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“Are you outta your mind? He’s seven!”
“What else are little brothers good for if not this? I always use him as my makeshift tripod,” Saza smirks.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just get an actual tripod?”
“You know what? That’s not a bad idea. I’m tired of smacking his lazy ass, struggling to keep him steady while he wiggles around.”
Our laughter gets drowned out by the dismissal bell.
Today, I had computer science with Samael’s class, and to be honest, I was only half paying attention to the assignment and half ogling him the whole time. I was totally distracted and way too hyped about having classes together. I couldn’t even remember a single thing that was said in class today. So, I ended up zoning out on Cloud, trying to organize my photo folders.
“Oh!” Saza snickers, and her juice box slips from her grip.
“My bad,” Manasseh catches her shoulders as they accidentally collide near my computer station.
“It’s fine, really,” Saza mutters, her face going red.
“Hey, Becca?” Manasseh brushes off my friend and slides next to my desk.
“Something up?” I stand up from my seat and give him a questioning look.
His blond hair, all damp like wet sand, is all messy on his forehead, probably from gym class earlier. He smells like men’s shower gel, and his shirt is all crumpled, half untucked from his black uniform pants with cream stripes.
“Did you see Samael?” He rubs the back of his neck and shakes off the wet strands.
“Yeah, he was just...” I glance back, but the computer spot is empty. “He’s vanished,” I blink rapidly, very confused.
“Ugh, fuck!” Manasseh lets out an exasperated sigh, tilts his head back, and rolls his eyes, already fed up with the situation.
“What’s up?” I watch Saza making these weird gestures behind Masse, like she’s using monkey sign language or something, but I have no clue what she’s trying to tell me.
“Nothing, just that my dad came back from his business trip, and I wanted to tell him about tonight’s dinner.”
“Did you try calling him?”
“Would I still be here if he picked up?”
“Well... If I see him, I can pass on the message,” I offer, feeling more excited than ever.
“Do you want to come over today? It’s been a while since you’ve been there,” Manasseh smiles at me curiously, catching me off guard with his spontaneous invitation.
“I’d love to, but you know my mom... it would be awkward.”
“I know,” Masse rolls his eyes and leans against the edge of the desk.
“Maybe another time,” I swallow hard, saddened that I’m missing an opportunity to be near Sami, even just for dinner, and my mind drifts to what it would be like if we were alone for a while and he suggested showing me his library.
I shake my head because my mind won’t stop creating movies, playing out adolescent fantasies even more than the Britney Spears’ songs on my playlist. I swallow hard and straighten my uniform.
“Some other time, yeah,” the tall boy forces a smile.
“Let’s go eat, Becca,” Saza pulls me by the arm, and I wave goodbye to Manasseh.
“Take care, Becca!” Masse leans against the desk as Saza and I leave the classroom arm in arm.
“Since when have you gotten so close to Junior Masse?”
“We’re neighbors. And no, we’re not close, even though we grew up together. He... stayed with us for a while, but I always felt like he’s not really one of us. You know?”
