Page 151 of Pride High 2: Orange

Omar grinned. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Hey, I’ll get you an unsweetened iced tea. Be right back.”

He put on his boxers, and after sticking his head out the door to listen for a moment, slipped outside the room. Silvia felt a rush of fondness when watching him go. Then she thought of Keisha and almost felt disappointed, because there was no denying it. She liked boys. Emotionally and physically. Which was kind of a shame, because she liked Keisha too. Did that make her bisexual? Silvia wasn’t sure. Nor did she need difficult choices or unwanted distractions. There would always be unexplored possibilities. What she had now—her sure thing—was pretty damn wonderful. And she couldn’t wait for him to get back into bed, because what she needed more than anything at the moment, was to feel his arms around her.

* * January 11th, 1993 * *

Mindy did her best to ignore the door to her Spanish class, but she still tensed each time someone appeared in her peripheral vision. She’d been dreading this day and had wished the weekend would never end so she wouldn’t have to see Troy again. She even thought about playing sick today, just to delay the inevitable. Was it too late?

Someone tall filled the doorway. Mindy placed a hand on her forehead, as if shielding her eyes from the sun, while she stared down at her notes. Troy sat down at the desk next to hers, so she angled her hand to block him from view. Please let him take the hint!

“Hey.”

Mindy allowed herself a mental sigh. Of course he wasn’t going to give up. That was exactly the problem.

“Are you ever going to talk to me again?” Troy pushed.

Mindy shook her head, which was a mistake, because it only seemed to encourage him.

“I said I’m sorry!”

She pretended to add to her notes, when really she was writing,Go away! Move back to Wichita. Please please please!

“Do you want me to beg or something?” Troy muttered. “Jesus Christ!”

She was tempted to plug her ears with her fingers. Maybe then he would finally leave her alone.

“Buenos días,” Mrs. Hernandez said as she walked into class. Continuing in Spanish, she added,“Did you enjoy your weekend?”

“Not really,” Troy grumbled from next to her.

Cute. Mindy lifted her chin and focused on the front of the room. But even the start of the lesson wasn’t enough to shut him up.

“Why’d you run off like that?” Troy whispered while leaning across the aisle. “That was crazy!”

Mindy shot to her feet, a few choice words on her lips, like howhewas the crazy one. Instead she swallowed her response and gathered up her things, her face burning as she felt everyone stare.

“Changing seats again?” Mrs. Hernandez asked as Mindy walked to her old desk. “Any reason why?”

“Too many distractions,” Mindy said tersely.

Mrs. Hernandez’s gaze moved to Troy. One of her eyebrows lifted ever so slightly, as if she had his number. After a beat, Mrs. Hernandez nodded curtly at Mindy and turned around to write on the board. The lesson went on as if nothing had happened, to her great relief, because it meant she would never have to sit next to him again. And even if he bugged her at the beginning of each class, at least she would be up front where Mrs. Hernandez would see and hopefully chase him off. If not, Mindy would tell him, very loudly and publicly, how little his advances were appreciated.

She clung to this forced confidence as the period neared its end, but she knew what was coming. The transition from one class to another would give Troy ample opportunity to continue harassing her. Mindy checked the clock as she reached into her pocket and felt the reassuring heft of the knife Diego had given her. Not that she planned to use it. Even unfolding the blade at home had made her want to fling it away in fear. But if the situation became dire enough, she could pull it out and wave it around. That should scare Troy off!

The bell rang. Mindy grabbed her things and hurried out the door, her free hand returning to her pocket. Just as she’d feared, Troy was right behind her.

“Hold up!” he said. “This is so stupid. It’s not like it was…”

“Rape?” Mindy said, spinning around to face him. “Are you scared to say the word? Because I’m not!”

Troy glared in response. “That’snotwhat happened.”

“Because I didn’t stick around to let it!”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Troy shot back. “I wasn’tthatinto you.”

Mindy’s grip tightened around the knife. “Don’t talk to me. Ever again. Do you understand?"

"You’re a psycho bitch!” Troy snarled.