“This is Kansas.” She hesitated, almost as if she would give me a title, but held back. She grabbed the bag that held her blankets and began to pull them out. “Kansas, this is Soleil and Spencer.”
Spencer. I knew that name. He was a Foxworth.
“What are you doing?” Spencer gave her a weird look. “Our cars are all over there. You need to come sit with us.”
“Yeah, unless you’re wanting alone time…” Soleil winked at me and giggled.
“We kind of were,” Eisley mumbled.
The furious look on Spencer’s face made me speak up. Did he have a thing for her? I slid my hand down and around her waist.
“Nah, let’s join them. It sounds like fun.” I spoke to Eisley but stared directly at Spencer.
Picking up our stuff, we followed the popular kids across the yard and were directed to take an empty spot between Spencer and Soleil and another couple.
“This is Micah and Emi, and that’s Therese and Rem.” She pointed to the couples on their respectful blankets.They waved and seemed a lot less threatened than Spencer had been in his welcome.
Emi, a pretty Asian woman with firetruck red hair and an oversized hoodie and sweats, came over to us. “We were just sending the guys to get snacks. You want to go with them, Kansas?”
Eisley looked at me expectantly.
I shrugged. “Sure. You still want popcorn with extra butter?”
“Yes, please!” She side-hugged me.
Feeling a little cocky, I took the closeness and leaned down, giving her a quick peck on the lips.She pulled away and blinked rapidly.A sly grin slid onto my face.
“You two are dating?” Spencer interrupted.
“Leave them alone, will you?” Soleil came to our defense. “Go get me some licorice.”
Scowling, he stomped away.I looked around and the other guys were shaking their heads in confusion.
“Whatever, let’s go.” Rem, a large black guy with a well-groomed beard and friendly smile, motioned for us to follow, and Micah and I did.
“What’s his problem?” I asked as we fell in line with each other.
“Who knows,” Micah, a tan man with dark brown curls and arms so huge he could bench-press four of me, rolled his eyes. “Spence doesn’t like new people.”
“Sounds like he was jealous, more than anything.”
“Ha!” Rem smacked me on the back. “Spencer thinks way too much about himself to be jealous of anyone. Don’t worry about him, bro, we’ve got your back.”
The three of us talked about movies, various sports games, and other surface-level bullshit while we waited and got our food. It wasn’t until Micah asked what I did for a living, and I explained I was still in school for computer science did they both stop acting stiff and seemed genuinely interested in talking with me.
“My focus is cyber-security,” I explained.
Rem nodded. “See, we need someone like you in this town. I just finished my degree in computer forensics. I fix everyone’s computers after they’ve been attacked, and you come in and make sure they can’t get hacked again.”
“Then how will you stay in business?” Micah smirked. “Eventually you’ll have fixed everyone’s computers.”
“Hey, at least I’m trying to forge my own path, rather than just taking over my dad’s law firm.”
“Don’t act like your family didn’t pay for that degree of yours.”
The two went back and forth, and tried to draw me into their jokes, but I couldn’t relate. I had to work for both my spot in school and the ability to afford it. They seemed like decent guys, but I still hated them for their family’s wealth.
Wealth I deserved.
