Juliet chews on some lettuce while watching me. “Are you two getting along?”
Why is she asking this? “Didn’t you hear what I just said? We don’t talk. At all.”
“Right.” She taps her lips. “Does he have friends?”
I sigh, but know she won’t stop asking until I give her an answer. I tell her about the four girls he hangs out with. Juliet raises her brows, and I know what she’s thinking — the first thing everyone thinks of when a boy and a girl are friends.
I don’t correct her. Honestly, though, it wouldn’t surprise me if one of Kieran’s friends had a crush on him. As much as it pains me to admit it, he’s good looking. Actually, saying that Kieran is good looking is an understatement. He’s the hottest guy at our school. In fact, lots of girls — and possibly some boys too — must find him attractive.
I stab a piece of pasta, the tips of my fork clanging against the porcelain.
“You still hate his guts?” Juliet asks.
“Why are you asking me so many questions about him?” I ask.
Juliet raises her hands in surrender again. “Jeez, calm your farm. I just want to make sure you’re not making his life hell. You can be a brat when you want to, Jasper.”
I move my fork around in my bowl. “Yeah. Well.”
“So?” Juliet prompts.
“I don’thatehim,” I say, just to get her off my back. I’ve lived with Juliet long enough to know there’s no wiggling out of a conversation with her. “He’s not as bad as I thought.”
“Yeah? In what way?”
“Well, um.” I’m panicking now. I shouldn’t have said anything. “He’s smart.”
“Academically?”
“No, just, uh.” It’s hard to explain. Most of the time, I assume everything I think and say is right because I’m always right, and I know I’m objectively clever in a bookish way. Kieran’s one of the few people who tells me I’m wrong.
How are you this dense?
The scary thing is, Kieran’s right. He knows more than me.
“He just seems intelligent,” I mumble. “I don’t really know, though. Like I said, we don’t talk…”
Juliet watches me, something flickering in her eyes, before she nods and switches the topic to complain about a coworker. I sag in relief and hope she doesn’t notice.
20
Kieran: Fuck You
It takes a moment for me to register the buzzing on my desk is coming from my phone. I’d like to say I was too busy watchingThe Queen, the movie we’re studying in English, but if I’m being honest, my eyes were out of focus and I haven’t been listening to any dialogue. I’ve only been watching the film for ten minutes, and I’m already distracted.
I’m not even thinking about anything in particular. At least I don’t think so. Sometimes my mind just wanders…
Phone. My phone is buzzing. Right.
I pause the film and answer my phone.
“About time,” a voice grumbles.
“Jasper?” I frown. We never call each other, only send each other blunt messages to organise times to hook up. “What do you want?”
“You didn’t answer my messages.”
“I was busy,” I say, moving my phone from my face so I can read his texts.
