Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) by Shannon Dermott Read Free Book Online Page B

a quick bye to Maggie.  I was hoping to find Tom before the whole school saw us leave together to avoid any further rumors.  There was surely already a rumor that I had to have not one but both of the new boys in school.  I knew that because Sebastian sat with me every day at lunch, there would be those who thought we were together too.
     
    Leaving so quickly, I didn’t have a chance to speak to Maggie about her plans tonight.  We did pass several notes back and forth during class.  We couldn’t text each other because our seats were too close to the front.  Pen and paper were much more inconspicuous.  She admitted that she was going forward with her plans for tonight being ‘ The ’ night.  Brent apparently made elaborate plans that he hadn’t shared with her.  Even with my ‘ Are you sure? ’ big and bold on the page, she didn’t doubt her decision.  Her only concern was that she worried Brent would ruin it somehow with his new found temper. 
     
    Wanting her to know, I’d told her about me spending my un-Valentine’s Day with Tom.  She made it clear she felt like I should get back with Luke.  She’d never made any bones about her favoritism towards him.  She did say that she thought Tom was nice but in her words he was ‘ full of shit ’ about not being interested.  I didn’t believe that.  In the past few months my admirers had picked up.  Tom just didn’t look at me the way they did.  So I ended the note by saying, ‘ He does not.  No worries.  Just a movie.  Call me later’ . 
     
    As it turned out, Tom was pretty prompt and only a quarter of the student population saw us leaving together.  To cap off my incredible streak of bad luck, those students who were outside to see included Flynn and Luke.  Could my day get any worse?
     
    Getting in the car, I tried to pretend I hadn’t seen them and just acted casual.  I texted Flynn while Tom pulled out of the parking lot.  My text said in fewer words but the same meaning that ‘ I was getting a ride with my un-Valentine so you don’t need to wait for me’ .  I hoped that would squash anything they were thinking.  He certainly would share the text with Luke. At least I thought he would.  Maybe hope is a better word.
     
    Once my phone was tucked safely back in my pocket I turned to Tom. “Thanks for the roses,” I said.
     
    “Yeah, about that,” he said. “I picked yellow not because they were the last available but more because yellow is a friendship color.”
     
    I laughed. “I know.  You’re not interested in me because I’m trouble.  You don’t have to keep reminding me,” I said.
     
    “It’s not just you. Any girl,” he added.
     
    That gave me pause.  “Are you not into girls at all?” I asked seriously.
     
    It was his turn to laugh. “No,” he said. “My life is too complicated for any relationship right now.”
     
    I leaned my head back. “Is that your mantra?  You don’t have to keep explaining it to me.”
     
    “It’s just that I don’t want to lead you on,” he said.
     
    Now it was getting old and maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said because I really didn’t feel this way.  I just wanted to get him back.  “You don’t have to worry.  There are at least three way hotter guys who are interested in me. So if I really wanted to date, I’d choose one of them,” I said and pursed my lips.
     
    “Duly noted,” he said.  I couldn’t help but notice that he looked slightly hurt.
     
    I sighed to myself.  I shouldn’t have said that. “I’m sorry.  That was mean. You are way cute but I’m not interested,” I said borrowing one of his lines. 
     
    That seemed to break the spell.  We laughed and just like that things were back on track. He took me to get ice cream and while we ate we debated about the wisdom of eating ice cream in winter.  The main agreement was that ice cream’s main purpose was to cool you off on a hot summer day. In the end we both loved ice