Luke
Miles Jefferson has an enormous bruise on his cheek today. It looks like someone tried to give him a black eye, but they had terrible aim. This gives me great pleasure, and while I know two wrongs don't make a right, I was glad someone punched him for being an asshat.
But who? Who would punch Miles Jefferson and expect to have any kind of place on the social ladder the next day?
"Luke! Wait up!" a voice called behind me. I turned around and to my extreme surprise, it was Brooke Kane. I had to admit she was pretty...fuck it—she was drop dead gorgeous. Maybe not in the traditional sense, but something about her long, ebony hair flying behind her and her dark, wide-set eyes made her...exotic somehow. She jogged to catch up with me as I stood there, dumbstruck. When she got to me, she put her finger under my chin and pushed up. "Shut that mouth, Salazar, 'fore the flies get in," she said in an over-exaggerated country accent.
"Uh, what's up, Brooke?" I asked, turning and walking with her toward math hallway. Why is she talking to me?
The shock intensified when she looped her arm through mine as we walked. "Aren't you in Mr. Perry's Calculus class this period?"
I nodded, stunned into silence at having a girl's arm linked through mine. In the middle of the hallway. With everyone staring.
"I have Mrs. McCallister for Senior Finite. She's right next door. I saw you go in yesterday morning. I thought we could walk together."
"Yeah, sounds good," I replied, trying to stay chill. "So, uh, Mrs. McCallister. Is she cool?"
Brooke laughed. "As cool as a math teacher can be, I guess. She knows all of us are in there because we're not smart enough for Calculus or Trig, so she takes it easy on us."
I thought for a moment. This is where I was lacking in social skills...Did I contradict her and say she wasn't dumb or do I just sort of try to change the subject?
"Well, math isn't everyone's thing," I replied.
She laughed. "Well, when you're friends with Rachel Cross, and everything is her thing, it's easy to feel less than genius sometimes." I just stared at Brooke and she waved her hand in my face, saying, "Hello? Earth to Luke."
I shook my head, feeling blood rush to my face. "Sorry...I just..." I felt so ignorant and selfish for what I was about to admit. "I never even thought about someone like you having any self-esteem issues."
By this time, we had reached our adjoining classrooms, and she leaned against Mrs. McCallister's door frame, an amused smile on her face.
"Well, to be fair, Salazar, yesterday was the first time I ever thought someone like you could be cool, so I guess we're even," she said, winking at me and disappearing into the classroom.
For the second time in five minutes, I was stunned into silence.
Brooke
I left Luke in the hallway staring after me; I was sure I had just shocked the shit out of him with my flirty wink.
I sat down, dropping my purse and backpack onto the floor, wondering what had come over me because frankly, I had shocked the shit out of myself too.
Rachel had been right. Luke Salazar was cool. But he was crushing on her.
And God help me, but I was jealous.
Miles
"Dude, what happened to your cheek?" Joseph asked, a taunting tone in his voice instead of concern.
"I was throwing around with the little kid from next door...let's just say he needs to work on his curveball," I rattled. This story had taken me over an hour to plan; I had it memorized at this point.
"I'd say so," Joseph agreed, and we shook hands as we parted ways.
I scoffed to myself. Even my best friend has never noticed that anything is off with me...I have a damn bruise on my face, and he doesn't even think a thing about it.
Alone, I rounded the corner in the back hallway near the auxiliary gym, and in my reverie, ran right into someone.
"Shit, I'm sorry—" I started, then I looked up.
It was Rachel.
I didn't know what to do or say, so I just went around her, but she put her hand on my bicep to hold me back. I didn't turn around, but I felt my entire body warm at her touch.
"Miles, wait," she said, and the concern in her voice tightened my chest.
"What?" I asked, still facing the opposite direction.
"Turn around," she whispered.
I sighed and did as she asked. The bruise on my face may as well have been a neon sign.
She gasped. "Miles! What happened to your cheek?" She didn't know she was echoing Joseph's words, but her tone changed everything about the question.
My gaze flashed down, and I started the scripted lie: "I was throwing around with the little kid from next door... let's just say he needs to work on his curveball," I said, not meeting her eyes.
She stepped toward me and put her hands on either side of my face, lifting it so I had no choice but to look at her. She turned her head to one side. "Miles, what happened to your cheek?" she asked again, softer this time.
My pulse quickened, and I took a deep breath, trying to keep the quivering out of my voice. "I told you, Rachel. A kid hit me in the face with a baseball." But I knew it sounded like what it was—a damn lie.
