Page 9 of The Infiniteness of Yesterday
CHAPTER 3
SPENCER
EIGHT YEARS AGO
“Stop being a creep and go talk to her.”
I look to my left at my friend T.J.
“I have no idea what you mean.” I play dumb. I haven’t told my best friend about the crush I have on the blond, though now I know I’ve been blatantly obvious about it.
He snorts, tapping the side of his pencil against our shared four-person table. The two guys across from us look like they don’t give a fuck what we’re talking about, but I’d bet my ass they’re listening to every detail.
“Don’t be dense. You’re constantly checking her out.”
“I am not,” I bite out, feeling my cheeks heat. “She looks familiar is all.”
And she does. I haven’t been able to place her yet, but she reminds me of a girl I used to know. Wow, how fucking cliché does that sound? Thank fuck I didn’t say it out loud.
T.J. rolls his eyes, blowing out an exasperated breath. “That’s Willa’s sister. You know the girl who needs the kidney or whatever.”
“Oh,” I recall her more now, but I’m still having trouble placing her. “She stopped coming to school a few years ago, right?”
“She’s homeschooled now, that’s all I know.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Sad about all that with her.” He shakes his head, sitting back in his chair. “I can’t imagine needing an organ—depending on a machine for life. Damn.”
His words sober me. It’s a scary thing to think about, one I’ve never considered before. “Yeah.” My eyes drift back to Harlow, watching as she doodles something on the edge of her notebook.
I can’t help but wonder what it’s like for her—having her sister go through something like that.
Mrs. Harrison, our hairbrained Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, has been shuffling papers on her overflowing desk for the last ten minutes. We’re always lucky if she gets class started in the first thirty minutes of the ninety-minute period.
“Aha, found it,” she mutters to herself, procuring her planner from underneath a mountain of folders.
Maybe we’ll start early today after all. Early for her, that is.
She swipes her bright purple reading glasses from her desk and puts them on, wiggling her nose. “Let’s see here.” She peruses the planner. “Ah, yes. We’re cooking today. I did buy the ingredients, didn’t I?” The last part is uttered under her breath. “I did,” she adds boldly. “I’ll be dividing you into groups of two or three since this class is small.” There’s a collective groan in the room at not being able to team up with our friends. “I know, I know. But I find when I let you all have kitchen days with your friends nothing productive happens.”
She’s not wrong.
“She’s crazy.” T.J. shakes his head. “She probably didn’t get the ingredients anyway.”
Colby, one of the guys across from us finally joins our conversation. “I heard some students slipped acid into her coffee a few years ago and she tripped so hard she saw butterflies and now she’s terrified of them.”
“Is that why…?” I trail off, pointing lazily toward a butterfly someone drew on the corner of the whiteboard in what I assume is black sharpie since it’s been there since the start of the year.
“Mhm,” Kyler, the other guy sharing our table hums. “Maybe we should send her some of those caterpillars you watch grow into butterflies. I think Amazon has those.”
T.J. chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “Amazon ships bugs?”
“Dude”—Kyler sits up, grinning broadly— “they ship all kinds of things. My sister got this weird glass orb thing that’s like its own enclosed ecosystem or some shit.”
“Gentlemen.” We look over to see Mrs. Harrison glaring at us. “This isn’t free hour.”
We all shut up immediately and she begins dividing the class into groups.
When she gets to my name I perk up, crossing my fingers that by some miracle I’ll get paired with T.J. No such luck though, but I have no complaints when it’s Harlow’s name she says.
Despite my brush off to T.J. there is something about the sophomore girl that catches my attention. Normally, I’m not one to go for underclassmen but there’s something about the girl that I’m attracted to. She’s pretty, of course, but I think it’s her easy smile and carefree laughter I’m drawn to the most.
