Private (Private 1)

players—a tall, broad, blond kid who had “cocky” written all over

“I guess that makes you one of those obnoxious guys who thinks

him—threw me a lascivious glance before jogging back into the

he knows everything and is so full of himself that he’s convinced game.

that everyone around him wants to hear his every last unoriginal

“Reed Brennan. Sophomore.”

thought,” I said.

My heart skipped a disturbed beat. “Pearson” was reading my

He grinned. “Got me pegged.”

schedule.

He didn’t even have the decency to act offended. He had that air

14

K A T E B R I A N

about him that said he knew who he was and didn’t much care what I or anyone else thought of him. I envied that.

“Reed Brennan, sophomore, I’m Thomas Pearson, senior,” he

said, offering his hand.

No one even close to my age had ever offered to shake my hand

HOUSING’S IDEA OF A JOKE

before. I eyed him uncertainly as I slipped my hand into his. His palm was unbelievably warm and the firm assuredness of his grip sent a rush of anticipation right through me. As he stared directly into my eyes, his smile slowly widened. Did he feel it too, or did he just know somehow that I felt it?

My roommate was a talker. Her name was Constance Talbot and she His cell phone rang and he finally pulled away, sliding it out of apparently lacked the need for oxygen. She started talking the

his left pocket. Odd, I had thought he’d placed it in the other one.

moment I entered our room after my encounter with Thomas

“I have to take this,” he said, spinning the phone on his palm like a Pearson and didn’t come up for air once. While she blabbed, I

six-shooter in an old western. “Business before pleasure. And trust checked out the posters of rock bands and Rodin paintings she had me, it was a pleasure to meet you, Reed Brennan.”

hung in my absence. Took in the piles of cardigans and T-shirts and I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

low-rise cords on her bed. Wondered if her Manhattan school had

“Pearson,” he said into the phone.

kicked her out for continuously disturbing the peace.

Then he strolled off, head up, so comfortable that he may as well Her favorite topic of conversation? Herself. Making me wonder

have owned the place. I wondered if he actually did.