Page 16 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
“He can be my friend, not hers. He’s not good enough to be her friend.” He jerked his chin toward Tiffany. “They’re going to be friends.”
This is the strangest lunch I’ve ever had, but I’m loving every second of it. Before the bell rang, Tiffany and I managed to show each other some sketches. She loved to do scenes at the park, and I had some nice ones of animals in my travelsketchbook. I wasn’t going to show her any I drew of the guys, deciding in that moment it was something between just us.
By the time lunch ended, Phoenix fixed my phone and it dinged with incoming messages. I tucked it into my back pocket, walking with Tiffany to our next class.
“So, Phoenix is your boyfriend?” Tiffany asked when we were finally alone. I headed toward science next while she had social studies. The guys scattered, with the water polo players following the twins back to their senior hallway while Phoenix disappeared. Hal followed him, but I still didn’t know their deal.
I shook my head, focusing on her question about Phoenix. “Just my friend.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. The vibes. . .you twodefinitelyhave something in the works, but then again, two of his brothers fawn all over you, too. You’ll have to let me know when you decide which Lent to date,” she joked, and I bit my lip. She would never know how loaded her statement really was.
Bethany stared at our drawings, comparing them as not intended, from over our shoulders. “That one is the best,” she decided, pointing at my squirrel. “They’re all cute. Barrett was the hottest, but he is gone now, out of range at university. Brown, I think.”
I almost corrected her—Columbia—then I decided I might prefer if she didn’t know how close Barrett remained.
Tiffany held out her hand, ignoring Bethany. “Give me your phone, and I’ll give you my number. Then you text me from yours.”
I followed her directions, then a second later, I actually had a contact in my phone who wasn’t a Lent. I never honestly thought I might make a friend.
“Me too.” Bethany put out her hand, demanding my phone.
I scowled at her. “You said you thought I was stupid.”
“Yep.” She smiled, and I picked up on the genuine warmth in her expression. “Then I told you I changed my mind. You should think I am stupid, too, since we’re all in that class together. Let’s be friends. I’m not so bad, once you get to know me.”
Absolutely gobsmacked, I passed her my phone.Okay, now I have two phone numbers.One I wanted, and the other. . .I didn’t know what to do with exactly. After she gave me her number, she left to go get some coffee.
“If I’m being entirely honest,” Tiffany sighed as she admitted, “She’s not so bad. There are worse people here, much,muchworse. They all leave me alone, though. I’m too rich for them to fuck with, luckily.”
I’m not. She knew it and I did, too. Bethany might make a great pseudo-friend, if I looked at it as strength in numbers. I could probably also add Marco because he made the Eurotrash joke. Maybe Bethany was slightly misunderstood.
“You do know Phoenix does a lot of drugs, right? I ask because Hal does, too. It isn’t easy to be around all the time, but he’s really a sweetheart, even if I’m the only one who gets to see it.” She shrugged. “They used to be best friends, Hal and Phoenix? I don’t know what happened. Hal doesn’t talk about it, but I know he misses Phoenix.”
I cleared my throat. “I appreciate you sharing, but like I said, we aren’t dating. Phoenix and I are just friends.”Who sleep in the same bed and kiss a lot.
Tiffany nodded, her expression saying she saw more than I admitted. “Yeah, I get it. I protect Hal, too, so let’s be friends and keep our secrets.”
She left and I didn’t know if she really was okay with what I said. I hoped she understood I wasn’t prepared to talk about Phoenix’s private business, nor would I ever be.
Finally, I glanced down at my phone, and I realized one of the notifications meant Barrett had texted.
All good?
I smiled instantly, heat warming my cheeks before texting him back.Other than missing you? Phone didn’t work for a while, but Phoenix fixed it.
“Red,” Phoenix appeared from around a corner as if I summoned him with my thoughts. “Time to get to the next round of hell.”
That afternoon, I had social studies, science, and theater before I got to watch the twins play water polo. Theater would be my last period of the day.
Which then dragged on as if it would never end. Most of the teachers handed out rules and syllabuses for their class anyway, so it didn’t even feel like real classes. People kept saying hello to me, and I tried not to appear shocked by the attention. Everyone knew Phoenix, though, and the general consensus seemed to be we were or would be together soon. No one asked about our dating status, they just let me know they knew Phoenix when they introduced themselves.
Probably why he’s walking me to classes, I realized.He wants everyone to know we’re friends to keep me safe from the bullies.My heart warmed at the knowledge.
When the bell rang at the end of the day, I took a deep breath. A weight seemed to lift off my shoulders, because I made it through my first day—at least that was behind me.
“Alatheia,” the theatre teacher, Mr. Kaus, called me forward before I could duck out the door. In his thirties, the only defining thing I could say about him after one class was he smiled a lot. “Come here for a second?”
I went to his desk. “Yes?”
