Page 51 of Something Rad
Robbie looks at me for a few seconds before slowly leaning closer, his voice at a whisper now. “Cooper, I’m just confused. You said yesterday that you wanted it. That you needed it.”
“I do,” I confirm. “But you and I both know I would never win student body president.”
Robbie’s brows pull together. “Why not?”
“Robbie,” I say, shaking my head, “you didn’t even know who I was until a few days ago.”
“That’s…” Robbie trails off. “That’s not true.”
“Itis,” I say. “And it’s okay. It’s reality. It’s beenmyreality my whole life. And it’s time I just accept it.”
It’s a few seconds before Robbie speaks again. “What does that mean? You’re not even going to try? You’re just going to give up the scholarship?”
A million responses race through my mind. I almost tell him that I’m not sure yet. That I can look into other options. That there might be a slight chance I could get the scholarship with my current resume. That maybe I’ll just win the lottery in the next six months and not have to worry about the scholarship at all. I even think I might tell him that being the yearbook editor really wouldn’t mean that much to me anyways, regardless of the scholarship, but I know it’s a lie. I toggle back and forth between all of these answers to say in my mind, but instead, I ask a question. The same question I keep on asking him. Because continuing not knowing the answer just sends me further and further down a spiral.
“Why do youcare?” I ask, with a lot more grit to my voice than I originally intended.
Robbie’s back straightens. His eyes flick between mine several times. He opens his mouth and then closes it again, just staring at me. Then, all at once, his features seem to harden. “I guess I don’t,” he says.
“Andtime!” Ms. Cage’s voice calls, drawing my attention to the side of the room where she stands. “How did we do, everyone?” I glance down at my paper that is completely blank aside from our names and roles and the wordsno taxation without representation.
I look back up to Robbie, but he’s already turned back to face the front of the room, seemingly writing something in his own notebook and his headphones on his ears.
twelve
ROBBIE
My Converse All-Stars pad against the linoleum flooring perfectly on beat to Def Leppard’sHysteriaas I make my way down the hallway, allowing me to completely zone out.
It isn’t until I unsuccessfully attempt to pull open the library door for a second time and peer through the glass to find workers cleaning the carpet that I remember I don’t have to go to detention today. A smile immediately comes to my face, but then an odd feeling pulls at my chest. I notice one of the carpet cleaners wheeling a shelving cart out of the way. And I can’t help but picture it.
Cooper pushing around that cart like she’s on a freaking mission. Like the entire town of Bay View will spontaneously implode if she doesn’t reshelve every last book on that goddamn cart in the next five minutes.
I suddenly feel a prickling sensation in my right ear and reach up to readjust my headphones. Then I can’t help but picture something else.
Cooper’s lips at my ear, putting on the performance of a lifetime. A shiver reflexively works its way down my spine. The thought of having that girl so close had never crossed my mind. Especially not without it being a result of her attacking me. No, I had gathered by now that Sara Beth Cooper had some bark in her, but I definitely never thought I’d see her bite.
I can’t say I haven’t deserved it. I know I can be a prick. But she’s got some venom in her too. It’s definitely for the best that we spend an afternoon apart.
Why do you care?
Her voice involuntarily pops into my mind. I shake my head, pushing it away. I don’t care. I know that I don’t.
Why would I care?
Cooper said it herself. We come from two different worlds. It’s best we keep it that way. I’m not sure one world is big enough for the both of us anyways.
I don’t know why, but her voice comes into my head again.
“Robbie.”
Except she’s not saying it normally. She’s whispering it into my ear again.
I flick my headphones off my head in one fluid motion, needing the stimulation of the music gone. The second the headphones land around my neck, however, I’m startled by two hands clapping onto my shoulders and squeezing hard, pulling me backwards.
“Hey, big boy.”
I whip around, finding Paul standing right behind me with a goofy grin on his face.
