Page 31 of String Boys

Suddenly he could breathe again. He caught her hand and squeezed it. “I really did like the flower,” he said softly. “It was really sweet. I’m sorry I can’t be… you know. That friend.”

“But Iama friend, right?” she asked, and that it seemed that important to her meant the world to him.

“Of course.”

“Can I…?” She looked away, embarrassed. “Can I sit with you at lunch, then? I know you sit with the Cruz boys, but I was eating lunch in the library, and the cheerleaders have sort of taken over there, and they’re all talking about salads and how to lose weight and….” She gestured to her lush body and shrugged. “I just want to eat lunch with someone. Sorry. I’ll go now. We’re starting—”

“Of course,” Seth said, hoping Matty and Kelly would forgive him. “But Matty’s sort of an asshole. I need to apologize in advance for anything he says.”

Amara’s face lit up. “Really?”

He nodded, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Seth. You’re a good friend.”

They sat down and started tuning their instruments, and Seth thought wryly that if only she’d given him a flower last week, he might have had her give one to Kelly on Valentine’s Day.

He’d really love to have given Kelly a flower in front of the world.

“REALLY?” MATTYasked as they all stood at the back of the full bus on the way home. “She has to sit with us at lunch?”

“She’s smart,” Seth said, because he had her in English class. “And funny. And she likes Kelly’s drawings a lot.”

Kelly grinned. “She stays!” he proclaimed. “I like this girl already.”

Matty snorted. “Whatever. You morons eat lunch with the fat girl. Me and Isela can go eat our own lunch in the quad.”

“She’s not fat,” Seth said, feeling a flash of anger. “She’s sweet.”

“Are you finally dating?” Matty asked, staring at him like he’d grown another head. “Andher?”

“She’s afriend!” Seth argued. “And don’t call friends mean names!” God, it all sounded like those special programs they got in the fourth grade. “You and Isela can go sit anywhere you want, as long as you’re not mean to my other friends!”

“Whoa, whoa—whatever, Seth. You guys givemea bad time aboutmygirlfriend!”

“Your girlfriend hates half the band and most of the drama club,” Kelly muttered. “And she doesn’t even know them. Seth’s girlfriend—”

“She’s a friend!” Seth protested, only subsiding when Kelly gave him a bored look.

“Seth’sgirlfriend is nice to everybody. Isn’t she, Seth?”

Kelly continued the pointed glare, which felt more like a pointed question by now.

“She is,” Seth said, nodding at Kelly slightly. “She likes all those people Isela’s father tells you to hate. And she’d laugh her ass off if you tried to teach her there’s no evolution. And if you tried to teach her that a woman was less than a man, she’d laughyourass off. She’s fierce.”

Kelly gave a slight smile. “Good to know,” he said, his voice mild. “Shit. Goddammit, Matty, can’t you do something about him?”

They all looked up to see—who else?—Castor Durant and his buddies, smoking cigarettes and waiting for the bus.

Matty scowled, and for once, they were all in agreement. “Look, guys? Just don’t mention the girls, okay? I hear he’s going to the grade school and trying to get kids to follow him into his little shit pile in the store. He’s got bad things in there. Keep him away from our sisters, okay?”

Seth and Kelly nodded. This was a common goal they could get behind.

They filed off the bus, not pretending they didn’t see him, and not getting out of the way either. All the boys—and there were about five of them—lined up, as though making a soccer tunnel for Matty, Kelly, and Seth.

Seth gathered his violin case close to his chest, grateful for the thousandth time for its almost crush-proof construction. The boys smelled foul, unwashed and like cigarettes and some sort of oily smoke that clung to all of them. They crashed their shoulders against Matty, Kelly, and then Seth as they streamed off the bus, muttering, “Fag. Faggot. Cocksucker,” as well as other fun epithets.

The bus doors finally shut on them, and Matty gave a sigh of relief.

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing you’ve got a girlfriend,” he said to Seth as they set off for home at a trot. “I am damned tired of that word.”