I saw Sarah again in the hallway by the gym. I’d
just finished PE, hauling equipment back to the
storage room. She wore a cheap leather jacket,
metal earrings, and heavy eyeliner. I hadn’t seen
her much lately. Our classes were on different
floors, and I was too focused on studying for
gossip.
She took a practiced drag of a cigarette. She
looked like a street thug. I’d forgotten how
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44
much she thought that was “cool.” Her parents
were strict, she was always the good girl. But
sometimes, when she heard motorcycles
roaring down the street, she’d peek out the
window and whisper, “So cool! That’s what
youth should be like!” Deep down, she was
rebellious. Jake was the catalyst, igniting that
hidden part of her.
My class president, standing beside me, stared
at the group of punks, then subtly moved
behind me. Our conversation about the math
competition problem died.
“Go ahead back to class,” I told her. “It’s not
that much, I can handle it.”
She looked at me gratefully, then back at the
approaching group, hesitant. “No, it’s okay, we can do it together.”
Sarah clicked her tongue impatiently. One of the guys behind her sneered, “Can’t you see
14
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our girl’s got something to say to him? Scram,
before you get hurt.”
Sarah smirked, clearly enjoying this.
“It’s fine,” I told the class president. “Go ahead.
I’ll explain the problem to you before evening
study hall.”
Once she was gone, Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“Ethan, I hear you’ve been getting close to a
girl lately. Her?”
We’d changed seats last week, and she was my
new deskmate. She was at the bottom of our
class, but worked hard. And hard work paid off. My grades were slightly better, so she often
asked me for help, even in the cafeteria. But I
didn’t owe Sarah an explanation.
“None of your business,” I said. “Tell your
friends to move, I need to get back to class.”
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44
“How is it not my business?” she whined. “We
grew up together! You’re dating and you don’t tell me?”
“And let’s be honest, your class president is a little chubby. Taking her out would be embarrassing. I don’t get what you see in her.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Of course, if you were dating someone as hot as me, I wouldn’t say anything.” She blew a smoke ring at me, grinning.
Caught off guard, I inhaled the smoke, coughing violently, tears stinging my eyes. I had asthma; smoke was a major trigger. She knew that. She and her friends laughed. It hit me then. Sarah
had always known I liked her. That’s why she used it against me, her twisted revenge. I’d
been so delusional, thinking she’d fallen for me,
that she appreciated me. I’d been so wrong.
