Page 82 of My Life with the Walter Boys
I turned my head to the other boys in the kitchen. My eyes searched Cole’s face for an answer, but he raised his eyebrows, as if to say retrieving my jacket was the last thing in the world he would do.
“Danny?” I asked. He looked up from the morning paper with an apologetic look and shook his head no.
“You?” I asked, turning to Isaac.
“Sorry, Jackie,” he mumbled through a mouthful of cornflakes.
“Then who?” I asked out loud.
“Isaac,” Katherine said, coming into the kitchen with a coffee mug in hand. “Can you wake up your brother? I can’t believe he’s still sleeping.”
“Sure thing, Aunt Katherine,” he said, getting up and putting his cereal bowl in the sink.
“Lee?” I wondered out loud.
“No, dork,” Isaac said and rolled his eyes. “My other brother.”
During the car ride to school, all the guys chatted about the end-of-the-year party they always hosted. They planned on having it this weekend when Katherine and George were out of town. I listened quietly and watched Lee from my spot in the backseat, trying to understand why he, of all people, went back to get my jacket. Lee was the only one who didn’t seem excited about the party. Maybe it was because he had his face pressed up against the passenger-side window, half asleep.
“All right, everyone out,” Cole said when we pulled into the parking lot. I quickly opened the door and grabbed my bag from the back.
“Ready?” Alex asked me when he retrieved his.
“Just go without me,” I said, still watching Lee slowly unbuckle his seat belt. “I’ll catch up later. There’s something I have to do.”
“Okay,” Alex said before kissing me on the cheek and heading into school.
As I expected, Lee was the last person out of the car, being as tired as he was. By the time he grabbed his backpack from the truck bed, the rest of the guys had already gone. He didn’t even notice me leaning against the back of truck as he slung his bag over his shoulder.
“Lee,” I said as he started to walk away. He stopped for a second but then continued to walk. “Lee!” I called again. When he didn’t turn around, I ran after him and grabbed his arm. “I know you heard me.” I spun him around.
He just stared at me with a blank look.
“Well?” I asked him, hoping he would spill the answer to my unasked question.
“Well, what?” he said, shaking my hand off his shoulder.
“You know,” I told him.
“No, I don’t,” he said before turning and walking away.
I stood rooted in my spot for a moment, shocked. What was his deal? Why would he do something nice for me and then pretend he didn’t?
“Lee, why did you go get my sweater for me?” I shouted. My question made him stop. For a moment he just stood there, his back to me, and then I realized he was waiting for me to catch up. “Why?” I asked again when I was standing right next to him. “I know you don’t like me.”
“Jackie,” he said, looking right at me. “Just pretend it never happened, okay?”
The bell rang, signaling we needed to head to first hour.
“No,” I said sternly. “I want to know why you did it.”
“We’re going to be late for first period,” he said, starting to climb the steps.
“I don’t care,” I told him, surprising myself. “I know you don’t either.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. Lee led me to the back of the school and over to a cluster of trees that couldn’t be seen from any of the building windows.
“Is this a part of some secret plan to kill me?” I questioned him as I looked around. We were completely alone.