The late bell rang, and it echoed through the empty hallway, leaving my ears ringing.
"Miles...don't lie to me," she whispered.
In that moment, I was tired of fighting, tired of hiding, tired of lying. I put my hands on top of hers and pulled them off my face, holding them down between us.
"Wanna skip class with me?" I asked, pointing to the alcove out of the view of the cameras.
She looked around for a second, then nodded.
Rachel
He let go of one of my hands and led me into the alcove, and we sank down to the floor, our backs against the wall. He let go of my hand and pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his forearms on them. We both stared at the wall for a few minutes until I broke the silence.
"Miles?" I asked, turning to face him, changing to a cross-legged position.
"Yeah?" he asked, looking over at me, his blue eyes searching mine.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me, okay?"
"I've never said it out loud before."
I put my hand on his arm, and he flinched.
"Take your time." I glanced at my phone. "We're just missing AP Euro...Ms. Johnson will only kick our asses for missing her test review," I teased.
One side of his mouth turned up in a half-hearted smile, but then he looked at his knees again. He must've sat there for at least three minutes until he spoke.
And the words that left his lips made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
"My dad hits me," he murmured, not meeting my eyes.
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. "Oh my God, Miles!" I exclaimed, my voice muffled behind my hand.
He leaned his head back against the cold brick wall, his eyelids falling closed. "Yeah, I thought that's what you'd say," he said.
"Miles, I don't even know what to say. Saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't seem like enough," I said, and my heart was breaking for him. No matter what he had done in the past, no one deserved this.
"I don't know what to say either...I never have," he replied, his eyes still closed.
"How—" My voice cracked, and I realized I had tears in my eyes. "How long has this been happening to you?"
He raised his head off the wall and looked at me. "He's been awful to me as long as I can remember—yelling, screaming, and all, but he didn't hit me the first time until after my mom died," he replied, and his voice cracked as the next sentence tumbled out of his mouth. "I guess he thought since he didn't have her to push around anymore, it was my turn."
I shook my head, unable to process this. I would've never in a hundred years guessed that Miles Jefferson was being abused. Then it hit me.
"Miles...is this what you meant that night on the phone? When you said you saw yourself in Luke?"
He sighed and faced me, our knees grazing each other. "Yeah, I guess so..." He scoffed. "What a cliché, huh?"
I bit my lip. "Miles, I—and I can't believe I am about to say this—but I understand why you've been...the way you've been."
"It doesn't excuse how I've treated him, Rachel. I'm a dickhead, and I don't think there's any forgiveness for that."
I patted his knee. "Sure there is, Miles. If there's no forgiveness for mistakes made, then what's the point in even living? We're born to make mistakes."
"Do you forgive me?" he blurted, putting his hand over mine.
"For what?" I asked.
"What I've done to Luke. For never even realizing your brother died. For being a total prick."
I smiled. "I forgive you for the last two. The first thing isn't mine to forgive...but I can say that I now understand you, Miles Jefferson," I replied, squeezing his hand.
He let out a breath and leaned forward, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you, Rachel. You don't understand what that means to me," he said, and I hugged him back. In my arms, I felt him shivering. When I felt the shoulder of my cotton V-neck dampen, I knew he was crying.
I shifted so that my back was to the wall, and I pulled him against me, running my fingernails up and down his spine. "Shhh, it's okay," I murmured against his ear.
We sat that way until the bell rang to signal the end of 4th period. He sat up, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Jesus," he said. "I'm such a loser. Sorry I lost my shit," he said, standing up and holding his hand out to me.
I took it and stood up, shaking my head. "You're not a loser. And I want you to know I'm here for you whenever you need to talk," I offered, picking up my backpack off the floor and slinging it over my shoulder.
"Thanks, Rach."
"You're welcome. But I feel like I have to ask...what are you going to do about your dad?"
A look of panic crossed his face. "Nothing. I leave for college soon, anyway. Please, don't say anything, especially to a teacher," he pleaded. "Promise me, Rachel."
I knitted my brow. "I don't know..."
"Please. I'll be out of there soon, and I won't have to worry about it anymore. I just can't deal with that right now." His blue eyes were imploring.
I sighed, relenting. "Fine..." I looked at my watch again. "Well, 5th period is about to start and we're nowhere near where we need to be."
He grinned. "Wanna ditch the rest of the day and go to the beach?"
I thought for a moment. Right before I refused, I realized it was spring of my senior year and I had never once skipped school.
"Let's do it," I said, and we snuck out the back door, with no teachers or administrators in sight.