Our coffee and friends were waiting for us. Thankfully, since Archie brought me an iced coffee, mine was supposed to be cold. The conversation remained stilted; whatever beef really was between the guys they were talking around it. Archie frowned about the tire, though.
“I can follow you at lunch in case you have to leave your car there.”
“I am not leaving my car there,” I argued. “And I have study hall in fifth, so I can miss it if I have to, but I need the car this weekend.”
I also needed the money I’d already made this week, but I’d figure it out.
“I don’t mind,” Archie repeated on our way to government. “Could use a break from around here to be honest.”
“You okay?” It wasn’t the norm for Archie to admit to needing anything. Not—real. He was fun, he teased, he played, and he could be extravagant, but the wordsI need helporI needrarely crossed his lips. Like it was a crime or something or maybe Archie just hadn’t ever had to ask for what he needed.
Not that I was one to talk.
“I’m fine. Coop’s pissing me off. Jake and Bubba are really focused on the game tonight,” Archie admitted. “Edward and Muriel are getting ready to go out of town and you know what that’s like.”
I made a face. His parents traveled—a lot. They seemed like nice enough people, and they certainly spared no expense with Archie, but they were never around. I hadn’t seen Mom since Monday morning, and I wasn’t altogether sure she’d been home. She had to have been, but I’d also been busy and working so maybe we just missed each other.
So I got it, sort of.
“Okay, how about this,” I said compromising a step away from the classroom door. “Think you can grab some tacos and then meet me there? My treat?”
“I can grab them, but you don’t have to pay for them.”
“If I don’t pay for them,” I countered, “I don’t eat them.”
He glared and I smiled.
Yes, Archie was generous. Sometimes too generous, but I didn’t want him to ever think he had to have money to be our friend or that he had to pay to be accepted. Besides, I’d forgotten to pack a lunch earlier and breakfast was the ice coffee I was still sipping. If I didn’t get something at lunchtime, I might actually turn into a hangry bear and that would suck for the afternoon.
“So, what do you say?”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “You shouldn’t have to pay.”
I rubbed his arm. “I don’t have to. You would, I know that, but I like things to be a little more even.”
With a grunt, he bumped my shoulder and then we settled at our desks prepared to be dazzled by the formation of the federal government and why there were specific powers allocated to specific sections of it.
Yay.
As it turned out, the teacher had a quiz for us, so color me lucky for having actually remembered the reading the night before. After, he discussed the projects we would be doing this semester, including examining judicial cases considered controversial, and how each of the three branches of the government played a crucial role. Archie mimed snoring, but I didn’t mind. Sometimes these things went places we didn’t know which was the reason we studied them.
Calculus turned into a free study period since we had a substitute, so Bubba and I spent the hour making lists of songs for him to consider. While I’d never auditioned for a thing in my life, I knew what made people talk. How many singing and talent shows were on television? I pointed that out when I pulled up YouTube on my phone and scrolled the various clips. The ones with the most hits had some kind of emotional resonance—either really sad or really uplifting or just powerful and empowering.
That gave me a few ideas, too, and I added those to his list—there was a guy who took songs and played them in minor keys, which could change something bouncy and uplifting into something haunting. That might actually be the way to go. When I sent him the channel via text, Bubba eyed me and then said he’d check it out after the game.
I didn’t get as much time with Mathieu; he had to tutor a couple of the girls who were struggling with the French novel we had to read. I actually liked reading in French more than I cared to admit. Even when I didn’t recognize a word, I could decipher it from context clues. The girls who needed tutoring however spent more time flirting than working. Not that I could blame them—he was sexy adorable. He did walk me to the stairs, though, and asked if he could bring anything on Sunday for the preparation, but I told him I’d pick everything up after work. Then I made sure he had my address.
It didn’t occur to me to ask if he needed a ride, but he had my number. He could call. All through AP Lit, Coop drove me nuts. He couldn’t stop fidgeting. He had his phone out, then up, then out again. I tried not to watch him, but it was hard to miss all the movement. A message on his screen appeared with Laura’s name.
Focusing on the text and our assignment while not reading it took effort. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I didn’t dare take it out, then it buzzed again. On the third one, I scowled and shifted as if I was getting something out of my backpack before retrieving my phone.
Ms. Fajardo was having a one on one with another student and they had gone out in the hall, but I’d still prefer to not get busted playing on my phone.
Coop:What do I do?
The message made no sense until I realized it was the third one. The first two were a copy of the message from Laura—yes, Coop, I really wanted to read that.
Apparently, she’d asked him out that night, and her next message said it was important.