1: Educating Kaylee Ch. 05

"Holy shit," Aaron exclaimed from behind the camera as he ran towards Luke while the visual picture tumbled out of focus just before the camera turned off.

"Holy shit," Kaylee exclaimed.

A radiant angel? A precious flower?

Nurtured and allowed to bloom?

She could feel her body shaking; she couldn't recall another time in her life when so many emotions swirled through her head. She felt an intense rage towards Bradley and an incredible guilt over Luke. But aside her remorse, she also saw Luke in a new light; she witnessed a side of Luke that she had never realized existed.

He had a backbone, evident by the way he stood up to a bully much bigger and stronger than he was. He had confidence, much like David must have had against Goliath. However, what stood out most of all were the words flowing out of his mouth in the same way a poet might have weaved a poem; words that came from his heart that she was never meant to hear. Each word of beauty and admiration he spoke was purely about Kaylee.

She thought she was going to cry, but she was still too stunned for any type of reaction. Her first instinct was to call Bradley and chew his ass out, which was quickly overridden by an intense desire to skip the phone and drive over there in person so she could beat the living shit out of him.

On the flipside, Kaylee wanted to bolt out of Luke's room and chase him down to beg for his forgiveness. She wasn't sure she could do that; she was scared to face him after doubting his story. She cursed, realizing too late she should have listened to that nagging feeling in the back of her head. What good was it that the only reason she now believed him was because she saw the proof displayed before her very eyes on the computer screen? She missed her chance.

Aaron was still frozen in place; his hands hovered a foot above the keyboard, not wanting to make any sudden movements, much like helpless prey stalked by a hungry predator.

Her hand went up to her forehead. "Holy shit," she said again.

"Um, I think you already said that," Aaron said meekly.

Kaylee, having forgotten Aaron was in the room and now alerted to his presence, threw him a dirty look. Aaron cringed, attempting to slide his chair back subtly but only succeeding in accidentally bumping it into the wall.

She needed to clear her head; she wasn't in a condition to chase either Bradley or Luke.

Faith showed up outside Luke's door, looking inside. "What's going on," she asked. Kaylee didn't respond. Aaron made eye contact with Faith, but he didn't dare say another word if he could help it, not even to her.

"Aaron, do you have other clips of Luke? I want to see them," she tried to said calmly, brushing a strand of golden hair out of her face.

Aaron stuttered, unable to form even a complete word.

Kaylee shrieked, "WELL?"

Startled, Aaron pounced on his keyboard. "Y-yea, I have a few clips; hold on, hold on..." Never before had he typed on the computer and moved the mouse so quickly.

"Ok, here's one," he said, clicking play:

"Aaron, put that thing away. I'm trying to study," Luke said.

Aaron replied, "Come on, say something. Say anything! How was she when she was talking to you?"

"She was kind of a snot, actually."

Kaylee's bottom lip began to quiver when she heard Luke call her a snot, least of all in such a nonchalant manner. She'd been called worse by friends and rivals alike, but with Luke, somehow it was different. It seemed to hurt more. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't. Ok, she admitted it probably was, but it still hurt.

"Dude, we're talking about Kaylee. Everyone knows that; that's not the point. What did she say? What did she do? What was she wearing?"

Aaron looked down at his lap and scratched the back of his head, refusing to look up as his insensitive words on the video reached Kaylee's ears. Kaylee didn't react, but Faith, still standing in the doorway, glared at Aaron.

Kaylee was a little relieved, however, when she saw that bashful grin surface on Luke's face, despite his obvious resistance. She bit her lip as she heard Luke say:

"She unbuttoned her blouse a notch. It was buttoned all the way up the entire day. But when she approached me, she had one button undone. I think she was trying to add incentive for me to agree to tutor her. You have no idea how hard it was to be polite and not stare. It took everything I had."

Kaylee's could feel her face turning red; the temperature of the room must have quickly risen. She had no idea until now that Luke really did notice her ploy to seduce and trick him into helping her with her math. How did Luke know? He seemed so clueless at so many things, and at the time she pitied him for it. But he knew all along what she was up to. It was really a rotten thing to do, and she knew it. So why was she unable to resist the slight upward curve of her lips, thinking about Luke's every effort to use all of his mental powers in an attempt to resist her charm, and why didn't she feel guilty?

"Screw that, man. If she was opening them up to you, no need to be a gentleman. Right, bro?"

Aaron closed his eyes and scrunched his nose, as if trying to brace himself from an inevitable punch to the face.

"Ok, you want the truth? She's not the same as she was back in elementary school. I guess time changes people. Still, there's something about her I can't put my finger on. She puts on a front like she has it all figured out, but I sense some kind of insecurity in her. That's probably why she comes across as a spoiled brat -- she chooses to be one. I feel sorry for her."

