Читать книгу Adios To All The Drama - Diana Rodriguez Wallach - Страница 11

The next morning, Madison could barely concentrate on the road. All she wanted to do was extract every possible detail from Alex about his mortifying conversation with my father.

“So did the words ‘sexual relations’ ever come up?” she asked giddily, while staring at him in her rearview mirror.

“Uh, no. He wasn’t that blunt,” Alex said, staring at the roof of the car as if envisioning the horrific scene in his mind. “I believe his exact words were ‘do not even think of laying one finger on my daughter as long as you’re living under my roof…or God help you.’”

“He’s being ridiculous,” I muttered.

I was sitting on the hump in the backseat, nuzzling next to Alex. For the first time in the history of the Audi, Lilly was sitting shotgun. With Emily commuting in from Philly with her dad’s corporate driver, a vacancy opened up front. Madison wasn’t thrilled with her new driving partner, but with Alex added to the mix I would much rather sit in the back with him than in the front with her.

Despite my free ride, I still often found myself missing Vince’s BMW. I liked being able to leave when I wanted and to sit where I wanted. I wouldn’t have that luxury again for at least another year—my father insisted his children were not “mature enough” to drive until our seventeenth birthdays. Apparently, he knew more than the government. And he was also quite certain he knew more than me, especially when it pertained to my own life.

When I had woken up this morning, for a second I had forgotten Alex was even here. I trudged into the shower like I did every day, pulled on my bathrobe and let my soppy hair drip down my back as I headed to the kitchen for breakfast—that’s where I saw Alex, sitting across from my father, eating toast. It was an odd scene given the unbearable conversation they’d had the night before.

“My daughter will go to college and have a future, and you are NOT getting in the way of that.” My body recoiled at the thought. “This is my house and you will follow my rules. If you don’t like it, leave.” My fists clenched. “You better hope you came here to visit colleges, because if I find out you have other ideas, you’re gonna wish you’d never met my family.” For the love of God, I was sixteen years old and Alex was my first kiss. I wasn’t exactly headed down the road of a hardcore porn star. He didn’t have to be so, as he would say, “dramatic.”

“Mr. Ruíz can get pretty intense,” Madison offered.

“Yeah, I noticed.” Alex sighed.

“But he’s really generous. He let both of us move here,” Lilly pointed out.

“Yeah, but he also pretty much accused Alex of being some dirty pimp bent on corrupting his daughter,” I snapped.

“Well, what’d you expect? He caught you guys making out in a bedroom in his own house,” Madison said plainly. “Not too many dads would say, ‘Oh, how sweet.’ It’s all about respect.”

Alex nodded, saying nothing.

We pulled into Spring Mills High School’s parking lot moments later. Alex didn’t have the same reaction to the sprawling campus as Lilly had. He nodded with a look of satisfaction, but he was in no way in awe of the facilities. Maybe it was because his situation was only temporary, or maybe it was because he was preparing to tour college campuses that were much more expansive than this. But he simply smiled as we strolled through the front doors. He didn’t even look intimidated by the students, no matter how many designer purses and phones they carried.

Unlike Lilly, he didn’t want to go straight to the school’s front office to kick-start his new life. He said he wanted to see my “mundo”—my “world,” so I led him to my locker as the first stop on the Mariana Ruíz World Tour.

“So this is my home away from home,” I said, swinging the door.

He carefully scanned my organized shelf of books arranged by subject and size in a color-coded system. His eyes breezed from the locker mirror adhered to my door to the old black-and-white dance calendar photos pasted below it. Then he eyeballed me from head to toe. I couldn’t help but squirm.

“I’m happy I’m here,” he said. “And I’m sorry about your dad. I’ll be more respectful.”

“Please, Vince had them very used to a constant stream of disrespect. If you spoil them with politeness now, you’ll ruin all his hard work.”

“Vince was that bad?”

Alex took the books I had collected for first period out of my arms, as if he intended to carry them for me. If he did, it would be a first in the history of Spring Mills. Most of the girls in my school were lucky if they could get their boyfriends to call them let alone engage in sincere acts of chivalry.

“Vince argued with my father like it was an Olympic sport,” I explained. “Seriously, there should have been judges and a medal ceremony. It was that impressive.”

“What would your dad do?”

“He argued right back. Where do you think my brother gets it from? I thought it was a weird recessive gene. But after the crap they pulled on Teresa recently, I somehow dug deep and found my own inner ‘drama queen’—As my father likes to say.”

He reached out and brushed a lock of wavy auburn hair from my face. As his finger grazed my forehead, I shivered. “So what’s the situation with Teresa?” he asked.

