A Match Into Water (Fuenciado)

Chapter Five

I wiped my bleary eyes with the back of my hand, my groggy brain trying to process the numbers on the clock. It was way too early to be doing this. The sky outside the school library windows was still mostly dark, only a few rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. Seven o'clock, on the dot. And Jaime still wasn't here.

 Some underpaid staff came by and collected the pink detention slips from everyone, making sure each one was signed before marking it off on her clipboard. I put my head in my hands as a group of regular detention-goers began to laugh hysterically at something one of them had said. The teacher didn't even bother to yell at them, just crossed her arms over her chest. She seemed just as tired and bored as the rest of us. This was going to be a long morning.

 After about ten minutes of staring at the top of the table, I heard the door to the library burst open. I quickly turned toward it, hoping to see Jaime. Instead, I saw a breathless Tony running across the room, detention slip flapping in his hand.

 "Sorry," he panted, handing the paper to the teacher and twisting his cap on his head. She rolled her eyes at him and made a mark on the clipboard. Clearly, this happened a lot.

 Tony chose an empty table in the corner of the room, his chair making a loud noise as he scraped it back. Having nothing better to do, I watched as he slid off his backpack and began rummaging through it. I almost didn't notice the figure rising from one of the other tables and facing my direction. Almost.

 Danny was halfway to my table before I spotted him. Panicking, I glanced around the room, trying to find somewhere to go. Somewhere he wouldn't bother me. I looked to see if the teacher was going to say anything, but her attention was channeled into a fashion magazine, eyes slowly reading the words and staring at the glossy photos. No wonder she was running detention.

 Most of the other tables were either empty like mine or full of people I didn't know, and I was too nervous to try and go over to them. My gaze landed on the table in the corner. I knew that Tony didn't particularly like me, but he wouldn't send me away, right?

 I slipped over to the other side of the room, pulling back a chair next to Tony. I grimaced at the sound it made, but the teacher didn't look up. I noticed that Danny had returned to his table, seeing that I was with someone else. He had a sour expression on his face.

 Tony didn't acknowledge me as I sat down, which was fine with me. I didn't much want to talk, anyways. I took to staring at the clock, which was moving even slower than usual. Where was Jaime? Had he forgotten? And if he had, did that mean he wasn't thinking about yesterday at all? Because almost every second, those moments in the courtyard were replaying in my head.

 Tony seemed to be close with Jaime; maybe he knew where he was. I nudged him with my elbow and he glowered at me, pulling an earbud out. I hadn't even noticed the white cord snaking up from his pocket. "Yeah?" he said, annoyed.

 I felt embarrassed, both for bothering Tony and for the fact that he might know more about my boyfriend than I did. "Um, I was wondering if you knew where Jaime was."

 Tony stared at me like I was an idiot. "At home, where else would he be?"

 He turned away from me, shaking his head.

 "No, but he's supposed to be here," I tried to explain, Tony looking at me with confusion. "We both got detentions for this morning. You don't think he forgot, do you?"

 Tony shook his head again, biting his lip. "Man, his dad must be pissed."

 "Huh?" I asked, not understanding.

 The other boy leaned closer, pulling out his other headphone. "His dad. Y'know, big, scary guy? I can hear him yelling from across the street sometimes."