Page 102 of Pride High 3: Yellow

“Yes,” she said.

Omar’s face was lined with worry. “What did you take? LSD? PCP? Something else with a bunch of capital letters? Keisha seems kind of crazy. I bet she’s into the hard stuff.”

“She’s not crazy,” Silvia said while laughing. “And all we did was smoke a joint together.”

“Oh.” That seemed to put Omar at ease. “Did you like it?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “It was fun.” But not a miracle solution by any means. When she had thought about her problems while high, they were just as intensified as all the good vibes had been.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Omar asked, looking distraught.

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you to worry.”

“About weed? Who cares?! I’d love to smoke a joint. We could have done it together. I figured it must have been really bad drugs since you didn’t say anything. I was looking for needle marks on your arms when your eyes were closed.”

“I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Omar continued shaking his head. “I don’t get why you’d hide that from me. It was your first time, right? You had a major life experience. I always tell you mine.”

“Like when you managed to do a handplant the other day?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Omar said sullenly. “I wish you had been there. It was epic.”

Even mentioning skateboarding wasn’t enough to cheer him up again.

“It’s a bad habit,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve always played my cards close to my chest. But from now on, I promise to be more open.”

“Just more?” he asked, seeming unappeased. “Not completely?”

“Fine. I will tell you everything. Unless it’s embarrassing.”

“Like toilet stuff?”

“Especially the toilet stuff, yes.”

“Okay. I’m already open with you so…” He still looked a little wounded.

Silvia braced herself. She had thought about telling him today. Now was the perfect opportunity to show her trust. “There is something I haven’t told you yet. I keep hoping it won’t happen. And it might not. But my parents are thinking about moving.”

“What?” Omar’s face became drawn. “Why?”

“The situation with my dad. My parents think it would be better to start over somewhere else.”

“They’re wrong!” he said, grabbing her hands. “We’ve gotta come up with a better plan. Hey, my dad can hire him! I bet it would be good for business to have someone at the store who can speak Spanish.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m hoping once the cast comes off that he can work full time on Keisha’s farm. Or find another roofing job. But it still sucks, because I reallyreallydon’t like the idea of moving. Or saying goodbye to you.”

“Me neither,” Omar croaked. He let go of her hands, leaned forward, and kissed her. With his face still close to hers, he said, “But if it does happen, we’ll find a way of making it work. Okay?”

She nodded. “I’d be up in Chicago.”

“Oh.” Omar sat back. “Damn.”

“Yeah. But it’s still drivable.”

“We could meet halfway! Where would that be? St. Louis? Easy! If I don’t have a car by then, Anthony will loan me his, I know he will.” He looked momentarily pained, no doubt imagining how different things would be. “But I really don’t want you to go.”

“Me neither,” she said. “Right now we just have to wait and see.”