“Oh…” Conner arches a brow and says, “My shield.”
“Stop.” I playfully nudge him. “You’re being creepy again.”
“But it’s not a red flag?”
“Yet.”
“You will tell me if I get too overbearing, right?” he asks as he raises the bag of chips towards me.
“Yes.” I take another chip. “I thought you were going to the bathroom.”
“I got hungry on the way back.”
“You don’t have your lunch?”
“Nah. My parents and I used to have a lot of arguments about why I never ate my sandwich, and after a while, they just started packing me lunch money instead. You?”
Crap. I forget that if I ask Conner a question, I must expect him to uno reverse card me with the same question. He’s too curious for his own good.
But if he had known better, he would have stayed away from me after the first night. If anything, he could have driven off and left me to lie my way out of the police officers’ questioning.
“Um…” I look away. “I forgot.”
Aaron looks over to us and says, “Hey, Conner, can you help?”
“Sure.” He hands me the bags of chips and says, “You can finish the rest. And after I pack up, I’ll take you to your next class. You have P.E. on Fridays, right?”
“Yes…” I look at the chips. This burning sensation stings behind my eyes as I take in the full packet.
It hurts—this feeling of uncertainty and confusion. My stomach aches as if thousands of caterpillars have flourished into butterflies after months of transforming in their cocoons. They explode inside my belly, out of my mouth, eyes, and ears, making me high from this feeling.
“You like her?” Finch asks Conner.
“Yeah,” he says, and a smile plays across his lips.
“Is she new?” Aaron asks.
“No. Noya’s been here since year seven. She hangs around the back with Andy,” Conner replies.
“Andy?” Troy says as he cringes. “Does she smoke?”
“Why don’t you ask her?” Conner looks toward me. “You’re talking loud enough for her to hear.”
Finch and Troy go rigid as they mechanically turn towards me. I smile tightly, unsure of what I should do in this situation. So, I look down and eat the chips in silence.
“You’d better be careful, Conner. If you like this girl, keep her away from Sarah. You know how dramatic she can be.”
“As if I’d ever let Sarah near her,” Conner responds with a curl of his top lip. “Noya is nothing like her.”
“Yeah, she’s cool. I mean, she was fully getting invested in the game,” Aaron says. Then, as he notices me, he adds, “Make sure you come back next Friday.”
“Okay,” I whisper, and after I realise they didn’t hear me, I nod.
They all beam grins as they slap Conner on the shoulder. He turns a bashful red again. “See ya in Science,” they say.
“Yeah, yeah.” Conner waves them off.
I stand beside Conner with the empty bag of chips scrunched in my grasp.