The rest of the class was basically a huge blur. I couldn’t concentrate on the lesson with Delcan right next to me, but he seemed fine now. Half of the guys and girls that are new this year we're trying to become friends with her, while Thomas was flirting up a storm. But I knew that Evvie didn’t care, because she’s always been a fan of attention.
When the dismissal bell rang, I jumped up from my seat (faster than I should’ve) and walked out of the room quickly. Before I’d left, Evvie walked over to Delcan and began talking to him about something. The end of the day just didn’t seem to work for me at all.
As I was walking to my locker, a sudden realization hit me. Delcan was right. In every class I had with him, he was either next to me, or near me. Since I’d opened my mouth and had said to be his guide, karma was coming back to bite me. After I’d grabbed my homework, I was walking out of the school before someone had grabbed my arm.
Because of the goosebumps, I felt on my skin, I didn’t even have to turn around to know it was Delcan.
“Hey…” I said. And then I’d realized the douche I’ve been. “Sorry about the avoiding thing, I just-”
“I’ve heard that from your mouth too many times, Ezra,” he said, rolling his eyes. They were green, which made me feel better about my insecurities. “I get it. It’s cool.”701Please respect copyright.PENANAIvUbgU55m7
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I nodded. “Cool.”701Please respect copyright.PENANAFGA940VsQy
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After a short moment of silence, Delcan began talking again, and my eyes moved to the blue sweatshirt. “My parents wanted to talk to you about the...Callie thing. They need to have your input or something like that.”
I tilted my head slightly, looking at him confused. “Everything Callie told you last month is all I know,” I said. And that was the honest truth. Callie didn’t even tell me everything that happened when I’d meant to be calling Delcan, but I only learned how much Delcan did when she mentioned all of it last month.
Delcan shrugged. “My parents want to see you after dinner,” he said. “Just text me if you can come or not.” I nodded as he walked away from me. I hadn’t expected for Callie to be in the car, but she was sitting there in the front seat. Delcan opened the door and began talking to her, while Callie rolled her eyes, and hit his arm before getting into the back seat.
I couldn’t help but smile and then walked off. Maybe I should’ve asked Delcan’s parents about whatever they wanted to talk about then, but I was still lost. Callie told Delcan everything, so why didn’t they just question him about all of it? Whatever the case was, I simply had to give it up now.
After looking around outside of school for a bit, I paused and realized Eric wasn’t there. The minute I realized it was past 3:30, I texted him: where are you?
I shoved my phone in my pocket the second I saw Haven and her “squad” coming over.
“Hi, babe,” Haven said.
I looked at her and smiled. “Hey.”
Haven turned around to look at her friends. “Girls, I need to talk to Ez alone for a bit,” she said. “Wait in the gym for me, okay?” They all nodded their heads as if they were programmed robots, and one of them waved to me. Haven grabbed my arm and rested on me.
“What’s up, beautiful?” I asked her. And no, I’ not trying to be flirty. I say that to Evvie all the time, and I couldn’t even imagine dating her again. But Haven smiled as she shook her head.
“Think you could come over tonight? Angelica and my parents would love to have you over for dinner,” Haven said. Of course-tonight was the night her parents wanted me around. I would’ve said yes, but I had already made a promise to Delcan.
I shook my head. “Can’t, Haven.”
She leaned in towards me, sadness in her eyes. “Why not?” she asked, dragging out the words.
“Because,” I said. The lie came into my mind quickly, and I just followed what my brain told me to do. “My aunts and uncles are coming over tonight, and my dad would kill me if I missed it.”
She understood it and put her head down. “Okay,” she said softly. I felt bad for hurting her, but there was nothing I could do to even stop it. She looked up at me then and smiled. “Maybe another night then?”
I nodded because I knew if I said no - I would regret it later. She smiled, and then kissed me on the cheek. Of course, she had to lean up in order to do it, but she still found out a way. Without another word, Haven waved to me and then ran off to cheer.
As I watched her leave, I realized that I was failing. I mean, Haven could be selfish when she wanted to be, but sometimes, she was a pretty sweet girl. I feel like she’s kind of like Delcan in that sense - she acts a certain way around everyone else, but something inside tells me she’s nothing like that.
The difference is, I don’t know what her other side is like.
I sat down on the outside benches and scrolled through Instagram. It wasn’t like there was anything else to do, so I simply went through my followers' posts, hoping that there would actually be something interesting on social media.
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