I force a smile. “I’m good.” I mean, I have to be. Not being his friend means nothanging out with him, and I really, really want to hang out with him.
She nods unsurely. “Okay. But really, if you…” She stops talking as she looks behind me. Whirling around, I find Ryan standing there.
“Hey,” I say. “You know my friend, Jenna, right?”
He nods. “Hi.”
She dips her head. Then her eyes move from Ryan to me. “Right, so I need to be somewhere.” She pulls me into a hug. “Later, Art. See ya, Ryan.” She dashes off like her butt is on fire.
I turn to Ryan. “It’s a little too early for you, isn’t it?”
He casually leans against the lockers. “Couldn’t sleep, decided to come early.” He reaches in his backpack, pulls outJane Eyre, and tosses it to me.
“Quit, huh?” I say as I stuff it in my backpack.
“Nope, read it cover to cover.”
I stop. “Really? Did you like it?”
“Yeah, was cool. I liked it a lot.” Then he goes off to say in a few short words what he liked about it.
I study him. “Are you just saying that becauseIlike it, or do you really like it?”
He pushes off the wall. “Why would I lie about that?” He reaches for me, and for a second I think he’s going to take my hand or pull me close to maybe kiss me or something. But he swipes something off my jacket. “A feather,” he explains.
My body is so hot and crazy. Darn it. He makes me crazy.
The bell rings. Shoot. I want to discuss more of the book. I like hearing the words on his lips, it’s like music.
I hike my backpack straps up my shoulders. “Off to history, then.”
He follows me down the hallway toward the classroom. I feel all eyes on us. What, have they never seen twoplatonicfriends hanging out?
We drop down in our seats. “Maybe we can watch the movie tonight,” I say. “We’ll tell my parents it’s for school.”
He extracts his sketchbook, and after placing it on his desk table, he turns to me. “You want me to see it that badly?”
I shrug. “I don’t think I can wait until the weekend. It’ll takeforever. Besides, I thinkmy parents are going to be out late tonight. Not that it matters. It’s not like we need to be alone together.” I bite my bottom lip. Ugh. Now he thinks I want to be alone with him. Well, I kind of do…
He opens his sketchpad and flips through the pages. Something catches my attention. It’s a girl. “Is that your ex-girlfriend?” I ask.
He freezes, slowly turning to me. “What?”
I nod to the sketchpad. “I saw a girl in there. She’s pretty.”
He shuts the thing so quickly, like aliens beamed from another planet and want to steal all his secrets. “No. I really shouldn’t be doing this in class.” He dumps it in his backpack.
“You know, buddy, you can tell me about her.” I smile wide. “What was she like?”
“She’s not my ex-girlfriend. She’s…nobody.”
“Okay.” I look away from him. “I still want to see your sketches one day. You’re crazy talented. I really think you should pursue art, not that my words mean anything, anyway.”
He doesn’t say anything and we’re quiet.
I sense some hostility coming from the other end of the room and when I raise my head, I find Brianne and her friends glaring at me. Or at Ryan. Nah, probably me.
I laugh, poking Ryan with my elbow. “I think we pissed her off.”
