“Is this about the room with the red yarn connecting pictures?”
“That is not a room that exists,” Tanner said. “On another note, Nigel please check all the locks on the doors before departing for the homecoming game.”
“Yes, Master,” Nigel said and pulled out a huge keyring from his lederhosen. It had to have at least 50 keys on it. Where the hell did all those keys lead?
“I’ll see you both there,” Tanner said. And with that, he was gone. And so was Nigel with his ginormous keychain.
***
Kennedy was quiet on the way to the game. And she kept texting someone on her phone.
Each time she did it, I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. I had a feeling I knew who she was talking to.Fucking Felix.
I looked in my rearview mirror at the back seat. Mrs. Alcaraz was awfully quiet too. But she seemed a little scared of Nigel back there. And I couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t every day someone wore bright orange lederhosen with nothing underneath and a blue hat. He insisted he wanted to dress in Empire High’s colors. But he refused to wear the t-shirt I’d given him. Apparently the tag bothered him. Which was odd. Because I would have thought painted leather wouldn’t feel comfortable either.
Kennedy checked her phone for the twentieth time.
I cleared my throat. “What’s up?” I asked her.
“Hmm?” She immediately flipped her phone over.
“Have you heard from Felix again? I sent over the ticket for him.”
“No, I haven’t heard from him,” she said.
She was either lying right to my face or she was texting someone else. But she looked so guilty. My stomach churned. I shouldn’t have sat outside for so long at the restaurant. I’d basically let this happen. And now I regretted it. I wasn’t going to step aside without a fight.
“Oh,” I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I know you guys are friends. And he’s only in town for a bit.”
“Right,” Kennedy said. “Which is why he’s coming to the game today. Eyes on the road, buddy.”
I hadn’t realized I was just staring at her. And I’d almost missed the turn into the school.
I didn’t mention Felix again as we climbed out of the car. I went to grab the equipment bag, but Nigel was already carrying it. I swear it was almost as big as him, but he didn’t seem phased at all.
“Can we talk for a second?” I whispered to Kennedy.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“In private.”
She pressed her lips together. I thought she was going to say no. But she turned to her mom. “We’ll catch up with you in a minute, Mama.”
I watched as Mrs. Alcaraz kept her distance from Nigel on the way to the stadium.
Kennedy tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We don’t want to be late,” she said.
She was doing that thing again. Pulling away from me. So instead I stepped behind the car and pulled her to me.
“You look beautiful today,” I said.
She laughed. “So you decided to hide me behind a car?”
“No, I pulled you back here to do this.” I leaned down to kiss her, but her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She grabbed it and read the text instead of kissing me. And then she sighed.
“Everything alright?” I tried to ask as calmly as possible. Seriously, who the fuck was she texting? It had to be Felix. It just had to be.
