Page 27 of Pride High 3: Yellow

Anthony made a face. “What? Who cares?”

“Admit it, you love the idea.”

“I do not!” He seemed to reconsider. “Although it would be kind of hot if you were in the next room over and I could hear you moaning.”

Omar cackled. “Then we need to go on a double date.”

The school—and other students—came into view, so they shifted to less decadent subjects as they went inside and navigated the halls.

“Damn!” Omar said after hearing about Anthony’s most recent date. He shoved his skateboard in his locker and slammed the door shut. “That sounds amazing! Cameron has some serious moves. I should hit him up for ideas.”

“If you do, let me know what he says so I can steal a few.”

They hesitated when reaching the door to their journalism class, unwilling to say goodbye to the weekend just yet.

“Mr. Jafari!” A familiar voice called from nearby. “Mr. Cullen!”

They turned and saw another mister walking toward them, in particular, their journalism teacher. Mr. Finnegan smiled as he approached, his baby-blue eyes twinkling. “I trust you are both recharged and ready for the week?” He didn’t give them time to respond. “Anthony, excellent work on the latest music review, although I have some tips on how to express yourself with a bit more nuance.”

“‘Pablo Honey’ is a bad album,” Anthony replied. “I liked ‘Creep’ but Radiohead is going to be a one-hit wonder, mark my words.”

“That may be, but it’s important to reinforce your subjective opinion with objective criticism. Otherwise it comes across as mean-spirited. We’ll discuss that further in today’s class, since it ties in with this week’s theme. Do you mind if I use your review as an example?”

Anthony shrugged. “Not at all.”

“Excellent.” He turned to Omar. “I have your next filming assignment.”

“Catch you later,” Anthony murmured while watching Mindy approach. He followed her into the classroom, where they sat together.

“What’s it going to be this time?” Omar asked. “Please tell me I don’t have to film another chess match. The footage turned out shaky because I kept nodding off.”

“This assignment will be a bit more fast paced,” Mr. Finnegan said. “Are you available after school today? I’d like you to film the cheerleaders as they hold their tryouts.”

“Is this for the video yearbook,” Omar asked with a nudge, “or your personal collection?”

Mr. Finnegan frowned at this. “A journalist must always treat their subjects with respect. This line of work will bring you in contact with people from all walks of life. It’s imperative that you treat them each with equal dignity.”

“Yeah, of course,” Omar said. “I’ll be cool about it.”

Mr. Finnegan hesitated. “I’m not sure how to interpret that, so imagine Principal Preckwinkle reviewing the footage and noticing that you zoomed in on certain inappropriate details. I would hate to jeopardize this project over something so impulsive. Not to mention how it might make the cheerleaders feel.”

“Gotcha,” Omar said. “I’ll keep it professional.”

“I knew you’d understand,” Mr. Finnegan said with a smile before gesturing to the classroom. “Shall we get started?”

Omar went inside and sat at the desk he shared with Ricky. A few minutes remained before class would begin, so he leaned over. “How’s it going, little buddy? Did you have a good weekend?”

“Yeah,” Ricky said, pushing the glasses up on his nose with a bashful smile. “It was amazing.”

“Oh yeah? What did ya get up to?”

“I went shopping with my parents on Saturday and on Sunday I hung out with Diego.”

“On Valentine’s Day?” he asked incredulously before clamping his mouth shut. Anthony suspected that they were dating, and Diego had even alluded to the possibility when they last saw each other.

Does that surprise you, gay boy? I guess you fell in love with the wrong guy. You could have gotten somewhere with me.

At the time, Omar had thought the words had only been intended to hurt Anthony’s feelings. And they had. But maybe there really was more to it. If so, Ricky remained tight-lipped about their relationship, even now.