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“I was going to call you when I got home,” he said. That got a reaction from her.
“No,” she snapped, then looked around at the people watching them. She lowered her voice so it was more even, less irritated. “That can be rule number one: you cannevercall me to talk about any of this. Joliet will listen to all of our calls, so if you do call it has to be censored.”
“We have rules now?” He zipped up his bag and closed his locker.
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk about this. It’s too crowded here.” She never gave him exact instructions, but he knew to follow when she turned and walked down the hallway. He didn’t question it and fell into the flow of students heading home. The hallway population was growing slimmer by the second.
At the end of a quieter hallway, she stopped outside a door and pushed it open. Nathan looked up at the pink caricature of a woman in a dress.
He halted right outside the threshold and held up his hands. “Woah, woah. This is a girls’ restroom.”
Tulsa paused, looked at the sign on the door, and looked back at him. She rolled her eyes. “Relax, barely anyone uses this one.” Without any more convincing, she went in and let the door swing shut behind her.
Nathan groaned and looked around the hallway to see if anyone saw him lingering outside the girl’s room. It was fortunately empty.
He frowned. Guess he was doing this.
He pushed the door and went inside.
Tulsa stood in the middle of the room, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot like a disappointed mother whose teenage son had just walked in after sneaking out all night.
This Tulsa was much different than the Tulsa he met at the party. Sure, he’d heard that she was a ruder, snappier, weirder version of her sister, but that wasn’t the impression she gave him when they were in his room.
That Tulsa was humorous, slightly more laid back with a smile to die for. Even this morning when she begged for his help, she was more animated than this unreadable frown. This Tulsa was nearer to the rumors that he had heard.
“You know, no one is going to believe us if you’re always glaring at me,” he said, breaking the silence. His words reverberated off the yellowed tile.
“I was not glaring.” Her chin jutted out in defiance.
“Oh yeah? Tell that to the girls who said it looks like you want to kill me,” he said. Her eyes narrowed. “See, just like that. No girl looks at her boyfriend like that.”
“This is just my face.”
He knew that was a lie because he’d seen her face up close and it didn’t look like this. “Whatever.” He waved his hand, brushing it off. “Why did you bring me here?’
“If we’re going to be doing this, we need to set some rules.”
Nathan nodded. “What did you have in mind?”
She lifted up a single finger. “First rule, no calls if Joliet is home. In fact, just try not to call my house at all. We can talk here.”
“You already said that,” he pointed out.
She ignored him. “Rule two: since I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, no hooking up with other girls during this. And I won’t hook up with other guys.” She narrowed her eyes as she said it like she was daring him to fight back, but little did she know he had already decided that for himself. Until his father saw that he was serious about school, he planned on focusing entirely on his classes—other than this charade. And basketball.
He motioned his hand for her to continue.
“Last rule, tutoring will be on Fridays at your house.”
“I have basketball games most Fridays.”
“Fine, Wednesdays. Saturdays too if you need extra.”
He’d likely be taking up that offer more than she would like, but he didn’t want to tell her that now in case she regretted doing this. “Deal.”
“Anything you want to add?”
He thought about it. “Let’s eat lunch together and go on dates sometimes.”
