“Tell me about Mayra.”
“Okay.” I finished putting everything in the trash and sat back down at the kitchen table. “She’s in my ecology class, and Mr. Jones made me work with her.”
“I got that much.”
“Right.” I ran my hand though my hair. “I was supposed to go to her house to work on the assignment, and I tried—I really did—but I couldn’t knock on the door.”
“So how did she get over here?”
“I guess she just came over when I didn’t show up,” I said. “I think she knew I had tried. I tried to go to her house once before.”
“And she came over here to see you instead?” Travis asked for clarification, and I nodded. “And you’re okay with her being here?”
“It’s weird,” I said. “I don’t know why, but having her here doesn’t bother me much at all.”
“Uh huh.” Travis chuckled. “So what’s her story? She’s one of the outsider kids in your class, too? She’s really cute, but I know that doesn’t always matter in those cliques and stuff. Is she smart? Maybe on the chess team or something?”
My brow furrowed as I tried to process what Travis was saying. Mayra was smart, but she wasn’t those other things at all.
“She plays on the soccer team. She’s a team captain.”
“Oh yeah? Jock-girl, huh?” Travis’s head bobbed up and down. “I guess that only counts when you’re a cheerleader or something. Kids sure can be mean.”
I shook my head.
“She’s the captain of the team,” I told him. “Or co-captain at least. Aimee Schultz is the other captain. Mayra was class president last year. She’s really popular.”
Travis flinched and narrowed his eyes.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“What’s she doing with you, Matthew?”
It was my turn to flinch.
“I don’t know.”
Travis ran his hands though his hair. He stood from the kitchen chair and dragged me into the living room with him so we could sit more comfortably. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked at me. I stared at the coaster where Mayra’s Coke class was still sitting. There were little beads of condensation coating the outside of it.
“Matthew,” Travis said, “you and your sister are my only blood relatives. You know I love you and try to do just what your dad would have done for you. I think you are an awesome kid. You’ve done so much better than I ever would have dreamed after your mom was gone, too.”
He leaned back and put his arms on the armrests as he tilted his head toward the ceiling. He rubbed his eyes.
“I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an asshole.”
“Say what?”
He sat back up and looked at me again.
“What does she want, Matthew?” Travis asked, his voice dropping a little. He sounded angry. “I love you like a son, but why would a girl like that be over here, wrapped up on a couch, alone with a boy like you?”
I stared at the droplets of water as they trickled down the side of the glass.
“She has to want something,” he said, “and I just might have to find out what.”
He stood up and started to pace around the room a little.