Chapter Eleven
MONTANA
The humiditythe next morning on the way to school hung in the air like a thick winter blanket. I thought back to New York and how the weather in September would be cool or even cold. Part of me wished for cold. I debated if I should beg my mom to let me miss school for one day. Then I could stay snuggled up under my blankets in our very cold house. Mom had lowered the thermostat before she went to bed, which helped me sleep for the first time since we’d moved in. It also helped that my sunburned shoulders were no longer bothering me.
I smelled my armpits as I was approaching school.
“Did you not use deodorant this morning?” Reagan asked, her glossy lips shining in the morning sun as she came up beside me.
Thankfully, my scented cucumber antiperspirant was working, at least for now. “How do you stand the heat?”
With both hands, she motioned to her blue shirt. “Cotton, and I’ve lived here all my life. What’s up with your blouse buttoned up to your neck?” She arched her eyebrow. “Are you hiding a hickey?”
I touched my neck. “Oh God. No. I’m not dating anyone.” Although I wouldn’t mind Train’s lips on my neck. “The slutty look doesn’t suit me.” I had dressed in some revealing blouses lately, hoping to garner Train’s attention, but our little exchange on the football field yesterday had been the extent of our interaction since I’d been to his house. But something had to give soon since we had our computer project to work on.
“I beg to differ. Your wardrobe has been tasteful compared to other girls in this school, although not today.”
“You don’t like my ankle-length skirt and blouse?” I asked in a playful tone.
She scrunched her nose. “If you’re going for the ‘I’m a virgin’ look, then it works.”
I was about to make a retort, when a group of girls we passed on the front lawn of the school pointed at us, snickering. Maybe they had something to say about my outfit. Or maybe word had gotten around about my pathetic display on the football field yesterday.
“I heard through the grapevine about your football tryout,” Reagan said.
“Yeah. I think everyone else has too.” I caught several other kids gawking our way and wasn’t watching in front of me. I bumped into a boy with a carrottopped head of hair. “I’m sorry.”
He stared at me like a deer in headlights.
Reagan tapped him on the shoulder. “Drew, are you okay?”
“Oh, you’re the boy who had the experiment gone bad,” I said.
His freckled face became as red as his hair. “It was an accident. So you’re prettier than my cousin gives you credit for.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Who is your cousin?”
“Nina,” Drew and Reagan said at the same time.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that comment. “Thank you, I guess.”
He tucked his head to his chest and darted off.
“That was weird,” I said to Reagan.
“Drew is a nerd, if you haven’t noticed.”
I would have said shy. “I guess Nina doesn’t think I’m pretty.”
“Not if you like Train. You’re her number-one enemy if she knows you like him.”
“She cheated on him,” I said more to myself than her.
“That’s Nina. She probably thinks she can get Train back.”
There was no “probably” about it. She firmly believed that Train would take her back. I hoped he wouldn’t. Elvira swore Train would never go back to Nina. Even Train had said something similar to Nina during our conversation with her behind her house. But people gave others second chances. Right now, I couldn’t worry about Train or Nina. I had a computer project and other schoolwork to think about.
Reagan and I started for the entrance.
