Page 19 of The Serpent King

“You’re not fat or ugly,” Dill said.

She laughed. “You’re sweet, but I’m completely fine. I love myself and nothing Tyson can say will ever change that. One more year with these bipedal turds. Then I’ll never see any of them again. I mean, unless one of them serves me french fries in ten years. Apparently I’m a big fan.”

Dill thought that he’d managed to hide it, but he must have appeared bruised himself.

“You’re not a dildo, you know,” Lydia said. “I don’t get why they haven’t figured out “Dullard” as a nickname. It’s funnier and more creative. But it also requires a larger vocabulary.”

“Nothing they said bothered me.”

“They? Did I say something?”

They got to the front doors and stopped as people hurried past them.

“It’s fine; I’m fine.” He started to walk inside. Lydia stopped him.

“Nuh nuh nuh, hold up. What?”

“When you talk about people still being here in ten years—”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Oh man. Can we stipulate right now that I’m not referring to you when I say something like that?”

“It’s just—What if I’m the one serving you fries in ten years? Does that mean you think I’m dumb like Tyson?”

“Really, Dill?”

“You asked.”

“Fine, you’re right. I asked. No, I don’t think I’m better than you. No, I don’t think you’ll be serving me fries in ten years. Jeez, could you please not with the drama? After I stick up for you?”

“What if? What if I end up no better than Tyson?”

“I won’t let that happen, okay? I’ll hire you as my butler first.”

“That’s not funny.”

“No, it’s not, because you’d be the worst butler. You’d always be spacing out and playing the guitar while people knocked at the door, and then when you answered the door you’d be like ‘Hey, isn’t it weird how the Earth is flying through space all the time, and yet we can’t fly,’ ” Lydia said, imitating Dill’s voice, “and you’d get your butler panties in a twist every time a guest hurt your feelings a little bit.”

“What about the thing you said to Tyson about how he’s not important enough to talk about on your blog? You’ve never talked about me on your blog.”

They stood and stared at each other.

“Do I honestly need to stand here in the entryway of Forrestville High School and tell you how important you are to me? What’s really going on here, Dill? Something else is bothering you.”

The five-minute bell rang.

Dill broke eye contact and turned. “We better get to class.”

Lydia grabbed his arm. “What?”

Dill looked from side to side. “Last night, my mom tried to get me to drop out of school and go to work full time.”

Lydia’s mouth fell open, as it had with Tyson and Madison, but this time her astonishment and outrage were genuine. “What? That’s so gross. Who does that?”

“My mom, apparently.”

Vice Principal Blackburn strolled up the hall. “Mr. Early, Ms. Blankenship, five-minute bell’s rung. You may be seniors, but you don’t get to be tardy. Move it.”

“Yessir,” Dill said, and watched until he rounded the corner. “My mom said something else.”