Kate Evangelista - Til Death

“Selena! Pay attention.” My best friend elbowed my arm.

Unfortunately, his dumb move caught Dillan’s attention. He watched me with a mocktastic grin. My chest tightened then expanded in panicked breaths. I wanted to flick my pen his way and hope it poked an eye out. But with my luck, the pen would probably just bounce off his inflated ego.

“Is there a problem here?” Mr. Sloan stood right behind his nephew with a charismatic smile on his old-Hollywood-leading-man face. The kind Grams swooned over on movie nights when she got to pick the flick. Always something black and white.

“I have two third graders in my group, Mr. Sloan. Don’t worry…I’m a pretty good babysitter.” Kyle returned our teacher’s smile.

Mr. Sloan gave Dillan an all-knowing glance. Suppressing a chuckle, he moved away to check on the progress of another group. Dillan muttered something about uncles under his breath. It didn’t sound respectful at all.

“Ouch!” I rubbed the arm Kyle had pinched. “What was that for?”

“You,” he pointed at Dillan, “stop annoying her.”

“What’d I do?” His face said shocked while his eyes mocked.

“Don’t you dare say anything, Selena.” Kyle gave me his famous librarian stare. I shut my mouth and squirmed in silence. Then he turned back to Dillan. “I’m not sure what you have against her, but unlike the rest of the world, who thinks you’re charming, I see through your attitude, Mr. I-think-I-know-everything. And before you interrupt me, I’d just like to remind you that you’re not the only one being graded here. I don’t know about you, but I have an A with my name on it for this project. I don’t care if Mr. Sloan is your uncle. Grow a pair, and suck it up! You’re stuck with her just as much as she’s stuck with you.”

Constance clapped. “Nice! Saying all that in one breath. My mom can’t do better.” Her admiration sparkled from her eyes to her pearly smile.

My cheeks burned. Kyle had never lectured me like a child before because he never had a reason to… until now. I scowled at Dillan. He seemed unaffected. It was gonna be a long forty minutes.

By the end of class, our group had agreed to construct a diorama of the Boston Tea Party over the weekend.

“Can we have a sleepover?” Constance gave everyone in the group an expectant look.

“I don’t mind,” Kyle said. “We can have it at my place.”

“Umm…this is a mixed group, Constance,” I reminded her. Someone had to be the voice of reason. Plus, the idea of spending the whole weekend with Dillan appealed less than a tetanus shot. “Won’t your parents mind?”

“Oh, no. Not at all.” Excitement had her bouncing in her seat. “My cousins are coming over this weekend, and I don’t really want to share a room.”

“What makes you think Kyle has room to spare?” Dillan asked.

Before Constance could think of a reply, Kyle said, “There’s room.”

“There you go!” She clapped again. “What about you, Dillan? Would Mr. Sloan mind?”

He glanced at his uncle, who’d been erasing the blackboard. “He could care less,” he whispered. It seemed only I had heard him, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. Dillan Sloan and family drama didn’t fit my image of him.

“What?” Constance tilted toward him.

He shrugged. “I said he won’t mind.”

“It’s settled then.” Kyle gathered his things.

My jaw dropped. Settled? Didn’t I have a say? Apparently, the conversation was over when everyone stood up. Kyle’s pointed stare spoke volumes about not changing his mind.

…

Head still spinning because of the upcoming American History project weekend from hell, I almost didn’t spot the familiar back that walked ahead of me in the hallway before the next period. The project distracted me enough that I moved toward my locker without really thinking. My stomach tumbled. There really wasn’t a point in avoiding the inevitable. If we had to settle this then there was no better time than the present.

“Bowen?”

He turned. “Hey, you.”

His words flew above my head. The warm pools of black coffee eyes and that carefree smile confused me. Shouldn’t he still be pissed?

Faster than lightning, he grabbed my hand. His long fingers wrapped around my shorter ones. He pulled me the last couple of yards to my locker. I yanked my hand back when my brain caught up with what was happening.

“What was that about?” I asked.

He leaned his shoulder on the locker beside mine as usual and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I just wanted to remember how it felt. We always used to walk to your locker holding hands after class.”

“Bowen—”

“The location’s different from last year’s, but the feeling’s the same.”

“That’s not fair.” I punched in my combination and pulled open the door, using it as a shield against having to look at him. “Look, about what happened at Miller’s—”

“Did you get home alright?”

“Mr. Sloan gave me a ride.” I unzipped my bag, snatched a heavy textbook, and shoved it in with the rest I didn’t need for the day.

“With the new guy?”

The book I held remained suspended for a second before I stuffed it into my bag. This was gonna be harder than I had thought. “He was there. It’s his uncle’s car.” I tugged the zipper shut and slammed the door.

Bowen went stilled. His massive hands clenched into tight fists. Good, the anger was back. I could work with that.

“Bowen…” I cleared my throat and sifted through my options. “It’s really over.”

As if I snapped my fingers, the heat in his eyes dissipated. His face fell, and his shoulders slumped. In the years I’d known him, I’d never seen him less than confident. This destroyed imaged was beyond me. My heart squeezed. Penny’s voice echoed in my head, warning me not to be nice.

But before I could over think, I said, “Fine.”

The hope that blossomed on his face killed me. “What?”

“Friends.” I raised a finger to stop him from saying anything more. “Just friends.”

The force of his joy came in the form of a bear hug and booming whoop. I barely had time to process being lifted off the ground. His laugh filled the hallway, startling the few loitering students. I stifled a groan.

…

“I think I just made a huge mistake.” I dropped my head on top of my folded arms on the table. The cafeteria conversation swallowed the rest of my regret. Bowen sat with his teammates. Thank God! I couldn’t take any more of him today.

“What did I tell you about being too nice?” Despite her disapproval, Penny rubbed circles between my tight shoulders.

“I don’t know what happened. I really did tell him we were over. Now, I just want to disappear.” I slumped lower into the cradle of my arms. “Kill me now. End it before I make a bigger fool of myself.”

“Nope. You put yourself in this mess, and you have to get yourself out.”

My shoulders dropped, my limp arms hung down my sides like spaghetti. “How was I supposed to know Bowen’s sad face was my kryptonite?”

“Him cheating on you is a dick move.” She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “But you have to admit that in the two years you were together, there weren’t any sparks. Wait!” She held up a hand just as I opened my mouth. “I think you like his company more than anything else. The sad part is…”

Her lips pursed.

I waited.

She sighed.

“Spit it out, Penny.”

“He fell in love with you.”

Shocker. “Bowen never said he loved me! He cheated, remember?”

“He was a love sick puppy with nothing but you on his mind. It was sickening to hear him talk about you all the time. Just ask any of his teammates. Don’t you think that maybe he cheated because he wanted you to get jealous? The Stop and Pump is like the worst place to hide a make out session. Even if you didn’t see him, the news would have eventually gotten back to you. Unfortunately, his plan backfired.”