Al still hasn’t said anything when she follows me down the stairs on our way out of class. I’m forced to turn around when Maggie calls my name.
Staying to talk to her is the last thing I want to do right now, but it’s my own damn fault. I roll my shoulders, trying to get rid of some of the tension, but I don’t think I’ll be able to relax until I’m out of the building. “I’ll meet you outside?” I ask Al, but I doubt she’ll be here by the time Maggie is done with whatever she wants to talk to me about.
Alondra glances at Maggie, her expression resembling the one Coach Brown gets when he’s pissed off about our performance. “What does she want?” Al asks, seeing right through all the bullshit, and I don’t know if I want to know what she’s thinking right now.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” I reassure her, pushing a smile onto my face.
Al appears skeptical when she turns away, walking through the doors.
The rest of the auditorium has cleared out as Maggie gathers her things, her eyes following me as I walk toward the desk, feeling slightly nauseous. “Are you feeling prepared for the midterm exam next week? I haven’t seen you at any of the study groups recently,” she says, leaning against the desk behind her, and I shrug.
“I have a great tutor. I’ll be ready,” I answer, shoving my hands in my pockets.
Maggie’s mouth flattens, and she twirls a lock of her blonde hair around her finger. “If you needed a tutor, you could have asked me,” she says, but the way her eyes trail down me like I’m a piece of meat makes my skin crawl. Contrary to what everyone believes, I don’t drop my pants at the first sight of a willing girl.
“I’m okay, but thank you,” I say, glancing over my shoulder, hoping Al hasn’t made it too far for me to catch her. “I’m go?—”
“What was your question?” Maggie asks, tilting her head, tapping her nails on the top of the desk.
“What?”
“The one you needed to ask yourtutor, disrupting the whole class,” she says, and I try not to laugh. I’m not sure whispering to Al was disruptive, but the way Maggie called us out in front of everyone certainly was, not to mention unprofessional.
“You know, I can’t remember. Guess it wasn’t that important,” I say, forcing a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta get to hockey,” I lie, knowing she has no idea what our schedule is.
“If you think of the question, you know where to find me to get the answer,” she says, pushing off the desk to step closer to me, and I adjust the straps of my backpack on my shoulders.
“Great, thanks,” I say, turning and walking away before she can try to sink her claws into me.
I breathe a short sigh of relief once I step through the door, but I’m shocked to see Alondra leaning against the nearby wall. When I told her I’d meet her outside, I didn’t actually expect her to wait, but to say she’s irritated would be putting it mildly.
“You waited?” I ask, walking up to her, and she glares at me, smacking my chest with the back of her hand. “Ow, what was that for?” I rub the spot, but it didn’t actually hurt.
“Stop acting like that hurt. I think you bruised my hand with your pecs of steel or whatever you implanted in your chest. Why do you look surprised I waited?” Alondra asks, looking up at me, and in just a few moments, she’s erased the oily feeling clinging to my skin.
“Pecs of steel?” She makes it so easy to smile and laugh, but her frown has the opposite effect I think she intended it to have.“You’re cute when you frown,” I say, laughter bubbling from me again when Al’s jaw drops and she hits me again.
“You’re my friend, you can’t call me cute,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to walk away from me.
A few long strides are all it takes for me to catch up, and I open the door for her. She stops, almost like she’s going to argue with me about how I can’t hold a damn door for her because we’re friends.
“Sorry, darlin’, if I didn’t want to be just your friend, I’d sure as shit try harder than just holding a door for you. And if I told you I call all my friends cute, what then?” I ask, messing with her. I don’t think I’ve ever called anyone cute in my life.
She rolls her eyes, walking through the door. “Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?” Al grumbles, and after I fall into step beside her again, I sling my arm over her shoulder. It feels like a victory when she doesn’t immediately slip away. “What did she want?” she asks, and I wish she hadn’t.
“To know why I haven’t been going to the class study group,” I say, leaving it at that. “You want a ride back?”
“Sure, thanks,” Alondra says, and I squint, adjusting to the brightness of the sun.
“Can we move up our tutoring tomorrow? Coach scheduled a team meeting for when we’d normally meet to get it in before our game Friday.”
“Sure,” Al says, and her sudden agreeableness is suspicious. I glance down at her, trying to figure out where the hell my feisty girl has gone.
Her lower lip is tucked between her teeth as she chews on it, and I’m not sure she’s hearing anything I said past asking if she wanted a ride.
“Dylan’s going to get a tattoo on his ass of your dad’s name. Which do you think is better: left or right?”
“Left,” she answers, and I swallow the laugh back, wondering how much I can get away with before she notices.
