She shrugged. “Why not?”
“I mean, we could still take my bike. Ride in like a couple of badasses.”
“Or we could park it here and walk to school. Giving us a little more time to spend with one another.”
“Rae…”
“What?”
I sighed. “You know Allison and Michael aren’t going to want to talk to me.”
“We won’t know until we give them a chance, you know.”
“I know this. Michael doesn’t like me.”
“Michael fought alongside you yesterday.”
“Yes, for you. Because you got hurt. Not because of me, or some brotherhood or some shit.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on. If we don’t get started, we’re going to be late. You can come home with me after school and get your bike.”
I grinned. “Oh, really now? Will your mother be home?”
All she did was giggle, giving me an answer that suddenly made me want this entire school day to be over.
We walked hand in hand through her neighborhood, and I got a good look at it. There was trash lying around in the streets. The lawns were filled with dirt and mud rather than freshly-trimmed grass. The homes had crooked porches and dilapidated roofs. Rae and her mother honestly lived in the best house on the block. Which still wasn’t saying much. It gave me a glimpse into the life Rae led. The dark shadows that shrouded this place. The smell that hung in the air around the homes, no matter how hard the wind blew.
But, once we got to the exit of the neighborhood, I paused.
“What is it, Clint?”
I licked my lips. “This could ruin my image, you know? Walking to school with some girl. Not riding in on my bike waiting for all the girls to flock to me. It’s hard work being a bad boy, you know.”
She snickered. “Well, your image sucks and could do with some damaging.”
But when I looked down into her eyes, I knew she understood how sincere my words were. This was a big step for me. Something different. Something I didn’t know how to navigate. And she gave my hand a comforting squeeze before leading the way. We started out of her neighborhood, holding hands tightly as we walked up the block. Hell, even the sidewalk changed from a darker tinted, cracked concrete to the nice, white, smooth concrete I’d taken advantage of my entire life.
Then we stopped.
“Allison! Michael! Hey!”
Rae’s voice filled the air and I looked up from the concrete, watching as confusion rolled over their faces. Allison trotted toward us, with that confusion morphing into surprise. Michael didn’t seem the least bit entertained by the idea of seeing me.
I didn’t blame him.
Allison stopped in front of Rae. “Hey there. What’s going on?”
The two girls hugged one another, forcing Rae to drop my hand. Michael walked up and stood beside Allison, squaring off with me like he was ready for another fight. And what was worse was that he didn’t look as if he’d been in a fight. He had no cuts. No scrapes. No bruising. Nothing. Whereas my eye was still swollen a bit, I had a black eye underneath it, and the cut on my lip had bruised up.
Michael scoffed. “Yeah. What’s going on?”
Rae took my hand again. “Nothing. Just walking to school.”
Michael darted his finger between the two of us. “He’s walking you to school.”
Allison shoved him with her shoulder. “Michael.”
Rae shrugged. “He’s walking with us to school. Got an issue with that?”