Offenders

Offenders (15)

As Dex and I sat in the bleachers watching Lena and Anthony try out for track, the stronger boy was not happy at all. But I wasn’t really expecting him to be, since he was Dex and all.

“I don’t get why we had to wait for them,” he muttered as he sat back in the bleachers.

I glared at him. “Because we’re their friends.”

Dex made a face. “Doesn’t mean we have to wait for them.”

I didn’t understand why he couldn’t at least pretend like he wasn’t having a horrible time. It wasn’t like he was the one that had to run around the track a bunch of times. That seemed much worse than just sitting here watching them do it.

“Dex.” I didn’t even turn toward him. I kept my eyes on the track. “Be polite for once, won’t you? We’re here to support our friends.”

Dex scowled. “Aiden and Kristie aren’t here.”

“Probably because they’re off making out somewhere,” I shrugged, even though I knew that that definitely wasn’t what they were doing. 

“Then maybe you and I should go off and make out somewhere.”

“Dex, we’re not moving from this spot.”

“That’s okay with me. I don’t care if people watch.”

I slapped him on the shoulder. “They’re almost done, okay? Just calm down.”

“This is so boring,” he groaned.

I was about to pull my hair out. “Oh, my goodness.”

I wouldn’t be able to take this for much longer. Sometimes Dex really did act like a child when there was no reason to. He couldn’t just sit there quietly for fifteen more minutes? He couldn’t have just talked to me? It shouldn’t have been that hard to come up with something to say.

“Violet?” a new voice called out before I could do any damage to my hair. I looked up in surprise to see Tom. “Hey.”

I forced a smile. “Hi, Tom!”

“Hi, Tom!” Dex mimicked under his breath, so quiet that Tom didn’t hear him.

I’d been avoiding Tom since the day he had caught me using my powers, even though he had no recollection of it. It’d only been a few days and we’d only spoken a few words.

“What are you doing here?” he asked me. 

I nodded my head over to where my two friends were standing on the track. “We’re just here to cheer on Lena and Anthony,” I answered.

“Some of us against our will,” Dex muttered again, but Tom still didn’t hear him. I was sure glad for that.

“So, what are you doing here?” I asked, afraid an awkward silence would fill the air if I didn’t speak.

Tom jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the coach. “I help Coach Henry when I’m free after school.”

I nodded. Now I didn’t know what to say, and it became silent. Oh, no. Please don’t let him feel awkward...

“Both Lena and Anthony are very good,” he finally said, and I let out a sigh. I was glad I didn’t have to think of something to say. “Especially Anthony. I’m actually surprised. It’s like he has super speed or something!”

I forced out an obvious fake laugh, but Tom luckily didn’t realize that it was fake. Dex rolled his eyes.

“Lena’s good, too,” I complimented, not wanting all of the attention to be on how fast Anthony was. “She’s faster than I thought she’d be.”