by Cate Cameron
“Watch your tone, please.” Yeah, my mom was not a fan of raised voices. She pushed away from the table and stood up. “If this boy is going to be part of your life, even if he’s just your pupil…I should meet him.” She glanced toward my dad. “Both of us should.”
I did not want to subject Chris to whatever my mom was up to. And it would be incredibly awkward to ask him to sit through her interrogation, as if I was some sort of a prize he had to earn. “Even if I’m only tutoring him?” I tried. “That would always be in public. At school, or whatever.”
“Annalise has given me enough reason for concern that I think I should meet him even if you’re just his tutor. Yes.”
“Annalise? You’re trusting Annalise’s opinion over mine? About a human being? I’m sorry, but have you met Annalise?”
“Snarkiness like that is part of the reason I am trusting Annalise. She said you weren’t acting like yourself; your attitude is making it clear that she was right. So I’m inclined to trust her about this boy, as well.”
Total catch-22. If I fought back, I was acting out of character and Annalise was right. If I didn’t fight back, Annalise was right because I wasn’t arguing with what she’d said.
That was when my phone rang. I was tempted to ignore it, because I couldn’t think of anyone whose call would actually make the situation better, but my parents were both staring at me expectantly, so I pulled it out of my pajama pocket and looked at the screen. Excellent. Terrific timing.
I gave my parents a frustrated glare, then answered the call. “Hi, Chris. I’m glad you called.”
…
The words were good, but there was something in Claudia’s tone that made me think maybe she wasn’t all that enthusiastic about me calling. “Is this a bad time?”
She sighed. “No, not really. I just…never mind. What’s up?”
“Uh, I was hoping you had some time today? This morning, maybe? I’ve got practice this afternoon, but if you had some time today to work on math with me, that’d be great.” And if she had some time that night to work on other things with me, that would be even better, but I figured I could wait and ask about that a bit later.
“Um…yeah. Okay. But…can we do it at my house?”
“Sure. Why?”
There was a too-long pause before she blurted out, “My mom wants to meet you,” so fast it took a while for the words to sort themselves out in my brain.
“Your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“She a hockey fan?” I asked carefully. There had been a few awkward situations with older women in the past, and I definitely wasn’t interested in getting into something like that with Claudia’s mom.
But Claudia snorted, and then I could tell she was talking to someone else in the room as much as to me. “No. She’s the opposite of a hockey fan. She thinks you can’t be trusted, so she wants to meet you before she’ll be okay with me tutoring you in public places.”
“Would she rather you tutor me in private places?”
“I doubt it. Look, if it’s too weird, I understand. It’s just—”
“I’d love to meet her,” I said quickly. I was pretty sure I even meant it. “She’s got a great daughter, so probably she’s cool herself, right?”
Another snort. “Not so you’d notice.”
“Does she bake? Will there be milk and cookies to go with the math?”
“No. She doesn’t.”
“Disappointing. But, still…I’d be happy to meet her.” I could tell Claudia wasn’t happy, so I added, “Most people like me, you know. I’m likable. That’s just a fact. So statistically, your mom will probably like me, too.”
“You can’t really use statistics like that. You can’t pretend we’re dealing with completely random variables.”
“Well, you lost me on that, but I think I can use statistics any way I want to. Who’s going to stop me?”
“Reality?”
“Statistically unlikely.”
“Okay, when we’re done with functions, we’re working on stats.”
“You’re the boss. So I should come over? What time?”
“I don’t know. I have to shower and everything still. No sooner than half an hour?”
“Cool,” I said, working to not think of her in the shower. “See you soon.”
I puttered around for a bit, put on a clean T-shirt without a team logo on it, stopped off at the grocery store for milk and a bag of Oreos, and was at Claudia’s place about half an hour after we’d spoken.
She answered the door before I rang the bell and whispered, “I’m really sorry if she’s weird. Seriously, so sorry.”
“I like weird, remember?” I whispered back. Then I handed her the milk and cookies. “I brought supplies.”
Her grin was a little wobbly, and I resisted the urge to grab her hand, just like I’d resisted the urge to kiss her hello when she opened the door.
She set the snacks on the table in the foyer and sort of herded me into the living room to the left. The people I assumed were her parents both stood up, and her dad shook my hand. So far so good.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Waring.”
“Mr. and Doctor,” Claudia’s mom corrected.
“Oh, really? Like, the medical kind?”
Her smile was a little pained. “Yes. The medical kind.”
“I didn’t know that. Cool.”
“My dad’s a lawyer,” Claudia said. “They don’t get a different title, though.”
“Very professional family. I thought you were aiming high, wanting to be an engineer, but maybe you’re actually slumming a little, huh?”
“The engineering degree is just a starting point for Claudia,” Dr. Waring said. She sounded pretty icy. “She plans to look at nanotechnology and biomedical applications in her graduate work.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Nanotechnology is really small things, right? Like, you’d make little robots that could fix people?”
“Maybe,” Claudia said. She sounded miserable. I guess I was sounding pretty stupid, compared to what her parents were probably used to.
I decided it was best to talk as little as possible, so I just stood there, trying to look natural.
