He slows down. “Which house is yours?”
“This is fine.”
“Sutton, which house?” he insists, shaking his head.
Normally I wouldn’t let a stranger know where I live, but I don’t really have any fear of Cameron coming back. In fact, after this he might not waste his words on me anymore.
“The white one with the porch,” I say, pointing across the street. I feel humiliated. I don’t know where Cameron lives, but I’m sure it’s nicer than here. He pulls to the curb and cuts the engine.
I’m surprised he turned off his car. “You can’t come in,” I say defensively. My dad would flip.
He smiles, staring at his steering wheel. “I didn’t ask to.”
I look out the window at my house, not wanting to get out, but knowing that I can’t stay here. “What are you doing then?” I ask quietly.
“Talking.”
“With me?”
“Obviously.”
I fold my hands in my lap. It would be ungrateful to just walk off. I wait to see what he wants. I’m also a little curious.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” he says.
“Oh great.”
“What’s your deal with Blow Pops?” he asks. “Because you seemed pretty pissed when I brought you one. Wrong flavor?”
I laugh and tell him the story about Retha, leaving out any hints that she did it because I think he’s hot. Without those details, she sounds like a real sociopath.
“I have to admit,” Cameron says, chuckling. “That’s hilarious. And if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t have gone out to the car for a blow job. I do have standards. I mean, they’re low. But I have them.”
“That’s good to know,” I say.
Cameron exhales and leans his head on the seat, turning to look at me. “So how did you end up here?” he asks.
“Here?”
“In Brooks Academy.”
“It’s a long, tragic story,” I say. “You?”
“I asked you first.”
I resist the urge to answer with “I asked you second.” Instead I say, “I got in a fight.” Which is mostly true.
“Schools don’t expel kids just for fighting,” Cameron says. “Trust me.”
“Mine did.”
“No,” he says, studying me. “Why did they really kick you out?”
I swallow hard, turning away from him. “Maybe I just left, and they didn’t kick me out.”
“Why’d they kick you out, Savannah?”
I look at him, startled by the sound of my name. It’s strange hearing it from him. It’s also exhilarating. He meets my eyes.
