“Do you want a ride to school tomorrow?”
She shook her head and waved before rushing into the house. I sighed, rolled up my window and pulled up my navigation app for directions to Jae’s house from here.
“My guy, she was totally flirting with you,” Jae spoke, causing me to laugh in disbelief.
“I’m serious, Nox. That little banter you’ve got going…flirting. I’m telling you,” he smirked.
I rolled my eyes and punched his arm playfully, “Shut up. You were totally checked out on your phone, so how would you know?”
I chewed on my lip in thought as I drove and glanced over at Jae to question him again. “Are you sure? I mean, we were just teasing each other,” I reasoned with skepticism.
“Nox, teasingisflirting. And she was definitely flirting back.”
I huffed and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. I mean, maybeIwas flirting accidentally on purpose, but Shiloh…did she think of me that way? She’d never indicated she more than tolerated our friendship. I felt like I had been the one putting in effort to the relationship. Hell, she practically cussed me out earlier before my exam.
“She has a boyfriend.” I challenged.
Jae sighed, locking his phone and turning in his seat to look at me more directly. “Does she? Because for all we know they could’ve broken up.”
I shrugged, not really considering that possibility. “Okay, but she cussed me out twice today.”
“Tell me exactly what she said,” he instructed seriously, like he was a guru on relationships.
“Um, okay,” I muttered. I prattled off our conversation as best as I could remember after lunch and he nodded along, occasionally asking me to clarify her tone or word choice. He fidgeted with his phone as he mulled over what I had told him.
“Okay, well based on the fact that we know Shiloh uses her temper as a shield, I think we need to strip down that outward layer,” he mused. I struggled not to laugh at how serious he was taking this psychoanalysis. “So, at first glance she sounded demeaning by calling you names and cussing, but I think those were her version of endearing terms. And she ultimately was wishing you good luck, trying to convince you that you should be confident in your abilities.”
“More like in her abilities as a tutor,” I chuckled. “And you really thinkshitbirdis a term of endearment?”
“You know how she is,” he shrugged. “Do you think she was gonna call you something cute like babe or pumpkin?”
I laughed heartily at the thought of Shiloh ever saying those words, especially to me, and wiped the tears that were forming in the corner of my eyes.
“Okay, okay. Maybe…maybethat was her way of being affectionate or kind,” I resigned.
“Plus,” he perked up with another knowing smirk, “she didn’t freak out when you grabbed her hand.Andyou had your arm across her shoulder just now after school. She didn’t look weirded out or anything. I’m damn sure she’d have punched you in the balls if she didn’t want you to touch her.”
I chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’m positive that she would.”
I ruminated on our conversation and decided I needed a second opinion, if only to confirm what I wanted to hear—that Shiloh might have been flirting back. As much as I trusted Jae and his emotional intelligence, I wanted to talk to my dad about it. I needed to know if I should bury my feelings for her, dismiss them as a simple crush, or if I should lay it out in the open and see what happens. Regardless, I knew that I cared about Shiloh. I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be as a friend or more.
Fourteen
October 15, Friday
Shiloh
There was something nostalgic about warm tortillas with butter and sugar. Just the smell brought back memories of spending time with Javi and Seb growing up. Like sitting on the front porch watching Javi and Seb toss a ball or wrestle.
It was ironic that such a sweet treat was the only food we had left in the house. Two weeks with no income from Javier meant that my dad had to work more. He’d picked up random jobs, like working at the corner store to cover a friend’s shift or washing dishes at Bunk House, a little western-style diner downtown. Which only meant he spent more money on drugs and alcohol than he did on keeping the fridge stocked. I was surviving mostly on the free lunch at school.
I shuddered at the state of the house before turning to head back to my room. My room still didn’t have a door, but I couldn’t handle sleeping in the tub anymore, so I had dragged my dresser to block the entrance while I was sleeping. It would at least give me a warning before someone tried to enter.
There was a knock at the front door, and I rushed to my room, sliding the dresser over with a silent groan at the pain it caused my ribs. I waited for a sign as to who was there. My stomach dropped at the sound of an unfamiliar deep male voice.Fuck. Fucking shit. Shit!
“Where is she?”
“In her room,” my dad answered, footsteps heading in my direction.
