The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(13)
He dropped his pen with a clatter and meshed his hands together under his chin. “I’m just helping you out, Taylor. I know senior year is tough and you have a lot on your plate, but that’s life. Everyone has things to do. Obligations to fulfill. Families to feed. Bills to pay. This isn’t easy for me, either.”
His words made me feel like an idiot. And I hated that feeling. But he couldn’t just take away my speech and give it to Lin Cheng. That girl had it out for me since we were in kindergarten. It wasn’t my fault I colored inside the lines quicker than her. Or that she was always in second place. Now third, since Brian had moved to town and kicked us both down a spot. But you didn’t see me being bitter about it all the time. Much.
Wringing my hands together, I tried to look contrite. “I’m sorry about your obligations and your bills, but I can handle it! I swear!”
“Then you’ll have nothing to worry about. This isn’t a punishment. Maybe later you and Lin can even work together on it. Help each other out.” He leaned back in his chair and nodded toward the door. “That’s it. You can leave now.”
Yeah, right, she’d help me. More like help herself to all the credit and my hard work.
I wanted to argue with him, but to my horror, his face got blurry. Damn it. Not now. Don’t cry. Maybe when I was safe at home in my soft gray sweater that fell past my knees, but I couldn’t cry here. Not in front of everyone.
I don’t know how or when I left the class, but next thing I knew, Brian was standing in front of me, shielding me from the other people still lingering in the halls. Without saying anything, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me into the library’s empty media room. I wanted to lean against his warm shoulder—god, I was so tired—but I kept my back stiff instead, determined not to show weakness. He shut the door and stood in front of it with crossed arms. I didn’t know if it was to prevent me from leaving or anyone else from coming in.
I leaned against one of the bookcases and scratched at the fading blush polish on my nails. There was barely any trace left from the time my mom pulled me out of school for a mother-daughter manicure date. I was so annoyed afterward, because I’d missed the review session in calculus and ended up getting a B on the test. Especially since that was the first class that Brian had barely squeaked by with an A. If I had been at the review, I would have gotten an A+ and could have finally beaten him for once.
Ironic, since I would kill to get out of school now. Bring on the pedicures. Hell, I’d even perm my hair like a poodle to get out of here.
I let out a deep breath and rolled my tired shoulders before straightening up. “So thanks for, you know, before,” I finally said to Brian and reached for the stuff in his arms.
“No problem.” He released my binder and the papers before shrugging. “Sorry if I’m being nosy and overstepping my boundaries, but what the hell are you doing, Taylor?”
I glanced down at the folder of articles in my hands. “I’m going to organize some ideas I had for the next issue of New Voices. We should focus on the background people this time. Stage crew for plays, water boys in games. That sort of stuff.”
“That’s a good idea, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I meant about all this Evan stuff.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a horrible liar, Taylor.”
Of course I knew what he was talking about. That’s what everybody was talking about. If only Brian would be intuitive enough to get the hint that I didn’t want to talk about it. For a smart guy, he could be really stupid sometimes.
We’d only been friends for a little over a year, but it felt like a lifetime. Surprising, since I’d despised him from the start. Brian transferred to our school early last year. And within one semester, I was shoved down from number one in the class—a spot that I had all to myself for the past two years—to number two. And the most infuriating thing was that he didn’t even have to put any effort into being number one. He didn’t wake up early each day to study in the library or come to school with dark shadows under his eyes from cramming all night like I did.
It was also pretty annoying that he was so darn likable to everyone. He did great in school and was average in sports. Good enough to have people invite him to games, but not good enough to be the star and have everyone hate him for being perfect.
Even though I hated him for stealing my spot, I liked him. He understood and put up with me. And he was perfect for me. I always figured that we’d get together someday. It just made sense that we would. Preferably after we were settled in college and on our career paths.
Brian wasn’t in-your-face gorgeous like, well, Evan, but he was handsome in his own way—tall and lanky with broad shoulders and straight black hair that pointed in all directions. The disheveled look contrasted with his crisp, well-fitting clothes: He opted for dark dress jeans and button-down shirts rather than T-shirts and khaki cargo pants.
From the neck down, he looked like a GQ model. From the neck up, he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. Yet he made it work. I loved a well-dressed guy in a tie. Add in a vest, and I was putty on his shiny shoes. Carly always made fun of the fact that while other girls fantasized about football players and firemen, I’d swoon over a businessman in a suit. What can I say? I had mature taste. He also had dark, soulful eyes that made my knees weak, although his were black rather than gray like Evan’s.