Worse Than Enemies

I check the time on seeing the girl’s bathroom up ahead. “We still have a few minutes. I need to…” I point at the room.

“Jesus Christ.” He sighs. “Go ahead. But hurry. I’m not going to be late for class because of you.”

And that’s what I get for maybe saving someone’s life.

I duck in and rush for the first stall, pushing the door open without thinking. It wasn’t locked, but the stall was not empty.

I fall back in surprise when I realize one of two girls is cutting coke into lines on top of the metal box used to throw out tampons.

“What the fuck are you doing? Get out of here!” The second girl slams the door in my face, and this time, she thinks to lock it.

For a moment, I can only stare at the door in surprise. I’ve never seen anything like that before, and there were some pretty messed-up kids at my old school. But they would take edibles or soak tampons in vodka to get drunk without teachers knowing, that kind of thing. This is a whole other level.

I rush through peeing, if only to make sure I don’t run into either of those girls again. Just before I flush, I recognize the noise coming from the stall to my other side. A look down at the floor shows me a pair of what can only be men’s shoes—and a girl on her knees. Holy shit, she’s giving him a blow job in the girl’s bathroom? While other people are here? I’ve never done that myself, but I can’t imagine kneeling in front of a public toilet is very sexy.

A quick look in the mirror as I’m washing my hands reflects wide, fear-filled eyes. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the feeling that I got dumped into the deep end of a pool, only I don’t know how to swim. I think I’m in way over my head here.

By the time I practically fly out to the hall again, Hayes is talking with another girl, who is leaning against a locker, giggling while she stares adoringly up at him. He leans in, murmuring something close to her ear, then caresses her ass before she walks away. Her mile-wide smile tells me she doesn’t mind. Not even close.

He catches my eye, and a smile spreads slowly across his face. It’s almost like he’s challenging me to react, though, I can’t understand why.

I cross the crowded hall. “Okay. Let’s go.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “Really? That’s all you have to say?”

“What else was I supposed to say?”

His smile widens. “I saw a guy from the basketball team go in there before you did. You mean you didn’t notice him?”

“No.” I lift a shoulder and pretend not to care. I’ve perfected that over the years. It’s easier to keep Mom calm when I’m bland and unaffected. “Maybe he likes peeing in the girl’s room. It’s probably cleaner.”

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?” He says it like it’s a bad thing, like I disgust him.

“I guess I never thought about it before.”

Now he’s scowling. “What’s your problem?”

I point at myself. “My problem?”

“Yeah. Like, you don’t react to anything. I know damn well that guy wasn’t in there to take a piss. I saw who he went in with. She’s sucked almost every dick in this school.”

“It’s none of my business.”

His eyes flicker over me, and suddenly, I know what he thinks before he even says it. “Since when do you mind your own business? I figured you’d be somebody who sticks their nose in where it doesn’t belong all the time.”

The hall is emptying out, with people heading into the classrooms. That’s the only reason I have the guts to stand straight and look him dead in the eye. “I didn’t know being nice and caring about other people was such a bad thing. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

“Oh, no. That’s something I never do.”

“We both know that’s not true. You were nicer than this before.”

His eyes go narrow, and I know I crossed a line. “I would watch what I say if I were you. I don’t know how things went in the school you’re coming from, but you don’t want to make enemies here.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I don’t know what it is. I’m only making him angrier. Does he want to see me break down? Why? I’m about to ask when the bell rings.

“There.” He nods toward a room two doors down from where we’re standing. “Class is in there. Go ahead. You don’t want to be late on your first day.”

Thank God. I don’t know if I can stand another minute with this guy. How could I have been so wrong about him? He was sort of mean on the bridge, but I figured that was because of how much he was hurting. He’s not hurting now, with people practically falling over themselves to talk to him and get close to him. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up at all, but that would just be weird. Why should we pretend it never happened? I only wanted him to know it could be our secret if he wanted it to.