The Unsolvable Equation

Chapter Eight

"Woah, check out Caden's new squeeze," K.H. whispered that afternoon in the cafeteria, tapping Alexia on the shoulder.

"Oh, please. Caden couldn't get a girl to be within his 5 metre radius if he paid her," Alexia scoffed.

"I think you may want to reconsider that conclusion, especially when you weigh the candidates for that role," K.H replied, pointing Alexia in the direction of where Caden was seated, his arm around a girl Alexia remembered from her math class as Natalie. Natalie was tall, possibly even taller than Caden, and had the intelligence level below that of the school's average, which was saying somethings. The was the kind of girl that had trouble comprehending basic english, and was the type one might mistake for being ironically hilarious, even though Alexia was pretty sure most of her slip ups were genuine. Today, Natalie had sunk to a new low, cozying up to Caden, and sitting so close to him Alexia was surprised how her fake tan had not leaked onto his skin yet. She threw her head back and giggled at something he said, and rubbed her head against his shoulder. The very sight of it made Alexia want to eject herself from humanity. Suddenly, Natalie looked up and saw Alexia and K.H staring, or rather, glaring, but Natalie was too stupid to process what that meant, at them, and waved. "K.H! Alexia! Over here!" she called.

"One sentence without a grammar mistake, an achievement!" Alexia whispered to K.H. She didn't know where Natalie got the idea from, but somewhere along the way her tiny little mind had somehow formed the conclusion that Alexia and K.H entertained the thought of being her acquaintances, despite Alexia's constant attempts to destroy this idea.

K.H. laughed. "Come on, I want to see where this is heading."

She sat down across Caden and Natalie and Alexia had no choice but to follow suit. "Well, well," K.H began. "How long have you been keeping this little secret from us, Caden?"

Caden feigned ignorance. "What secret?" he asked, his hand still lingering around Natalie.

"The fact that you, finally, magically, got a girlfriend," K.H replied bluntly.

Alexia waited for the denial, but it never came. This surprised her. Either they were both extremely desperate to get laid or Caden was pulling a prank on her. Caden shrugged. "Not that long, actually. We're just, you know, testing the waters, we'll see how it goes."

Natalie giggled and Alexia wanted to gag. "But he's so charming," she swooned, emphasizing on the 'so' in a way so annoying only Natalie could have been able to pull it off.

"Oh really?" Alexia cut in. "How much did he pay you, Natalie? A 100 bucks? 200?"

"Aw, c'mon Alexia," Caden whined. "If you get to have a boy toy I get to have one, too." He cleared his throat. "Besides, I think our childish feud has been going on for long enough, don't you? How about we make peace? Truce?" He held out his hand.

K.H whistled. "Would you look at that. Caden's finally matured!"

Alexia was stunned. Teasing her had always been one of the highlights of Caden's life, he had done it for almost 12 straight years. Why was he having a change of heart now?  No harm trying, right? Alexia thought. And besides, now I get to ogle Almier in peace. So Alexia reached to receive his handshake and smiled.

"Truce."

Caden grinned. "Finally, I was running out of insults, anyway. So, as a symbol of our new found friendship, or lack of mutual hatred, how about you come to watch my soccer game this Friday?"

Up till that moment, Alexia had almost forgot that Caden's entire life practically revolved around soccer. He always had a ball with him, and could always be counted on the demonstrate his fancy tricks in the hallways and in class. It was one of Caden's, if not only, bragging rights, and he was sure not to let anyone forget about it.

"Absolutely, you know me, I'm always there," K.H said enthusiastically. K.H was a huge sports fan and used to play almost every sport, from soccer to basketball to gymnastics, until a series of injuries forced her to choose between walking and sports. She used to play alongside Caden in mixed-gender friendlies as well, even arguing that she was better than him. "Right, Alexia?"

"I guess I'm free, so why not?" Alexia agreed. Besides, it would be fun to see Caden, despite his talent and skills, play second fiddle to Chris. Chris was the superstar athlete in the school, the typical magazine cut-out, all around poster boy. He was tall, dark, handsome, and changed girlfriends once a week. He was also vainer than half the student population. He was oiled and waxed to perfection before every game and rumour had it that he spent more time styling his hair than actually training. He was also a major showoff. If Caden's biggest fan was himself, then Chris was his entire fanclub.

He signed autographs without being asked and the ball was perpetually glued to his feet incase some unsuspecting female might walk past and make a suitable bait. But self-obsessed as he was, Chris also had the skills to show for it. He had been voted 'Athlete of the year' more times than Alexia had won the 'Student of the year' award and rumour had it that he was skipping college to jet off to Spain or some European country in the hopes of making it big there. As if on cue, Chris appeared at that moment, slapping Caden on the back.

"You ready for the big game on Friday buddy? We're play that shitty team from God-knows-what high school again," he said with that loudspeaker of a voice.

Caden held up his fist, an offer ignored by Chris. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

Chris snorted. "Good, because I tell ya, that bench has been pretty cold and could use a good warming up! Better get your ass in action!"

Caden was at a loss for words for a moment, then he recovered and replied with a self control Alexia had not known he possessed. "Chris, you're going to need me for the game. Northwest High is pretty good, you can't win alone!"

Chris laughed so loud that his amusement turned heads of everyone on the cafeteria. "Caden! Please! It's Northwest High School we're talking about here! I could win blindfolded with one hand tied to my back!" He threw his head back again and laughing at the apparent absurdity of it all, he swaggered away.

Caden glowered in his seat and sunk further in. "Douche," he muttered.

Natalie put a hand on his shoulder and gently smoothed it. "It's alright, baby. I think you're the best!" she cooed.

Caden planted a kiss on her head. "Thanks, hon."

K.H pretended to stick a finger in her mouth. "Caden I love you and hate Chris as much as the next guy but if this lovey-dovey act keeps up I think we all know who I'll be rooting for at the game on Friday." she said, and Alexia was secretly grateful that she wasn't the only one who disgusted at their public show of affection.

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Ooh new character! What do you guys think of Natalie? Don't you absolutely hate her?