"Don't worry, I'll keep out of your way." He grinned a mouthful of galloping horseteeth. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike.
Badminton didn't go smoothly. I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racquet and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing. I spent the rest of the period in the back corner of the court, with the racquet held safely behind my back. Despite being handicapped by me, Mike was pretty good; he won three games out of four single-handedly. I guess you learn that kind of thing, being the son of a paralympics outfitter. He gave me an unearned high five when the coach finally blew the whistle ending class.
"So," he said as we walked off the court.
"So good game, Mike!" I clapped him on the shoulder, hoping he would shut up.
No luck. "You and Cullen, huh?" he asked, his tone rebellious of the psychic stranglehold I somehow maintained without actually trying. My previous feeling of affection disappeared.
"That's none of your fucking business, Mike," I warned, internally cursing Jessica straight to the fiery pits of Hades.
"I don't like it," he muttered.
"You don't have to, fag."
"He looks at you like... like you're something to eat," he continued, ignoring me.
I chortled at that; I got right in his stupid equine face and chortled. He glowered at me. I gave him the finger and fled to the locker room, afraid he might fly into a rage.
I dressed quickly, something stronger than butterflies battering recklessly against the walls of my stomach,246 my argument with Mike already a distant memory. I was wondering if Fredward would be waiting, or if I should meet him at his car. What if his family was there? I felt a wave of real terror. Did they know that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew, or not? Who was supposed to know what? I shoved my arms into the borrowed 3/4 sleeves, head and guts in a tangle over who or what was waiting for me on the other side of the gym doors.
246. The issue of whether Bella is on her period or suffering from diarrhea has created a significant rift in the Fredward Bound critical community, as it has come to be symbolic of her approach to love; does she experience it as a periodic but surging ache, or an intense and persistent exhalation?