Hide Your Fires

3: Tate Conner

“Today is the day!” Allison informs me in a way-too-loud voice as we’re walking down the hallway on Monday morning as if squealing loud enough will get her point across even more.

“What’s happening today?” I ask her through half-raised eyelids. I have no idea how I, the total morning-hater, has befriended such a loud morning person. This is almost excruciating but it’s too late to back out now.

She turns to look at me as if I’d just grown a second head on my shoulders. “How could you have forgotten?!”

I rack my brain for something that’s supposed to be happening today. I know that Allison has an art show but that’s next week and the only other thing I can think of is that I have a physics test today but I don’t think that’s anything to get excited about. “Um, I dunno. What is it?”

“Tate Conner is back!” She reminds me, almost jumping up and down in excitement. “I have to have at least one class with him, right? Like, what are the statistics of me having just one class with the guy?”

I shrug with a small laugh. “I don’t know, Ally, I’m about as useless at math as you are,” Which is not entirely true because I’m pretty good at math that has to do with finances and money considering I pay my own bills and manage my own paycheck to provide for a house of three people but just random probability is not my strong suit.

“Okay, well I’ll just have to make a sacrifice or something,” She decides with a shrug.

“Sure. So what’s so great about this guy again?” I ask her. I remember that she said that he’s just coming back from juvy or something but I barely consider that a reason to swoon over somebody.

“Because he’s Tate Conner. Super attractive. Super rich. Super bad boy. Also, every girl in school will be clawing for his attention,” She explains. “And I want to win.”

Allison is pretty competitive, but I can’t be the only one to realize how ridiculous this whole thing seems. “Just be careful.”

“Nobody ever gets to where they want to be by being careful,” Allison reminds me even though I don’t think that when somebody created that quote, they were thinking of Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address or Lady Gaga and her iconic meat costume, not Allison, who wants to seduce a criminal.

A lot of people are talking about this Tate Conner guy by the time lunch rolls around. It’s pretty annoying to overhear the same name in every conversation in every class that I have, like he’s some celebrity or something. I don’t really talk to people when I’m in class, so I just overhear everybody else’s conversations and they all have to do with Tate Conner. I’m not saying that I’m the only one who isn’t on the Tate Conner bandwagon, because I do notice a few other people- guys and girls- rolling their eyes whenever somebody in the room begins the Tate conversation.

I could not be more excited when lunch time comes around so that I can get away from all of the Tate Conner talk. Erin is never one for gossip so I know that I’ll be safe for at least an hour of my day.

However, when I get to the art room, Erin is leaving the room and locking the door behind her.

“What is happening?” I ask her incredulously.

“Oh, I’m going to lunch with my sister,” She informs me. “Sorry, Hallie.”

“Can you just give me the key and I’ll lock it up when I leave?” I wonder hopefully, not really wanting to go into the cafeteria to have lunch at all.

She gives me an apologetic frown. “I can’t, it’s against school policy. Go enjoy the wonderful experience of the high school cafeteria for once, you might enjoy it.”