“The three amigas classic date night! Plus Uncle Jim. Awesome! Can’t wait.” She shoved more green beans in her mouth.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. I was glad that Kennedy was being nice to Felix for a change. I didn’t want her to go back to being mean by uninviting her. Not that I’d invited her in the first place. But having her at dinner would make Thursday night less awkward. I was worried my uncle was going to go all Spanish Inquisition on his ass. Or maybe that was whatKennedy was doing in some weird twisted way? Why was she being so overly nice?
“The three of us are going to have so much fun,” Kennedy added and gave Felix a big smile.
I shrugged. “Yeah. Dinner Thursday’s going to be great.”
“Yeah. Great,” Felix added. Although neither of us sounded quite as excited as Kennedy.
At least she was speaking to me again. Her weird behavior was better than her avoiding me altogether and berating Felix. So lunch was kinda sorta a win.I think.
***
I pulled my notebook for my entrepreneurship class out of my locker and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.What the hell?I bent down and lifted it up.
We really need to talk. I’ll be waiting for you in the auditorium after class.
Matt.Again it wasn’t signed, but I knew it was him. And again he was pleading with me to meet up in the auditorium. But why not just talk to me in class? Was he too embarrassed to let Rob hear what he had to say to me? Was he worried stupid Charlotte would be jealous? He clearly didn’t want a paper trail or he’d sign the notes. And meeting in a dark auditorium away from the scrutiny of the elite pricks in our class? Screw him. I wanted to crumble the paper up and throw it on the ground. Instead, I folded it and shoved it into my pocket. I was such an idiot.
I walked into Mr. Hill’s class, trying to ignore the note burning a hole in my pocket. Matt wasn’t there yet. He always strolled into class at the last minute looking devastatingly handsome. I tore a blank page out of my notebook, wrote “NO” in big bold letters, and slapped it onto his desk before anyone else entered the classroom. A few minutes later Matt and Rob walked in and I stared at my blank notebook like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“What the hell is that on your desk, Matt?” Rob asked as he sat down. “Still haven’t learned that no means no?” He laughed at his own joke.
Instead of laughing it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I heard Matt lift the paper up off his desk. “It’s nothing.”
I continued to stare at my notebook, waiting for the sound of him crumpling the paper in his fist. When it didn’t come, I looked up. He’d folded the note and was stuffing it into his blazer pocket. The same place I’d put both notes he’d given to me. Why didn’t he throw it out?
“We’ll be working in our teams today,” Mr. Hill said. “I want the topics finalized and handed in by the end of class.”
Charlotte raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss King?” Mr. Hill asked.
“Will these projects be completed in class? Like…we won’t be working on them at all outside of class, right?”
Mr. Hill shook his head. “These projects are to be treated like homework. The majority of the work will be done on your own time.” He turned his attention back to the class. “Which means the sooner you hash out the topics, the sooner I can go back to teaching. Break up in your groups.”
“But…” started Charlotte.
“Now, Miss King.”
Charlotte sighed and headed over to her group.
“I wonder what’s eating her,” Rob said and turned around. “Probably no one, that’s the problem.” He held up his hand for a high-five, but Matt ignored him. “Geez, you’re no fun today. What about you, Sanders?” Rob said. “You won’t leave me hanging, will you?” He put his hand up in front of me.
“I didn’t get your joke,” I said.
Rob lowered his hand and leaned forward. “You know…I meant no one was eating her out.”
“Oh.” I laughed even though I had no idea what he was talking about. “Right.”
A smile spread across Rob’s face. “You’re adorably naïve, Sanders. It means when you stick your tongue in…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Matt said.
Rob gave him a sideways glance. “What? I was explaining the dual benefits of oral…”
