Jake

I was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with my friends, listening to Tom describe the new girl Kathy’s six pack for the tenth time. I’ll admit, she sounded kind of hot, but I have a girlfriend and I’d like to think I’m not a complete ass, so I really didn’t pay that close attention to Tom and my other friends as they gossiped about her legs and chest and whatever else they were paying attention to. I also couldn’t help but think about a different friend I have named Kathy. We’re online friends. She is from Prism, and I knew that she was starting at a new school somewhere that I really should remember because not remembering makes me a shitty friend… but in the end, I just couldn’t. I really couldn’t help but imagine what she was dealing with right now. Though I will admit that I was a little shocked that none of my friends asked me about the Kathy I knew, I mean it was pure coincidence that they had the same name, but my friends all know that I’m friends with her, it was too much work for me to keep her a secret from everyone. It just seemed like they would have been curious about it… if the new girl wasn’t so hot. Apparently. Not like I looked or anything.

My friend Josh elbowed me and pointed, “Check it, your girlfriend is going at it with the new girl.”

I looked over just in time to see Tara turn away from the new girl, fuming with anger.

I slid aside to make room for my girl, and as she slid in beside me, she said, “I can’t stand that new girl.”

I gave her a kiss on the cheek and asked, “Is she another one of those girls who pretends to be good at French?” Since I know how much pride she takes in her ability to speak French. She spent a summer overseas a few years ago and fell in love with the language and the country, so she prides herself in being fluent in the language, to the point of almost being a native speaker.

Tara glared at me and said, “No, her French is actually good, almost too good if you ask me. Where did she say she was from again?”

Tom replied, “Up north in the Sombre City area. Probably somewhere near the Prism border or something.”

She pursed her lips, “I doubt it. Besides, did you see what she was wearing?”

My friend Matt whistled and said, “Hell yeah, those legs are smoking hot.”

Tom grinned, “I’m telling you, come over to my place after so you can see her when she comes back from her run. No shirt and tight, tight shorts. Totally worth it.”

My friends continued to make plans to go to Tom’s after in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Kathy, so I just tuned them out. I needed to start thinking about Tara’s surprise party that I was going to throw her for her birthday. The bell soon rang, and we all went our separate ways. As I walked towards my next class, I couldn’t help but think about my Kathy, who is fluent in French. And, like Tara, I was starting to have my doubts that this new girl was actually from Sombre City.

The rest of my classes passed in a blur, and the next thing I knew, Josh was standing beside my locker, talking non-stop about the Prism history class he was taking.

“So,” he was saying, “hottie new chick Kathy is in my class.”

“Seriously,” I said in disbelief, “I wouldn’t have pegged her for the Prism history type.” Unless she was actually from Prism of course, but what were the odds of that, right?

“Me neither, but I’m telling you, she knows an awful lot about that country.”

I wanted to respond that maybe she was from Prism; maybe she was the same girl that I know. It was possible, wasn’t it? I mean, I don’t really think I wanted it to be true. She would have told me if she was transferring to the same city I lived in right? As I opened my mouth to respond to him, I heard the unmistakable sound of my girlfriend’s angry voice from behind me.

I turned and hugged her as she fumed, “She is in my French class,” she said. “Can you believe that?”

“What’s so wrong with that?” I asked, not quite understanding because as far as I knew, my Kathy was a really nice girl. Wait… my Kathy and this Kathy are probably not the same person.

“She is a sophomore!” Tara screeched, interrupting my thoughts. “I can’t have a sophomore showing me up!”

“Come on, I bet she is quite nice,” I said, trying to help my girl see the positive side of things.

Tara sniffed at me, “She thinks she is better than everyone.”

I gave Tara a kiss, “Try to be nice hon; I know you don’t like her, but still.”

She grudgingly gave me a nod and laid her head on my chest. I nodded towards Josh who said, “I’m going to meet up with Matt and Tom, I’ll see you.”

He turned and left me without another word.