“Too bad. You’re in a relationship with your teacher. It needs to be discussed,” Avery replied.
I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off.
“Now, who initiated it?”
“For someone who doesn’t want me to know about her secret life, you sure are nosy about mine,” I said. “And he did.”
“How?”
“He gave me his handkerchief.”
Avery looked at me flatly. “His handkerchief? This guy sounds like a dork.”
I laughed again. “He’s not a dork,” I began, and then I spilled my guts to her. She listened the entire time, interjecting here and there with questions as I explained his handkerchief, and the lunch he bought me, and the time he wiped my hands and face clean.
“Okay, that’s hot,” Avery said. “And I never thought anything involving a wet wipe could be hot. That man loves you, Cadence.”
My heart gave a jolt. “He does?”
“You cannot be that blind,” Avery said.
“If he loves me, then why did he treat me so badly in class this morning?”
Avery huffed. “Get a clue, girl! Love doesn’t mean you’re not gonna get mad sometimes. Or say hurtful things. Or do really stupid things. We’re human, hello? We’re not perfect.”
I looked down at my lap.
“Look at me,” Avery demanded, and I obeyed. “Cadence, you cannot be so na?ve as to think that love is never gonna hurt or that relationships are always good all the time.”
“Of course I’m not!” I cried, offended. “But he humiliated me in front of the entire class!”
Avery nodded. “And I can guarantee you he feels like shit about it. He felt like shit as soon as he did it.”
I grunted.
“Just wait for the apology. It’s coming,” Avery said.
“It better be a good one,” I muttered.
Just then my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the screen. Mark. I ignored the call.
Avery eyed me curiously as I slid the phone back in my bag.
“What?” I asked.
“Just like a girl,” she said.
“Yeah, and guess what? You’re one, too,” I snapped.
“Oh, I don’t disagree. I ignore Gavin’s calls all the time. Even when I’m not mad at him,” she said, nudging me. I giggled.
“Okay, so why are you letting me meet Gavin?” I asked.
“Killing two birds with one stone,” she replied.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m being there for you emotionally and getting to see my man at the same time,” she said. “Plus, I thought it was high time you met him anyway. I figured eventually we’d have to start sharing a little bit about our secret lives.”
I nodded.
“Just to make sure this great big web of lies we’ve created stays intact,” she explained.
I nodded again.
“Thanks for sharing about Mr. Connelly. You know you can trust me, right?”
I knew I could trust Avery. She’d let them burn her at the stake before she told. She was just that kind of person. Loyal. Trustworthy. A friend, perhaps?
I nodded for a third time.
“Use your words, Cadence.”
I grinned. “Yes, Avery. I trust you.”
Gavin emerged from the garage, and Avery jumped up to greet him.
“Hey, baby,” she said, leaning in for a good, long tongue-tied kiss. I averted my eyes. “I’d jump on you but you’re greasy.”
“Mmm. Jump on me. I’ll wash your clothes,” Gavin said. “I’ll strip you down naked and wash your clothes.”
Oh God. Maybe I should have gone to the record store.
“Stop, Gavin!” Avery squealed. “I want you to meet someone.”
I finally looked up at Gavin and smiled. He looked exactly as I expected: grease-stained white T-shirt stretched taut over formidable muscles. Ripped jeans. Messy blond hair with bangs that fell over his eyes. He looked like he belonged in an auto shop. And I have to admit that he was pretty hot. Just not my type.
“Hey, I know you!” Gavin said. “What’s up, Cay-Cay?”
Cay-Cay? What the hell was that?
As though Avery could read my mind, she said, “Oh, I call you Cay-Cay sometimes when I talk about you to Gavin.”
“Why are you talking about me?” I asked. And then I shook my head. “No no. Why the hell do you call me ‘Cay-Cay’? I freaking hate that.”
“I know. And that’s why,” Avery said, grinning.
“Fine. I’ll give you a stupid name,” I said. I looked up at the clouds and squinted. “How about ‘Avers’?”
“Totally love it,” Avery replied.
“Whatever. It’s stupid and you know it,” I snapped.
“I’ll be Gavvy,” Gavin suggested.
We laughed. It was probably the dumbest conversation I’d ever had. And it’s exactly what I needed to feel better. I laughed so hard I didn’t hear my phone buzz again. And I didn’t hear it buzz when the three of us—Gavvy, Avers, and me, Cay-Cay—went for pizza. Only when I got home did I see the dozens of missed calls. From Mark. He left no messages, and I was glad. If he apologized via voicemail, I’d lose it.
***
I averted my eyes when Mr. Connelly walked through the classroom door. The room fell silent immediately. Students seemed scared of him, I guess because of his little power performance the previous day. I had managed to forget all about it for several hours yesterday while I hung out with Avery and Gavin, who were the cutest and most annoying couple I’d ever seen.
“Good morning,” Mr. Connelly said, addressing the class.
A few murmured “good mornings” back, but mostly everyone stayed quiet. Absolute fear.
Mr. Connelly sighed and pulled a stool close to the front row. Students leaned as far away from him as they could. Mr. Connelly sat down and scanned the room.
“I’m a freaking jerk,” he said. “I mean, I was a jerk yesterday. And I owe you all an apology for the way I treated Cadence.” He looked at me, and I froze. “And I especially owe you an apology, Cadence. I like to think I’m a pretty nice, fair teacher, and yesterday I wasn’t any of those things. I treated you unfairly, I abused my power as a teacher to humiliate you, and I was unkind.”