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“So now telling you the truth instead of indulging your wild theories is talking back?” I scoffed. “IfI decide to date anyone, I know they need to meet you first.”
“I refuse to believe you haven’t been seeinganyboys for the entire time you’ve been in high school,” she insisted. “Not when all of your classmates are saying otherwise!”
And this was why I’d never tell her the truth. From the second all the rumors and bullying had started – both online and at school – my mom hadn’t even asked me why they’d spread those kinds of rumors about me. She’d just assumed that they were calling me a thot and a slut because I’d earned the title and said that I shouldn’t have spread my legs if I didn’t want people to talk about it. She thought that because she’d slept with anyone with the right hardware when she was in high school, I obviously had to be doing the same thing. She’d never even considered another explanation.
Such as, I don’t know, the three boys who had violently assaulted me trying to cover their tracks and make sure that if I ever decided to open my mouth about it, no one would believe me.
I saw Ian pull into the parking lot in an older-model Ford truck and sighed in relief. I had an escape.
“Mom, look, Ian’s here. I’ll see you when I get home,” I told her.
“This conversation isnotover, Kyler,” she bit out.
“I didn't think it was, but I’m not going to leave Ian waiting. I’ll see you at seven,” I sighed, hanging up and throwing my phone into my purse.
There was a knock on my window, and I jumped…until I heard Ian’s warm laugh through the closed door.
I shook my head and grabbed my Spanish textbook as I got out of the car.
“Sorry, Ky. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said as he led me up to the door.
“It’s okay,” I mumbled.
He held the door open for me, then walked in after me. “What’s your poison?”
What?
I turned to look at him, but before I could even ask him what he meant, he smiled, flashing a set of adorable dimples, and spoke again.
“I promised I’d buy the coffee, remember?”
“Right. A café vanilla Frappuccino,” I told him. “Whatever size you’re getting.”
“You’ve got it. Go find us a table. Want a pastry or anything?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks, though.” I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face.
Luckily, it wasn’t very busy today and I was able to find a table in a corner, where we’d be able to hear each other over the other patrons’ chatter. While I waited for Ian to join me, I flipped the textbook open to the lesson that Mrs. Hernandez had taught today.
A few minutes later, Ian set a venti café vanilla Frappuccino in front of me. I noticed that he’d gone for an iced herbal tea, and based on the markings on the cup, it was unsweetened.
“I guess sugary drinks aren’t in your approved diet during football season,” I mumbled.
“I cheat sometimes. Don’t tell Coach,” he teased. “But we’ve got a game tomorrow, so unless I want to feel like crap, it’s unsweetened tea for me.”
“At least that one’s not so bad plain. Anyway, what were you having trouble with in Spanish? Figured we could do Spanish on Thursdays and Pre-Cal on Tuesdays.”
“Um, I’m just confused on the whole thing about commands,” he said.
I took a drink of my Frappuccino and moaned in appreciation as the flavor hit my tongue. This was exactly what I needed after the day I’d had and the conversation I’d just had with my mother.
Ian’s eyes widened a little, and I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Gee, this was a great way to start off a tutoring session.
“Okay, so we’ll start with informal commands. Like, if you would be referring to someone as tú. Then you just conjugate the verb for the third person,” I tried to explain, then realized that a lot of people learned better with examples. “Like, take the verb escribir, to write. If you wanted to say ‘you’re writing,’ what would you say?”
“Escribes.”
“Right. So if you wanted to tell someone to write something, you would just take the ‘s’ off of that. Like you’re conjugating it for third person. Which is what?”
