“It wasn’t bad for everyone,” Janie said with a small shrug. “It was a lot like high school in that regard. For some it was an easy ride. For others it was harder. That’s probably true of any situation.”
“Bee didn’t like it,” Ed said, pushing his spoon around in what was some kind of soup in front of him. “She used to say she had nightmares about having to go back. Thinking back on it…maybe that’s where it started for her. You know, her problems.”
Since Bee was Ed’s least favorite topic, despite still referring to himself as her boyfriend, I wanted to change the subject quickly.
“Has anyone heard from Locke?” I asked. “Last time I talked to him he was tracking down some conspiracy theory, which I didn’t necessarily buy. I’m curious if he’s found any new information.”
“Why are you looking at me?” Reen asked me.
“Was I?”
“I don’t know anything,” she said defensively.
“I didn’t say you did. I was asking in general. I’ve promised Locke a favor if he turns anything up.”
“Is that smart?” Beth asked. “Given who your mom is, he could put you in a compromising situation.”
“Trust me I wouldn’t promise him anything that would do that. I figured he might want to borrow my car or something stupid. And it’s only if he puts an end to this whole Freshman Bait List.”
“Or we considered asking all the girls to stop having sex,” Ed said with laugh.
Janie clearly bristled. “Or better idea, we could ask the seventeen-year-old boys to stop trying to seduce fourteen-year-old girls.”
“You know when you say it like that,” Ed said, “it sounds creepy.”
“Maybe because it is creepy,” Janie countered. “Girls that young shouldn’t even be thinking about sex. Forget that it’s illegal, it’s just not right.”
Next to me, Beth shrugged. “Lydia thinks she’s ready. She thinks once a girl is past puberty it’s up to her decide when she is or is not ready. But she’s Lydia, so there is that.”
“I’m not suggesting I know when a girl, any girl, is ready to have sex,” I said. “But I am certain she should be able to do so without the threat of being humiliated by the entire school. Or worse.”
“And if Gigi said she was ready?” Reen asked me.
I smiled. “I would do what any sane older brother would do and lock her in the basement until she’s thirty. Don’t make this personal, Reen.”
She shook her head. “You’re such a hypocrite.”
“I can live with it,” I said, absolutely unashamed.
* * *
Lunch endedand we all made our way to our next period class. I held Beth’s hand as we walked down the hall and turned pretty much every head in the school. Upperclassmen and lowerclassmen alike.
I’d never declared myself as someone’s boyfriend before. Mostly I’d hooked up with girls not in this school at all. It made things simpler. Kept my worlds separate. Or at least that’s what I told myself. Looking at everything through my new lens of truth, I think I didn’t want Beth to see me with anyone else. I think I knew this was always going to be the plan. Not something I’d planned consciously, but always there in the back of my mind that this. Us. Was inevitable.
Which meant me walking through the hallways holding a girl’s hand was a departure for me and everyone knew it.
“They’re staring,” Beth whispered next to me. “Like every freaking one of them. You know what they’re all thinking? What’s he doing withher?”
I nodded then bent down so only she could hear. “Maybe I should tell them all how delicious your nipples are. They might better understand my attachment.”
She predictably turned a furious shade of red and punched me in the arm with the hand I wasn’t holding.
We reached her locker, and I took her other hand, my eyes fixed on hers. “Beth, we’ve made an announcement today. People are going to react. I need you to hold up your end of things.”
“You mean play the part of Fitz Darcy’s girlfriend.”
“Exactly.”
