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 completelysilent. 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 exactlywhatI 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.”
