by Ivy Smoak
“Mi amor, are you hungry?” She gave me a swift kiss on the cheek at the same time she flipped an omelet.
“No, I’m good. Thank you though.”
“Sí sí.” She turned her attention back to her daughter when Kennedy set her plate down on the counter. “Kennedy, you need to finish your breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.”
“I’m full. Besides, we have to get to school early because Brooklyn has a crush on this boy and she wants to make sure she gets to see him before classes start.”
Wow. Just the truth then? I thought she might make up a fake project or something as our reason to hurry to school. But I wasn’t mad. Honestly, if my mom was here, I would have told her the truth too.
“A boy?” Mrs. Alcaraz asked. “That attends your school?”
The way she said it made me feel uneasy. I understood her skepticism. But she hadn’t met Matthew. He wasn’t like the rest of the students at Empire High.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” Kennedy said. “I won’t let her get mixed up with the wrong crowd.”
Mrs. Alcaraz laughed. “I was more worried about her heart. But only she can protect that.” She winked at me. “Have a good day, mis niñas. Don’t get into any trouble.”
“Nunca!” Kennedy yelled over her shoulder as she grabbed my arm and pulled me to the door.
“What does nunca mean?” I asked as we made our way outside.
“Never.”
“Are you fluent in Spanish?” I only ever heard her use a few Spanish words when she was around her mother. I knew Kennedy’s father was white from the pictures I’d seen around the house. Kennedy had all her mother’s beauty, but her skin was a little lighter. Looking at her you’d just think she was tan.
“No, not really. But I’ve picked up on the important things. Like nunca,” she said with a laugh. “It’s really the most important word. I tend to use it a lot.”
I laughed as she tucked her arm in mine. We walked down the sidewalk, avoiding the homeless man standing on the corner and licking a slice of pizza.
“I see that you decided to get new sneakers,” she said. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t give in. If you like your old ones then you should just wear them.”
“I didn’t buy new ones. My uncle fixed them.” What kind of money did she think I had lying around? And I loved my Keds. I wouldn’t let one jerk tell me what I could and couldn’t wear. Even if said jerk was intimidating. And awful. And a little scary.
“Really?” Kennedy stared down at my shoes as we approached the school. “Wow, they look almost perfect. Go Uncle Jim. First the gossip thing. Now he’s a cobbler? I don’t know him nearly as well as I thought. He’s really pulling out all the stops for you.”
I smiled. He was certainly surprising me. When I moved here, I had convinced myself I was a nuisance. That he didn’t want me. But now? Maybe he had been just as lonely as I was.
“They’re not here yet,” Kennedy said and pointed to the spot that the Untouchables’ Benz was always parked. There weren’t assigned parking spots. But everyone at the school seemed to know not to park there. Which was pretty impressive since most of the students drove to school or were chauffeured by a driver. It was a little silly that this prestigious school was located in the heart of the city when most of the kids that attended it lived in fancy mansions on the outskirts of Manhattan. Some were even from Jersey.
“Come on,” Kennedy said and dragged me up the steps toward the front doors. “You can’t just wait around for him to show up. You’ll seem desperate.”
I was a little desperate, but I allowed her to steer me away from their parking spot. All weekend I’d had trouble focusing on my homework. I was even worse at my job. Luckily I hadn’t dropped any more trays on my second day of work or I probably would have been fired.
But how could I not think about those few minutes in the bathroom with Matthew? The way he stared at my reflection in the mirror. The way he touched me. He made me feel alive again. He made me want to keep living.
We stopped at Kennedy’s locker first. Then mine. Still no sign of the Untouchables and it was almost time for homeroom. Fortunately there was no sign of Isabella either. Maybe the stick up her butt had finally killed her.
Kennedy snapped a picture of me staring at the clock in the hall. “No worries, you’ll see him at lunch instead. We should probably get to class so we’re not late.”
