[sic]

24. Mouth or Mouthful

“I am proud of you, Kent,” Cameron said. “You’re like a big brother to me.”

I cleared my throat, annoyed at being forced into their private conversation, and instead focused on the circle of light illuminating the path before us.

“I don’t want to be a brother,” Kent whispered, as though I might not hear it despite standing right next to him. “Can’t we talk about this alone?”

“Sure,” I offered. “I’ll stand right here until the sun comes up—don’t mind me.”

“Don’t be stupid. You can walk with us; we aren’t going to leave you out here.” Cameron waggled the flashlight back and forth to demonstrate where out here was. “Kent, we talked about this. You know I like David.”

This was news to me. “David?” the name flew from my mouth before I could stop it.

“Well, he doesn’t believe in relationships yet, but yeah. We’ve been talking about it. Nothing official, so far.” Cameron stated matter-of-factly.

I wanted to blurt questions about Emily and David’s relationship, but kept quiet. Who wasn’t David sleeping with?

“Well if he doesn’t believe in relationships, you can’t ever really get together, can you?” Kent asked helplessly.

“So I should just give up?” she asked. “But, Kent—a lot can happen in the future.”

“Well, I’m not giving up either. Is going to prom with me anywhere in that future?” Kent asked. “I swear, Cameron, if you give me one chance, one night, then you would change your mind. I know it.”

Watching Kent beg made me want to withdraw into my own skeleton until I was just a spinal column resting on the ground.

“Maybe,” Cameron sighed. We stopped at her car. “Maybe so. You never know what’s going to happen with Eureka, right?”

She sat down in the old red sedan and turned the key; headlights destroyed the darkness around us. She handed me her flashlight for the rest of my trip home. “Night, guys.”

Kent walked to his truck, which was parked nearby.

“Can I get a lift?” I asked.

“Will you tag me?”

I didn’t think it was a good idea. As unstable as Kent came across, what would he do? Run straight to Cameron and propose? “Maybe later,” I stalled.

“Then, fuck off.”

I sighed and began my walk home. My first day of school was tomorrow, and I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight.

School turned out to be especially frustrating because everyone else was used to their classes, and I was still finding mine. I didn’t care, though. I only needed to last four more months, and then none of high school would ever matter again.

My first two periods passed without incident. I killed time by actually taking notes, which was a first for me. My third period, Advanced American History, was a minefield. Nora was in the class, as were Kent and Cameron

I didn’t hesitate to pick a seat right next to Nora. I’d determined the night before: she still had feelings for me, but hated herself for having them. It would just take me at my most charming to get Nora over that hatred.

The teacher launched into a discussion of the Battle of Chesapeake Bay. As she lectured, I listened with one ear while devoting the rest of my faculties to observing Nora. Her inquisitive, deep brown eyes seemed to trap all light entering them, as though she could learn by simply absorbing the information in those dark pools.

Nora seemed to be adjusting well to her new body. She’d lost even more weight, if anything. She actually looked, well, pretty. Brunette hair curled at the tips of her shoulders, a little bit of makeup…she wasn’t glamorous by any means. More like glamour’s younger sister, who was never let out of the house. Everything subtle and downplayed, blue jeans and a cotton jacket, soft and smart and accessible.

At the end of the period, the teacher passed around a short quiz about her lecture. Since the class was almost over, a buzz of talking and activity hummed around the room, which the teacher made no attempt to quell.

I made it through most of the quiz without issue, but was stumped by a question regarding the name of a coast where a naval battle took place. I took this as an opportunity to open communication with Nora. “Hey, could you give me a hint about this one, or tell me where to look, maybe? Please?” I asked, trying to sound calm as sudden nervous electricity nearly shocked the pen out of my hand.

Nora turned to look at me, and I knew I’d made a mistake. Her expression was bitter. “I believe it happened in the water. You know, where the drowning is.” She slammed her notebook closed, ripped out her answers to the test, and crammed her things into her backpack.

Stupid. I cursed myself and guessed the other answers, turning in the quiz just before the bell rang.

I rushed out into the hallway and caught Nora, planning to use my one other opening line. “Hey, sorry about that. I should have known the answer.”

Nora ignored me.

“But hey, thank you so much for coming to get me. It saved—” I didn’t have time to say “Christmas” because a powerful shove sent me flying into the lockers so hard my feet left the ground. Nora chuckled, but didn’t miss a beat and kept walking.

As I recovered, my attacker walked in the opposite direction. Kent.