Paper Wishes (#1)

Chapter Five: Beware the Sheeple

"That movie was horrifying," Kai shuddered as he put his car keys down on the kitchen counter. "And the scariest part was, I was so thirsty," he added with mock horror.

I tossed him a can of cola from the refrigerator. "Well if you had let me I could have gone to the concession."

"Trust me," he said before popping open the can and taking a swig, "if you don't have to be around Ann, you shouldn't inflict her upon yourself."

"Wow, that's pretty cold, Kai."

"No, it's not. She's...," he trailed off, taking a minute to think. "The best way I can describe her is to say that she's a sociopath."

I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off.

"Let's go sit down; it'll take me awhile to elaborate."

I followed him to the living room and sat on the carpeted floor, while he sat on the couch.

He took a deep breath. "Ann has, or at least had, a thing for me. I don't know if she still does."

"How long ago did you find out?"

"It was close to the beginning of this semester."

"How does the fact that she likes you make her a sociopath, and why didn't you tell me?" I frowned slightly. It wasn't like Kai to say something so unkind about anyone; to say that I was surprised would be an understatement.

"It's not the fact that she liked or likes me - I'm not sure which it is - that makes me think she's a sociopath. It's the way she is that makes me think that. This is the second semester in a row that we've had classes together. Last semester it was just Japanese class, this semester it's Japanese, Graphic Design, and English."

"Taking the same classes as you doesn't make her a sociopath, Kai," I said, exasperated. A stalker, maybe, I thought, but not a sociopath. I sighed internally, why were things so complicated? Of course, it was always possible that she'd ended up in the same classes as him through sheer coincidence.

"Are you through interrupting?" He raised an eyebrow, obviously annoyed with me.

"Yes," I said sullenly, embarrassed by my poor display of manners.

"Don't be like that, I didn't mean to sound like I was scolding you." He reached out to pat my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt so many times," I said, "I'm just curious."

"Anyway... continue." I nodded, encouraging him to pick up where he'd left off.

"She was really sweet when I first met her and very friendly. She'd find me in the library between classes, asking for help with her homework. I didn't mind helping her out, you know? But this semester she tried to be near me all the time. One of my friends - Kim - you know Kim, right?"

I nodded.

"Kim gave me a heads up that she'd heard Ann had been telling people that we got together over the summer and that we were so serious that I was getting ready to propose to her," he said, his voice laced with disgust. "I mean, how could people believe that?" As he asked that question, his face was a question mark – he was truly perplexed.

"That's not the worst part," he continued, "I made the mistake of waiting too long to confront her, and Ann spread all kinds of terrible rumors about Kim. She saw Kim as impeding on her territory because she saw us hanging out in school, and leaving campus together for lunch."

I raised my hand slightly, not wanting to interject but worried I'd forget my question if I didn't.

He inclined his head toward me, indicating that I could interrupt.