Page 2 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Over the years, there had been cattle rustling, kidnappingsand bootlegging. Broken hearts, and just a little bit of murder between our two families.
These days, the beef felt more like a habit than anything else. A show we put on for Last Hope Gulch’s Feud Day Festival. Which, I’m sorry to say, was a real thing. Part county fair, part renaissance fair, there were re-enactments of both family’s worst moments. Enough to draw crowds from all around the neighboring towns, and even some out of state tourists. Why people loved it, I had no idea, but they came in droves to celebrate the history of our families trying to kill each other for the past hundred years.
Tag and his dad worked for the McGraws on their cattle ranch, and he was best friends with all the McGraw brothers. But he’d always kept his nose out of the feud.
I didn’t really care about the McGraws in general. I had bigger problems.
Like the fact that it felt like every person in this town basically hated me just for being smart.
That was my problem.
“Hey,” Tag snapped.
I pointed to my chest and squeaked out, “Me?”
He frowned at me like I’d said something stupid. “Mike and Cheryl, what’d I tell you about that shit? Girl wants to raise her hand, you let her. It’s not like either of you two dumb shits know the answer.”
Tag looked at me and I wanted to sink as far under the desk as I could. Having him watching me was too…intense.
Did he know I lingered at my locker waiting for senior lunch break, just so I could see him during the day? Did he see how flushed I’d gotten last week when I saw that his girlfriend, Jenny, had given him a new hickey on the side of his neck, right by his collar bone?
You could still see the faded bruise of it when his t-shirt collar pulled anytime he turned around.
A muscle in his jaw ticked and I wanted to reach out and touch it.
“She thinks she’s better than us,” Cheryl hissed at Tag from over my shoulder.
“She is better than you,” he snapped at Cheryl. “Get over it.”
The bell rangand I knew I had to say something. Do something. Tag had totally stuck up for me.
And no oneeverstood up for me.
He’d even…I think…complimented me? I didn’t get a lot of those, so it was hard to know.
Math class poured into the hallway with every other class in this wing of the high school. My window was limited, I had about two minutes before Tag met Jenny at his locker, where they would take off together for the rest of the day.
Probably to have sex.
Definitely to have sex.
He stood literally a foot taller than every other person in school, and it was easy to track his wide shoulders to his locker. I zig zagged my way through a bunch of students to meet him there.
“Hey,” I said.
“What?” he asked. Mr. Nice Guy from the classroom was nowhere in sight. He didn’t even look at me.
“Uh…” I hitched my backpack up over my shoulder. I carried all my text books with me for every class, because I never knew if I was going to have down time and could be working on something else, so I was perpetually lopsided to the right.
“You’re going to thank me for sticking up for you,” he predicted. “Don’t bother. I don’t like the upper class men messing with the freshman and sophomores like that. It isn’t cool. So it’s not about you, yeah?”
I nodded. Of course it wasn’t about me. It’s just who Tag was. “Still. You’re the only person in the whole school who doesn’t call me Smarty Sunshine.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Kid, there are worse things to be called. I wasn’t lying back there. You’ve got a big brain that’s meant for big things. Don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed of anything.”
The sentiment was nice but thekidstung.
He slammed his locker closed, and looked right over my head and smiled at someone behind me.
