Page 154 of Pride High 2: Orange

“That was fun,” Anthony said with a sigh.

“You handled it well,” Ricky replied.

Anthony’s expression was strained. “Only because I’ve been braced for it lately. Most people aren’t that rude, but I’m getting lots of stares, and some girls at school asked me if it was true.” He shook his head, as if it didn’t matter. “Graham sure turned white when you mentioned Diego.”

“Yeah,” Ricky said while fighting down a smile. “He came to my rescue when Graham made fun of the article I wrote.”

Anthony cocked an eyebrow at this. “That seems weird.”

“What?”

“The guy who was picking on you gets angry when other people do the same? Does he have exclusive rights or something?”

“He doesn’t pick on me anymore,” Ricky said as blood rushed to his face.

“You see the double standard though.”

“No, because Diego wouldn’t tease someone about being suicidal. He’s better than that.”

Anthony was already shaking his head. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Then tell me,” Ricky retorted. “Or finally shut up about it.”

Anthony glared at him.

He glared back.

Then they both decided to look anywhere but at each other. After a minute of awkward silence, Ricky sighed.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was still tense from all the mean stuff Graham said.”

“No, you’re right,” Anthony replied. “I thought it would be better if you figured it out for yourself, which is dumb, because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Omar told me a little,” Ricky said. “About the worst summer ever. How you guys had all those amazing plans that got canceled.”

Anthony’s brow furrowed briefly. “I didn’t care about Disney World. The time we were going to spend together mattered more.” He swallowed and looked away. “That, and all the time we lost.”

“What do you mean?”

“We weren’t allowed to see each other. For the entire summer. Omar didn’t tell you?”

Ricky shook his head. “He said it would be hard to explain.”

“For him maybe. Not for me. I literally can’t remember a summer without Omar. The days were so long and empty. The nights were twice as bad. Summer sucks without your best friend.”

“Either of them?” Ricky said.

Anthony looked surprised, but he nodded. “Yeah. You must have gotten a taste of that when you moved here. Imagine if you missed your friends just as bad except they were only a few blocks away. I was desperate for school to start again so I could reunite with Omar. We weren’t even allowed to talk on the phone. It was horrible. I think our parents were convinced that we were better off without each other. I know mine were upset about having to chip in for repairs. Money has always been tight for my family. Diego’s little stunt cost them thousands. Which I still get to hear about.”

“Why would he burn down the garage?”

Anthony shrugged. “Diego was unpredictable by then. Maybe he resented that we still had happy families. Or he wanted to burnwiththe garage so he’d get to see his dad again, I don’t know. But we had nearly three months to think about just how screwed up he’d gotten. Omar and I reached the same conclusion on our own. We were done with him. And still are.”

“Maybe he’s changed since then.”

“It wasn’t that long ago,” Anthony countered. Then he shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe you’re right. Have you seen him do anything crazy?”

Besides nearly choking Graham to death? Or shoving Ricky in the girl’s restroom on his first day? Or showing up at PE while drunk off his ass? Or losing his temper in the middle of a play?