A stray thought advances from the back of my brain. He’s right. I do know him. Better than probably anyone else and I know he doesn’t believe in lines or boundaries. I stand and say, “Stay away from Martha.”
Without waiting for a response, I leave the cafeteria, enter the empty hallway, and wonder where Stella hid herself. The cafeteria door slams open behind me, the roar of voices from the lunchroom rising and falling. I have a strong suspicion of who it is, but I continue walking. If Cooper’s smart, he’ll stay the hell away.
“Jonah!”
Evidently the boy doesn’t possess a brain.
“Jonah!” he yells again.
The tapping of his shoes increases as he runs to catch me and I turn the moment he’s near. “What?”
“What?” His eyes widen. “You call me out in front of everyone and you’re asking me what?”
“Call you out?” I shove my finger into his face. “I saw you with Martha.”
“I heard what you said about Trash Can Girl and I let it slide,” he shouts. “And as for your sister, we were talking. Just talking. God, your family is right. You are majorly messed up. I don’t pretend to know what happened the night of the accident, but you’ve changed, and I’m sick and tired of carrying you because of it.”
He’s stating my worst fears. I didn’t want to change. But it’s all changed and hanging with Stella, it was supposed to help. “I haven’t changed.”
“Yeah. You have.” He pauses. “Accusing me of going after your sister. Your sudden fascination with Trash Can Girl.”
I move closer, my chest bumping his. “Her name is Stella.”
“She lives with a stripper in the Section 8 housing on the other side of town. She dyes her hair purple and wears the same damn clothes every day. Girls like her don’t give a crap what I say.”
“You’re wrong,” I tell him.
“On what?” he says. “That she gives a damn about anyone or that she’s a stripper-in-training?”
I tower over him and Cooper appears to get smaller.
“What the hell?” Cooper’s eyes dart across my face. “Are you going to throw our friendship away over a freak?”
Anger becomes white-hot acid in my bloodstream. My fingers close into a fist and my voice drops to a new level. “Say it again and find out.”
“Jonah!” Stella’s voice jerks me away from my showdown with Cooper.
Cooper steps back with his hands in the air. “Decide which way you’re going on this. I know you’ve been hanging out with her and I’ve been patient, but here’s the truth. You’ve changed and she’s the new factor. Think about what you’re giving up, Jonah. I’ve been your friend for years and she’s...” My one-time best friend scrutinizes Stella like she belongs in a dumpster. “Decide soon.”
Cooper retreats back into the cafeteria. Leaning against the windows, Stella presses her folder to her chest. She’s almost as pale as James Cohen was the night I held his hand.
“I’m not worth this,” she says in a small voice.
My eyebrows furrow. “Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not. He’s right about me. I’m trash.”
“You’re not.”
The edges of the folder bend as she grips it tighter. “You don’t know anything about me.”
The anger boils over and I ram my fist into a nearby locker. Pain slices through my knuckles. Stella flinches and I immediately wish I could take the action back. But I’m mad. Mad at Cooper and mad at Stella. She’s right. I know nothing when it comes to her. “Then tell me. Tell me who you are.”
“You won’t like me anymore.”
“Stella, I like you. All the rest of it, it’s just the stuff that came before.”
“So you don’t need to know it.”