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Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse noticed Dean nudge his girlfriend, but Gracie purposefully turned her head away.
“One last thing in relation to the dance. If you would like to bring a date to the dance, it must be of the opposite gender. There will be no same-sex couples allowed. Thank you for your time. Teachers, please allow a five minute break before the start of classes.”
Zara whirled around, incensed. “That—that fucking homophobe!” she spat, drawing the attention of a couple other students in the hallway. “How dare he tell us who we can and can’t bring to the dance! It’s ridiculous how—how homophobic that asshole is! I can date whoever I like! Who is he to tell me that I can’t bring my girlfriend to the dance?”
“Zara Ashcroft, detention after school,” Uncle Alex said sternly, appearing from around the corner to catch the end of Zara’s tirade.
The redhead raised her eyebrows at him, a fierce glare in her eyes. “I already have detention.”
Uncle Alex scowled at his niece, his eyes roaming the rest of the group. “Ladies, that hand holding is not appropriate.” He nodded at Gracie and Raina’s still clasped hands.
Zara snorted. “Bullshit!” she exclaimed.
Before Jesse had any idea what she was doing, Zara spun around and kissed Nicole soundly on the lips, the dark haired girl instinctively kissing back for a few seconds. Breaking the kiss, Zara wiped the back of her hand against her lips and glared defiantly at her uncle.
Uncle Alex’s face turned red, his veins nearly popping out of his skin. Jesse took that as his cue to jump in.
“No offense, Dean, you’re not my type,” he joked.
Dean made a face. “Jesse,gross.”
Uncle Alex coughed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Zara, this conversation is not over. Your behavior is inappropriate. Yours too, Ms. Lawrence. You can join Zara in detention.”
Dean scoffed, drawing all the attention to him. “This is ridiculous,” he declared, before grabbing Gracie’s hand. “Are you going to put me in detention too?”
Uncle Alex looked uncomfortable. “You’ve done nothing wrong, so I can’t.”
Dean kissed Gracie for a second. “How about now?”
The vice principal fidgeted with his tie. “I will be in my office,” he declared weakly, before turning and stomping away. Students jumped out of his path, not wanting his wrath to be turned upon them.
“What are you all looking at?” Zara yelled. “Go to class! We’re not some show or something! Assholes.”
“I think I should be calling you that,” Tehilla’s low voice uttered from behind them. Hurt dripped from her words, a mirror of the expression that flashed over Zara’s face when she whirled around to see her.
“Tehilla.” Zara reached out for her girlfriend, but the other girl took a step back.
“I get that you don’t take relationships very seriously,” Tehilla said, her eyes glistening, “but I do. I don’t date. I broke that rule foryou, and it meant something to me. I’m sorry you don’t feel the same. We’reover.”
“No, wait, Tehilla!” Zara called out, but her girlfriend—well, ex-girlfriend—had already run away. “Fuck.”
Jesse stared after Tehilla’s retreating back. Next to him, Raina took a hesitant step forward. Jesse knew how much Raina looked up to the older girl, but at the same time, Zara was one of her best friends.
“Go to Tehilla,” he murmured, stepping closer to Raina and taking her hand. “She needs you.”
“But…Zara.”
“Zara has us,” Jesse said. “I don’t know who Tehilla has.”
Raina’s eyes softened. “You’re a good one, Jesse,” she said, squeezing his hand and darting after her friend.
ChapterTwenty-Four
To talk or not to talk, that was the question.
But if Jesse had learned anything during the past couple of months, it was that time was short, and you had to make the most of the time you had. You couldn’t take anything for granted, like a friendship, or a secret. Jesse had learned that lesson very well.
So he picked up his cell phone, already opened to Raina’s contact info. Then he placed the phone down on his bed. Just like the other ten times he’d come to this decision.
