Elouise
“Hey!”Maddie drops down next to me on the ground, her black curls bouncing with the movement.
I wave a greeting with my free hand, while the other continues to trace the letters in the dirt with a stick.
“Did you see Brandon’s face this morning?” She asks.
But it’s not really a question, since we ride the same bus and it’s hard to miss his two black eyes and swollen nose.
Maddie and I have been best friends since we sat next to each other in First Grade last year. I wish we were in the same class again this year, but we ended up with different teachers so now we only see each other over lunch and recess. It totally sucks.
“He’s been telling everyone that he got into a fight and that they should see the other guy,” Maddie rolls her eyes, “But Samantha J. heard from her brother, who heard from his neighbor, that Brandon got creamed by a ball, and that’s why his face is all messed up today.”
Honestly, I was a little surprised he didn’t come up to me this morning, demanding that I keep my mouth shut. But it’s not like I was the only witness. And maybe the threat of Beckett is enough to keep him away from me for good.
Beckett.
I sigh his name in my mind and trace the letter B again, making it more pronounced.
Maddie leans against my shoulder to see what I’m doing. “E plus B? Ooooo! You have a crush!” She shimmies her shoulders and claps her hands like she always does when she’s excited. “What is the B for?”
“Beckett.” I tell her because I tell her everything.
“Beckett?” Her face scrunches up. “Who’s Beckett?” Maddie turns her head and scans the playground on the other side of the small field.
“He doesn’t go here.”
“You mean he goes to a different school?” She turns back to me. “How’d you meet him?”
It’s a fair question, considering we sat right here the day before and I didn’t say anything about him. But in my defense, I didn’t know that I was going to fall in love with Beckett Stoleman yesterday.
“He isn’t from another town or anything.” I switch my focus from the B and drag the end of my stick over the E. “He’s just older than us.”
“How much older?” Maddie asks slowly.
My cheeks heat because I had the same question last night.
I’ve always just known him as Tony’s older brother but the sudden need for me to know more was overwhelming. So, I waited until James went to his room after dinner then approached my mom.
I hadn’t told her about Brandon knocking me down, I just said I tripped during kickball. I didn’t want her to freak out and make it a whole big thing.
Sitting next to Mom on the couch, I did my best to act as casually as possible. “Do you know how old Tony’s brother is?” She looked at me over the top of her book and I started to panic so I added, “He was around after school and one of the kids asked me but I didn’t know the answer.”
I felt bad lying, but I didn’t want her asking me a bunch of questions.
She answered me but said it in a way that told me she was suspicious of my motives. Thankfully, before she could interrogate me, the phone rang. She held up a finger as she went to the kitchen to answer it. But two seconds of listening and I knew it was my aunt on the other end of the line, andthat they’d be on the phone for the rest of the evening. Which they were.
So, by the time Mom came to tuck me into bed she’d forgotten I’d asked about Beckett.
Scratching at the plus sign, I respond to Maddie’s question. “Fifteen.”
“Fifteen!?” She shrieks, then doubles over laughing.
“What? It’s not that old!” I argue. Even though it is that old. He’s practically an adult compared to us.
“He’s a freaking high schooler?!” Maddie shakes her head and sits up again. “Is he cute?”
I nod and bite my lip.