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The thing I hated about living in what Hadley considered the boondocks was that the bus didn’t travel all the way to said boondocks. It stopped at the end of the long road that ran down to the boondocks and then it was a fifteen to twenty minute walk home.
This, on its own, wasn’t terrible. The walk was good for me but it was a time when I lived in my head for a bit too long. So, I usually put my headphones on and listened to my music as tried not to think too much. It wasn’t ideal when it was raining, but that was life.
The thing that made it terrible was Roman’s insistence on catching the bus as well – even though he had a car! – and the annoying way he either skated around or walked with me.
For the last three weeks, I’d ignored him quite successfully. But that day, he wore this infuriatingly knowing smirk and I could tell he wanted to say something. I pulled my headphones off and glared at him, blinking against the slight drizzle.
“What?”
“So… Hadley thinks I’m gorgeous?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes,” is of course what I said because I had an inability to come up with decent lies or excuses on the fly and it was easier to just placate him.
He chuckled roughly. “Sweet. She need my number?”
I opened my mouth to say something that I expected would be quite scathing. But instead of saying it, I snapped my mouth shut and kept walking. That only served to make him laugh harder.
“See Barlow, the great thing about you is that you don’t have a spine,” he teased as he rode literal lazy circles around me.
I bristled. But, that lack of a spine showed itself far more obviously by my lack of response. I pulled my blazer around myself and crossed my arms.
“Why don’t you drive to school? You have a car.”
“Incredible powers of observation there, Barlow.”
“Shut up, Lombardi,” I muttered.
“Was that almost an insult?”
I sighed as it started raining more heavily. “At least one of us could be warm and dry…” I said to myself.
“While I appreciate you caring for my health, Barlow, I couldn’t possibly let you walk home alone by yourself. I’m far too much of a gentleman.”
I gave him a look that told him exactly what I thought of that without having to put it into words.
“You seem particularly sour today. Has Carterstillnot asked you out?”
What did Roman know about Mason asking me out or not?
I glared at him some more. If that flash of lightning I caught from the corner of my eye had hit him, I don’t think I would have minded all that much.
“Seriously, the guy either has no balls or he’s playing you. If it was me, I’d have asked you out weeks ago.”
“If you actually ever did do that, I’m supposed to let you down gently by telling you Hadley’s waiting.”
He paused. “Huh. I’ll keep that in mind. But,” he hurried to catch up with me, “that doesn’t explain this funk you seem to be in.”
“Who says I’m in a funk?” I asked, shifting my bag on my shoulder.
The most annoying thing was, he wasn’t wrong; I was in a funk. It had nothing to do with the fact Mason hadn’t actually asked me out yet despite the rumours swirling; like I’d told Hadley, I wasn’t sure there was actually anything there. But, I didn’t know what the funk was about. Sometimes, I was just in a funk and that was all there was to it. Not that I was going to tell Roman that, though.
“I say you’re in a funk,” he answered simply.
“And you’re an authority now?”
He only chuckled aggravatingly.
“I’m not in a funk,” I said, but my expression was as sour as he was claiming I was.
