Sarah and Nathan came to my locker the next morning while I waited for Kurt. I smelled coffee on them. Once again, Nathan drove them to his Hug-a-Mug before school and neglected to bring me a jelly donut. I always told Sarah the night before. She and Nathan always forgot because it was “too early.”
“You went to Hug-a-Mug,” I said to them. “Where’s my donut?”
“Free refreshments are for one girl and one girl only,” Nathan said.
“If I paid you ahead of time, would you bring me a donut?” I asked.
“Probably not.”
Sarah bent forward, laughing a bit. “You’re so funny babe,” she said before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Star nudged my leg. I patted her head and went back to finding my books. Behind me, Sarah and Nathan’s lips were being pressed against each other. I could hear them disgustingly moving in sync with each other. Thankfully, their hallway make out session was interrupted by a pair of sneakers coming closer. I turned and held my arms out.
“Well, hey there,” Kurt said.
I felt his arms envelop me. They were a little lower this time. I squeezed him tighter. He squeezed back.
“I’m glad to see you today,” I said.
“I’m happy to see you too Lia,” he said.
His lips were so, so close to my neck. I would’ve given anything to just have him press them down. If I wasn’t in the middle of the hallway with Sarah watching, I definitely would’ve just put my hand on his head and forced him closer. Again, the whole hug was great. The Sarah gasped.
I heard her boots jumping up and down. Kurt and I split apart. When we did, our hands accidentally brushed against each other. We turned to face her and Nathan, who smelled slightly better with his body spray being masked by blueberry coffee.
“You’re Kurt,” Sarah said, before side-hugging me. “I’m Sarah. I’m sure she’s told you about me. I’m her bestie.”
I gaged. The only thing worse than the word “Nathan” was “bestie.” Kurt chuckled and I heard him extend his hand.
“Kurt Hines. Nice to meet you.” He paused. Nathan’s leather jacket squeaked as he moved his arm up and down. “And you must be Nathan.”
“Indeed. Wait, Hines? Is your dad Kevin?”
“Yup,” he said proudly.
I really wanted to punch him in the arm for saying something so stupid. With a sigh, I closed my locker and leaned my head on the door. What was he thinking?
Nathan keeled over with laughter. It was that same, playful high pitched sound he made since he kicked dirt on me for the first time when we were six. I tried to take a few breaths to calm myself. It wasn’t working.
“When we saw that there was going to be another coffee shop down the road,” Nathan said in between his hyena laughs, “we thought, ‘how stupid are those people?’”
“Pretty stupid, I guess.” Kurt took a step back. He sounded so defeated. I extended my hand and pat him on the back a few times.
“That Hug-a-Mug has been owned by my family for years,” Nathan said. “Good luck with your little joint. I’m sure you’ll need it.”
“Be nice, babe,” Sarah said to him.
Later in LRA, Kurt walked in, nearly late like the past few days. Instead of sitting across the table, he sat right down next to me. Of course, Aida told him to move so that “we wouldn’t get distracted.” Miss Brent gave us a five-page take home test, so I worked on that the entire time.
When the bell rang, Kurt and I walked to our lockers a little faster than the previous days. Walking quickly, along with pushing through some freshmen, gave us a few more minutes to talk outside.
Again, we sat in front of the willow tree. I bit my lip and made what I felt was a daring move. When we sat down, I got as close as possible, then leaned m head on his shoulder.
“Is this okay?” I asked.
“Yeah it’s fine.”
“Still bummed out about before?”
“Nathan is a real douche,” he said.
“You know what, I have the perfect solution.”
“What’s that?”
I grinned. “Let’s go to Burger Barn.”
I got to my feet and pulled on his arm. He was still as a rock. I pulled him harder.
“Okay, fine. Before you yank my arm out of my socket,” he said. “But what about our rides?”
“Don’t worry about that.” I held onto Star’s harness. “Her Thursday class always runs late.”
“Her class?”
“She teaches kickboxing. It’s a long story.”
That was kind of a lie. It was just short and kind of embarrassing. My mother was a preschool teacher, then got sick and tired of whiny little kids and their annoying parents. She quit her job after five years, gained a bunch of weight, and had been on a health kick since Emmit and I came into the picture. Don’t get me wrong, I had no problem with my mother being a full time kickboxing instructor—it was just embarrassing to listen to her spandex pants everywhere we went.
“Text Mom and tell her to pick me up at Burger Barn,” I said into my phone.
We walked past the lineup of cars and busses to the sidewalk which lead directly to Burger Barn—the subpar burger joint where every student from East Mountain High went after the final bell or after a late night school-dance.
The stroll was pretty pleasant since it wasn’t as horribly cold and windy as the day before. Kurt slipped his phone out of his jeans a few times. They weren’t crinkling with each step he took, so I guessed that they were a pair of the skinny ones. When we reached our destination, Kurt ran ahead to get the door for Star and I. Just as I expected, it was full of our peers.
Personally, I liked Burger Barn because it was one of those restaurants that was trying way too hard. With the blaring country music and a door sensor that shouted “YEE-HAW!” every time someone came in, it made for the perfect comedy session. However, after the first time I ate one of their infamous jalapeno cheddar bacon rangers, it wasn’t as hilarious.
We approached the cashier, who said in the most unenthusiastic voice ever, “Howdy and welcome to Burger Barn. What can I get for you partners today?”
“I’ll have the jalapeno bacon ranger,” Kurt said without any thought.
I tapped his arm and shook my head furiously. “Kurt, no no no. Don’t order that.”
“It’s okay. I have a strong stomach.”
“If you say so.” I turned to the world’s most enthusiastic cashier. “I’ll just have an order of the cheesy cowboy fries.”
“With or without bacon?”
“No bacon. Extra cheese.”
I reached into my backpack and dug for my purse, which probably contained only a few coins for lunch money and my broken debit card. Kurt reached into the pocket of his skinny jeans.
“I’ve got it,” he said.