“As a friend?” I ask to clarify. He can’t possibly mean…
“No, dumbass, as my date,” he whisper-yells the last word, his whole face turning beet red. He looks around to see if anybody is watching us, but surprisingly we’re alone.
“Oh.” Well, shit, so much for that. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
I have to ask. Both of them are my best friends, and I don’t want to see either of them getting hurt, especially not by the other. And with how things have been going lately, it’s a logical possibility.
“Would I say it if I wasn’t sure?”
“You don’t look sure.”
“Fuck you, Santiago.”
“Well, you better get in line. But seriously, Becky?”
“What’s wrong with that?” he asks, crossing his arms defensively over his chest.
“Nothing’s wrong with that. Becky’s amazing, it’s just…” I scratch the back of my head, unsure of how to word it.
“It’s just…” He waves his hand, prompting me to finish.
“She’s like our sister, dude.” I scratch the bridge of my nose.
“Not to me.” His answer is instant, and from the determined set of his jaw, I know he’s not joking.
“Well, shit.”
If anybody asked me if I could see Becky and Miguel together, I’d brush it off. Apart from the obvious fact that we’ve been best friends, almost siblings, since we were in diapers, they’ve been at each other’s throats for the better part of the last couple of years.
“Well, shit,” he echoes.
“But all the fighting recently?”
It just doesn’t make any sense.
Miguel sighs. “I said I like her, not that she doesn’t drive me crazy, occasionally.”
“If you say so.” I look up, and we both chuckle. “But why come to me?”
“Like you said.” He shrugs. “She’s like a sister to you. She’s been our best friend for years.”
“Damn straight. So you better watch out, Fernandez,” I say, punching him in the shoulder, “because if you break her heart, I’m going to break your face.”
“I wouldn’t expect otherwise.”
The warning bell rings.
“Shit, we better get going.”
Together, we rush for the door.
“Sorry you missed Kate.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll get to her eventually.”
“All I’m saying is the guys on the offense have to make sure to attack hard. Crush them like bugs, so they don’t know what hit them,” John says, taking a huge bite of pizza and chewing loudly.
You’d think he wouldn’t be able to eat after puking his guts out earlier today, but you’d be wrong.
“Can you be less gross? Seriously, people are trying to eat here.”
I look up just in time to see Becky put her tray on the table, her nose scrunched as she takes her seat.
“Fuck off, Becky,” John grumbles. “Nobody’s making you—” There is a loud thud under the table. “Hey, what was that for?”
“Eat your lunch, dumbass,” Miguel growls from next to me.
“Hey, Becs.” I look over her shoulder, hoping to see Kate, but she’s nowhere in sight. “Did you see Kate?”
She tilts her head to the side, thinking. “We had a class together but didn’t get a chance to talk much. Why?”
“I haven’t seen her, that’s all.”
I pull out my phone, but there is nothing there either.
Me: Hey, where are you?
“Look at you, Santiago, getting all mushy because you haven’t seen your girlfriend for all of five minutes.”
This time it’s me who’s kicking John under the table. He sits upright and glares at me.
“Ouch, will you fucking stop?”
“As soon as you stop talking shit.”
For a while, we just glare at one another, but then, Becky puts her hand over mine, drawing my attention to her.
“Maybe she got held up in her last class?”
“Yeah, maybe,” I agree, shoving the food around on my plate.
It’s not unusual that she’s not here yet, but I’m getting a little bit antsy since I haven’t seen her all day. I wanted to make sure we’re still good after everything that happened yesterday.
But when, even after ten minutes, she doesn’t appear, I give up all pretense of eating. Shoving away from the table, I stand up. “I’ll go look for her.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Becky asks, already putting her fork down. From the corner of my eye, I see Miguel shifting in his seat. I remember our earlier conversation about how he wanted to ask her to homecoming. I’m not sure when he planned to do that, but I’m not about to get in his way.
“Nah, I’m good. You guys stay and finish.”
Not wanting to give her a chance to protest, I turn around and leave the cafeteria. Since most people are eating lunch by now, the hallways are almost empty. I pull out my phone to see if Kate got back to me, but the message is still unread.
Where is she?
I decide to go and check the classroom where she had her last class, although, I seriously doubt that anybody would hold a student up that much, especially during the lunch break.
Maybe she’s in our next class already? It’s something she used to do that first week when she needed some space from everybody and everything.
Maybe I should check both, just in case.
Just as I’m turning the corner, I almost slam into somebody. No, not somebody.
“Kate?”
My hands fall on her shoulders to steady her.
She lifts her head and looks at me, her dark hair hanging around her like a curtain. “Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at lunch?”
“I was looking for you.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you okay?”
She seems a bit off; her eyes are distant with a dark shadow beneath them, her cheeks pale. Kate pushes a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, just a shitty day, that’s all.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “C’mon, let’s get back, I’m su—”
“Hey.” I step in her way, stopping her from going anywhere. I cup her cheek, lifting her head to face me. “What happened?”
Her smile falls, and she sighs, looking down at the floor.
“My mom’s back,” she whispers so quietly I can barely hear her.
“Back? As in back in Bluebonnet?”
But her mother stayed in California.
“Yup.” Kate wraps her arms around herself defensively, rubbing at her forearms. “She decided to surprise us. At least that’s the story she came up with when I got home last night.”
Fuck.
I don’t know the whole story behind what caused Kate and Penny to come and live here with their aunt, but this couldn’t be good.
I catch sight of Kate’s tired face.
No, this definitely can’t be good.
My fingers clench, making me realize I’m still holding onto my phone. I turn it around and check the time. We have barely ten minutes left before we have to head off to our next class.