“Hey, Em. Wait up,” I call as she ducks out of class at a speed of knots.
Dee frowns at me as I follow the pair outside. “What’re you trying to do? Make us fail?”
I wave her aside. Until she spoke, I forgot she was present at all.
My tongue locks for a moment as I stare at her, suddenly uncertain what to do. I let girls pick me up at parties, in clubs, at bars, in the supermarket even. I’m not sure how to work the process in reverse.
But I want to be close to her, so I have to try. “You want to go out tonight? Maybe see a movie or something?”
Em’s confusion is obvious and her eyes dart to Dee, seeking help. I don’t need an audience. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I pointedly ask her unwelcome friend.
“No.”
She stands in place, refusing to budge. A trait I’d find more admirable if it weren’t blocking my way. I should tell her that Nate’s desperate to see her. Dee’s had a crush on him since before we got to this school. I flag that thought for later inspection and turn back to Em.
“What about it? We can head out straight after class.”
“No.”
There’s a stricken look on her face and her eyes nervously dance to the side, over my shoulder, out at the street, to Dee, then to the ground.
What does she have to be nervous about? We’re standing outside class with a thousand students and teachers swarming around.
This side of the school only has a two-foot-high rope fence separating it from the surrounding road, chock full of bored midmorning commuters. Hardly the time or place for an altercation even if that was what I had planned.
“Come on. It’s just hanging out.” She keeps her gaze averted and I feel a jump of impatience. My brain swings to the same assurance Zach always uses. “If we go anywhere, I’ll pay.”
She jerks her chin up, “I said, no.”
I lay my hand on her arm to stop her walking off, not to threaten her or anything, but Dee knocks it aside. “Don’t you dare touch her. She gave you her answer now buzz off.”
Em’s eyes move back to the roadside, scanning the traffic that moves at school-safe levels past us.
I shift a step to the side so I can see her face more clearly and she turns to look at me. Her eyes smoulder as I raise my hand, letting my knuckle graze against the side of her face. Her lips flood with red under their fake pink colouring, her mouth relaxing so it’s slightly open.
I’ve been with enough girls to know how to read their signals. Especially when they’re broadcasting as clear as day.
“I’ll have you home before curfew.”
The corners of her lips twitch, pulling into the faintest smile. Everything on her face is saying yes. Her body leans towards me. If I took her into my arms now, she looks like she’d turn boneless, melting into my embrace.
Then she gives a tiny shake, her entire face and body shutter, reversing every positive signal like it’s a switch she can just flick off. Her eyes return to the street, scanning the cars, jerking to a halt when they fix on a taupe sedan parked across the road.
“You’re using up our break,” Dee says pointedly, waving me aside.
But this is the only reason I turned up at all today and I’m not letting it go that easily. I reach out, gently capturing Em’s wrist in my hand, so tiny that my fingers encircle it with a full knuckle’s worth of thumb overlapping.
“Get off me, Caylon. You already got my answer.”
“Say it again.” I move nearer until I can feel the pulse of her body heat. Until she looks alarmed.
“I’m never going out with you,” she spits, fire flashing in the depths of her brown eyes. “You’re fucking crazy.”
Then she stomps past me, giving me a shoulder check harder than I would have thought her tiny body was capable of.
A thread of frustration twists through me. I can’t remember the last time a girl turned me down.
Strike one, but as Devon—a girl from my chemistry class—walks past, I fall into step beside her to ask a small favour.
