We encounter one more swarming crowd before entering the dark tunnel that lead out to the football field. Just before the hallway ends, Alexis pulls out a key and jams it into the door handle. With a quick flick of the wrist, the door swings open and the mixed smells of perfume and hairspray greet us. On the other end of the padded mat is a door that leads to the gym and Alexis is wasting no time getting to it.
“Jake is supposed to meet us on the other side,” she says over her shoulder.
Sure enough, when she opens the door, a long, chiseled face with slightly sun bleached brown hair is waiting.
“Hey gorgeous,” he says, bending over to give her a quick peck. When he sees me he adds, “Welcome back, Viv. Good to see the South let you return.” …show more content…
His mom gets all weepy whenever I ask her why he left or how he's doing. Eventually I stopped asking.”
“Oh.” That’s even less helpful than Alexis’ explanation.
Jake leans a little closer. “He didn’t contact you did he?”
I shake my head. “Reception at granddaddy’s is horrible. I swear the old man will never install Wi-Fi. But, I haven’t had a chance to check my school email yet. If he sent me anything it would be there.”
Jake stands up straight and smiles, telling everyone that might be watching, especially Alexis, that our conversation is light and not at all conspiratorial. I like Jake, but he lives in a world where the appearance of what’s going on is more important than what is actually going on. And sometimes, it’s really annoying.
“We better sit down,” he says, sweeping his arm in front of him in a gesture that I should go first. "I think they're ready to begin."
Climbing up to sit next to Alexis while Jake maneuvers himself to be in front of her, I look up and see that in the short time it took everyone to get to the gym, the entire student body has divided itself down school lines. And I can’t miss how incredibly white our side is and how incredibly unhappy the other side