Page 40 of As the Rain Falls
A little surprised, I stare at the numbers again, trying to figure out what he is seeing in this test that I am not. I don’t even know how he managed to read what I wrote in the first place. My handwriting tends to be messy.
“Thirty-two?”
“Well…”
“Three?” I try again, keeping my voice as low as possible so Mr. Yun won’t hear us.
He shakes his head from one side to the other, telling me no.
My face falls.
“Maybe just thirty?”
Mateo smiles, trying hard to be polite.
“Dude, not even close.”
He starts writing down his own answers, barely spending more than thirty seconds between each question. I stare at his handwriting with awe, impressed by how he keeps each answer neatly lined up. Clearly, he didn’t miss any of the calligraphy classes in elementary school.
“Just take my answers, okay?”
“Okay, thank you,” I exhale loudly, checking on Mrs. Yun. “We’re really lucky today.”
“Hm?”
“Mrs. Yun is too busy checking on Zach,” I explain, eyeing Zacharias on the opposite side of the room.
His red hair is filled with gel, styled in spikes that go each and every way. Zach looks like an emo kid now, which is a bit silly, but I guess there’s no harm in trying to find yourself.
Mateo ignores our classmate completely to focus on staring at Mrs. Yun, his face going from completely relaxed to slightly annoyed.
“She’s so fucking uptight.”
“A little bit, yeah,” I agree, rolling my eyes and wetting my lips. “Thanks again for helping me.”
“No worries.” He slips a small piece of paper across the table without looking at me, checking his test to see if there’s anything else he might’ve missed in the five minutes he spent working on it. “Caleb’s number. He wants to talk to you.”
So, Kaylawasright.
Thisisabout Caleb Monteiro.
“Are you trying to find him a rebound?” I try not to smile, my fingers hovering above the paper as I hesitate to copy off his test.Instead of using every single answer, I start writing a few wrong ones just in case the teacher decides to check our work. I mean, you never know.“You really think I’m that easy?”
Mateo shakes his head, snickering like what I just said sounds funny to him.It probably does.Caleb Monteiro doesn’t needa wingman, and I might not be easy, but I certainly am not difficult either.
“I don’t think anything. He doesn’t need my help to score with you.”
Point for me, I guess.
“Is that so?”
“Of course not, Cassandra.”
The more I listen, the more I start to frown.
“What’s the point of this, then?”
He could have just handed me the note quietly.
