Shit! She had forgotten her math homework SOMEWHERE!
"And how careless can you get, Candy Clarke? How STUPID can you be?" Her aunt's voice echoed in her mind automatically from the countless times she had berated her over the smallest slip, the tiniest oversight. Candy shook her head, trying to get her aunt's voice out of her head.
Yes! She had kept the notes down to put her clarinet back in its case and then – she had left the notes right there. She rushed to the music room and pushed the door open.
"Oh!" Candy let out a squeak of dismay.
Matt was sitting on the floor, Gina in his lap. Their lips were locked together, his hand on her breast. Then he looked up and saw her standing there, gaping at them. He grinned at her, his hand still on Gina's bosom, apparently unfazed by the interruption.
"Oh…I'm sorry…I just…"
"Getting cheap thrills, Candy?" Gina asked maliciously.
"Ch-cheap thrills? I -"
"You know, watching us make out." Gina ran her hand suggestively on Matt's chest.
Candy's face flamed. "I – I left my homework here – I didn't mean to -"
"As long as you're here you can do something in return for these." Matt held up her notes.
"Y-yes, sir?" Candy stammered.
"Go to my locker and get me a condom from my bag," Matt said, a wicked gleam in his eye.
"C-condom?" Candy blushed even harder.
"You know what those are, don't you?" he asked, his mouth quirking. "Go on, Clarke – you should be happy you're contributing to safe sex, at least indirectly," he added, his brilliant blue eyes on her.
"I – I -"
"Here you go."
He tossed his keys at her and Candy fumbled to catch them. She missed and they landed at her feet.
"Get moving, Clarke, we're kind of in a hurry here," Matt said wickedly, his hand sliding under Gina's skirt.
Candy's face was burning as she grabbed the keys and fled, Gina's laughter echoing behind her.
"Matt! How NAUGHTY of you! Sending poor little never-been-kissed Candy to get condoms? Bet she doesn't even know what they look like!"
Candy ran all the way to the lockers, her mind full of images of Matt kissing Gina. How would his lips feel on hers? she wondered. Soft? Demanding? Hot? And his hands…she imagined his hands roaming on her body and felt her breathing quicken.
Candy stood for a few minutes in front of the lockers, mindlessly staring at them. Then she abruptly returned to reality. Matt Kane was the hottest, sexiest boy in the entire school. He had all the girls in their class, heck, in the entire school swooning over him, and she had to go and have a crush on him, of all people. He mocked her, made fun of her whenever he got the chance, he had just sent her to get condoms for him to fuck Gina, for Pete's sake, and she had the hots for him?
Condoms! Candy looked frantically at the lockers, trying to remember which one was Matt's. Of course! It was the one next to hers! Idiot, she thought, opening his locker and picking up his bag.
"Caught you!"
Candy almost jumped out of her skin as someone laid a hand roughly on her shoulder.
"You little thief!" Nora spun her around to face her, eyes hard and triumphant. "I've caught you red-handed, stealing from Matt's locker! Let's see how you explain this to O'Neill!"
"Nora, wait, I -"
"Shut up, bitch! You don't belong here anyway and this incident will definitely make O'Neill throw you out, scholarship or no scholarship. Come on!"
She gave Candy a rough shove and Candy stumbled forward.
"Nora – wait – listen -"
"I said shut up!" Nora shoved her again, hard, and Candy almost fell. "You're coming with me to Principal O'Neill's office right now!"
"I saw her open Matt's locker and go through his bag, Ms. O'Neill," Nora said, glaring at Candy.
"What do you have to say to that, Candy?" Ms. O'Neill turned her shrewd gray eyes on Candy.
"She can't say -"
"Nora, please be quiet – I've heard what you had to say; I'm asking Candy now. Tell me, Candy."
"M-Matt asked – asked me to get him c-c-calculus notes from his locker." Candy bit off the word 'condoms' and said the first thing that came to her mind.
"MATT asked YOU? AND gave you the keys to his locker? She's lying, Ms. O'Neill, Matt doesn't even talk to her!" Nora burst out.
"Nora, please call Matt so we can sort this out once and for all."
"But -"
"Nora, do as I say."
Nora sulkily pulled out her phone and called Matt. She handed the phone to the Principal as Matt picked up.
"Matt, this is Principal O'Neill. Nora found Candy going through your locker. Candy says you gave her the keys and asked her to get you your calculus notes. Is this true?"
Matt paused for a minute, taken aback. Candy had lied to cover for him?
"Matt?" Ms. O'Neill asked a trifle impatiently.
"Y-yes, Ms. O'Neill, I gave Candy my keys for the notes," Matt said, still shaken.
"Thank you, Matt, that's all I needed to know." Ms. O'Neill turned to Nora. "Nora, as a hall prefect, I expect you to act more responsibly. You should have called Matt and checked with him before jumping to conclusions."
"Yes, Ms. O'Neill." Nora's face was sullen.
"Now, I think you owe Candy an apology."
Nora's eyes flew to the Principal's face, but Ms. O'Neill looked so stern she dared not protest.
"Sorry, Candy," she mumbled, not meeting Candy's eyes.
"Uh…it's okay…" Candy stammered, feeling horribly awkward.
"You can both go now – and remember what I said, Nora."
As soon as they were out of the Principal's office, Nora turned on Candy. She caught her arm, digging her nails in painfully.
"You little shit," she hissed. "Don't think you're getting away so easily."
"I -I -"
"Nora, what happened?" Matt came hurrying up. Though his question was to Nora, his eyes were on Candy.
"Matt! This bitch got me in trouble with O'Neill! C'mon, let's go for a soda and I'll tell you all about it."
She grabbed Matt's arm in a proprietary manner and they walked off, Matt casting puzzled backward glances at Candy as they went.
A couple of days later, Matt stood with a group of guys to one side of the quad, idly discussing the game they had watched the previous evening.
"Man, that was some game!" Nate was saying enthusiastically when Matt saw Candy enter the quad. Her head was bent as usual, thin shoulders hunched, and she was clutching a couple of books in her hand as she scurried across. He turned back to his friends, ignoring mousy little Candy Clarke.
THWOP!
A loud, squishy sound made him turn around again. Candy was standing frozen in the middle of the quad, her hair and face dripping wet.
"What th-"
THWOP! THWOPP!!
More heads turned as a couple of missiles flew through the air, landing unerringly on Candy.
"Water balloons!" Vince laughed raucously as Candy's thin T-shirt got completely soaked through. "I wish whoever it is had used ink instead – that would have been epic!"
"Hey!" Cole nodded his chin towards Candy. "Who would have thought that little sewer rat would actually have something to show?"
Matt realized abruptly that Candy's ratty old T-shirt had become almost transparent and her breasts could be seen through the thin cotton. Candy must have realized something too, for she clutched her books to her chest in an attempt to cover herself.
"Loser!" Someone in a hooded parka ran at her, snatching the books out of her hands and throwing them to the ground before running away. Candy crossed her arms over her chest, shivering with cold and sheer terror as the other kids crowded around her.