Tristan throws a football in the air. "We're heading over to the field to play ball. Let's go before our moms try to make us dance with them."
I take off the ridiculous shirt while I play, but my balls are being strangled by the pants I'm wearing. After forty-five minutes, we head back. But when Tristan and Brian are ahead of us, I grab Drew by the shoulder and push him back into a tree. I take him completely off guard. He has no clue I'm tempted to kick his ass. One thing I learned at the DOC from the inmates ... take them when they least expect it.
"Here's the deal," I say low and harsh as I grab his shirt and twist it up close to his throat. "You stop bringing up Maggie or jail or the accident. Got it? If you want to keep running your mouth off, that's fine, but next time you do it you'll find my fist in it. Guaranteed."
"I was just kidding," Drew chokes out, a faint thread of hysteria in his voice. "Jeez, Caleb, lighten up."
I let go of his shirt, but give him one last warning. "Up until two weeks ago I was living with a bunch of gang members. Don't tell me to lighten up."
It's Thursday night, five days after the festival. I'm in Kendra's bedroom while her parents are at some dinner function. We're supposed to study; we've both got tests tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I realized about a half hour ago she's not interested in studying. Kendra is strutting in front of me, modeling different outfits she bought at the mall yesterday. "Well ..." she says, showing off a designer dress. "What do you think?"
I'm busy reading about the Magna Carta. "I can't flunk this test, Kend."
She puts her hands on her hips and pouts. "I swear you pay more attention to the girls at school than you do to me."
I look up from my book. "Are you kidding me?"
"No. Samantha Hunter is, like, lusting after you during gym class and you're falling for it. And I heard you and Emily Steinway were having a pretty intense conversation in biology."
"I haven't said two words to Samantha, Kend. And Emily and I are bio partners. What are you doing, spying on me? I'd be glad to tell everyone we're back together. You're the one who wants to keep our relationship a damn secret."
This week we've met at the forest preserve, under the high school bleachers, and now I had to enter her house through the back door so none of her neighbors would see me coming in. I'm sick of sneaking around.
"I told you my father is up for election in November, Caleb. His daughter can't be seen dating an ex-con."
She says it so easily. There's not a speck of apology or hesitation in her voice as she spurts out the word "ex-con."
"I gotta go," I say, then close my history book.
She comes toward me, placing her hand on my chest. "Don't go. I'll make it worth your while."
"What are you talking about?"
She slowly pulls the spaghetti straps off her shoulder, revealing bare skin. A few seconds later she's stripped her dress off and is standing in front of me wearing only a black lace bra and matching thong.
My gaze travels over her creamy white skin. Hell, yeah, I want this. But she's not acting like a girlfriend. She doesn't have to strip to keep me here. She doesn't have to use her body to lure me. This is so f**ked up. "Kendra ..."
She steps toward me, putting her finger on my lips to stop me from talking. "Shh, I hear my parents in the hallway," she whispers.
Shit.
Sure enough there's a knock on her bedroom door a second later. "Kendra, you home?" her mom says through the door.
"Uh, yeah," Kendra says loudly as she picks up her discarded dress. "Caleb, get in the closet," she whispers.
This is seriously not happening. "I'm not getting in the closet," I say. There's no way I'm going to get locked up again, even in my girlfriend's closet instead of a cell.
"Shh, they're going to hear you."
Her mom knocks again and says, "Who are you talking to? Kendra, open the door."
Kendra scurries to get her dress back on. "Nobody, Mom, I just have the radio on. I'm getting dressed. I'll be out in a minute, okay?"
"Hurry up. Senator Boyle came all the way back here to meet you," her mom says, then I hear footsteps moving away from the door.
"When are you going to tell them we're together?" I ask Kendra. "After the election?"
"Can we talk about that later?" she whispers as she quickly checks out her appearance in her mirror. I watch as she rolls massive amounts of lip gloss on her lips. Cherry flavor wafts to my nostrils and I wonder how long I can be stuck in this cherry-scented room before I pass out.
I open the window.
"Caleb, what are you doing?"
I throw my history book to the ground below, praying it'll still be intact when I retrieve it. Then I heave one foot over the ledge. "Leaving."
"It's a two-story house. You'll kill yourself."
I'm not about to hide in her room like a prisoner. Besides, if I jump hard enough and high enough, I just might be able to catch a branch on the tree a few feet away from the window.
She runs toward me. "Don't, CB."
I stare right into her blue eyes. Why, not? Because you love me, because you don't want me to get hurt... because you want to take me downstairs and announce to your parents and their friends that no matter what happened in the past, we're together and nobody can separate us?