Page 22 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
I toss my phone on the bed. “She’s helping me, man. I’m, like, not failing this class for once.”
“Isn’t she supposed to be tutoring you today?”
Yes, she’s supposed to be tutoring me before we go to Dixie’s party. However much I want to text her and ask what happened, I can’t swallow my pride. “I think she’s grounded or something.”
“Her mother is Principal Gray. Ginny is permanently grounded.”
“I haven’t heard from her in two days.”
Chris looks me in the eye and knits his brow like he’s trying to figure something out. I can feel what’s coming next. “You dating her?”
I play dumb. “What?”
“I asked, are you dating her?”
I’m really conflicted here. I gotta go through with Principal Gray’s plan, and that means pretending that I’m dating Ginny but acting like we don’t want her mom to find out. But at the same time, I actuallywantto be dating Ginny. I mean, she’s way too good for me, but I still want her all to myself. Not knowing which lie to tell, I allow the words to escape my mouth. “Yes, we’re dating.”
“Are you serious?” Chris tosses the basketball at me, and I catch it. “When did this start? And why hasn’t her mom sent you to jail?”
“It’s just our secret.”
“Not anymore.”
“Her mom caught us hugging.” She didn’t see us kissing. Even Principal Gray would admit that was a step too far in our plan, and she’d probably kill me.
“And Ginny’s not texting you?”
A wave of frustration comes over me, and I pull my hand through my hair to get it out of my eyes. “She’s being weird. I don’t understand what I did wrong.” It’s a lie, but I don’t want to deep dive into a relationship that isn’t real. Ginny and I are pretending. One slip, and there’s no way her mom won’t find out.
“Chicks don’t make sense. Ever. Like, why isn’t Dixie Jones throwing herself at me? Total mystery.”
I look over at my phone lying facedown on the bed. I want to text Ginny so bad, but nothing feels worse than being on the receiving end of radio silence. I don’t know why since I’m the bonehead who stuck his foot in his mouth. And it’s not like I’ve been texting her, so why would she text me? I hold back the frustration I’m feeling and swallow the groan building in my throat.
A new plan comes to mind. I’m going to go to Dixie’s party and get this stuff off my mind. Besides, I deserve to celebrate after what I achieved in Mrs. Yates’s class. What Ginny helped me to achieve…
I reach over and grab my phone to look at it one more time. Finally, there’s a text from Ginny, and my heart starts pounding in my chest. Why does she have this effect on me?
Ginny: I hope you’re having a good weekend. Let’s have a session on Monday before volleyball?
I can’t respond right away because Ginny will know that I’ve been staring at my phone for two days. This is so not me. I take a breath and let a few minutes pass as I watch Chris toss the ball around.
Okay, that was enough time.
Me: Sounds good. Hope you’re having a good weekend too.
A weekend trapped in hell is probably where she finds herself. It must be hard living in the Gray household. I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that my dad’s gone so much.
I walk over to the corner of my room and grab my skateboard. “I gotta get out of this house.”
Chris snorts. “You’re the only guy I know that has a house to himself and never wants to be here.”
I exit my room, and Chris follows, grabbing his own skateboard. “Makes me think of my mom.”
I’m just being honest with him. The empty house makes me think of my missing mother. It also makes me think of how hell-bent my dad is to make me do something with my life that I don’t want to do. How can he even picture me as a lawyer? Everyone thinks of me as the guy that’s going toneeda lawyer. Not for divorce, though. I’m never going to go through that.
As Chris and I skateboard to the beach, we get some stares. Older women roll their eyes like I’m covered in tattoos or something. People just assume I’m up to no good, which, to be fair, is for good reason until recently.
The sun is setting at the beach, and I get off my board and hold it in my hand. The beach makes me think of Ginny. Everything makes me think of Ginny. It finally dawns on me why she’s being so distant. She assumes my mission to pretend like I’m her boyfriend is empty. Should I prove her wrong? Can I prove it?