“You’re having trouble with math?” Dr. Waring asked.
For Claudia’s sake, I wanted to defend myself. Which didn’t make much sense, really—if I needed a tutor, it was pretty clear I wasn’t good at math. But I wanted to say something about missing a lot of school for road trips, or not having time for homework, or something that would make it sound like their precious daughter wasn’t hanging around with an actual gorilla. But instead, I said, “And chemistry. I’m having trouble with math and chemistry.”
Dr. Waring raised an eyebrow, and even Mr. Waring looked less than impressed.
“And what are your plans for after high school?” Dr. Waring asked.
“Uh…well, I hope to play hockey for another few years. The NHL would be great, obviously, but even a couple years on one of the European teams or something…” It all sounded kind of shaky, I had to admit. I tried to think of what my mom would want to hear. “I get a scholarship—every year I play in the OHL is a free year of school when I’m done. So when hockey’s over, I’ll probably go to school for…something.”
Claudia smiled at me, but it wasn’t her real smile. It was half apology, half something else. Embarrassment? For me, or for herself? Now that her parents were pointing it out to her, was she realizing how bad she was slumming, spending time with me?
Judging by the look on Dr. Waring’s face, that’s what she was hoping for. “And what about your parents?” she asked. “What do they do?”
“They have their own business,” I said. And then, because I wasn’t going to be ashamed of my family or try to hide anything about them, not even for Claudia’s sake, I added, “Construction.” The truth was, the family business was pretty successful, and my parents made good money from it. My brothers and sister m
ade good livings, too. We were far from poor, and even without the OHL scholarship I could have afforded to go to school, no problem, just living off my parents for a while. But I wasn’t going to get into that with the Warings. It sounded too much like an apology, and I was sure they wouldn’t care anyway. It wasn’t the money they were uptight about. I didn’t know what word they’d use to describe it, but whatever it was I knew they thought they had it and I didn’t.
Dr. Waring held my gaze for a little longer, clearly trying to send a wave of intimidation in my direction. And even though I’d stared down countless goons twice her size and with actual blades strapped to their feet, I have to admit Dr. Waring was pretty scary. Not because of herself, but because of who she was to Claudia.
Still, I managed to meet her eyes, and finally she turned to her daughter and said, “I’m concerned about your own studies falling behind. You know how crucial this year is. You know that your fall marks are the ones sent to the universities. You have the math contest coming up. You need to prioritize yourself, not be sidetracked.”
“I know,” Claudia said quietly. I wondered if she was feeling bad for having lost time to the hockey game the night before.
“I could probably—” I started, but Claudia cut me off.
“You owe me four hours,” she said. And this was Dia, strong and fierce, with a sweetness underneath it all. “Don’t try to weasel out. And all three extra hours, too. I want them finished by the end of next week.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said quickly. If I was choosing between Claudia or her mother? I’d rather have her mother mad at me.
“Good,” she said, and then she turned to her mom and just as quickly turned back into a shy little girl. “Can we go do our work now?” she asked meekly.
“In the kitchen,” Dr. Waring said. I wasn’t sure what the other alternative would have been. Claudia’s bedroom? That was probably wishful thinking.
Claudia led us back through the foyer to pick up the milk and cookies, then past the stairs and into a big, bright kitchen with a long wooden table. There were French doors that opened onto a deck, and I walked over to peer outside. Yeah, it was a nice house. “My parents’ house has that, too,” I said to Claudia. I guess I hadn’t wanted to say anything to her mom, but I thought it was worthwhile making things clear to Claudia. “The French doors, then the deck, and the forest behind. They have a pool in between, though.”
She nodded and said, “That’s how you think of it? As your parents’ house? Not yours?”
I’d been trying to make it clear my family wasn’t destitute, and she’d used it as a way to wriggle into my brain. “I guess,” I said. “I don’t really live there anymore. Even over the summer I’m doing camps and tournaments and whatever. I go back for a weekend now and then, but that’s about it.”
“So the family you billet with—is that home?”
I’d never really thought about it, but if Claudia wanted me to, I would. “No,” I said after a moment. “That’s not home, either. I mean, it’s their home. And they’re nice and all, but they’re not family.”
“So you don’t have a home?” She sounded a little sad about that.
“The rink,” I said quickly. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but I was pretty sure it was true. “The whole building, really. The ice, and the locker room. The snack bar, even. I spend more awake time at the arena than anywhere else, probably.”
She nodded. “So your teammates really are your family, in a way.”
“They’re annoying, they think they know me better than they do, they’re always around even when I don’t want them to be… Yeah, that sounds like family.”
She grinned at me, and it was like her mother was miles away instead of right in the next room. Claudia and I were back to where we’d been the night before. I really wanted to kiss her, and from the way she was standing, the way she was looking at me, I was pretty sure she wanted me to. But then she heaved a big sigh and dragged out one of the heavy wooden chairs from the table. “We should work,” she said. “Did you bring your books?”
I had, unfortunately, so we cracked out the cookies and Claudia found glasses for the milk, which was a lot classier than my usual swig-from-the-carton approach, and we mathed it up.
