Banish Me

Face The Music

I smiled at her. “Thanks Alma.”

“You kids should get a move on, don’t want to be late.”

Gwen took a last bite of her pancakes and then we were out the door. Peter drove us in the SUV, Gwen taking up residence in the front seat.

“This is going to be huge. The student body is going to go nuts.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“You and Peter. It’s spread all over school that he has a new girlfriend. The big deal is that no one knows who it is.”

She sounded way happier than I felt. I’d completely forgotten about that. It partly surprised me that they hadn’t guessed yet.

“Why is it such a big deal?” I asked.

“Because Peter is…well, he is who he is. When he was single the whole female student body sent me texts. It almost crashed my phone.”

“Great.”

I slumped back in my seat and covered my eyes.

“Cass, it’s going to be ok. It will blow over in a few days.”

I looked at him through the rearview mirror. “Really?”

“No,” Gwen said. “But good positive thinking.”

When we got to the school, the student parking lot was packed. It was sunny so everyone was loitering outside instead of going into the lobby of the auditorium. I spotted Bren standing in a circle of letterman jackets. When he saw the car he detached himself from the group and jogged over to where Peter parked.

Most of the students stopped talking, I could see them all staring at the SUV. It looked like several were trying to stare holes into the darkly tinted windows.

“Oh…god,” I whispered.

Gwen opened her door and hopped into Bren’s waiting arms.

“Hey Cass,” Bren said when Gwen let him come up for air.

“Hey.”

Bren closed Gwen’s door and I sunk even further in my seat. Peter got out and opened my door.

“Ready?”

“Can’t I just stay in here until the bell rings?”

He smiled. “No. Come on.”

He backed up just a tad, far enough for me to hop out of the car. We both moved out of the way and he closed the door. After sharing a brief smile we both turned to look at the gathered mass of students.

Peter slipped his hand into mine and I squeezed it.

“I feel like a bug trapped under a spyglass.”

When he didn’t say anything I looked up at him, about to scold him for not making this a tad better. Instead I found him staring at me too, but in a different way then everyone else. He didn’t care what everyone else thought, he was with who he wanted to be with.

“Everything is fine,” he whispered. “Ignore them.”

I laughed. “How am I supposed to do that?”

We started walking in the same direction that Gwen and Bren had gone. They were standing a little ways away, using this distinct opportunity to suck face.

“Don’t those two ever come up for air?”

Peter laughed and whistled, an earsplitting sound that would’ve made any horny teenager jump. Gwen opened her eyes and slanted them to look at her brother. I sensed they were doing that silent conversation thing again. I was right. A few seconds after that, Gwen and Bren parted, Bren smiling like the love drunk guy I knew him to be, and Gwen smiling her mischievous smile.