It was funny when Kennedy said stuff that made it seem like she cared about doing well in school. Because usually everything out of her mouth claimed the opposite.
I was jealous that she was in the same homeroom as Matthew. I was on the complete opposite side of the alphabet and therefore all the way at the other end of the hall. “Maybe he’ll say hi to you in class,” I said.
“Doubtful.” She was staring at her camera screen. “I’m not the one he has the hots for. Plus he’s never spoken to me and we had the same homeroom all of last year too. But I’ll let you know if he does.” She nudged my shoulder and went off toward her class.
The bell was about to ring any minute, but I still waited a few more seconds before closing my locker. I just wanted one taste. Look. I meant look. But the front doors of the school stayed closed. I started to walk to class. Guess I have to wait until lunch.
As soon as I thought it, I heard Matt’s voice. I turned around. The Untouchables, minus Mason, had just walked into the school. Matt and Rob seemed to be arguing about something, but I was too far away to hear them. James was completely silent. His eyes were bloodshot and his tie and blazer were askew. I thought about the champagne he had been downing at the party on Friday. Was he drunk? He started laughing. I wasn’t sure about what. But the other two didn’t find it funny.
Matt started to pull James toward the men’s room and said something I couldn’t hear.
“Fuck off, Matt,” Rob said, his voice rising. “I said I’ve got it covered.”
“Is this covered to you?” Matt gestured to James. “He’s going to get expelled if anyone sees him like this. If this is covered, you’re doing a shitty job.”
James started laughing.
“Shut the hell up, James,” Matt said.
It looked like Rob was about to take a swing, but then he shook his head. I’d never seen him look defeated before. He was always laughing and making jokes.
“I can handle him,” Matt said. “You gotta get to class.”
“So do you,” Rob said.
“I haven’t been late yet. You have. Come on, get to class.”
It looked like Rob was about to protest again, but Matt pulled James toward the bathroom to end the discussion.
Whatever was going on, I knew I wasn’t supposed to see it. They were late for a reason. And the halls were empty except for them and me. I turned away before they saw me watching.
***
The bell rang, signaling the end of English. Kennedy and I both started to pack up our backpacks.
She zippered hers shut and turned to me. “Matthew strolled in late to homeroom and got yelled at by Mr. Lewis. And before you ask, no, he didn’t say hi to me.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. Even though I had walked away quickly this morning, my class was at the other end of the hall. They definitely saw me. They’d know that I’d overheard. Although I had no idea exactly what I had overheard. I still felt guilty though. Eavesdropping wasn’t very becoming. And I didn’t usually do it. I just had a hard time not staring at them. And listening to them, apparently.
“Hey, you okay?” Kennedy asked as we both stood up from our desks. “You barely took any notes today.”
“Yeah.” I shook my head. “Sorry, I was daydreaming.”
She laughed. “Shamelessly daydreaming about Matthew? Don’t worry, you can borrow my notes.”
I had been daydreaming about Matthew all weekend. But my daydreams weren’t as fun today. I was lost in thought about what I’d seen in the hall. But I didn’t know what to say to Kennedy. “How much do you
know about James?”
“Don’t tell me you already want to hop in bed with another one of them?”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “I just noticed at the party on Friday that he was drinking champagne. Underage.”
She laughed. “What high school student hasn’t had a drink?”
Me. I hadn’t. I’d never been to a party back at my old school because I was always working. And my mom hadn’t kept alcohol in the house, not that I’d wanted to try it. “Right.”
“Why do you care about James’ drinking habits?”
Because it looked like he showed up drunk to school today. And by the way Matt and Rob were acting, it wasn’t the first time. Instead of saying it, I kept my mouth closed. It wasn’t my business. And the last thing I wanted to do was spread a rumor about something that might not even be true. I knew what it was like for people to talk about me behind my back. I’d never do that to someone else. “No reason,” I said. “Just thought it was unfair that they got champagne and we didn’t.”
