Page 115 of Pride High 2: Orange

“Oh.” Keisha looked toward the party, as if wanting to make sure that they were alone. “I wasn’t sure about you. Not completely. If we’re even talking about the same thing.”

“We probably are,” Silvia said, trembling from the cold. And everything else. “I wasn’t sure about you either.”

“There are very specific terms we can use,” Keisha said, her dark eyes penetrating. “If you’re ready for that.”

“I don’t know,” Silvia said quickly. “There are still some things I need to figure out.”

“About yourself?” Keisha asked. “Or about him?”

They both looked toward the fire. For whatever reason, most of their friends were standing up. They seemed interested in the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” Silvia asked. “Do you think it’s the police?”

“If it is,” Keisha said, sounding tense. “You’ll excuse me for not sticking around.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Silvia assured her.

“I don’t think it is though,” Keisha said. “Not enough flashing lights. Don’t you need to use the restroom?”

“No. We better find out what’s going on.”

They began walking across the snow-covered ground.

“I’m ready to talk about it,” Keisha said. “Whenever you are. I’ll give you my phone number.”

“Thank you,” Silvia said.

“Just know that if you use it, I’ll probably insist on coming to see you. So we can discuss it face to face.”

Boy, if she still had any doubts, the thrill she felt when thinking about meeting Keisha alone somewhere nearly put them to rest. Then again, she had recently convinced herself that she had a crush on Anthony. If this was the same sort of thing—

“Motherfucker,” they were close enough to hear Omar swear. “Itishim!”

“What’s going on?” she asked as they closed the gap.

“Diego Gomez,” Anthony said grimly from next to him.

“I told you we should have put a stop to this sooner,” Omar muttered.

“I thought he’d figure it out by now,” Anthony shot back.

She turned to see who they were talking about. Diego wasn’t a complete stranger to her. Neither was Ricky.

“What’s the big deal?” Mindy asked when joining them.

“Diego Gomez,” Omar repeated as if that explained everything. When she didn’t react, he added, “The biggest asshole in Pride?”

“You haven’t counted my vote yet,” Mindy said venomously. “I think he’s nice.” She raised her hand and waved. “Hey guys! How’s it going?”

Omar’s jaw fell open as she went to meet them. Keisha followed her.

“What exactlyisyour problem with him?” Silvia asked, keeping her tone neutral, because she honestly had no idea what this was about.

“It’s Diego freaking—”

“I know who he is,” she interrupted with a laugh. “We sat next to each other in biology class freshman year.”

“You know each other?” Omar asked, sounding concerned.