Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
I hold my books tightly against my chest as I watch the students file out of the classroom.
The hallways empty and there’s still no sign of Lake. I’m so close to giving up and heading to the office to get a hall pass when he finally emerges from the classroom.
And he walks right by me without so much as a second glance.
“Hey!” I call out as I scramble to catch up to him.
He glances at me over his shoulder, shakes his head and keeps walking.
“Lake Walker, slow down!” I shout at him.
He comes to a halt, runs his hands through his hair, then spins on his heels to face me.
“I don’t really feel like dealing with anymore lectures today. Say what you have to say so we can both go on with the rest of our day,” he barks.
A spurt of anger takes over and I slam my books on the floor.
“Look at me,” I tell him evenly.
“I’ve seen you,” he replies with an eye roll. “You can have tomorrow if you want.”
“No, goddamnit!” I shout in frustration. “Look at me, Lake.”
He rolls his eyes at the ceiling as he sucks his teeth, then looks me in the eyes again. When nothing seems to click he shrugs and shakes his head, “What am I supposed to be seeing?”
I take a patient breath as I lean down and begin to roll up the left leg of my jeans. Once I manage to get it over my knee, I turn to the side and point at the crescent shaped scar.
The one I got when we were at a playground after midnight and fell off the slide.
“Okay, so you have nice legs. So what?”
I look at him incredulously.
“Your friend Genesis,” I begin slowly, “did she have a scar like this?”
He shrugs.
“Jesus Christ, Lake. It’s me!” I yell in frustration.
He narrows his eyes suspiciously as he takes a step closer and peers at me. When I see the recognition finally dawn in his eyes, he looks down for a moment, then up at me again.
He looks angry, hurt, and damn near abandoned. I understand it, but he has to understand too. It wasn’t my fault; I didn’t have a say in leaving and I did beg my parents to let him come with us.
Clearly, they couldn’t.
“How have you been?” he asks me quietly.
“Fine now,” I reply with a shake of my head as I lean down and begin to collect my books. Lake reaches down and helps me, then holds one out to me.
“Stay away from those girls,” he tells me when our eyes meet again.
“What?” I ask.
“The Bitch Brigade. They’re bad news.”
“I didn’t exactly look for the popular girls; they just offered to let me sit with them at lunch,” I tell him as I shrug.
“Hm.”
“Wanna walk me to Phys Ed?” I ask him as I adjust the backpack straps on my shoulders.
“No,” he replies quietly. “You need to stay away from me too. I’m even worse news. It was good to see you again, though.”
“But—”
Lake holds his hands up as he turns and walks away, leaving me in the middle of the empty hallway with that same lonely feeling I had in my heart when we left Black Hills.