Page 119 of The Golden Boys
Blue
Not a word while we waited to load.
Not a word since getting on the bus.
I mean, I didn’t expect to sit together or anything, but this feels … extreme.
It’s not even so much that he hasn’t spoken—because that isn’t so far out of the ordinary for us—but he hasn’t even looked my way. He’s got his headphones on under a dark hoodie that hides most of his face, and it’s like I don’t even exist to him.
Well, I guess it’s better to know where we stand than to be left in the dark. Right? Apparently, the request he made in the pool a couple weeks ago no longer appeals to him. With how I’ve seen girls shamelessly proposition him, I shouldn’t be surprised he’s lost interest.
Just wish I’d known sooner. For one, I wouldn’t have wasted my time shaving this morning. You know, on the off chance that thingsdidgo further than planned this weekend.
But no chance of that happening now, and I can’t afford to care. West is nothing to me and I’m nothing to him.
Obviously.
Lucky for me, when we loaded the bus, I didn’t get stuck sitting by anyone I hate, but rather someone I don’t know very well.
So far, Joss hasn’t said one word to me, and I need something to distract me from glancing back at West every three seconds. So, I decide it’s on me to break the ice between her and me.
“Excited about the game?” I ask when nothing else comes to mind. Guess I could’ve mentioned the weather, but it’s cold and cloudy. Not much else to say about it.
She lowers the book she holds, smiling a little, which makes me feel less guilty about interrupting her.
“I am,” she answers. “You?”
I shrug, realizing that Iwasexcited, before seeing that West has flipped the switch on me once again.
“Sort of. It’s kind of nice to be getting away from home.”
Not only is the school paying for my room, but Scar is safe, too. She’ll be with Jules the first night, and with Uncle Dusty the next.
“You play basketball, don’t you?”
I wasn’t expecting Joss to ask anything about me, because I didn’t realize sheknewanything about me.
“Yeah,” I say with a smile. “They just made the final cut this past Monday.”
She nods. “That’s pretty cool. I’ve never been super athletic.”
“Dance requires quite a bit of athleticism, doesn’t it?”
Joss shrugs and actually closes her book.
“Sort of?” she answers with a laugh. “But I guess I’m referring to the whole hand/eyecoordination thing. Dance is all about flexibility, strength, and good balance, but I couldn’t make a basket to save my life.”
I laugh a bit. This feels easy.
“I watch the guys out there on the field every week in awe,” she shares. “Dane goes into beast mode and it’s like watching art in motion.Allthe Goldens are like that, actually.”
She cleaned that up nicely, but I don’t miss that she mentioned Dane first. Nor did I miss the way she forced her expression to straighten after talking about him. It’s the sort of thing Jules would’ve called me out on, but Joss and I don’t know each other like that. So, I keep what I suspect to myself.
“Yeah, they’re really good,” is all I say back.
She eyes me with a smirk and I’m unsure what she’s thinking.
“So, it’s a little weird to have all those pics of you and West floating around on the net and yet, here you are, sitting withmeinstead of him.”