Kennedy laughed. “Next weekend we can slip some in the kitchen.”
I nodded even though I had no intention of doing that. Taking leftovers that the owners gave us was one thing. Drinking champagne while on the job? Nope. Not happening. Nunca.
“See you at lunch!” she said. “And have fun in gym, weirdo.”
She knew how much I loved gym. I didn’t have time to do any after school sports because I had to study. Gym was the one class I got to give my heart a good workout. It was quickly becoming my favorite one.
“Have fun in photography!” I called after her.
She waved her hand and disappeared into her classroom.
Chapter 6
Monday
After my second mile I collapsed on the bleachers to catch my breath. There was no better feeling in the world than a great workout. I leaned back and closed my eyes, relishing the heat of the sun on my skin.
We were allowed to choose between basketball and prepping for our mile run today. It was an easy choice. No one would have picked me to be on their basketball team anyway. I was the awkward new girl that no one wanted around. But running was for a team of one. That’s where I excelled.
My breathing started to slow. I could probably fit in at least two more miles. My goal was to run a mile in under 7 minutes. I was only one of a handful of people that had chosen this option, so I was probably going to crush everyone in a few weeks when they did the official timing.
“You’re getting faster.”
I opened my eyes and looked behind me to see if whoever had spoken was talking to me. Even if it was doubtful. But there was a boy sitting on the bleachers a few rows above me staring directly at me. I’d noticed him before. He usually elected to run too, but I’d never actually seen him do anything but sit on the bleachers. The PE teacher never came out here to check on us because he was refereeing whatever was going on in the gym. So I didn’t really blame him for not trying.
I shrugged my shoulders. “A little. If you’re keeping time for me then I guess I can stop trying to figure out how to use this thing.” I lifted up the stopwatch Coach Carter had given me.
Bleacher Boy laughed and slid down the few rows to join me. “Not much else to do out here.”
“Hmm. Well, you could run. Like you’re supposed to.”
“Supposed to.” He shook his head. “Supposed to isn’t very fun. Besides, this class is an easy A. I can sit here for the whole semester and I’d still get an A. I did it last year.”
He looked too fit to just sit around lazily all the time. Not as fit as the football players, but still in good shape. “You sat right here on the bleachers all semester?”
“Whenever running was an option. And the other option wasn’t tennis or something else outside where Coach Carter could see me sitting here.” He propped his feet up on the seats below us.
“You don’t look like you just sit around all day.”
“Are you checking me out, newb?”
I laughed. “No.” It came out more defensive than I meant it to. Which made me sound guilty. He was good looking. But I hadn’t been checking him out. I was already obsessed with one student that was out of my league. Two seemed like overkill.
“It’s okay if you were. I can’t help it that I was blessed with such great genes.” He flashed me a cocky smile.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“No, my name’s Felix.” He held out his hand.
I laughed. “Brooklyn.”
“Brooklyn Sanders. Yeah, I know. Coach Carter calls attendance every day.”
Right. But I hadn’t known his name. I was always distracted worrying that I would miss the teacher calling my name and totally embarrass myself. I hated saying “here.” It was the worst part of this class. Why didn’t Coach Carter just learn our names?
“Also, you’re on everyone’s radar. Scholarship students always get a lot of flak. But you’re also on the top of Isabella’s shit list. Double red flag.”
“How do you know I’m on Isabella’s shit list?”
He shrugged. “Heard about the party on Friday night.”
Oh God. Hearing about it was probably worse than witnessing it. Maybe. They were probably just equally bad. “Then why are you talking to me?”
“Because I don’t care about Isabella. Or how much money you have. I’m deeper than that, newb.” He lightly nudged me with his elbow.
I smiled. Felix was only the third person to be nice to me at this school. The fact that he was doing it even though he knew Isabella would give him hell? Even nicer. And I wasn’t at all opposed to having another friend here. Besides, I found it incredibly easy to talk to him. “Deeper, huh?”
