" she screamed, and tears started streaming down her face.
I was so shocked I couldn't even move.
"You think I like this?" she shouted, and her voice cracked. "You think I enjoy jumping from guy to guy? That I like having that reputation?"
I had no idea what to say. I just stood there like an idiot.
"My friends pushed me into it!" she cried. "They said I'd be a loser if I didn't have a boyfriend! They kept setting me up with people and telling me to just give them a chance!"
Her whole body was shaking now, and she was crying so hard she could barely talk.
"I've never even kissed anyone before!" she screamed right at my face. "I've never had sex! I hate it! I hate all of it!"
She wiped at her tears with the back of her hand, but more just kept coming.
"You're such a dumbass," she sobbed.
And with that, she turned and just ran. She sprinted down the empty hallway, away from me, and didn't look back.
I just stood there, completely stunned, watching her disappear around the corner. My brain felt like it had short-circuited. I kept replaying what she had just screamed at me.
'Never kissed anyone? Forced into it?'
I had been so sure I had her all figured out. The popular girl who felt guilty and was maybe a little bit of a flirt. But I was wrong. I was so completely, totally wrong about everything.
'I'm such an idiot,' I thought, feeling the weight of her words crash down on me. 'A huge fucking idiot.'