Again, it wasn’t nearly as boring as it should have been. Partly because I could distract myself with not-math, like watching the way Claudia tucked her hair behind her ear, and imagining it was me doing it instead of her. Or letting my leg sit right next to hers, close enough that I could feel the warmth of her skin even through two layers of denim. And of course there was the try-to-make-her-laugh game. I made myself be subtle about it; I didn’t think she’d appreciate a full-on comedy act or clown routine. But I got a few smiles and one chuckle, so I called it a win.
I hadn’t realized how long we’d been at it until Dr. Waring came in and started poking around in the fridge. I glanced at my watch and realized she was looking for lunch.
“I should get going,” I said.
Claudia wrinkled her nose, and I could tell she was torn between asking me to stay and thinking it would be best for me to spend as little time as possible with her mom. I was kind of torn, too, so I waited to see how she’d call it. After I gave her enough time to invite me to stay if she’d wanted to, I finished gathering up my books and stuffed them in my knapsack.
“You owe me another hour and a half this weekend,” Claudia said firmly, her back turned to her mother.
“I’ve got tomorrow off completely,” I said. “I could probably get that three hours taken care of, too, if you’re okay with blitzing.”
“Yeah, for sure. Here again?”
“Great. I’ll bring the snacks.” And that should have been it. But that night was another curfew-free night, and I’m not kidding when I say we hardly get any of those. So I didn’t want to walk away without at least asking Claudia to spend some time with me. I could have phoned her later, I guess, but I felt like I had a better chance in person. I should have said something to her earlier, before her mom showed up, but maybe it was better this way anyhow. Might as well face them both at the same time.
So as I swung my knapsack over my shoulder I said, “You want to do something tonight? I’ve got a team dinner, but it won’t go long. I’ll be out by eight at the latest. We could see a movie or something?”
The expression on Claudia’s face made me wish I’d kept my mouth shut. Not for my own sake, exactly, but more because I really didn’t like seeing her look so tense. “I’d like to,” she said, but we both knew that wasn’t an answer. She glanced in her mother’s direction, looking tentative. And then, again, right as I watched, Claudia straightened her spine, put on a determined expression, and became Dia. “Yes,” she said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it clearly. “Okay. Call me when your dinner’s over. A movie sounds good.”
“Yeah?”
“I may or may not add the time to your math commitment,” she said lightly.
“It’d be worth it even if you did.”
“Nice line,” she said, like she was one of the guys on the team.
I grinned at her and resisted the urge to hip-check her. I also had to resist the urge to kiss her. These were some pretty strong, pretty contradictory urges I was dealing with.
“So, I’ll call you,” I said, backing slowly toward the door. Now that she was smiling again, it was really hard to stop looking at her.
“I’ll walk you out,” she replied, which was about the best suggestion I’d heard since she came up with the Sisterhood.
I was vaguely aware of her mom simmering behind us and figured that for Claudia, more sensitive and more closely connected to the woman, the simmer would be more like a full boil, but Claudia just kept moving. She pulled the front door open and led me outside, down the cold flagstone steps, and around the corner of the garage. And then it was like she just ran out of determination, and turned around to look timidly somewhere near my shoulder.
That was okay, thoug
h, because out here, away from her mom, I felt like I was ready to take charge. “Please tell me that you wanted to walk me out so you could kiss me.”
She glanced quickly toward my face, then back toward my shoulder as her face flamed.
“Yes?” I said gently. “No? Maybe you just wanted to be sure I didn’t steal anything on the way out?”
“I didn’t think you were going to steal anything,” she managed.
“So…a kiss?”
I waited. Partly because the team was crazy obsessed with the whole “explicit consent” thing and we got lectures on it almost monthly; if a Corrigan Falls Raider ever forced a girl into doing something she didn’t want to, he would not be able to claim he didn’t know any better. But mostly I waited because I felt like it was kind of important for Claudia to do this, to take charge of her own decisions.
And my patience paid off, because finally, soft but sure, I heard, “I walked you out because I wanted to kiss you.”
“And you still do?” I pushed.
She nodded.
And that was the end of my self-control. No more playing. Claudia tilted her head up as I lowered mine, and our lips met with something new, something fiercer than anything the night before. We weren’t exploring now, weren’t testing boundaries or worrying about…well, we weren’t worrying about anything. It was a hell of a kiss.
When we finally came up for air, Claudia had her bare feet on top of my shoes, and she was pressed up against the brick column between their two garage doors, my forearms braced on either side of her head, our bodies lined up and pressed together in as many points of connection as we’d been able to find. And I didn’t really remember how any of that had happened. I just remembered sensations, not events.
“Wow,” I whispered. “Maybe not the movies tonight? Maybe somewhere more private?”
Her eyes were wide, like she’d shocked herself with the kiss. Which would make sense, because she’d surprised the hell out of me. She blinked a couple times, clearly trying to come back to reality, and eventually my words registered. She glanced over toward the front door of the house. It was out of sight beyond the corner of the garage, and we were shielded from the street by a long hedge and a couple trees, not to mention the bulk of my truck, but Claudia still managed to look like she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.
