“Where are you going?” I asked, perplexed.
“I’m going home to change.”
“Do you want to borrow something?” I pointed to the closet.
He smiled. “You’d be doing me a solid, thank you very much.”
I watched him fling the closet door open and rummage through.
“So what are you doing with Hood today?”
“Jackson, Jackson, you know that I never think before I act. Thinking is for idiots. I rely on pure inspiration.”
“Quit watching that movie when you’re wasted, your brain’s gonna rot.”
“A Clockwork Orangeis a great movie! And it certainly won’t be what fucks my brain up.” He shot me a crooked grin. “You don’t have anything more subtle than this, do you?” He pulled out one of my brightly colored vests then bit his lower lip. “Why not? The religion teacher will have a stroke if I show up wearing only this.”
“Where’d your uniform go?” I asked him, focused on finding mine on the recliner with a pile of clothes that had been on it for days.
“I’ve been asking myself the same thing,” he muttered before grabbing a gray hoodie.
“Hey, this is mine!” he shouted, and I froze.
“Oh yeah?” I tried to use the most innocent voice possible, but he caught me red-handed.
“Yeah, what the fuck is it doing here?” he asked, then sniffed it. “Did you at least wash it?”
“Um.”
“It reeks of smoke and the scent of my shower gel. Nasty, you could’ve washed it.”
“I never put it on. I forgot I even had it.” He put on my favorite vest over his hoodie.
“All right, I’m going. I’ll see you at school.”
Fuck, no, don’t take it away from me,I thought.
24
Ari
I hadn’t slept a wink in over twenty-four hours, but I was still doing cartwheels down the hall. I skipped to and from the bathroom. I obsessively checked my pupils in the mirror. I didn’t want Brian to notice anything. I adjusted my hair and lipstick and then went back outside.
I waved at Poppy and Amelia from far away as they rushed to class to review. The homework was due third hour.
“Honey, don’t we have a test today?” asked Brian, surprised to see me there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before the bell rang.
“Yeah, but your candidacy is important,” I whispered, caressing his cheek.
I hoped with all my heart that Brian had forgotten about last night’s outburst.
“Well, my dad forced me, now that it doesn’t matter to you as much,” he whined.
“Come on, you know I care.”
I pouted, and Brian kissed me immediately.
I closed my eyes to savor cuddling him, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of a little voice in my head.
