Kendra Read Online Free PDF Page A

room.
    “That’s all you got to say, ‘nothing’?”
    “Yeah—I mean, why should I go to lunch when I’m not even hungry? I had breakfast, and I knew as soon as I got home, there was gonna be a big dinner waiting for me. And Kenny gave me some candy last night, so I picked on that at lunch.” Really, I don’t know why I’m even explaining any of this to Adonna.
    “Well, you could have let someone know you weren’t coming,” Adonna says. “I was standing there, looking all stupid.”
    “Sorry.” I know she probably wants me to say more, but what? I don’t even know what I’m apologizing for. For not wanting to go to lunch? For wanting to do something I actually like doing for a change?
    “I didn’t have anyone to help me jump the line,” she says, giggling a little. And I know what she’s trying to do, change the subject, keep everything light. “Anyway,” she keeps going, “you missed the funniest thing in the cafeteria today. You know that guy with the pleather jacket? Raymond whatshisname. He was wearing these tacky jeans with white piping, and he was walking around and he didn’t know that a long piece of white string was hanging outta his fly. Everybody was elbowing everybody else and laughing at him, and by the time he noticed, all the guys were calling him Tampon.”
    I laugh and shade in the area that’s gonna be the back deck.
    “Kendra, that shit was so funny. He sat down and tried to pull the string off, but he couldn’t, so he got up, got one of those plastic knives, and tried again. It took so long and everybody was laughing, even Ms. Griffin, but she was trying not to let anybody see.”
    I laugh again. “Okay, you’re right. I do always miss the good stuff.”
    “I know. I try to tell you to stay with me because shit like that always happens when I’m around.”
    That’s definitely true. But I don’t think she just happens to be around that kinda thing. I think she actually attracts the craziness to her.
    “So,” she goes on, “did Nashawn say anything about me at the lockers today?”
    I drop the pencil on my bed. Most of the time when she asks me this, I just tell her no real fast because he don’t ever talk about her, but now I’m not sure what to say. I don’t know if I should bring up that me and him were in the computer lab at the same time this morning, because that’s just gonna lead to a whole bunch of questions. And, knowing Adonna, it’s never gonna end.
    “Um, no,” I tell her. And it is kinda true, too. I didn’t even see him at the lockers today. I mean, yeah, when we were in the computer lab, he did ask me where she was, but I don’t know if he was really looking for her or anything. It seemed more like he was just surprised me and her weren’t together.
    “Oh,” she says. “I was just wondering. I saw him at lunch and I think he was looking over at my table, but he still never talks to me. You think he’s shy?”
    “I don’t know. Probably.” All of a sudden I feel kinda guilty for not telling her, but now it’s too late. If I say anything now, it’s gonna sound like I was hiding it from her. And I don’t want her thinking I’m going after Nashawn. I definitely don’t need that kinda drama in my life.
    “Kendra, you okay?”
    “Yeah, fine,” I tell her. “Just trying to study, why?”
    “You’re acting, I don’t know, kinda weird.”
    “Adonna, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “You’re hardly even saying anything.”
    “I’m listening to you.”
    “Okay, whatever.” She does one of her long sighs.
    “What do you want me to say?”
    “Nothing. Screw it.”
    In the background, on her end, I can hear Kenny’s voice. He probably just finished parking the truck and bringing all the refrigerated and frozen food back upstairs. It’s a whole process every night. He even got a second refrigerator in Grandma’s apartment just to keep all that stuff in. The rest of the food stays locked up in the truck, and so far