I go on before I lose my nerve. “I mean, just at lunch. We can still hang out after school. Every day. Like always. It’s just…maybe here we should sit separately.”
“But I always sit with you.”
“I know,” I say quickly. “And it was fine when we were little. But now the boys sit together and the girls sit together. That’s just how it is.”
He frowns. “Girls are nice. The boys only want to talk about sports.”
“What’s wrong with sports?” I ask, even though I already know.
“I don’t like sports, Gracie.”
Now he’s frustrating me. I’m trying to help, and he’s resisting. “Maybe you should try, Beck. It might be fun.”
He shakes his head. “You know that’s not my thing.”
“It should be,” I say, sharper than I mean to. My heart is racing now. “Because otherwise they’re going to pick on you.”
He goes still. “What?”
I sigh, all the air leaving me at once. I didn’t want it to come out like this. “I overheard some boys in gym class. They were making fun of you. For sitting with us.”
He looks at me carefully. “Did that embarrass you?”
Heat rushes to my face. I hate that he knows me so well. “No,” I lie, folding my arms and jutting out my chin.
He studies me for a long moment. Then he nods. “Okay.”
Just like that.
Beck gathers his tray, and I watch, holding my breath, as he goes over to the boys’ tables. He hesitates, evaluating, then chooses a group. Decent kids, not as bad as some. They speak and then Beck sits in an empty chair at the end of the row. My pulse settles.
I turn back to my girlfriends and sit down. I expect the lunch to be fun, full of gossip and laughter like it usually is, but it’s not.
Not for me.
I barely hear the chatter. I keep looking at the empty chair beside me.
Wishing Beck was back in it.
Gracie
Present
“Want another beer?” Beck asks, nodding at the empty mug in my hand.
“Yeah. Thanks.” I pass it over, and he stands.
“How about you ladies?” he asks Kirsten and Trish. “I’m heading to the bar. Can I get you anything?”
“Me,” Trish chirps immediately. “Rum and coke, please.”
She hands him her empty cup and, unless I’m hallucinating, lets her fingers drag against his for a beat too long before she lets go.
Wait.
Was that…on purpose?
My head snaps up, suddenly way too invested in Beck’s reaction, like I’m watching a slow-motion science experiment I didnotconsent to.
