“It doesn’t matter what you say,” I tell her. “She won’t listen.”
We take a left and start the trek from Building A to B and my calculus class and Mai’s AP Stats. It’s warmer in this hall—even the inspiring quotes stenciled on the maroon walls look wilted.
“It’s my job to make her listen. I’ve been given a sacred task to guide these people into the future.”
“You’re taking this valedictorian thing too seriously.”
“It is serious. I want to leave these deviants with advice they can use.”
“Go easy on the body spray?”
She pauses to glare at me. “That’s not the direction I was hoping for.”
I laugh. “I thought you already had the speech written?”
“I did. I’m rethinking.”
“Why?” I ask. “It was good. Work hard. Choose your path wisely.” I veer left and Mai veers right to avoid colliding with three kids who are pooling spare change. It reminds me that today is Wednesday—churro day at the food cart. “What else do you need to say?”
“My mom read it,” Mai says. “She thinks my vision for the future is bleak.”
“That’s your mom.” I flip a hand dismissively.
Uncertainty flashes across her face, and I realize she’s not dismissing this at all. “What if she’s right? What if—”
Mai gives a sharp cry and lurches forward.
I grab her arm, steadying her as someone stumbles into me from behind. For a minute it’s a drunken dance as we regain our balance. A wave of students is heading our way, creating a bottleneck. Then I see who’s made the wave. The tall, broad-shouldered variety of boy. They’re like coyotes. They rove in packs.
Cholla High is not a bastion of intellect. We’re a public school in a not-so-rich area and though we’ve got a respectable number of brains, they don’t produce trophies. Our school is known for two things: baseball and football. They bring us glory, which is why the players who compete are treated like heroes. I try to steer clear, but it’s impossible to miss them. I’m not sure they actually attend class, but they do use the same halls.
Mai pops up on her tiptoes, and I know she’s searching for Anthony. “There he is.” She presses a hand over her heart. “I had my thighs wrapped around that neck.”
I sigh, blaming myself. If I hadn’t been working extra hours at the bookstore over spring break, Mai would have been safely floating on a raft in her backyard pool with me. Instead, bored on her own, she went to the public pool. Anthony was there, along with a group of his buddies, and a game of chicken started. Anthony needed someone to ride his neck and knock other girls off other well-muscled shoulders. He picked Mai. She described it to me in hushed tones—as if it was a moment when time stood still. Their eyes met. Their DNA called to each other. Personally, I think he saw a beautiful girl light enough to carry around easily. And as it turned out, Mai is a ferocious chicken competitor. No surprise there.
“You’ve got to admit,” she says now, “it will be the best ‘why-we-got-together’ story in history.”
A twinge of worry filters into my voice as I say, “You know this thing with Anthony isn’t real, right?”
“I know.” A small, secretive smile tugs at her lips. “But it feels better than real. It feels…fun.”
Mai is driven—she always has been. She’s into science, like her parents, and when she says she wants to save the world, she means it. One day, she’s going to be on the team that discovers a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s. I always thought she thrived on that sense of purpose. But thrived is maybe not the same thing as a laugh-riot. I feel guilty for raining on her Anthony parade. I’m even ready to send good vibes his way, but then I see Blondie and my heart ticks up. He’s in the middle of the crowd, his arm raised for a high five with another nameless hulk, grinning like he owns the world. Or at least this hall.
Suddenly, his gaze hooks on mine. His eyes widen. “Josie Walters!” he calls. “I’ve been looking for you.”
How does he know my last name?
“Where have you been hiding all day?”
I grip the strap of my pack. “In classrooms. You might visit one before graduation.”
His grin widens. “I thought I’d dreamed that acid wit.”
“Garrett Reeves is dreaming about you?” Mai asks.
Heads turn my way. The girls following along like human magnets are wondering who I am, and more importantly, why Garrett knows who I am. I roll my eyes because the whole thing seems so…high school.
Garrett shoots a finger gun at me. “You and me. We need to talk.”
Does anyone tell this guy no? “We really don’t.”
“After school. I’ll be at the flagpole. Find me.”
He did not just say that, did he?
I shoot a finger gun back at him along with a huge phony smile. “Yeah. For sure. Coolio.”
The wave of his friends carries him past us and on toward the cafeteria.
Mai fixes her dark brown eyes on me. “Did you say ‘coolio’?”
“Laid it on too thick?”
She shrugs a shoulder. “I thought it was a nice touch.”
“This is why you should never have anything to do with an athlete. They think the world revolves around them.”
“But they do have nice arms.”
The warning bell rings, startling me. Oh hell. What am I doing thinking about his arms? “We better run.”
Happily, it’s in the opposite direction from Garrett Reeves.
Chapter Five
I pull into the parking lot of the Page & Prose Bookstore, heading for my usual shady spot in the far corner. I shut off the truck, waiting for it to cough twice and then settle into silence. Mom and I share the truck, which is a pain, but we’re close enough to school for me to walk and that leaves Mom the truck during the day. I take it for my bookstore shifts. It works for now, but we’ve got a