“Well, pretty much everyone but my dad treats her like a leper. Just wait till you meet my uncle Diego. He pretty much blames her for driving his family out of Puerto Rico. Like she had any control over being born. Seriously, the man should be fitted for a padded cell and drool bib.”

Alex laughed, leaning toward me. I could feel energy buzz between us.

Just then, a heavy book bag slammed on the ground beside me. I slowly swiveled, already knowing who I’d find. My body instantly tensed as I spied Bobby, focused on his locker, refusing to catch my stare.

“Oh, hey, Bobby. This is my friend…Alex.”

I gestured anxiously between the two of them. Alex extended his hand, but Bobby didn’t look over let alone return the handshake.

“Hey,” Bobby muttered, aggressively stacking his books on the shelf.

“Hola,” Alex said, his accent squeaking through.

Finally Bobby’s head turned, his eyes scrunched and his lips taut.

“So, you’re from Puerto Rico?” he asked, curtly.

“Sí, but I’m thinking of going to college here.”

“Why? Aren’t there any colleges in Puerto Rico?”

“Bobby!” I interrupted, stunned at his overt rudeness.

“It’s just a question. I honestly don’t know much about your island.” Bobby cocked his head at me. “Actually, I didn’t know that you did either until school started.”

“Well, I didn’t until this summer. But things change. You should know that.”

“You got that right.” Bobby shot me a smug smile and snapped his head back toward his locker.

I shook my head at Alex as if to apologize for my friend’s behavior, but he immediately brushed it off. It didn’t seem to bother him.

“Wanna show me to the front office?” Alex asked, lightly placing his hand on my lower back.

“I’d love to.” I clutched my purse as Alex continued to grip my books with one hand and the small of my back with the other. “See you in Chemistry, Bobby.”

“Yeah, can’t wait,” he spat.

And with that, I led Alex to the same office I took Lilly to on her first day of school. Only, unlike my cousin, Alex wanted my help.

I couldn’t stop staring at the periodic table. Anything was better than looking Bobby in the eye. Given how rude he was to Alex, I at least expected an apology. But not only did he refuse to offer the olive branch, he was grunting and sighing the entire class period as if he were annoyed with me.

“So as we all know by now, the periodic table is arranged according to the periodic law,” Mr. Berk droned from the front of the classroom, pointing to his rolled-down chalkboard-size diagram. “And the periodic law states that when elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number…”

I started to tune him out. We had covered this topic already, yet somehow teachers felt compelled to repeat themselves constantly as if we were all too stupid to catch the lesson the first time. It’s why most of my honor’s society classmates aced their classes while only doing half the required reading.

My mind drifted to Alex and me on the beach in Utuado, his tan skin peeking out from his board shorts, the way my body tingled when his arm brushed against mine. It was like I could feel a force sizzling between us when he was close. Now that was a type of chemistry worth discussing; forget atomic numbers.

“I need your homework,” Bobby grumbled, tapping the table for my attention.

I jumped slightly. “What?”

“Your homework? From last night? We need to turn it in.” He rolled his eyes.

“What’s with you?” I asked, pulling my typed assignment from the proper folder.

“Nothing.” He snatched the sheet of paper from my hand, wrinkling it.

“Clearly, there’s something.”

“What, do I have to discuss every little thing with you now? Because Emily’s mom slept with my dad?”

Mr. Berk looked over from the front of the classroom. I smiled politely and nodded to the assignments floating through the class.

“You’re acting like a jerk.”

He flicked his head toward me. “Well, maybe I’m not as fickle as you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Forget it. Go have fun with your boy, Alex.”

I exhaled loudly through my mouth. “Alex is a friend from Puerto Rico. I told you that.”

“He looked like more than a friend this morning. What, are you too embarrassed of him to say he’s your boyfriend?”

“No, I’m too polite to say he’s my boyfriend,” I snapped, shaking my head. “Why do you have to make things weird between us?”

“Because they are!”

Mr. Berk coughed from the front of the room as he collected the assignments.

“Bobby, I wanna be your friend. I wanna help you with the film festival. If that’s not enough…”

“Fine,” he said softly, in a defeated tone. “Are you coming to the meeting today?”

“What meeting?” My eyebrows bunched.

“I sent you an e-mail weeks ago! All the students participating in the festival are meeting after school today. I thought you could talk about the flyers and stuff?”

I dropped my head and stared at the lab table. I knew if I said I couldn’t make it because of Alex that would solidify the end of my friendship with Bobby. But I also couldn’t ditch Alex on his first day in Spring Mills.

“Do you think it would be okay if I brought Alex?” I mumbled.

Bobby’s shoulders immediately squeezed his neck. “I guess.”

He flung his attention back toward the worksheet we were supposed to complete. It was the end of the discussion. We both finished the lab in silence without offering each other any help.