Page 9 of Hilarina and the Ogre

“Why not?”

But Trenton was ready with a counter. “Did fighting it help you with Hilarina?”

It was weird hearing that name in the boy’s mouth.

“I guess not.”

That brought the quiet again, though when they came to a red light, Hilary had another question.

“You recommended Aspen to me. If she’s so great, why not date her yourself?”

Trenton only looked at him. Right. Aspen was a lesbian.

“I guess you’ll have to leave some of the limelight to me now,” Hilary said. “Any tips for a fellow pariah?”

“You’re not a pariah.” And there was a flicker of something in Trenton’s voice as he said it, but not enough of a something to identify.

“What would you call it then?” Hilary asked. “All of my so-called ‘friends’ were in Varda’s group. Not that losing them is such a loss. Honestly, they were probably worse than being Hilarina.”

When Trenton didn’t answer, Hilary thought that was the end of it, but as the light turned green and they went through the intersection, Trenton said, “I’ll protect you.”

The car juddered a little as Hilary’s foot on the gas pedal faltered, but a moment later they were going smoothly again.

“Protect me?”

“From them.”

Hilary laughed, surprised and also a little embarrassed. “I thought you said stopping them wasn’t an option.”

“I can’t stop it,” Trenton admitted. “But I can be there with you. Like earlier, with the math.”

Hilary had nearly forgotten about the tutoring. It already seemed too long ago, like it had happened some other night.

It brought the embarrassment again and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. “What’s your home address?” It was what he ought to have asked the moment they first climbed into the car. For all Hilary knew, they were driving in the complete opposite direction.

But Trenton wouldn’t give him the address. “We’ll go to your place first.”

Hilary wasn’t sure what to make of that. “But then—”

“Your place,” Trenton said again. “So we can tell her together.”

And then Hilary understood. The boy meant the confession about the necklace.

The offer flustered Hilary, or maybe it was more correct to say it confused him, and to the extent he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Relieved? Annoyed? Is this what the boy meant by protection?

The lights were on when he got back—no surprise there. There had been several missed calls when Hilary was leaving the school. He’d shot back a text saying he was on his way home, but clearly it hadn’t been enough. His mother met them at the door. “I had no idea you’d be back this late. Do schools usually hold parties until one in the morning? Your father was ready to drive down there. I don’t think—” She paused. “Hilary?”

No good. It was no good. He couldn’t do it.

And then Trenton stepped forward. “I broke your necklace.”

The words, or maybe the delivery of them, made the boy seem bigger than before, though he’d already been hulking.

Annette blinked. “Trenton.”

Only then did Hilary remember that his mom already knew his classmate from her ballet lessons.

Trenton took Annette’s hand and bowed his head over it. “I heard it was a family heirloom.” The words came out with gravity and texture, not the usual flatness. “It was an accident, but I should have been more careful.”