Page 41 of Ask No Questions

“What? Why would any of those guys care who I talked to?”

“Mike tends to get very protective over his girls, which includes your friends and now you.” He seemed amused by this, which infuriated me even more.

“Who does Mike think he is?” I could feel my face reddening.

“Whoa calm down, crazy! I don’t listen to them, and neither should you.” He smiled at me for the first time. His smirk made him look arrogant, but his smile softened his features and showed how striking he was.

“You should smile more.” I paused, stunned. Those words slipped out without me thinking. I absolutely hated when people said that to me.

He laughed and smirked again. “Nah, people would get the wrong idea about me. They might think I’m actually a decent guy.”

I shook my head. He was better than decent. Why did he walk around with a mask on? If he only talked to people, they would forget about whatever happened in the past and see who he really is. I stood to leave and picked up my mostly untouched smoothie. “Want to walk me back?”

“You would dare be seen in public with me? I think you’d better get a red A ready to wear.” He smirked as he stood up and threw away his cup before opening the door for me.

Eighteen

I was expecting to be ambushed when I got to school, but it seemed like nobody had seen or heard about Gage and I hanging out. I knew enough about the school to not get too comfortable thinking people didn’t care, so I spent the whole day on edge. I wasn’t ashamed of being friends with him, but I knew it would cause drama.

I did my best to act normal around Mike, but Gage’s words were in the back of my mind. Was Mike really going around staking a claim on me? I had only been here a few weeks and already I had enemies and a clique. This wasn’t in my plan to avoid drama. I was lost in thought when I finally realized my name was being repeated. I looked up and saw Mike staring at me waiting.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I was just asking you what you’re thinking about. You’ve been in your own world all morning.”

“Oh… sorry, I didn’t realize.”

He laughed quietly. “You don’t need to apologize. I was just concerned. Nobody is giving you trouble, right?”

He said it as a joke, but after talking to Gage, I wondered if he took it more seriously.

“No, not at all. I just have a lot on my mind with dance tryouts coming up and stuff.” There was no way he would tolerate that answer.

His ever-present smile grew. “Oh good, I’m glad it’s nothing bad.” Or not.

We worked together to finish the assignment in class, and luckily, he didn’t push for much conversation.

I sat in each of my classes, waiting and listening for whispers about me, but by the time lunch came around, I realized we were in the clear. I never mentioned it to the girls since I knew their feelings toward Gage.

I only saw him in passing after fifth period, and he gave me the slightest nod before continuing past me. I knew he was doing it for my benefit, or at least he thought he was, but I was hurt he wouldn’t talk to me at school.

I was so drained by the end of the day I didn’t bother meeting up with anyone after classes were out. I didn’t want to hang out with anyone, so I hurried home and took my place on the couch.

I woke later to the sound of Brandon unlocking the door. I sat up, pretending I hadn’t just taken a nap.

“Hey, Sleepy, are you ready for dinner? We’re going over to the Pages’ house.” Apparently, I didn’t hide my napping well enough.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go change. Then we can go.”

Dinner preparations were in full swing when we walked in. I headed into the kitchen to see if there was anything I could do to help. Mckayla and her mom were chopping vegetables next to each other at the island, and Steve was standing facing the stove. I looked around for Matt as I said hi to the others.

Diane caught my eye and tilted her head to the side. I followed the direction and saw Matt sitting alone on the patio staring down into a book. It was a normal enough thing for him, but judging by the look on my aunt’s face, I knew something was off.

“We have a little while until things are ready for dinner. Would you try to talk to him? He’s been quiet all day.”

I gave a quick nod and went back outside. He didn’t look up when I took a seat next to him. I leaned over to see what he was reading and recognized some of the pictures of various beach formations.

“Science is much more interesting here than it is in Chicago. You have things to study in your backyard.”