Page 28 of Finding Her
I sighed when all I could come up with next was a Coffee Crisp, but I tucked it in my pocket, shoved the box back in my locker, and closed it. I guess when school was over, I’d have to run into town and get a new box of chocolates. All KitKats this time. Why had I let her take the last one?
No, it wasn’t even that I let her take it. It was that I had willingly offered it to her. She hadn’t asked for it. She hadn’t said anything about it. All she said was KitKats were her favorite chocolate, and there I was giving up my very last one, for no reason at all.
Well, once I got this new box, I would make sure not to give her any. I would keep it hidden so that I could eat every single one for myself. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, so did the sight of Poppy’s big eyes, saying how much she loved the chocolate and I groaned. If she saw that I had a new box of chocolates in my locker, she would never be able to stop herself from commenting on it, and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from giving some to her.
What was wrong with me? I wasn’t normally this much of a sap. In fact, I couldn’t even think of the last time I’d ever given something to a girl for no reason like that. If Claire had shown up at my locker and said she liked KitKats, I would have told her to buy one from the vending machine, not handed over mine.
I was so late to lunch that there was almost no line in the cafeteria, but that also meant that all the good food was gone, which seemed to be the theme of the day. I got a large serving of crunchy rice and soggy vegetables served with a side of cold and burnt fries, then walked over to the table where Crossy, Tino, and Mako were sitting.
“How did it go?” Crossy asked me. “With Poppy?”
I blinked, thinking he was talking about what happened at the locker and unsure how he already knew about it. But then I realized he’d meant the plan to make her upset in class. I wasn’t sure how I could tell him that I went in trying to make her hate me and came out knowing more about her than I ever wanted to and gave her the last of my chocolates. Maybe I should just give a variation of the truth.
“No go,” I said. “The girl can’t hate anyone.”
The boys all groaned. I was pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing: there was no chance in hell of me getting out of this gym class in time.
“Hey, baby,” Claire’s voice appeared behind me. A second later, I felt her running her hand along my shoulder blades. All the boys awkwardly looked away, though I could see Tino and Mako holding back grins. I did my best to kick them under the table, but I guess I only managed to hit Crossy, who glared at me. I just shrugged apologetically. Claire dropped into the seat beside me and stole a chip from my lunch tray. “How was your morning?”
“Fine,” I said curtly. Then I pulled my lunch tray to the side so she couldn’t take from it again. She pouted, apparently not realizing that every time she did that, I was less inclined to give her what she wanted.
“I wanted to know if you were going on the school trip to the mall tomorrow,” she said. “I was thinking we could go together.”
“Can’t,” I said in a strangled tone. The last time I went to the mall with Claire, she dragged me to a jewelry store to look at promise rings. Apparently, she thought that even though we weren’t allowed to date yet, a promise ring would be a nice symbolism about how we were going to get together one day anyway.
Claire raised an eyebrow. “Because?”
“Because…” What excuse was the most likely to get her off my back. “Because I’m already going with the guys. Right boys?”
All three of them kept their gazes away. I kicked under the table again, this time aiming better and getting Tino. He yelped, bringing everyone’s attention to him, though he clearly had no idea what we were talking about, if the panic on his face was anything to go off. Over Claire’s shoulder, I nodded quickly, telling him to say yes.
“Right!” Tino said enthusiastically. “Yes. Bear’s right.”
Claire’s brows furrowed as she looked at me. “But don’t you think going to the mall is more of a…” She ran a hand up my thigh and I could barely stop myself from jumping out of my seat to get away from the touch. “Couple’s activity?”
“No!” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “No, no, I think it’s much more of a platonic activity, actually. Why don’t you, uh… go with Mia?”
Claire looked disgusted as she pulled her hand away. “You think my fourteen-year-old sister is the only person I could find to go to the mall with me?”
I hadn’t actually meant it like that, but it was obvious that would make her mad and I knew a mad Mia liked to give me the silent treatment. So, I just said, “Well…”
Her face flushed red and she jumped to her feet.
“Screw you, Bear!” She knocked over my glass of root beer, spilling it all over my pants, before stomping off. I just stared at my once-grey uniform pants and sighed.
“Well,” Crossy said, “look on the bright side. At least we’re going to the mall tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 20
poppy
My favourite place tostudy on campus was the grassy area that backed onto the forest. I had to cross the small river that ran through the campus to get there, which meant I felt like I was further away from everyone and had space to myself, without feeling like I was alone somewhere unsafe.
Even if I did keep a can of pepper spray in my bag just in case. But that was more because I was scared of bears than anything else.
Early Saturday morning, before we went to the mall, I’d been studying and enjoying the sunshine for about an hour without anyone passing by when I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. Running. My hand tightened on the pepper spray in my bag, as if I thought I would ever use it, as I turned around to see who was there—orwhat. Because even though I went to a school so close to nature, I couldn’t say I knew the difference in the sound of human footsteps versus animal ones.
And as it got closer, I became more and more convinced, it wasn’t just one person or animal. It was a herd of some sort.
