Page 76 of Rebel Summer

“Shh.” I whispered, my voice catching in my throat as Mr. Gray glanced at me again. When he had looked away once more, I hissed, “You don’t really care.”

“I care so much.”

“It’s cool genes, alright? Now shut up.”

“Dax and Ivy,” Mr. Gray called again. “Is there a problem?”

“No, sir,” I stated, and with a raised chin I ignored Dax’s teasing eyes for the rest of class.

T-minus 26 days to exit

Dax hours remaining: 153

CAT

You coming? Game starts in 20.

ME

I don’t have time to go, so obviously I'm coming.

CAT

Perfect. I’ll pick you up in ten. You at Dax’s shop?

ME

Where else would I be on a perfect summer evening, other than indoors playing with Legos?

CAT

Ha, see you in a few.

I stood from my spot on the concrete floor, stretching my back as I did so. Even with the twenty-five hours from the fake tattoo, the math was not mathing. Dax’s hours weren’t going down as fast as they needed to be, but the evening looked too beautiful to waste.

The other night, I had been ready to accomplish the entire list. But since the other two items included theft, driving a car illegally, and damaging property, I was understandably stalled in my plan.

Dax sat on a metal barstool at one of the workbenches, filling out an invoice, when I walked in. A song I’d heard before but couldn’t remember the name of played softly in the background. He glanced up, his dark eyes almost making me trip over my feet.

“I’m leaving early. Cat and some friends are playing volleyball at the beach.”

Call me crazy, but a shot of disappointment seemed to flash across his face. It was gone so quick my only conclusion was that I imagined the whole thing. He turned back to his paperwork.

“You sure you have the hours to warrant a night off, Books?”

I scratched my time out on the calendar. “Don’t care either way.”

“That’s the attitude.”

He stood and sauntered over to where I stood, reaching up high on the shelf next to me to grab an oil can. His proximity and the smell of oil and cologne spiked my heart rate, and I took a step back.

“If you get bored, there are a bunch of Legos in the other room. They’re really fun to play with.”

He smirked but said nothing as he shuffled past me.

I walked all the way to the front door in the lobby before the song about loneliness hit the chorus. A small dose of guilt gnawed at my insides. Dax wasn’t lonely. Right? Sure, he worked a lot, but his friends came to visit him all the time. He was too tough to be lonely. He didn’t need anybody. He wouldn’t even want to play volleyball. He would probably make fun of me for doing it tomorrow.

So why wasn’t I moving?

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