“Yeah. The deepest. I’ll show you with a question. Wait for it…What’s your favorite color?”
I laughed. “That’s not deep. And I need to get back to running.” I stood up.
“Fine. If you insist.” He stood up too.
“Are you actually getting off your butt to run a mile?”
“Well, apparently I have to in order to learn your favorite color.” He followed me onto the track.
Instead of sprinting ahead like a show-off, he set his pace with me. I was right. He definitely didn’t just sit around all the time, because he wasn’t out of breath at all.
“Do you play sports?” I asked.
“You can’t ask me a question before you answer the one I asked first.”
I thought about my home back in Delaware. When my mother was healthy she was always in the kitchen singing while she cooked. Some of my favorite memories were in that kitchen. The walls were bright yellow like the sun. “Yellow.”
“Good to know. And no, I don’t play organized sports. I’m not an asshole.”
I laughed. “What does being an ass have to do with organized sports?”
“Favoritism. Elitists. Literally slapping other guys on the ass. Not my thing.”
I’d never thought about it that way.
“Don’t tell me you’re on the volleyball team or something. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“No. Organized sports aren’t my thing either.” Maybe they would have been in a different life. But I didn’t have enough time.
“Well, we’re on a running team of two now. So if you ever feel like you’re missing out on the ass slapping of organized sports, you’re welcome to slap mine anytime.” He winked at me.
I started laughing so hard I had to stop running. “No,” I said through another fit of laughter.
He ran backward so he could still look at me. “Had to ask. See you at lunch, newb.” He waved and ran toward the gym where Coach Carter was calling us back inside.
***
Kennedy plopped her tray down next to mine and took a bite of her apple.
My eyes were glued to the Untouchables’ empty table. They had been late to school. And now late to lunch too. I bit the inside of my lip. What the hell was going on?
“What’s up with you?” Kennedy asked.
“I thought you’d be all excited for lunch so you could stalk Matthew.”
“I’m not stalking him.” Part of me wanted to tell her about what I’d seen this morning. But it wasn’t my business.
“So you aren’t going to march up to their table and sit with them? It’s the perfect time. You can just sit there and they’ll have to join you when they come.”
I laughed. “No.” Definitely not.
“Suit yourself,” she said with a shrug. “I’m actually a little relieved. I thought you were going to ditch me.”
“Nunca.”
Kennedy laughed and took another bite of her apple. “Nunca.”
I tried to focus on Kennedy instead of the empty table. “How was photography?”
“Great, I got to develop some prints.” She pulled out a picture from her backpack and handed it to me. It was one she took of us Friday night, smiling in my room. It was strange seeing myself so happy when I felt so completely not. I tried to hand it back to her.
“It’s yours,” she said.
“I can keep it?”
“Yeah. I thought you needed some pictures of me in your room.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Kennedy.” I was determined to be that happy girl in the picture. Having evidence that I could be was going to be a great reminder.
“Did you break your mile time yet?” she asked.
“No, not yet.” I glanced at the Untouchables empty table again. No sign of any of them. “Do you know Felix?”
Kennedy dropped her apple on her plate. “Yes. Why? Do you know him?”
“He’s in my gym class. He talked to me today.”
She raised both her eyebrows. “To like…sell you something?”
“Um…no? He was just being nice.”
Kennedy leaned forward. “He’s a drug dealer, Brooklyn. Drug dealers aren’t just nice for the sake of being nice. He’s trying to get you to buy from him.”
A drug dealer? I laughed. No way. “I think you have the wrong Felix. I didn’t get his last name, but it’s not the guy you’re thinking of. He didn’t try to sell me anything.”
“That’s the whole point. He befriends you and makes you think he’s all sweet and then asks you to buy stuff. It’s his play.” She lifted her apple back up and took a bite that I could only describe as violent. “Trust me. Felix is bad news.”
