I stayed behind the door, eavesdropping.
“Are you still playing Romeo?”
“Taylor keeps bugging me with that shit.”
“You can’t just take the good without the bad when it comes to the ladies. And watch your mouth,” she scolded with a maternal tone.
“What can I do if girls are just a pain in the ass?”
“Then you just haven’t found the right one.”
“You only watch telenovelas while eating conchas for breakfast,” he countered, making her laugh.
“Maybe you don’t even have to look that far.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Carmen’s head and how she could be so affectionate toward him.
“She’s a ball and chain. And now she’s going out with William.”
The silence that fell between those four walls was heavier than a boulder.
“Oh, how’s he doing?” she asked after a pause.
“I’d say good, but as usual that would be bullshit.”
Were they talking about the same guy I’d gone out with last night?
“I’m sure, Edward. I know that deep, deep down you’re a good guy,” she concluded in a friendly tone.
“Deep, deep down, huh? So can I smoke?”
“Of course not. Get lost and don’t hurt yourself again!”
As I heard those words, I bolted down the hallway like a lunatic, reached the classroom door, and took a deep breath. The teacher greeted me cordially as I walked in, not acknowledging my lateness.
I quietly sat in the first empty seat I found, right next to Amelia. She kept staring at me, stunned.
“Where were you? I couldn’t wait for you to get here.”
“My alarm didn’t go off,” I muttered, rummaging through my backpack for my chemistry notes.
“So?” She stared at me cheerfully, waiting for an answer.
“So what?”
“Your date with William! How’d it go?”
James walked into the classroom, and I instinctively looked down.
He was wearing the hoodie again and swaggered in front of the teacher without even looking at him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him sit at the second-to-last bench next to Sammy, but he didn’t even bother to pull out a book or notebook. Instead, he sprawled in the seat with his eyes glued to his phone, as if he wasn’t at school.
“Is everything okay with Will?” I whispered, but the teacher caught me in the act.
“Miss White, do I have to remind you that you came to class an hour late today?”
“Um, sorry. I just . . .”
I wasn’t slow on the uptake, but lying wasn’t my forte.
