Page 4 of People Like Us

Andy was talking animatedly about the game the past Friday. He was explaining a play, in absurd detail, to his teammates, who had also been playing in the same exact game. His hand flung outward, as if catching an invisible ball, and knocked his protein shake into my lap.

“Shit,” I hissed, as he turned and began apologizing.

“Sorry babe, I didn’t mean to,” he said sheepishly. Andy was like a large dog in the way that he often took up too much space when there wasn’t any room for him to do so. But you couldn’t help but like the guy, because he was always so excited to see you.

I stood, letting the thick pink concoction slide down my jeans.

“That’s definitely going to stain,” Lindsey said from across the table.

I looked up at her from the mess. “You think?”

“It’s strawberry,” she said with a frown pulling at her glossy lips.

I sighed, doing my best to mop most of it up with napkins being passed down the lunch table.

“Dang, I loved your butt in those jeans,” Andy said sadly, as he poured water from a plastic bottle onto a towel he pulled from his gym bag, that I’m pretty sure had previously been used to mop up sweat.

“We all loved your butt in those jeans,” Paul said from Andy’s other side, making a cross motion over the top of his chest, as if mourning the denim. Andy drew his elbow back to jab Paul playfully.

“Shut up,” he laughed, then his attention was fully on Paul as they began to wrestle. Lindsey gave me a sympathetic look.

“I think I have extra clothes in my car,” I said, before gathering my bag and heading out of the cafeteria toward the parking lot.

“I’ll walk with you.” Andy’s best friend Jack stood from the table with a polite smile.

I waited until we crossed into the parking lot to say, “How are you? With everything?”

Jack gave a casual lift of his shoulders. “Hanging on, I guess. Smoking helps.”

I knew from his girlfriend Emily that Jack’s dad had just been diagnosed with cancer this past year, and he’d already decided to take a gap year from college to stay home with him for his last few months.

Jack froze on the field during an important play at the start of the season and ended up getting injured. Now he smoked pot either to help with the pain or the disappointment. I wasn’t sure which.

He pulled an Altoids can from his pocket, which I knew he housed his joints in. He raised it in question. “Want to join me?”

I shook my head. “I get a little too talkative when I smoke.” We parted ways to go to our own cars.

I rummaged through the pile of junk in the back of my beat-up hatchback, but the only bottoms I could find was a plaid skirt that was definitely too short to pass dress code.

I huffed in defeat and climbed into my backseat to change. When I was done, I laid my jeans across the dashboard, hoping what little sun we would get that day would dry them.

I lay down in my backseat, with my headphones in. A familiar punk ballad lulled me into a deep sleep. I likely would’ve slept there all evening had Andy not knocked on my window.

I jumped, and he smiled brightly from above me. I reached up to unlock the door, which he pulled open. He crouched to his knees to press a kiss to my forehead. “Skip class, sleepyhead?”

I nodded glumly. “Couldn’t find pants. Didn’t want to get sent to the office for dress code,” I explained.

“Was being dress-coded better or worse than skipping class?” he asked.

“If I get dress-coded, they’d call my dad. Mrs. Morgan would at least wait to ask about my absence tomorrow. I’ll tell her I started my period or something,” I said, and he grimaced.

“Gross.” He stood abruptly, and I frowned. “Why didn’t you just go home?” he asked as I climbed out of the car..

“Couldn’t. I’m failing a class, and had to get a tutor.”

He frowned dramatically. “Failing? You’re the smartest person I know, how is that possible?”

“Because my brain is not awake enough at seven a.m. to comprehend the complexities of the cell,” I stated dryly. Andy nodded in agreement, though I was sure he didn’t understand. Andy lived his whole life with a battery that stayed fully charged. He woke up ready to conquer the world every day, despite everything.