The Lighter Side of Life and Death by C. K. Kelly Martin Read Free Book Online

strained.
    “Sure.” I reach into my locker to pull out my notebook. My history notes from the two days she was away are thoroughly intelligible—unlike Monday’s or last week’s—which is another thing I don’t want to spend much energy thinking about. “Are you feeling better?”
    Our hands touch as I hand over the notebook and I could swearthat she jumps, not enough for anyone else to notice, not even enough for me to notice if it’d happened two weeks ago. “I’m feeling contagious,” she says, instantly looking worried that I may have taken that the wrong way, which, let’s face it, I have. “My parents didn’t want me to miss too much school,” she adds hastily. “They sort of turned on the pressure about coming back.”
    Okay, so she’s not feeling better. I thought it was a simple question.
    “I got your e-mail,” she says, taking one of her obligatory ten-second looks at me. “Thanks.”
    “Yeah, I got yours too.” This is ridiculous. Three years of friendship and now the simplest conversation feels like hard labor. Sure, I miss the Saturday-night Kat Medina but I’m starting to miss the old Kat too, the one I could talk to.
    “You know, I think you were right about Nina and the kids,” I tell her. “It’ll be pretty surreal when they move in this weekend. My dad’s office isn’t his office anymore. We started painting it last night and it looks completely different. Once Burke’s furniture is in there I won’t even be able to recognize it.” It’s this hideous dark green, for a start. It makes the room look half its size.
    Kat holds my notes against her hip and I’m trying, I really am, but I can’t stop seeing the curve of that naked hip in my head. Also, I feel sorry for her, being back at school and all when she’s still sick. Normally I’d act more sympathetic and give her a hug after not seeing her for a few days but now I don’t think she’d want that.
    “It’s a lot to get used to,” Kat confirms. “I guess you just have to expect that it’s going to feel weird for a while.” She flips her hair back, looking tired. “I should go,” she says, glancing at my feet. “I’ll see you in history?”
    “Lunch,” I remind her. We don’t have history until last period today.
    “There too,” she says. A smile catches on her lips for a second before disappearing. “See you later.”
    But at lunch I end up sandwiched between Zoe and Jamie, and Kat barely acknowledges me. She spends the entire period talking to Michelle and Sondra, and I act like I’m cool with it. Hey, I’m cool with everything. She’s the one overreacting. I’m not the one who jumped when our hands touched, you know?
    “So, Mason.” Yolanda leans towards me from across the table. “Any idea what movie we should review?”
    Yolanda and I have to do this
At the Movies
style review for Presentation and Speaking Skills next week and we haven’t agreed on a movie yet. The class is such a cakewalk that I’ve been acing it with minimal effort but Yolanda’s more comfortable with behind-the-scenes stuff, which is why she’s worrying about this on a Thursday when our presentation is scheduled for next Tuesday. “What about something awful?” I suggest. “Something we can totally dis and tear to shreds.” Definitely more fun. More distracting for Yolanda too.
    “I like it,” Yolanda says with a smile. “We can act all outraged.”
    “Or we can disagree vehemently,” I add. “You can throw up your hands and I say
‘I can’t believe this—did we even see the same movie!’
”
    I must be projecting my voice because next thing I know Kat’s glancing at me from down the table. She puts one hand to her forehead and looks swiftly away and I’d love to do something crazy like kiss her on the top of the head and stand behind her massaging her shoulders. Everybody would freak. She’d freak. But something about it would feel right.
    We should be closer after what we’ve done together. We