Gabriel laughed a little, his tone equally suggestive. “Maybe I already have a tutor,” he said.
Layne’s pencil snapped against the paper.
“Who?” said Taylor.
“Layne.” He still wasn’t looking at her.
Layne felt like the end of that pencil had lodged in her throat.
“Layne,” said Taylor, putting a finger to her lips. “Layne. I don’t think I know anyone named . . .”
“Me,” snapped Layne. “My name is Layne.”
“But wait,” said Taylor in that sickly sweet tone. “Everyone here knows your name is butchy dykey les ”
“Hey.” Gabriel came halfway out of his chair.
“Excuse me.” Ms. Anderson was standing right there, almost next to Layne’s desk.
Layne flushed again and looked back at her math book.
“Sorry, Ms. Anderson,” said Taylor, her voice still sweet.
“We were just talking about how much we love this class since you took over.”
The teacher pursed her lips. “Let’s settle down so we can begin.”
When the teacher went back to the front of the room, Layne tried to get her heart to settle down. What did he mean? He wanted her help now?
A folded piece of notebook paper landed on the edge of her desk.
She unfolded it to find Gabriel’s handwriting.
You don’t have to. I just needed her to
shut up.
Layne swallowed. He was so hard to read sometimes. Like with his phone number. Did this note mean he wanted her to help, or did it mean he wanted her to give him an out?
When she’d hugged him in the woods, his entire body had been tight, like he wasn’t sure how to react. She hadn’t imagined the emotion, the pain in his voice.
And then he’d pushed her away.
No. Wait. She’d pulled away.
This was so confusing and her life was already full up on confusing.
Another note appeared on the corner of her desk. She unfolded it slowly.
I’m sorry about this morning. There’s a
lot going on. I shouldn’t have been such a jerk.
He’d apologized to her twice now. She didn’t get the impres-sion Gabriel Merrick apologized for very much.
Layne carefully pulled a piece of paper free.
I’ll help you, she wrote. She folded it up.