[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.That left cross country in the fall, which they probablywouldn t care about, but in the spring& I m thinking about baseball, he said. Wait, there s a baseball team? Darryl said sarcastically.Stacy played off this, sounding bored. I can t say I ve ever heard of one. Trust me, Tim said, looking her in the eye. When I m on the team, it s all you ll ever hear about. Most people chuckled at his joke, but Stacy s eyes lit up with scored points.Darryl hopped up to getmore drinks, and the rest of the party was much more relaxed.Tim was in.For now.They wouldnever stop watching and judging him, but that was high school.The wine flowed like wine, and so didthe depth-charged beers.Considering he had skipped lunch, every beer felt like two, maybe fourincluding the whiskey.Soon enough, Tim had his arm around Krista, and she was either flushing orgiggling in response to everything he said.At some point Darryl s parents were mentioned, which was the alarm that sent everyone scurrying fortheir cars.Tim knew he shouldn t drive, but he couldn t crash at Darryl s place.The streets were adistorted blur, and he managed to get lost a few times, but an army of exhausted guardian angelsguided him home safely.The last of them helped him up the stairs and to his bathroom.Tim barelymanaged to get the toilet seat up before he puked his guts out.All in all, a fairly normal first day of school.* * * * * Timmy! Krista Norman darted down the hall and put a hand on his arm.Funny how first impressions could beso wrong.Last week Krista had seemed so shy.Now she never stopped talking.Not that Tim mindedmuch, since it meant less effort on his part.Usually he would daydream about other things while she rattled on.And Bryce, who had seemed so big and scary before& Well, he was still both those things, but hehad warmed up to Tim, probably because he d kept his distance from Stacy.And maybe Bryce didn tworry about Tim getting anywhere with Krista, since more people than Darryl had since told him shewas a prude.That was fine by him.Horny as Tim might be, he still felt shell-shocked from the raperumors in Kansas. Hey, faggot! Bryce rumbled.Tim looked up and followed his gaze.The intended target was obvious, since he was the only guystanding still as everyone else hurried to class.Brown eyes stared at him from below perfectly styledblond hair, and for one moment, Tim thought of Corey. He really is, you know, Krista said in a stage whisper.The guy s face turned red, but he seemed more angry than embarrassed.He glared at Bryce, eventhough he was skinny enough to be crushed by one of those ham fists.Then he waved sarcastically atKrista, imitating her snobby body language.The guy had guts! Finally he looked at Tim, as if he wasstill unsure about him.Tim returned the wave, which didn t seem to please him, since he spun aroundand stalked off down the hall. Who was that? Brian Bentley, Krista said, rolling her eyes. No, it s Benjamin, Bryce corrected, as in bend over! The joke didn t make sense, but for Bryce it was probably his wittiest moment. Walk me to class? Krista said. Yeah, Tim answered distractedly.He said goodbye to Bryce and let Krista guide him down the hall.Krista started talking about ashopping trip or something involving shoes, Tim nodding along until they reached her class.Then heinterrupted her. How does anyone know? he asked. What? That Benjamin guy.How does anyone know he s gay? Krista looked repulsed. Because he told everyone. Seriously? Tim considered this in surprise. That takes balls. More like he s crazy.Who cares anyway? He s just some loser. Well, if nobody cares, then why pick on him? Tim had never understood the way popular kidspicked on those who weren t.He got along with everyone, really.But here, just like back in Kansas,being on top seemed to require making everyone below you miserable.Krista rolled her eyes. Do you want me to get you his number or something? Why would I want it? Tim said forcefully enough that she blanched. I was just kidding.Geez. Tim glared at her. Why would you even joke about that? Huh? Krista grasped for words and for once couldn t find any. I ll see you during lunch
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
