Page 6 of Something Rad
“College.”
“Oh yeah, baby,” Jesse grins. He reaches out to slap hands with Paul, but I step between the two of them, blocking it.
“Oh,c’mon,” I groan, slinging my arms around their shoulders as we make our way down the hall. “You boys just have the wrong attitudes.”
“Our attitudes are just fine, Summers,” Paul says.
“See, this is where we have to disagree, my friend. Because why on earth would you be focusing on the future when there’s so much potential for today? It’s a beautiful freaking day, man. Just look at it,” I insist, motioning my hand through the air around us.
“What’s got you so high on life today, Summers?” Jesse asks, refusing to acknowledge how beautiful today, in fact, is. “And I mean, like, extra high on life than normal?”
“Tsk tsk tsk,” I click my tongue, shaking my head at him. “I’m gonna stop you right there. What is therenotto be high on life about, boys?”
Jesse and Paul both raise their brows, clearly finding my question to be rhetorical.
“We’reseniors. We rule this place. We gotonelast year,” I say, holding up one finger on each hand for each of them to see. “One last basketball season with my teammates. There’s games to be played. Dances to be attended. Parties to be crashed. Beers to be drunk. Bad things to get into with my boys. And good times to be had with my girl.”
“Denise?” Jesse asks, clearing his throat.
“Of course, Denise,” I say, swinging my head to look at him. “Who else?”
“I don’t know, man,” he replies, shrugging out from under my arm. “You tend to move on pretty fast is all.”
“Not from Denise Davis. I’m not that much of a bonehead.”
“Have you seen her today yet?” Jesse asks.
I unhook my Ray Bans from my collar and slide them on my face as we push through the doors to the back of the school where the portable buildings for overflow classes are located. The outdoor walk to our history class might be less than two minutes, but there’s no need to mess with the protection of your eyes. You only get one pair of them in your lifetime.
Geez, I sound like my father.
I shake the thought from my head.
“Of course I’ve seen her today,” I say, replying to Jesse.
“When?” he asks.
“I walked her to her first class,” I reply, looking at him over my shoulder. “Are we playing twenty questions now?”
“Hey, excuse the hell out of me for giving a shit about my friend’s life,” Jesse says, raising his hands.
I spin around right before we reach our class building, hooking my arm around his neck. “Aw, buddy, I appreciate you caring about my life.” I pull him closer, whispering in his ear. “But there is absolutely no need to be concerned with my love life. I got that one on lock.” I yank him even closer, ruffling his hair.
“Okay, okay. Point taken, Summers,” Jesse says, shoving me away.
Paul and I start laughing but are quickly cut off by the sound of Ms. Cage’s voice. “Planning on joining us today, boys?” she asks, her pink lips pursed and one of her blonde eyebrows raised. She stands outside the doorway of the portable classroom with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Why, yes ma’am, we are,” I drawl, slipping my sunglasses off my face and back into the collar of my shirt. I dip my head to make better eye contact with our history teacher. “So sorry for the disturbance, Ms. Cage.”
Though her lips press more firmly together in annoyance, I don’t miss the way her cheeks flush. She takes a step back, motioning for us to come into the classroom. “Take your seat, Mr. Summers. Mr. Lamonte, Mr. Strothers,” she adds, nodding at Jesse and Paul behind me.
“We’d love to,” I say, adding a wink for extra effect as we file into the room.
I lead the way to my usual choice of seats in the back row, but Ms. Cage’s voice halts our feet once again.
“Boys? Sit a little further up, please.”
“Why?” Paul and Jesse ask at the same time.
