Page 81 of We Shouldn't Be Together
A laugh tumbles out of me. “Okay. Sure, sure.”
I zone out during my next classes. Last of all is English, which goes excruciatingly slow. Sitting in the back row, I periodically peer over in Tabitha’s direction. I never catch her looking my way. I hate myself for wishing she did.
But why do I want her to? I remember how quickly Jamie sucked in air after she left the nurse’s office and saw Tabitha in the hall. Am I supposed to forget how Tabitha has made Jamie feel? Something dings in my head, and my skepticism meter soars. Is this some kind of game? Is Tabitha pretending to be nice, just so she has more leverage to tease and ridicule Jamie?
Oh, crap. What have I told her? I haven’t told her anything about Jamie, have I?
Am I falling into some kind of trap? Is Tabitha the school equivalent of a KGB spy, infiltrating another government’s secrets? A headache builds, and I have a powerful urge to pull out my phone and start googling spy tactics and warning signs.
Finally, the bell rings, and I scoot my chair backward.
“Your mom is waiting for us out front, yeah?” Jamie asks in a rush. “I have this sinking feeling Maddy will cancel my day off and make me work instead.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re cool,” I reply.
“Are we heading to your place?”
I nod. “After my close call today, I don’t want to risk popping a stitch.”
She winces. “I said I was sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it, James.” I rub my now blazer-covered arm. “You didn’t actually wreck anything.”
“Jamie,” Ms. Jenkins calls out in her passive way. “Can you stay back for a minute? I want to discuss your last reading assignment.”
Jamie grunts with an eye roll, dragging her feet over to the teacher’s desk.
“I’ll wait for you outside,” I say, heading out with the rest of the class.
I curl my copy of ‘King Lear’ into a cylinder and notice Tabitha making her way out at the same time. I watch the muscles on her face for signs she’s double-crossing me. There’s a shine in her eyes, and her teeth graze her bottom lip before it slowly curls into a smile.
Did someone just punch me in the gut? The cramp is unbelievable. My body hurts at the thought she’s anything but pure. Dang. I’ve always trusted my gut, and I hate the idea of second-guessing myself.
Leaving the classroom, there is palpable awkwardness hanging between us. I wanna ask her something that’ll give me a sign I can trust her. At least in chemistry, we have an excuse to talk. But here we’re so close to Jamie, plus mybrother is leaving behind us. Nope, I can’t breathe a word. I can’t have anyone catch us talking and make it out to be something it’s not.
Heck, I like talking to her, and I regret not doing it during chemistry. It’s no big deal. I just don’t want to explain it to anyone.
I scuff into the hallway and lean against the wall outside the classroom, waiting for Jamie. When Milo exits after me, I remind him to wait near the north parking lot where Mom usually picks us up.
Milo walks past me with a dismissive wave.
As the rest of the class disappears into the sea of students, Tabitha’s presence comes into focus. She chews on a fingernail and hugs her books with her other arm. With a quick exhale, she steps in close.
“Umm, your arm,” Tabitha says softly. “It looked bad. What happened?”
I shrug it off. “I got stitches a while ago. They got hit at lunch and started to bleed. But nothing broke.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
I nod. “Looked worse than it was.”
“So, this is weird. Like, we can text, but…”
“Okay, let’s get going before my aunt changes her mind,” Jamie says, rushing into the hallway.
As soon as Tabitha registers Jamie’s voice, she marches ahead at double speed.
“Eww. Was Tabitha Jones talking to you?“ Jamie winces.
