JT turns and his eyes go wide. “It’s Nate the Great and Missing!”Valencia grimaces at the nickname as he walks around the island and puts out his hand with enough energy that I recognize he’s looking for one of those hand slap/shake thingies straight guys do, where they hug after. So I take the lead and do it.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Nate, this is JT,” Easton says.
“What does JT stand for?” I ask.
“Jerkoff Townie,” Easton says before JT can answer. Without looking at him, JT snaps and points at Easton.
“Do not listen to him, little brother. He’s just jelly that I can find purpose and drive in a small town. Real name is John Thomas, but I go by JT ’cause I don’t want to walk around with a name that’s slang for a dick.”
“Which he is, anyway,” Easton says.
“Hey!” JT doesn’t take his eyes away from me but keeps pointing at Easton. “That’s... actually true.”
John. Yes, it’s a common enough name, but is this the same John who the articles said Easton was with when Nate disappeared?
“Enough with the penis talk,” Valencia says. “Please. I thought the two of you would have matured by now.”
“Mrs. Bemo, I’ve always been very mature for my age.” JT clears his throat, then reaches into his back pocket and takes out an orange inhaler. He puts it to his mouth and breathes in while he looks me up and down. But his gaze feels more like one of appraisal than judgment.
Easton glares. “Is that why you were suspended in sophomore year for throwing fart bombs in the hallway between lunches?”
JT caps the inhaler and turns back to Easton. “No, I was suspended for pulling the fire alarm; they never caught me for the fart bombs.”
“That’s right, I forgot.”
“And the fire alarm thing was your idea, if I recall.”
“Easton!” Valencia turns away from a pot of pasta she’s stirring, her jaw dropping open. “Is that true?”
“It is true, Mrs. Bemo.” JT leans against the island. “He’s a total sociopath, look at him. You can see it in his eyes. He actually wanted to set the gym on fire. I was the one who suggested pulling the alarm instead.”
“That’snot true, but yes, fine, I did maybe float the idea that he should pull the fire alarm so we wouldn’t have to take a chemistry test.”
“And I never ratted him out either.”
“No, you did not. Thank you, buddy.” He holds out his hand for a fist bump, and JT hits it, then explodes it, making a noise with his mouth.
Valencia shakes her head. “You barely even needed to study for school. Every teacher was always so impressed by you. Even in elementary school. Remember Mrs. Duffy? She called me in for a parent-teacher conference because she thought you weren’t paying attention. But every time she’d call on you, you’d know the answer.”
“Why’d she want a parent-teacher conference, then?” I ask.
“She wanted to know what she could do to challenge him more. So she started making him special tests that were a little harder andgave him different homework than the other kids. She was such a wonderful teacher.”
JT puts a finger up. “Actually, not all teachers were impressed. I distinctly remember Ms. Lockwood in seventh gradehatinghim.”
Valencia shudders. “She was a nasty piece of work. I had to stop going to those parent-teacher conferences.” She turns back and looks at me. “I sent your father instead, and hehatedthat woman.”
“I’m sure the feeling was mutual,” JT says. “She was probably a man-hater because she was allergic tonuts.” He looks at Easton while he grabs his crotch. Easton gives him a disgusted glare and shoves him, telling him to shut up.
“That’s not nice,” Valencia says. “Also homophobic. JT, please don’t say things like that in this house.”
That catches me by surprise, and I feel my heart defrost even more toward Valencia.
She continues speaking to JT and it snaps me out of my thoughts. “But especially don’t make jokes about the way people die.”
“Sorry,” JT says.
