All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(5)

The boy was wearing a grey wool hat that he took off as I passed. He nodded, and I nodded back. He looked at me sidelong. ‘Food fight, right?’

‘Yeah, you could call it that.’ I wasn’t in the mood for making new friends. He crossed his hands on his lap. He had calluses on his fingers and, despite myself, I found this interesting.

He must have seen me staring because he asked me what I was looking at.

‘Your hands,’ I replied. ‘They’re kind of rough for a city boy.’

He laughed and said, ‘I’m from upstate. We used to grow our own food. Most of the calluses are from that. A couple are from my guitar. I’m no good; I just like to play. The rest I can’t explain.’

‘Interesting,’ I said.

‘Interesting,’ he repeated. ‘I’m Win, by the way,’ he said.

I turned to look at him. So, this was Scarlet’s new boy. She was right. He certainly wasn’t hard to look at. Tall and thin. Tanned skin and toned arms which must have come from the farming he’d mentioned. Soft blue eyes and a mouth that seemed more inclined to smile than to frown. Not my usual type at all.

He offered me his hand to shake, and I accepted it. ‘An—’ I started to say.

‘Anya Balanchine, I know. Everyone can’t seem to stop talking about you today.’

‘Hmmph,’ I said. I could feel my face getting flushed. ‘Then you probably think that I’m crazy and a slut and an addict and a mafiya princess, so I don’t even know why you’re bothering to talk to me!’

‘I don’t know about here, but where I’m from we come to our own conclusions about people.’

‘Why are you here?’ I asked him.

‘That’s an awfully big question, Anya.’

‘No, I meant here outside this office. What did you do wrong?’

‘Multiple choice,’ he said. ‘A. A few pointed comments I made in Theology. B. The principal wants to have a chat with the new kid about wearing hats in school. C. My schedule. I’m just too darn smart for my classes. D. My eyewitness account of the girl who poured lasagne over her boyfriend’s head. E. The principal’s leaving her husband and wants to run away with me. F. None of the above. G. All of the above.’

‘Ex-boyfriend,’ I mumbled.

‘Good to know,’ he said.

At that moment, the principal’s door opened, and out came Gable. His face was pink and splotchy from where the sauce had hit him. His white dress shirt was covered in sauce, which I knew was probably bothering the heck out of him.

Gable scowled at me and whispered, ‘Not worth it.’

The principal poked her head out the door. ‘Mr Delacroix,’ she said to Win, ‘would it prove a terrible inconvenience to you if I saw Ms Balanchine first?’

He consented, and I went into the office. The principal shut the door behind us.

I already knew what would happen. I was put on probation and assigned lunch duty for the rest of the week. All things considered, pouring the lasagne on Gable’s head had still been completely worth it.

‘You must learn to resolve these little relationship problems outside of Holy Trinity, Ms Balanchine,’ the principal said.

‘Yes, Principal.’

It somehow seemed beside the point to mention that Gable had tried to date-rape me the night before.

‘I considered calling your grandmother Galina, but I know she’s been in poor health. No need to worry her.’

‘Thank you, Principal. I appreciate it.’

‘Honestly, Anya, I worry for you. This kind of behaviour, if it becomes a pattern, could be damaging to your reputation.’

As if she didn’t know that I’d been born with a bad reputation.

When I left the office, my twelve-year-old sister, Natty, was sitting next to Win. Scarlet must have told her where to find me. Or maybe Natty had guessed – I was no stranger to the principal’s office. Natty was wearing Win’s hat. They’d obviously been introduced. What a little flirt she was! Natty was cute, too. She had long, shiny black hair. Like mine, except hers was stick-straight while I was stuck with untameable waves.

‘Sorry about stealing your place in line,’ I said to Win.

He shrugged.

‘Give Win back his hat,’ I told Natty.

‘It looks good on me,’ she said, batting her eyelashes.

I took it off her head and handed it to Win. ‘Thanks for babysitting,’ I said.

‘Stop infantilizing me,’ Natty protested.

‘That’s a very good word,’ Win commented.

‘Thank you,’ Natty replied. ‘I happen to know lots of them.’

Just to annoy Natty, I took her by the hand. We were almost to the hallway when I turned around and said, ‘My bet’s on C. You’re probably too smart for your schedule.’

He winked – who winked? ‘I’ll never tell.’

Natty actually sighed. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I like that.’

I rolled my eyes as we went out the door. ‘Don’t even think about it. He’s way too old for you.’

‘Only four years,’ Natty said. ‘I asked.’

‘Well, that’s a lot when you’re twelve.’

We had missed our regular cross-town bus and, due to Transport Authority budget cuts, the next one wasn’t for another hour. I liked to try to be home when Leo got back from work and I decided that it would take less time for us to walk across the park back to our apartment. Daddy once told me how the park used to be when he was a kid: trees and flowers and squirrels, and lakes where people could canoe, and vendors selling every kind of food imaginable, and a zoo and hot-air balloon rides, and in the summer, concerts and plays, and in the winter, ice skating and sledding. It wasn’t like that any more.