Elementary school? She gasped, remembering her little scraggly-haired friend back in the first grade. How had she forgotten about that? Kaylee and Luke. Friends once upon a time, long ago. She felt so guilty for not remembering!

Luke, on the other hand; he remembered her completely. And it was as if he could read her like a book; she obviously had changed, and not for the better. The Luke on the video almost scared her; it was like he knew her better than she knew herself. She didn't like admitting it, and would never admit it to anyone but herself, but he was right. She was spoiled, and she chose to be spoiled.

But that didn't mean his words didn't sting her. They did. They stung her deep.

"But she's absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen a smile like hers -- ever. I mean, when she wants to, she can brighten up a room. I'm telling you, Aaron, she might even be the most beautiful girl in the world. Hey, I said put that thing down. You're not actually filming this, are you?"

"No, of course not," Aaron said.

The screen went blank, snapping Kaylee back to reality. She had never felt so cherished before this moment in her entire life, not even from her own parents. She smiled at Luke's ignorance to the camera and his beautiful, honest confession. Her heart fluttered as she recalled his sweet, sincere words.

The most beautiful girl in the world? For a moment she considered asking Aaron to play that part, over and over. She would have, if her burning desire to see the rest of the footage and understand more about Luke didn't override her tender and soft spots.

Aaron didn't even bother looking up.

"More," Kaylee snapped with an angry voice, stifling her smile.

"Kaylee, I..."

"Did I stutter?"

Aaron sighed, "This is the last one I have."

As Aaron pressed play, the first thing Kaylee noticed was Luke rolling his eyes. She giggled; it wasn't often she saw him do anything like that, or anything else that a typical teenager would do. Her own eyes glossed over as she listened to him speak:

"It's not like that. She wouldn't give me the time of day if I asked to kiss her high heels. Don't get me wrong, though, she's a nice girl. She's a lot different than I thought she'd be. She puts up a front so she can be one of the popular girls, but she's kind and giving and compassionate. Kaylee's really a sweetheart."

Aaron asked, "Then why is she with that douchebag, Brad, over there?"

The camera zoomed in on the large senior on the other side of the courtyard with his arm draped around Kaylee. Aaron panned the camera back to Luke, capturing the disappointed look on his face as he watched Bradley and Kaylee together.

Her hand reached up to her wide open mouth when the camera panned on a dejected and heartbroken Luke. He was longing for her, and she didn't even notice. She had no idea! She felt her heart breaking. As Kaylee watched herself laughing on video, holding and hugging Bradley in celebration of her victory over her midterms, she felt so awful that she almost told Aaron to turn it off; she didn't think she could take much more.

Kaylee didn't know why it never occurred to her before, but the realization hit her hard: She should have been celebrating with Luke instead. If it wasn't for Luke, she wouldn't have a reason to celebrate.

She heard a sniffling sound behind her; was Faith misting up, too?

Kaylee practically froze as she heard Luke tell Aaron:

"Dude, I hate being the one to tell you, but you know she's using you. Right?"

Luke delayed his response, but nodded, "Maybe. You're probably right. I know at first she started out using me, and that's fine, but I just can't quite tell if she was or not at the end. She probably was, but only subconsciously at least. I mean, she definitely reciprocated, buying me clothes and taking me to the gym. The human mind can be a tricky thing. Did I tell you she apologized to me once?"

Aaron was shocked, "Really? For what?"

Luke smiled, "Long story."

"I never used...," Kaylee squeaked out loud before her voice choked up. "How could he think...?"

As the video faded to black, Aaron quickly told Kaylee, before she could yell at him anymore, "That's everything."

For a moment, she paced back and forth in the room. Her hands went up to her head as if she had a headache, but in reality she was trying to process everything she had just seen. Bradley wasn't who she thought he was, and Luke certainly wasn't who she thought he was either. Both for very completely different reasons.

Faith was stunned, too, but she seemed concerned for Kaylee. "Kaylee, are... are you ok?"

That was enough to snap Kaylee out of it. Looking at Faith, she asked, "Faith, where did he go? I have to find him and talk to him."

Faith shrugged, "I don't know, try the library? Or maybe he just went out to take a walk to cool down?"

Kaylee bolted out of the room and out of the house. "Um, Kaylee, do you need help," Faith asked, but Kaylee was already gone.

"What just happened," a stunned Aaron asked Faith. "I mean..., Kaylee? Luke? Does she really feel for him, like..., you know..."

Just as shocked as Aaron, Faith tried to find the right words to say, "I...wow, I knew he had the hots for Kaylee, but I had no idea anything like that! No wonder he took off as fast as he did."

Aaron shook his head, turning back to the screen and sarcastically muttering under his breath, "That went well."