Southside High by Mankin Michelle

Author:Mankin, Michelle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michelle Mankin
Published: 2020-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Lace

It felt weird, forbidden almost, sitting across from Bryan inside a diner I’d never been in before, just the two of us. The waitress brought us coffee and took our order. When she left, we went completely silent, avoiding direct eye contact. Apparently, it felt a little awkward to Bryan too.

While I folded and refolded an empty sugar packet, Bryan stretched his sculpted, tatted arms over the back of the vinyl seat on his side of the booth and turned his head to stare out the window. I stared at him.

“I hope you know I tried to talk some sense into him last night,” he said softly to the window before turning his head to look at me.

“War, you mean,” I said, thunderstruck by the unguardedness within his eyes.

Lowering his arms, Bryan nodded, and glossy layers of his hair drifted down to shadow his serious brow.

“I didn’t expect you to intervene for me.” I shook myself out of the alternate reality I’d stalled in since he’d admitted to thinking about kissing me.

“You’re both my friends. I had to.” Shifting in his seat, he looked uncomfortable.

“War is your friend. I’m not sure what I am to you anymore.” Tired, I gave him my feelings unfiltered when I probably should have continued suppressing them.

Bryan winced. “Have I botched it up between us that badly?”

“I don’t know.” I tried to put myself in his shoes, but I didn’t have a similar frame of reference. I only had two best friends that I’d ever felt free to be totally unguarded with—my brother, and at one time, the handsome guy sitting across the table from me. “Why don’t you tell me how you think things are between us?”

“I’m not sure.” Bryan’s gaze sharpened. “But I know you’re the only person I ever felt like I could really talk to.”

“But what about War?” I asked.

“War talks. He doesn’t listen.”

“And all those other girls—”

“We don’t do a lot of talking,” he said quickly. “Not about anything that matters.”

“I can see where talking might be a problem.” Just sitting across from him, I found it difficult to concentrate. I leaned back in my seat, frowning.

Bryan was never with any girl very long, never the same one twice, except off and on again with Missy Rivera. I didn’t know what it was about her that was different, but I knew she’d been with War and Bryan.

I didn’t like her.

“So many times,” he said, “I was tempted to pick up the phone and talk to you like I used to.”

“You have my number.” Confused, I squinted at him.

“Let me rephrase that.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t call you. It wouldn’t have been right. Not when you were with him. Not when most of the stuff I wanted to talk about involves him, you, and the group.”

“Oh.” My eyes rounded. “I guess I never thought of it that way.”

“But now . . .” He let that hang, giving me a meaningful look.

“With War and me broken up, it’s different.”

Bryan nodded. He was unguarded, now that the wall that had stood between us was gone.

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