“Why are you so mad? I get it, I didn’t call. But it was a rush thing, OK? It was a big deal for me. I didn’t have time to call, and I told Bowman to send you a message at school so you didn’t show up.”
“Well, I did show up because that school is stupid. No one ever got me that message and I took the bus all the way over here. I didn’t even have enough money left over to eat that day!”
I scream that last part. I might be losing it. All the shit that’s happened over the past year is coming out right now and Mateo had better get the hell away from me, because he’s my target.
Mateo sighs. “Do you want to go to Hawaii with me for spring break?”
“What?” I snap.
He’s got a pathetic smile on his face. Something that might be sheepishness, confusion, or maybe just fear. I hope it’s fear. “I have to go to Hawaii over break to do this demonstration of the stuff I’m writing about in my dissertation, and I’d like you to come.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m sorry. I should’ve called you first. And I want you to come. See what I do. Plus, if you spend any more time with Danny Alexander, I will throttle him.”
“You will not. He’s picking me up right now and if you so much as look at him funny, I will never talk to you again.”
Mateo sighs, runs his fingers through his hair, and then walks away and goes back inside.
I told him.
I tap my foot as I smoke.
Yup. Told his ass right off.
I blow some rings.
He can take his Hawaii trip and shove it up his ass.
Ten minutes later my cigarette is long gone and I’m calming down when Danny pulls in to the parking lot. I get in the passenger side and hug my backpack to my chest.
“Bad night?”
I nod.
“Did you fight with him?”
“Yes, a little. But that’s not the half of it. I wanted to take a test today to try and make progress in this class, so he gave it to me, and goddammit, Danny, it was the longest fucking question ever.”
“So you gave up and walked out?”
“How’d you guess?”
“You’re riled up.”
“I’m calm now.”
“So you didn’t understand the question? Maybe Mateo needs to change his teaching methods?”
I can’t tell if that’s a dig or not, so I assume it’s not. “It’s not that. I understood the question, but I don’t think I know the x and y coordinates of the unit circle from memory. I remember glancing at that section and seeing all this square root shit, and I said, fuck that.”
Danny laughs. “I didn’t realize ‘fuck that’ was an option in school. Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong? Did you study it?”
“Study it? I don’t study, Danny.”
“Oh.” He laughs. “Excuse me, Miss Einstein. Most of us dimwits have to study to pass tests.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean, usually I can remember enough from homework to get by. But this question was ridiculous, you know?”
“Ah,” he says as he drives. He probably thinks I’m emotionally unstable and a snooty bitch on top of it. “You wanna go out to eat with me? I’m buying.”
My stomach grumbles, that’s how much I want to go out to dinner. “I can’t. Jason is waiting for me and I can only guess the next fight will be the best all day.”
“Want me to come in with you?”
“No.” I sigh. “That will just piss him off more.”
“OK,” he says, turning into my alley and stopping in front of my patio door. “Want a ride to school tomorrow?”
“I’ll walk, but thank you so much.” I smile at him. “Really. I think you’re my only friend in this stupid town.”
“An honor I cherish. I’m just down the street if you need me.”
“Thank you,” I say, getting out of the car and waving as he drives off.
“I told you not to come home,” Jason says from the open patio door.
My anger is back. I hate everyone but Danny right now. “Hey, if that’s how you feel, let me grab my clothes and I’m outta here.”
I push past him and go inside, glance down at sleeping Olivia in that stupid swing, and go into my room. Jason appears in the doorway, hands on either side of the jamb, blocking me in.
I spy the window and calculate my chances of opening it up and squirming my way through if he comes at me.
Not good.
“What?” I hiss, turning to face him. I find attack mode generally defuses things with men. They are constantly surprised at the amount of venom I can spew from this little five-foot-tall body. “You want to be pissed off because I was sick too? Fuck you.”
He watches me shove clothes into my pack until it’s bulging so much, I can’t pull the top drawstring closed. Then he says, calm as can be, “Put your shit back. I’m sorry I didn’t take you to the doctor, OK? I was stressed that day.”
“You were drunk that day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ve heard that so much lately, I want to puke.” My eyes start watering and I do not want to cry in front of this asshole, but those tears just come spilling out. “I hate you,” I snarl. “I hate you so much, I dream up ways to get you out of my life forever.”
He turns to leave.