Head Above Water

5. Tricky Tempers

Both Friday and then Monday passed rather uneventfully and I hadn’t really talked to my new group at all since I was so busy. Dance was still the worst part of my day, but on the plus side I’d learned that I could skip the foreign language requirement if I was taking a visual or performing art, so I’d dropped Spanish. Part of me wanted to drop Dance too—I didn’t need the PE credits with swimming—but I wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet.

With 5th period now free I figured I’d squeeze in another hour of swimming. I knew I was pathetic, but if I wanted to make Olympic Trials, I need to be in the pool as much as possible. There wasn’t a swim class during 5th, but I’d gotten special permission from Coach Hawthorn to use the pool alone.

Having finished my first unsupervised workout, which I’d thoroughly enjoyed, I showered and threw my dance clothes back on. I had stained my regular clothes earlier in the day and was stuck wearing the form-fitting pants and top from dance instead. Connor had whistled loudly when I walked into Geology earlier, making me turn bright pink, so I promptly walked over and punch him in the arm. Of course, he’d just grinned and continued to check me out through the remainder of class.

I gave my outfit a final check then walked out of the locker room to find Malcolm leaning casually against the wall watching me, his arms crossed over his chest. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should join him, but when he spotted me and dropped his arms, I could tell he had waited for me specifically.

My cheeks heated up as I walked forward, remembering the conversation he and I had left off on and I decided I should apologize. “Hey, Malcolm. Look, I’m sorry for Thursday, if I…”

The glow in his eyes flickered a little then dulled and he seemed to struggle to come up with something to say. “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty moody at times,” he answered seriously. He began walking and I followed at his side.

“It was a rude question though, I’m sorry,” I apologized. I glanced back up to see him smirking playfully as he watched me out of the corner of his eye, which was once again a glowing yellow. Nicer Malcolm was back. These constant flips could give someone whiplash.

“It was rude, though suffice it to say you were spot on,” he replied smoothly. I opened my mouth to ask him to elaborate, but closed it quickly realizing I would have just negated my apology.

“Perhaps some day I’ll explain,” he offered, though he made it sound like that was a slim chance. ‘Perhaps’? ‘Suffice it to say’? He even spoke differently with each of his moods.

“Okay,” I said slowly. How about a new tactic? “Well should I call you each by a different name then?” He quirked an eyebrow in surprise while I continued. “You two are completely different. Seems only fair that you’d have different names.” Man, I seriously am off my rocker.

“You know you sound crazy, right?” he asked seriously.

“Yes. But I honestly have no other explanation for you. You’re different and I can’t figure it out,” I said with a frown.

Angry Malcolm resurfaced then, “And you like figuring everybody out, don’t you? Putting them in a little box all neatly labeled and organized,” he said sarcastically.

“Yes.” I paused to form the right words. The way he said it made me sound so nosy and arrogant. “It’s how I know I can trust certain people.”

He stopped walking as he regarded me thoughtfully and I could see the hint of a frown between his brows. We stood there in the corridor, eyes locked on each other, as the sea of students flowed around us.

I watched his eyes light up again and I finally caught on to his tell. Angry Malcolm had the yellow eyes. Smirky Malcolm had the glowing gold.

“I can’t tell you what you want to know, Gem,” he said quietly.