catch the bus. I’d beat the truth out of him later.
School, thankfully, was uneventful. I aced my Latin test and no one tried to bludgeon me with random reference materials. So I found myself walking into the basement classroom that housed our detention in a semi-good mood, which was immediately obliterated by the fact that it smelled like wet dog in there and made my allergies go haywire.
I started sneezing in the doorway and couldn’t stop. When I sat down next to Kiki, she offered me a tissue.
“Thanks.” I buried my nose and hoped it would help.
“You sick, Kate?” asked the pierced and studded burnout sitting next to me. “I got some Tylenol.”
I couldn’t decide what shocked me more: that he knew who I was or that he was talking to me like I wasn’t the class brain and he wasn’t carrying around enough metal to make him attractive to all magnets within a five-mile radius.
“Thanks, but it’s just allergies. I think they must spray this room with Eau de Canine just to make us extra miserable.”
He flashed me a grin. “Wouldn’t surprise me. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“Thanks again.”
I got out my bio book and started to work on my homework packet, but I didn’t get very far. Miss Lindsay was the detention proctor on Wednesdays, and she seemed to think that the word proctor was defined as “a person who stands out in the hallway, talking on her cell and not paying any attention whatsoever to what’s going on in the room.” The noise got so bad that after about five minutes of attempting to concentrate, I gave up.
“So what’re you doing tonight?” Kiki asked, drumming a pencil on the top of her desk.
I rubbed the side of my hand. I’m a lefty, so writing in spiral notebooks hurts sometimes. “On Wednesdays, Aaron and I usually double with Rocky and Bryan.”
“But not tonight?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I’m really confused. Aaron and Trey got partnered with this girl from St. Michael’s, and she was throwing herself at Aaron all day yesterday. I don’t like that. So I tried to hook her up with Trey, because sometimes I think he’s flirting with me, and I don’t like that either. But he must be sick, because he wasn’t on the bus with us this morning, so now I don’t know what to do.”
“Wow.” She blinked. “But Aaron is trustworthy. It doesn’t matter how hard that girl throws herself at him.”
I put my head in my hands. “So am I just overreacting? I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I don’t know anything about relationships that isn’t in the Dummies’ Guide.”
“Maybe a little.” Kiki laughed. “I happen to know from when we dated that he hates when girls come on strong.”
“Right,” I said cautiously. They’d been totally over when Aaron and I got together, but I kind of hated to think of Kiki and Aaron as a couple. It gave me a serious inferiority complex.
“As for Trey … I don’t know. He was asking about you. Like where was your locker, and about your class schedule, and stuff like that. He said he had one of your books. Did he give it to you?”
I shook my head. “I’m not missing any books.”
“Well, maybe he was just fishing for info. Maybe he really is interested. He wouldn’t be the first guy who fell for his best friend’s girl, right?”
“Great,” I muttered. “That’s the last thing I need.”
“It’ll be okay.” She patted my hand. “If he really values Aaron’s friendship, he won’t make any moves. All you need to do is be sensitive to his feelings.”
“Sensitive. Right.”
I felt about as sensitive as a Mack truck. And my nose wouldn’t stop running. I honked into another tissue and tried to look confident. But the stress was getting to me. I just hoped I could hold on until the week was over without snapping.
O ur standing double date was at my favorite diner. Its name wasn’t really Legs and Eggs, but the servers all wore super-tight shirts and microscopic shorts, so we’d
School, thankfully, was uneventful. I aced my Latin test and no one tried to bludgeon me with random reference materials. So I found myself walking into the basement classroom that housed our detention in a semi-good mood, which was immediately obliterated by the fact that it smelled like wet dog in there and made my allergies go haywire.
I started sneezing in the doorway and couldn’t stop. When I sat down next to Kiki, she offered me a tissue.
“Thanks.” I buried my nose and hoped it would help.
“You sick, Kate?” asked the pierced and studded burnout sitting next to me. “I got some Tylenol.”
I couldn’t decide what shocked me more: that he knew who I was or that he was talking to me like I wasn’t the class brain and he wasn’t carrying around enough metal to make him attractive to all magnets within a five-mile radius.
“Thanks, but it’s just allergies. I think they must spray this room with Eau de Canine just to make us extra miserable.”
He flashed me a grin. “Wouldn’t surprise me. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“Thanks again.”
I got out my bio book and started to work on my homework packet, but I didn’t get very far. Miss Lindsay was the detention proctor on Wednesdays, and she seemed to think that the word proctor was defined as “a person who stands out in the hallway, talking on her cell and not paying any attention whatsoever to what’s going on in the room.” The noise got so bad that after about five minutes of attempting to concentrate, I gave up.
“So what’re you doing tonight?” Kiki asked, drumming a pencil on the top of her desk.
I rubbed the side of my hand. I’m a lefty, so writing in spiral notebooks hurts sometimes. “On Wednesdays, Aaron and I usually double with Rocky and Bryan.”
“But not tonight?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I’m really confused. Aaron and Trey got partnered with this girl from St. Michael’s, and she was throwing herself at Aaron all day yesterday. I don’t like that. So I tried to hook her up with Trey, because sometimes I think he’s flirting with me, and I don’t like that either. But he must be sick, because he wasn’t on the bus with us this morning, so now I don’t know what to do.”
“Wow.” She blinked. “But Aaron is trustworthy. It doesn’t matter how hard that girl throws herself at him.”
I put my head in my hands. “So am I just overreacting? I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I don’t know anything about relationships that isn’t in the Dummies’ Guide.”
“Maybe a little.” Kiki laughed. “I happen to know from when we dated that he hates when girls come on strong.”
“Right,” I said cautiously. They’d been totally over when Aaron and I got together, but I kind of hated to think of Kiki and Aaron as a couple. It gave me a serious inferiority complex.
“As for Trey … I don’t know. He was asking about you. Like where was your locker, and about your class schedule, and stuff like that. He said he had one of your books. Did he give it to you?”
I shook my head. “I’m not missing any books.”
“Well, maybe he was just fishing for info. Maybe he really is interested. He wouldn’t be the first guy who fell for his best friend’s girl, right?”
“Great,” I muttered. “That’s the last thing I need.”
“It’ll be okay.” She patted my hand. “If he really values Aaron’s friendship, he won’t make any moves. All you need to do is be sensitive to his feelings.”
“Sensitive. Right.”
I felt about as sensitive as a Mack truck. And my nose wouldn’t stop running. I honked into another tissue and tried to look confident. But the stress was getting to me. I just hoped I could hold on until the week was over without snapping.
O ur standing double date was at my favorite diner. Its name wasn’t really Legs and Eggs, but the servers all wore super-tight shirts and microscopic shorts, so we’d
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