28

Nikki

In the morning, I wake up and immediately turn my phone on, hoping to have a text from Luis. I get butterflies in my stomach just wondering if he might have been thinking about me when he woke up this morning.

A text pops up on the screen. It’s from Luis. I can’t help but grin when I read his perfectly thought-out message.

Luis: Hey

The message was sent twenty minutes ago. I quickly type the only appropriate response and press SEND.

Me: Hey

I rush to the bathroom, but bring my phone with me just in case he texts me back. While I’m brushing my teeth, I hear the chime on my phone. Another text. I hurry to finish brushing, then pick up my phone.

Luis: u ok?

Me: About what?

Luis: Us. Me.

Me: yeah. Why?

Luis: just checking.

At school, Luis and I sit on the floor in front of my locker before the bell rings.

“I didn’t do my math homework last night,” I tell him as I pull out the sheet Mr. Gasper gave our class. “After I got home I couldn’t concentrate. I hardly understand it anyway. My brain doesn’t compute calculus. I don’t even know why we have to learn it. It’s not like I’m going to use it in real life.”

“Depends what you do for a livin’.” Luis slides the sheet onto his lap and studies it. “Come on, we have ten minutes before the bell rings. I’ll help you finish it.”

I try hard to focus on anything else but him. I move my hand over his and draw invisible circles on the back of his hand with my fingers.

“You’re distractin’ me,” he says.

“I know.”

He laughs, then pulls his hand away. “Don’t you want credit for the homework, mi chava?”

I kiss him. “Yeah, but I’d rather just hang out with you.”

“I don’t want my girlfriend flunkin’ math and havin’ to take it over in summer school. Focus,” he tells me.

“Okay, okay.” I put my pencil on the paper, ready to work. “I’m focused.”

We work until there’s a minute before the bell rings. All I know is that Luis has the patience of a saint. He was able to explain stuff to me at my level, instead of Mr. Gasper’s way, which is way too confusing.

“Thanks,” I say as I slip the sheet into my folder.

“Sit with me at lunch today,” he says.

“With your friends?”

“Yeah.” He laces his fingers through mine.

“I don’t really get along with them. They hate me.”

“It’ll be fine, I promise.”

Kendall and Derek come walking down the hallway. “I guess you two worked it out last night, huh?” Kendall says.

I squeeze Luis’s hand. “Yep.”

Luis and I part when the bell rings. I know I’m not going to see him until lunch, but I do see Marco. He’s in my gym class. I usually ignore him and he ignores me.

Today I’m not so lucky.

“So you’ve finally found another guy to obsess over?” Marco asks as we run around the track surrounding the football field.

I run faster, but he keeps up with me. Mr. Harris, our gym teacher, is holding a stopwatch. “Keep up the good pace,” he calls out as we pass him.

“This thing with you and Luis won’t last, you know,” Marco says. He stops talking as a couple of runners pass us. “When he dumps you, are you gonna make him feel like dirt and turn everyone on the north side against him, like you did to me?”

I didn’t turn anyone against Marco. We broke up at the same time that he joined the Latino Blood. Coming to school with gang tattoos didn’t really help his popularity with the people I hang out with. I know almost everyone on the north side ignored Marco after we broke up. I just don’t think it had anything to do with the breakup and everything to do with him flaunting his gang affiliation.

I keep running and ignore every word that comes out of Marco’s mouth. I wish I had headphones in my ears to block him out completely.

“If you tell Luis what I said, I’ll pass around that naked picture I took of you on my cell.” He leans in close. “When I told you I deleted it, I lied.”

Tears threaten to sting my eyes, but I hold them back. When gym is over, I rush to the locker room and pray that Marco is bluffing.

At lunch, I spot Luis in the hall just as we’re both entering the cafeteria.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey. I’m eating lunch in the library,” I tell him. “I’ve got to study, and I can’t do it when everyone is around. I’ll see you in chemistry, okay?” I need to get away from Marco and his threats.

He starts to follow me. “I’ll go with you to the library.”

“No. You’re the biggest distraction for me right now. I need to focus.”

“Seriously?” Luis asks, unconvinced.

“Seriously.” I kiss him, loving the feeling of his warm lips on mine that make me forget Marco’s threat for the moment. Being with Luis makes me believe everything will be okay in the end.

“Hey, you two. No PDA,” a teacher calls out. Oh, no. It’s Mrs. Peterson. She taps us on our shoulders. “Break it up.”

Mrs. Peterson waits for us to part, then crosses her arms. “Nikki, I’m going to have Dr. Aguirre send you home with another Fairfield High student handbook. You obviously haven’t memorized the rules. If you’d like to stay after school and go over them together, I can help you.” She raises an eyebrow at Luis. “That goes for you, too, Mr. Fuentes.”

