holding something back too. Her eyes were large and sad, her mouth always turned down. Underneath the strong exterior was someone who’d been hurt and was vulnerable.
We sat there, staring at each other until Mariah cleared her throat. “Wow, guys. Way to make me feel like the third wheel.”
Feeling embarrassed that Mariah had caught us looking at each other like that, I turned to my right where Mariah was watching us with this smug expression on her face like she was seeing something neither of us could.
“So, Link, did you have a girlfriend back home?” Mariah asked in a casual tone.
From beside me, Hadie let out a choking sound. I was pretty sure I was choking internally. Was it normal for people in this town to be so forthcoming? In New York, everyone was too absorbed by their own lives to care what other people were doing. We’d lived in our neighborhood since before I was born, but had yet to know one of our neighbors on a first name basis. In Statlen, everyone seemed to know everyone else’s life story.
Maybe this hadn’t been the best town to run away to.
When I was confident that I wouldn’t sputter like Hadie had, I responded to Mariah’s question. “No, I’ve been single for over a year now.”
Mariah raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “No way. I don’t believe it. A catch like you single for this long. What’s wrong with you?”
A prickling heat began creeping from my neck to my face as I struggled to form words. This was a question Mom hadn’t gone over in her brief, and I was at a loss of what to say. Did I deflect her question or answer it? What could I make up that would sound valid? I wasn’t great at coming up with lies on the spot.
“Ray, seriously, shut it,” Hadie said in a disapproving tone. “We need to get work done, so will you go flirt with someone else?”
Mariah pouted and stuck her tongue out at Hadie before drawing the girl sitting in front of her into a conversation about some field party that was being held in a couple of weeks.
“I’m sorry about her,” Hadie said, not meeting my eye. “Mariah has no filter whatsoever. She’ll say the first thing that pops into her head. Then again, I’m sure you must be used to getting attention from girls, so it’s probably not even a big deal and I shouldn’t have said anything because…”
“Hey, slow down,” I said, perplexed by her behavior, and placed a hand on her arm. “I don’t like having the attention on me. I’m nothing special.”
Hadie seemed startled by my touch and glanced down at look at where my hand rested on her arm, a flush spreading across her light complexion. She looked up at me again, her eyes confused and searching. The look was too engaging, too unsettling, and I quickly pulled my hand away.
She seemed even more embarrassed now, as she picked up her copy of Wuthering Heights and began flipping through the pages furiously. “Um…um…so…what do you think of the book?”
“It’s not my thing,” I said simply.
Hadie stared at me like I’d said something unheard of. Then she shook her head and looked away. “Well, I can’t expect you to understand. It’s not really a book that guys would enjoy…”
I tipped my chair back casually. “I thought that Heathcliff guy was a psycho.”
She looked incredulous. “Are you being serious? Heathcliff is not a psycho, he’s just misunderstood…”
Our conversation was cut off as Ms. Flick addressed the class, and Hadie shot me a look of irritation before her attention shifted to the front of the room.
“A few of you,” Ms. Flick said, her eyes flickering to a group of boys sitting in the front row, “raised concerns about the text and required clarification on it, so I’m going to open up the floor for discussion. Let’s see how the rest of you, who actually bothered to read Wuthering Heights , felt about it. I’m going to start with an easy question: who are the key players in the novel?”
A hand shot up in the front row. It
We sat there, staring at each other until Mariah cleared her throat. “Wow, guys. Way to make me feel like the third wheel.”
Feeling embarrassed that Mariah had caught us looking at each other like that, I turned to my right where Mariah was watching us with this smug expression on her face like she was seeing something neither of us could.
“So, Link, did you have a girlfriend back home?” Mariah asked in a casual tone.
From beside me, Hadie let out a choking sound. I was pretty sure I was choking internally. Was it normal for people in this town to be so forthcoming? In New York, everyone was too absorbed by their own lives to care what other people were doing. We’d lived in our neighborhood since before I was born, but had yet to know one of our neighbors on a first name basis. In Statlen, everyone seemed to know everyone else’s life story.
Maybe this hadn’t been the best town to run away to.
When I was confident that I wouldn’t sputter like Hadie had, I responded to Mariah’s question. “No, I’ve been single for over a year now.”
Mariah raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “No way. I don’t believe it. A catch like you single for this long. What’s wrong with you?”
A prickling heat began creeping from my neck to my face as I struggled to form words. This was a question Mom hadn’t gone over in her brief, and I was at a loss of what to say. Did I deflect her question or answer it? What could I make up that would sound valid? I wasn’t great at coming up with lies on the spot.
“Ray, seriously, shut it,” Hadie said in a disapproving tone. “We need to get work done, so will you go flirt with someone else?”
Mariah pouted and stuck her tongue out at Hadie before drawing the girl sitting in front of her into a conversation about some field party that was being held in a couple of weeks.
“I’m sorry about her,” Hadie said, not meeting my eye. “Mariah has no filter whatsoever. She’ll say the first thing that pops into her head. Then again, I’m sure you must be used to getting attention from girls, so it’s probably not even a big deal and I shouldn’t have said anything because…”
“Hey, slow down,” I said, perplexed by her behavior, and placed a hand on her arm. “I don’t like having the attention on me. I’m nothing special.”
Hadie seemed startled by my touch and glanced down at look at where my hand rested on her arm, a flush spreading across her light complexion. She looked up at me again, her eyes confused and searching. The look was too engaging, too unsettling, and I quickly pulled my hand away.
She seemed even more embarrassed now, as she picked up her copy of Wuthering Heights and began flipping through the pages furiously. “Um…um…so…what do you think of the book?”
“It’s not my thing,” I said simply.
Hadie stared at me like I’d said something unheard of. Then she shook her head and looked away. “Well, I can’t expect you to understand. It’s not really a book that guys would enjoy…”
I tipped my chair back casually. “I thought that Heathcliff guy was a psycho.”
She looked incredulous. “Are you being serious? Heathcliff is not a psycho, he’s just misunderstood…”
Our conversation was cut off as Ms. Flick addressed the class, and Hadie shot me a look of irritation before her attention shifted to the front of the room.
“A few of you,” Ms. Flick said, her eyes flickering to a group of boys sitting in the front row, “raised concerns about the text and required clarification on it, so I’m going to open up the floor for discussion. Let’s see how the rest of you, who actually bothered to read Wuthering Heights , felt about it. I’m going to start with an easy question: who are the key players in the novel?”
A hand shot up in the front row. It
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