Wild Girl (Slateview High 2)

He laughed, and some of the harshness faded from his face. He dipped his head to kiss me so thoroughly that my knees went weak, and when he pulled back, he gifted me with a rare, soft smile.

His eyes were still shadowed though, and I could tell that, even though he wanted to, he didn’t quite believe me.

“I hope you’re right about that, Coralee.”

Thirteen

Despite my fears about Eli’s threatened retaliation, he did nothing following his fight with Kace. I hoped he was smart enough not to piss off his boss by starting shit with the Lost Boys, but I was well aware that logic didn’t always play a huge role in the shit that guys did.

I kept an eye out for him anyway for the next few days. I didn’t want to let my guard down and end up being blindsided by him. Again.

Between keeping an eye on Eli and keeping an ear out for any indication that Nathaniel had gotten wind of what’d happened to Flint, I was so distracted that it almost surprised me when finals loomed on the horizon.

I’d always been a straight-A student. I was used to rigorous study sessions, sinking hours and hours into my studies, checking and re-checking notes, making sure I understood all the class material like I understood the ins and outs of high society.

At Slateview, however, I found that I didn’t need t

hat kind of intense studying. A lot of the material was stuff I’d already covered at Highland Park, and what hadn’t been covered was easy to grasp. I was thankful for that; it meant I didn’t have to juggle heavy studying with everything else going on in my life. I liked our study sessions with Jessica and Liam, but that was more about the company than the schoolwork.

A few days before our first final, I had the boys over. Mom was out—again—having left a note on the fridge telling me she was meeting with a friend and that I shouldn’t wait up for her. I had no idea what “friend” she could be talking about. From what I understood, we were still social pariahs, and my “friends” certainly hadn’t made the effort to try to see me, let alone talk to me, since my father had been taken to jail.

But my woes about broken friendships and my curiosity and confusion about what my mom was doing with her free time faded from my mind as I glanced contentedly at the three boys seated around the table. They had a rare night off from work for Nathaniel, and I wanted to enjoy every moment of it.

We didn’t have our textbooks out, but rather little cups of microwave macaroni and cheese, a bag of chips, and a bag of baby carrots—which all of us were ignoring.

“I mean, I know it’s an important class, but come on,“ Misael said, shoveling a spoonful of mac and cheese into his mouth. “I can’t spend the entirety of health class looking at weird pictures of STD junk and watching videos of people giving birth just because the teachers want to convince us we’re supposed to be scared of boning.” He glanced up, humor dancing in his dark brown eyes. “So I feel like my suggestion was perfectly fine. I mean, if they’re gonna show us that, we might as well be allowed to look at nice ones too, y’know?”

“You told Ms. Hurston that doing a project on porn would be beneficial to the overall class experience, dude,” Bishop said. “You kinda deserved to get shut down for that shit.”

“Yeah, well, it was worth it. Got a decent laugh.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “Ms. Hurston could make anyone celibate just from breathing.”

“You know, I bet she’s just had bad experiences,” I said generously. “It’s probably not a coincidence that she seems to think sex is the root of all evil. I know people like that.”

“Oooh. I can’t tell if that was a burn or not, but I’m gonna call it a burn.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged Misael.

“Not a burn, just an explanation. There were tons of women like that in my family’s circles,” I said. “Women who’d had bad marriages or whose husbands cheated or whatever. So they ended up vilifying any kind of relationship because their own ended up going bad. Honestly, it’s kinda sad.” I smirked. “But, I mean, shoving STD junk in our faces is probably a little bit of an extreme.”

“A little?!”

Bishop rolled his eyes. “Enough talk about weird junk. I’m tryin’ to eat here.”

Misael only protested long enough for Kace to threaten to eat his food if he was going to be obnoxious like that. He jerked his little bowl of mac and cheese back to him, looking like he would fight to the death for his meal if it was necessary.

I laughed, shaking my head. My gaze met Bishop’s, and the warmth and heat gazing back at me made a slight flush rise in my cheeks. He reached under the table, squeezing my thigh.

“Why don’t we get a little studying in before we cut out and go to the warehouse tonight?” he suggested. “That way this fuckhead over here actually has a chance at passing the classes he’s so against learning in.”

“Hey—!”

Misael put on an offended expression.

True to Bish’s word, however, that’s exactly what we did. After spending an hour or so on homework, we loaded up into the convertible and drove to the warehouse as the sun set. The music blared from the speakers, and I sang along to songs that I had come to learn in the months that I’d been with the Lost Boys. I danced in the seat, swaying and moving my body to the beat the way Misael had taught me.

When we got to the warehouse, we unloaded everything, bringing in a cooler with some beers and snacks. Kace had gotten ahold of some pot, and as Misael put it, we deserved a little relaxation with exams coming up.

I plopped down onto the couch while the boys set everything up. As music started to blare from a boom box, Misael came over to me, a joint held tight between his plush lips and a smirk on his face as he took a drag. He swayed his hips to the beat of the music as he held it out to me, and I laughed, taking it from him as I stood. I moved my body like his as I took my own drag. It hit my lungs, a slight sting and a strong taste on my tongue, but I loved the feeling of being lifted… weightless.