Double Clutch - Реинхардт Лиз - Страница 62

He held the shirt out and stared. “What if I don’t go?”

“It’s a t-shirt, Devon. You could always just wear it to school.” I went back to writing, even though my mind pulled in a thousand different directions.

“I’ll think about it.” Devon said it like he was doing me some big favor. “And, um, thanks.”

I smiled at him, and we didn’t say anything else for the rest of class, both of us pretty lost in thought.

By the time the bell rang, we were farther than any other group. Thankfully, Mr. Dawes didn’t feel it necessary to announce that fact to the whole class. Devon and I walked quietly to my government class.

“I have government now.” I pointed to the door. “Where are you headed?”

“Biology.” He looked intently at a poster for fall drama auditions on the wall.

“That’s on the other side of the school. Devon, you don’t have to walk with me.”

“I like the company.” He tore his eyes away from the poster and smiled.

I smiled back. “Cool. Think about Saturday. It’s supposed to be pretty fun.”

He nodded, then gave me an awkward wave and turned the other way. I went into government where Saxon moodily tapped his foot, cell phone in one hand, call sheet in front of him. He barely looked at me when I walked in.

“Do you remember Devon Conner?” My words clicked out of my mouth with undisguised fury.

He stopped tapping his foot. “Who are you, the Ghost of Christmas Past? Lay off today, Blix. I’m in no mood.”

“Do you?” I pressed, ignoring his comment.

“What part of ‘not in the mood’ causes you confusion?” He met my eyes and tried to stare me down; I wasn’t about to let him win this one. He gave up and shook his head with disgust. “He was some dork I went to middle school with. I haven’t talked to him in years.”

“Did you organize your classmates to exclude him?”

He looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, then I burned a cross on his front lawn. Could you calm down the melodrama? I was, like, twelve the last time I had him in a class. Whatever I did to him, I’m not apologizing for it now.” He went back to tapping his foot.

Sanotoni came in and barked a laugh when he saw the cell phones out. He rubbed his hands together. “Looking good, young pollsters. Let’s get started.” He checked his watch. “On the hour. Okay, go!”

Thumbs worked overtime, and for the next forty-five minutes there was the endless chaos of phone dialing and dozens of low conversations going on simultaneously. Saxon was polite, direct and fast. He flew through half of our list in no time. He got snagged by a few talkers, but managed to get himself out without being rude. I planned on taking my time, but once I got someone on the phone, the thrill of competition crept over me and I couldn’t help but do my best. When the final bell rang, Saxon and I were in the lead, with thirty completed surveys between us.

“We go again tomorrow. Dismissed,” Sanotoni said.

“Don’t win this,” I begged Saxon in the hallway. “It’s just going to make problems.”

He laughed me off. “Don’t try to direct me. I’m not Jake. And try not to be a chicken shit when we win. It’s a day out of here. Plus that,” he said, and he moved his mouth close to my ear, “you know you want to spend the day, just the two of us. Now you don’t have to lie to Jakey. Tell him it’s for school. Don’t go into detail. Wouldn’t want to confuse him.”

Saxon turned and stalked away, pushing past the flow of traffic just to be an asshole. I was left with nothing to yell at his back; no angry retorts, no smug, self-satisfied comeback. I slunk into art class and grumbled through my macramй mess, ran so hard in gym I could hardly breathe when it was over, and stomped past Saxon on my way out to Jake’s truck.

He was leaned against the passenger door, and as soon as he saw me, he opened the door and helped me in. That, I thought to myself, was the difference between dating someone like Saxon and dating someone like Jake. Jake had basic manners. Jake was thoughtful and kind. Jake wasn’t wreaking personal Armageddon on the lives of innocent dorks for fun.

Maybe he had slept with half the female population of Sussex County. I honestly couldn’t care less. He loved me, he was good to me, and when I thought about him it felt like my heart was in bloom.

He smiled at me from the driver’s side. “I’m loving that I get to see you for lunch.” He pulled me over to the middle and threw his arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head against him and breathed his smell in.

We pulled up at Tech and he led me into the lunchroom. He felt me hold back a little bit.

“What’s wrong, Bren?”

“I just…I don’t know anyone here, I guess.” It was that raw, jangly first-day-of-school feeling all over again, but I was already a month in.

“I do, though.” He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “C’mon. You can meet my friends here.”

We went to a round table, the one I had seen Jake at the day before. “Hey guys,” he said. “Brenna, this is Lou, Jesse, Ellen, Aaron and Chloe.”

They all smiled friendly smiles and waved.

“This is the famous Brenna?” Lou asked. His lean face was friendly. “We’ve heard a lot about you. A lot. Like never-endingly a lot.”

Everyone laughed.

“Shut up,” Jake mumbled, flicking a Dorito from Ellen’s bag at Lou. They laughed again.

“All good stuff, though,” Lou added.

“Good to know,” I said and smiled at them all.

Jake led me to the cafeteria line. The selection was different than Frankford’s, not better or worse, just different. I loaded my tray up.

“Is it okay here?” Jake stacked two yogurts on my tray with anxious fingers.

“It’s good.” I squeezed his hand while I balanced my tray with one hand.

When we got to the checkout cashier, Jake paid for the both of us.

“I don’t want you doing that.” I put my wallet back in my pocket with a frown.

“You’re my girlfriend. I want to pay for you. I know you think I’m really poor, but I do work full time.”

“I don’t think you’re really poor,” I said, even though I did. “I just get money from my parents for lunch. What will I do with it all?”

He grabbed my tray, put all of my food on with his, and slid the empty tray under the shared one. “You mean you can’t think of anything to do with extra money?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t been shopping, except for my room, since I was in Denmark. “Fine. I’ll spend it on something else.” I thought about what I could get Jake for his birthday; would he be offended if I bought him new clothes? Money was a testy issue for him.