“Haven’t you ever broken the rules, Mrs. P.?” Luis asks her.

“No,” she retorts, but then thinks about it more. “Well, there was this one time in high school …” Her voice trails off. “Never mind. I don’t want to catch you two kissing in the hallway again. I didn’t make up the rule, but I have to enforce it.”

Shocker. Mrs. Peterson just admitted to being a rule breaker herself. And maybe she even disagrees with some of the rules. Luis looks pretty pleased with himself that he got her to admit it.

“I’ll see you later,” I call out as I head to the library. “Go eat with your friends.”

I sit in one of the private study carrels and pull out my lunch and a book from the fiction section that I just picked off the shelves. I don’t really have to study. I just don’t know how to tell Luis that I can’t hang out with his friends.

29

Luis

In chemistry, Peterson watches us like a hawk. Damn, that woman might not have made up the rules, but she sure does get off on enforcing ’em. Today Peterson is lecturing the entire class. I glance at Nikki and find her looking right at me. She smiles. I’m the luckiest dude on earth. I’m gonna hate leaving her after practice today.

The bell finally rings. Nikki and I walk to our lockers together.

“I’ll meet you on the field,” I tell her, then pull her close.

She pushes me away. “You heard what Mrs. Peterson said. No PDA in the halls.”

“She’s not lookin’. Besides, school’s over.”

She shakes her finger at me. “You’re living on the edge, Mr. Fuentes,” she says, imitating Mrs. P. “Promise me you won’t get another detention.”

“I can’t do that, mi chava.”

In the locker room, Dougan comes up to me as I put my soccer jersey on.

“Nobody likes the idea of you and Nikki together,” he says. “Well, besides Kendall and Derek.”

“I don’t really give a shit what anyone thinks,” I tell him.

I sit down on the bench and get my cleats on, hoping Dougan will just disappear.

He doesn’t.

He sits next to me. “You know her parents are gonna have a fit when they find out she’s dating a dude in the LB. I know you’re one of them … no need to deny it. Just so you know, I’ll be there to comfort Nikki when she realizes you’re just another Mexican scumbag.”

I finish fastening one cleat and put on the other. I don’t want anyone, especially Dougan, interfering with my relationship with Nikki. I know Alex and Brittany had similar issues. All of their friends tried to warn them their relationship would end up in disaster, but in the end it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. That’s how I want it to be with me and Nik—the two of us figuring this out without interference from anyone else.

“You don’t know shit, Dougan.”

“I know more than you think.”

I finish tying my cleats and scan the area to make sure we’re alone. “Yo, Dougan. If you tell Nikki anythin’, I swear the LB will be all over your ass.” Without waiting for him to respond I head to the field, where the coach is having the team do laps for warm-up. Nikki is sitting in the stands with Kendall, watching us, with a bunch of other girls.

Marco jogs beside me. “What’s up, Fuentes?” He nods toward the bleachers. “I see you got a fan.”

“If you have an opinion about my girlfriend, keep it to yourself,” I tell him. “Seriously, stop givin’ her shit or you’ll have to answer to me.”

“What are you, her bodyguard or boyfriend?” he jokes.

“Both.” I glance at the bleachers. Nikki doesn’t look too happy that I’m talking to Marco.

“I think it’s entertainin’ that you and Nikki have a little thing goin’ on,” Marco says, then pats my back. “Good luck with that, bro … while it lasts.”

He sprints to the side of the field to talk to the coach before I can say anything back.

Derek is a midfielder who can kick the ball farther and more accurately than I’ve ever seen. Marco and I are forwards, and we read the game as if we’re of one mind. Instinctively we know what to expect from each other, and what we’re both thinking.

The only distraction I have is Nikki. Each time the ball goes out of bounds, I find myself looking for her in the stands.

“Fuentes, what are you doin’?” Coach yells. “Sal just threw the ball inbounds to you and you were staring off into La-La Land.”

“Sorry, Coach,” I say.

“Get off my field until your head is back in the game,” he yells, then motions for another player to replace me.

I jog off the field and stop at the water station. I squirt water in my mouth, then douse my head to cool me off.

“I’m distracting you, aren’t I?” Nikki asks.

I turn around and see her leaning on the chain-link fence. The sun is shining on her dark hair, showing off hints of natural red highlights.

Is she distracting me? Hell, yeah. “I missed that ball ’cause I was lookin’ for you.”

“Don’t do that,” she says. “Do you want me to leave? It’s not a big deal. I don’t want to piss off your coach.”

I wink at her. “You know I don’t want you to leave.”

“Nikki Cruz, stop distracting my player, or I’ll make this a closed practice and kick you out!” Coach yells.

“Go make a goal to appease the poor man,” she tells me.

“Will do.”