Invincible

seven

   “The Catcher in the Rye,” Isaac Hanly announced on Monday, throwing his English things down on the desk. “And Teen Wolf.”

     Jared looked at him like he’d grown an extra head.

    “What the fuck,” he said. Why was the guy still sitting here anyway?

     Isaac just grinned at him.

    “The key to Willa Adams’ heart,” he explained, sitting down and crossing his legs so he was sat on the plastic chair like a little Yoda. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today.

    “How the fuck have you heard about that?” demanded Jared. “And dude I’m not interested in her so I really couldn’t care less about Teen Wolf and the Catcher in the Sky.”

    “Rye,” Isaac corrected him gently. “All your friends were chatting about it in form. And yeah, sure, okay. Just, I was in the public library this morning-”

     Jared scoffed.

    “Of course you were.”

     Isaac was ignoring him, rummaging in his bag until he found what he was looking for: a small yellow paperback with the Penguin logo on its cover corner. He waved it in front of Jared’s face and then opened it to the first page.

    ‘Willa Adams,’ read an upside-down biro scribble at the top, followed by a mobile number.

    “She came and sat opposite me when I was reading it and said, ‘hey, I love that book, even more than I love Teen Wolf and that is saying a lot’, and then we talked a bit about it and before she left she said, ‘give me that a second’, and she took it and there is her number.”

    Isaac beamed at him, breathless after his excited retelling. Jared’s mouth almost fell open. Oh. So she’d reject him, but had no qualms about trying to pick up Isaac Hanly, of all people?! The guy looked like a pixie, for fuck’s sake! And Jared was- well, Jared!

    “I can’t fucking believe it,” he muttered to himself, and Isaac nodded in agreement.

    “Neither can I. I mean, I didn’t even know she was this girl you liked till I got to school and Ari Latsis was talking about it.”

     Jared glared at him.

    “And then you thought, well fuck me, perfect opportunity to get back at Spencer for calling me an arsehole and blah blah whatever. Smug little shit. Who’ve you told?”

    Isaac blinked. He looked genuinely confused.

    “…You?” he offered after a little pause.

    Now it was Jared’s turn to look confused.

   “What?”

    “Well, you. When Ari said you liked her I thought this might- come in handy?”

    Isaac sounded considerably less sure of himself than before and suddenly – as realisation dawned - Jared felt like a complete jerk. Woah, hold up there. That was fucking odd. He was pretty sure his conscience had been mostly dormant for about five years, and it decided to spring into action now?

    “Sucking up to me isn’t going to get you any favours,” he warned Isaac, in a careless tone that made him feel slightly more like himself. Isaac shrugged.

    “I don’t need favours,” he said, unmoved. Jared glanced at the book lying between them, Willa’s taunting smile flashing unbidden into his mind. Was this a crush? He hadn’t had one of those in months.

    “Can I…” He paused. No. Fuck this, Jared, you’re not borrowing a book off this fucking dweeb because you want to impress a girl. Dude, what are you?! A fucking twelve-year-old?!

    “Can you what?” asked Isaac, smirking. He was bloody enjoying this.

    “Can I just-” Oh Jesus Christ this was excruciating. “Can you just give me that book Hanly, okay.” – Isaac raised one eyebrow – “Oh for fuck’s sake! Can I borrow the fucking book? Please?”

     Isaac tilted his head slightly, pretending to consider, and then slid the paperback over onto Jared’s desk.

    “Since you asked so nicely,” he said sarcastically, and then muttered, “Next you’ll be wanting me to have a Teen Wolf marathon with you…”