Sunnie swore if she walked into school with her head on fire no one would notice. Not one person had commented on the red stripes she’d spent an hour painting into her hair this morning. Not even Gram.
Maybe she’d gone wild so many times she’d established a new norm. If so, she might as well give up. She’d gone from being shocking to predictable.
Besides, Gram didn’t count on the observation scale. She still thought her dead husband was alive and just forgot to come home. She probably thought Sunnie was born with candy cane hair.
But Dad should have at least complained. While eating the great omelet she made, he could have asked how she did the coloring job. Shown some interest. Sunnie grabbed a juice and a granola bar from the snack machine and headed for her usual place to eat lunch. If she was going to pout, she might as well be cold, too.
The day was as dreary as her mood. Damp and windy. She found an out-of-the-way bench in the atrium where no one, unless they were really searching, would find her.
Sunnie wanted to give some serious thought to dropping out of school while she ate. A nitwit in her English class said that at sixteen you could take a test called the GED and, if you passed, it would be just like a high school diploma.
Made sense to Sunnie. Why learn more in high school than was necessary? She could hang for a while and maybe give college a try in a year or so. Or maybe just travel. She’d talked to Jillian and considered that life on the road might just be perfect. No ties, no have to list, no one to judge you or depend on you. Just float around, wherever the wind takes you.
Another goal Sunnie had was never to work. That was boring. Nine-to-five, five days a week. That left, like, no time. She wanted to be free to do what she wanted, when she wanted. She’d mentioned her plan to Dad over breakfast, and he’d simply buttered his toast and said, “Good luck with that.”
He obviously didn’t understand freedom.
“There you are,” a low voice said from behind her.
Sunnie almost tumbled off her bench. When she turned, Reese stood a foot away holding a tray full of food. He looked better, if going from a one to a two on a scale of ten could be considered improvement. His clothes were clean. His left eye was slightly open and blood didn’t seem to be dripping from anywhere.
“Mind if I share your bench?”
She thought of saying yes, she did mind, but he looked so beat up. It was hard to keep from staring, much less turn him down. The whole student body probably voted to kick him outside of the cafeteria while they ate.
She was a sucker for the guy. “It’s a free country. Sit where you want to but we’re not having lunch together, remember. We just happen to be sitting on the same bench. I always eat alone.”
“Fair enough.” He lowered slowly and put the tray between them.
“You all right?” she asked. “You’re moving about as fast as Gram.”
“I got bruises in places that don’t show.” When she didn’t ask, he added, “You want to see?”
“No.”
“Suit yourself, but a person could live their whole life without seeing bruises where I got bruises.”
She didn’t want to talk about it. “You always eat that much food?”
“Yeah. I work after school most days and don’t get a chance to eat anything until after dark. Today I’m off, but I filled the tray out of habit. My dad says he can’t stand to look at me, so no work.”
After a moment, he added, “I could share, if you like. You can have anything on the tray but my cookie.”
She pulled her legs up on the bench and looked at him over her knees. “I want that cookie.”
“Nope.” He offered her half his sandwich.
“I’ll trade you my nut bar.”
“Nope. That’s a granola bar. I’d rather eat the box it comes in than one of those. It looks like something you’d hang in a birdcage, not eat.”
“It’s good for you.”
“Then you eat it.”
Sunnie fought down a scream. They were arguing about nothing. Maybe his mood was even darker than hers. She might as well step into the ring and get the fight over with. Today was as good a day to break up as any. “How do you like my hair, Reese?”
He ate half his sandwich while he studied her. Finally, he said, “I hate it, but I like you, Sunnie. You can paint your hair and eyes, your whole body if you want, and it doesn’t change a thing. I still like you.”
This wasn’t ending like she thought it would. They were no longer arguing. She took the other half of his sandwich and ate it, then they shared the chips, banana, and cookie.
He sat the tray down on the ground and just stared at her. “There’s something we should talk about, Sunnie.”
“What?”
“I didn’t want to just be your boyfriend because you’re getting rid of another guy. I kind of like knowing we’re dating kind of, even though we haven’t gone anywhere. We could fix that this weekend. We could go fishing or something.”
“All right about you continuing to be my boyfriend, but I’m not so sure about fishing,” she answered, realizing she hadn’t given Derrick a thought since he’d beat up Reese.
Reese looked surprised. “Really?”
“Sure. You’re my boyfriend.” When he looked too happy, she added, “Until we break up, of course.”
“Of course.”
“And try not to look fifteen, Reese. It’s embarrassing dating a younger guy.”
“I’ll work on it. But you got to promise me if you break up with me you don’t just kiss some other guy as a way of telling me.”
“Sounds fair enough.”
When they walked back into the commons, he carefully put his hand on her shoulder and she didn’t knock it off.
“You want to come over for supper tonight? With Gram staying with us, someone’s always cooking.”
“Sure. My folks are not speaking to me. After I told them I couldn’t remember how I got beat up, they got all mad. Mom thinks I might have brain damage. Dad thinks I’m on drugs.”
“Why didn’t you tell them the truth?”
Reese shrugged. “One, they’d never believe I was dating any girl, much less you, and two, I didn’t want them to know it was Derrick. Our fathers are friends. His dad sends work my dad’s way. I figure naming names won’t help me heal any faster. If my dad finds out later he and Derrick’s old man will probably laugh about how their boys fought over a girl. But, right now, looking at me like this, Pop would think he’d have to do something.”
Sunnie focused on one comment. “Why wouldn’t they believe you’re with me?”
He stopped walking and stared at her. “Sunnie, you’re beautiful, you’re smart and your old man owns half the land around here. I’m dumb, have rust-colored hair, and no girl has ever looked at me except you, and that was by accident.”
She groaned. How could she not like a guy who thought she was beautiful and smart? “I’m not all that smart, Reese. I’m thinking of dropping out of school, and you’re not dumb. I saw the math on your ramp design.”
He frowned at her, then said slowly, “You can’t drop out. I just decided to go to college. You were right. I don’t want to just build other people’s designs. I want to design my own houses. Plus, college is where you’re headed—everyone in town knows that—and I’ll need to be there to keep an eye on you. So I’ve got to start bringing up my grades and you’ve got to help. No more Harry Potter movies on weeknights. We’ve got to study.”
“You got it all figured out, don’t you, Reese?”
“Yeah. Pretty much. But you’ll have to stop striping your hair before our kids are born. It’d probably scare them right back into the womb.”
“I don’t even want to think past the next class and don’t start talking about us having kids. I’m never having kids. I’m never getting married, and you being in my life past next week is still in question.”
She couldn’t tell if he looked hurt or confused. With one eye barely open and his swollen lip twisted into a permanent frown, it was hard to read him. She said, “How about we just make it through dinner tonight?”
He nodded as he stopped at the gym door.
“How’d you know I had gym this hour?”
“Lucky guess,” he said as he walked away.
“Very funny.” She watched him, wondering if she had a boyfriend or a stalker.
Her first real boyfriend. Derrick hadn’t lasted long enough to be in the running. Gram always said there was somebody for everyone. Reese was bossy, telling her to eat and stay in school. He was downright scary with all those bruises. He was off any girl’s radar as cute. But he’d agreed to be her boyfriend, so she might as well keep him for at least a few days, or even a month.
Who knows, maybe even years. When you’re confused, having someone give you direction is kind of like having an oar in the water.