“My mom made me, you moron. I’d never come here of my own free will.”
“Oh no?”
I elbowed his stomach without thinking about it. That required an amount of strength that he didn’t expect, but made him back away enough for me to wriggle out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him feel his stomach, but I didn’t care. I proceeded down the hallway. Suddenly I stopped myself.
“What do you want from me, James?” I said with my back turned toward him. I sensed it. He wanted something. It would’ve been enough for him to ignore me, but he never did. Ever.
“I want you to get out. Now.”
His denial made my blood boil. It bored a little hole in my chest.
“Get out,” he repeated roughly. There wasn’t any other way to enter his world, maybe because his wall was so high that it was impossible to climb over. And I didn’t have the strength to do it.
40
June
I spent around a half hour staring at the ceiling in my room.
William was inconsistent. He had continuous mood swings and as much as that could just be who he was, it was highly probable that I was screwing up somehow. Was I? It was probable, but from Will’s end he didn’t seem motivated to explain. He just disappeared.
Again.
He wasn’t at school, so after trying to text him a patheticHow are you?I stopped trying to reach out. There was a major possibility that he didn’t like me that much, so why get my hopes up?
And the less he reached out, the less I thought about him.
My gut said not to throw in the towel because there was something behind all the radio silence, but what was it?
“Honey, heat up the pasta from yesterday. I’m going out to eat.” There she was, heartless April who magically pounced on me with terms of endearment.
“With whom?”
I looked at the door where I saw my mom looking nicer than usual in a black pencil skirt and a blouse.
“Melissa. A former colleague.”
Sure, Melissa. Melissa the forty-something guy who was father of the year.
“Mom, speaking of going out, have you and Jordan seen each other again?”
She blinked; her eyelashes curled with mascara.
“No, absolutely not. Why?”
“You’d tell me if there was something between you two, right?”
She adjusted her messy chignon, and her eyes lit up when she heard his name. “June, it’s just work. I told you,” she answered curtly, fighting with the clasp of her bracelet.
“I’m not saying this out of selfishness—if you want to date someone, you’re more than welcome to anyone except Jordan Hunter.”
“It’s just a professional relationship. What are you worried about, June?”
I watched her come sit next to me.
“I know you haven’t dated anyone since . . .” I fidgeted with the cuff on my sweatshirt.
“June.”
