Burro Hills by Julia Lynn Rubin

Author:Julia Lynn Rubin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2018-03-02T05:00:00+00:00

28.

I had no desire to see the guys that day, so I didn’t go to the lockers in the morning. I took a quieter route out of the building and was almost in the clear, but right in the parking lot they caught up with me.

“Hey, man!” Max called out. Toby was trailing behind him, hands deep in the pockets of his dark-washed jeans. They stood in front of me, expectant, waiting for me to be my usual self, but I wasn’t feeling like that lately.

“Hey,” I said, nodding and forcing a smile. The only thing on my mind was getting to Connor’s place, being with him in that private, secret space where I could finally take off the mask and let myself just be.

“You coming tonight?” Toby asked.

“To what?”

“Uh, the BMX race, man. Remember?” Max asked. “It’s tonight on Pine Street.”

“There’s gonna be an assload of hot girls there,” Toby said. He smirked.

“Oh, right,” I said, feigning disappointment. “Shit. I can’t. I’ve got plans with Connor.”

Toby and Max both frowned. “You guys are always doing stuff together,” Toby said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“What are you guys, like, secretly fucking?” Max joked.

I forced a laugh. “You’re sick. We’re going to this thing his uncle’s throwing.”

“What thing?” Max asked. I wanted to hit him.

“Um, just this art show thing,” I said. I started walking away and they followed me, still waiting for something.

“Art show?” Toby asked, the tone in his voice shifting.

“Yeah, it’s like an exhibition or whatever. There’s probably going to be free drinks there, so…” I shrugged.

“Yeah, listen man,” Toby said. “We’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

My heart hit a road bump, and I stopped walking. “About what?”

“Well, I mean, Connor’s cool and all, don’t get me wrong. But…there’s something about him. Something off. And well, he’s kind of…” He let the sentence trail off purposefully, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

“Kind of what?” I asked. I thought I knew what he was getting at, but I didn’t want to find out. “He’s chill. He’s down for anything. Isn’t that like us?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Toby said. He squeezed my arm a little too hard before releasing it, then stared me down like he was studying me, trying to see through some gap in my façade. Or was he? “Connor’s definitely chill, sure, but he’s a little…?”

“He’s a little what? What, you mean…weird?” I snorted.

“Well yeah, kind of,” Toby said. “Now that you mention it.”

“How is he weird?” I asked, a little too defensively. Chill out, Jack.

“I mean, think about it, Jack,” Max said. “He’s secretive. He’s always doing his own stuff, always kind of in the background until something crazy goes down. He got into it with the Rudoy brothers at the assembly. I mean, who’s dumb enough to do that? There’s just something odd about that guy.”

Toby leaned in close to me again, giving my shoulder a pat. Something in his big brown eyes flashed a warning before softening again.

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