Page 31 of The Sun
She looked up from her desk. Our eyes locked, and my chest begged to explode. She pinched her bottom lip beneath her teeth, and then, I finally redirected my attention to my forearm. I traced over the tribal sun lost amongst the myriad of ink.
She was so fucking beautiful and bright. Happy. Perfect.
I didn’t want to ruin her, even if it meant killing the only bit of hope I had clung to for the past three years.
After all, any idiot knows the sun and the moon were never meant to share the same sky.
9
Sunny
The rest of the week went on much the same. Elias didn’t speak to me, and I didn’t speak to him.
It turned out that the other two guys who had gotten in trouble for smoking during lunch where his brothers, Judah and Atlas. The three of them sat together at the end of the loners’ table every day for lunch—even though Jenny and Valeria invited them to the populars’ table on a daily basis.
New kids with good looks had an automatic free trial with that group.
Meanwhile, as they turned down invitation after invitation, the rumors about the hot-as-hell brothers ran rampant. There were whispers that they dealt drugs. Some people said they belonged to a secret gang. Gun runners. Satanist. All of it, of course, was ridiculous.
They were just boys who didn’t give a shit about anything. Not popularity. Not the clothes they wore. Not the people they used to care about.
Just boys.
Friday afternoons always seemed to have a buzz surrounding them. The class would sit, people’s eyes glancing at the clock every few minutes. When the dismissal bell finally rang, students bolted out.
I tended to wait until the mass exodus had fled through the doors before I left my seat and trudged into the chaotic hallway. Two of the football player shoved each other against the lockers, laughing like idiots and nearly knocking some poor freshman over. In turn, it caused me to screw up the combination on my lock.
Daisy popped around my open door. “You’re coming tonight, right?”
I rolled my eyes and shoved my science book inside my backpack. She had taken it upon herself to agree to a double date with two meatheads from the football team. “No.”
“Oh, come on. I only said yes because I knew you’d say no.”
“So you understand why I’m not going?” I patted her shoulder and did my best fake grin. “Great.”
“You do realize Brandon is liketheguy. He’s athletic. He makes good grades. Daddy even thinks he’s a golden boy. He has the preacher’s stamp of approval, Sunny. That’s one step down from a blessing by the pope.”
“So,” I gave her a sarcastic grin, “you go out with him.”
“He’s too good. I need ’em a little rough around the edges. Like Ben.”
“Then go out with Ben. Tell Brandon I’ve got the plague or something.”
She banged her head on the wall of lockers. “You’re impossible.”
“You don’t need me to go on your date with you.”
“Yes, I do.” She stepped in front of me, grabbing my shoulders. “You’re the Thelma to my Louise.”
“I’m pretty sure Thelma and Louise didn’t go on double dates.”
“Look, a hot guy likes you. Just once. If you hate it, fart or something, and I’m sure he’ll never ask you out again.”
“Wow.”
Daisy started blabbing about how I needed to give the guy a chance, something about my dad would like him. Blah. Blah. Blah. I went back to my locker, grabbing my copy ofGatsbyand my gym clothes before slamming the door with a bang.
When I turned to walk off, Daisy had her arms crossed over her chest. “Besides, you still owe me for letting you use my address to send those letters to Elias.”
