‘‘Shain,’’ said Megan, ‘‘you’re hyperventilating.’’
‘’Am not.’’
‘‘You are. You look like you’re having a freaking asthma attack.’’
‘‘Hey. No. My cousin has asthma. Don’t satirize that.’’
She sighed. ‘’Oh. My. God. The Vocabulary Queen strikes again. What was that word? Satyr eyes?’’
‘‘Satirize,’’ I said. ‘’To mock or criticize with exaggeration.’’
In the driver’s seat, Megan’s mom glanced at me. ‘‘Are you a wordsmith, Shain? You should teach Megan some vocabulary.’’
‘‘Mom. Do not drag me into this.’’ Megan let out a sound of exasperation. ‘’I can’t believe we’re talking about freaking vocabulary when Liam is two minutes away.’’
Oh, God, I remembered. Liam. He was so close. So close.
Honestly, I was terrified. I’d had dream the night before about this redheaded giant snarling down at me. He’d said something about Pokemon, and then changed into a fierce koala and attacked me. Somehow, everything made sense: the tallness and the red hair represented two qualities of Liam. He’d loved Pokemon. And the koala represented Australia. The only thing that didn’t make sense was the rage of it all. The anger. I could barely remember a time when he’d been pissed at me or at anything else. Of course, I could barely remember his face at all. But still.
We parked in the lot beneath the airport and walked up to the main floor. Liam was supposed to emerge at Gateway 6.
‘‘Ooh, Starbucks,’’ Megan said, gazing to the left. ‘‘Shain, you want a coffee or something?’’
‘’Um, maybe a chai latte.’’ I pulled out my wallet as we walked to the café.
Liam.
I wasn’t sure how I would react when he came. How do you behave when the best friend you’ve had since second grade comes back after a year and a half?
A clerk came to the counter. Megan started ordering: ‘’Um, could I get a medium decaf coffee with milk and sugar, a medium chai latte, and omigod Shain Shain Shain Shain look look is that him omigod—’’
She clutched my elbow, pinching my skin tightly and pointing in the direction of Gateway 6. I turned. I didn’t know where to look.
‘‘Shain.’’ Megan looked me dead in the eyes. ‘‘He’s here.’’
I took her word for it. I sped out of Starbucks and towards Gateway 6, searching for qualities I couldn’t remember, searching for a boy who I thought of as a ghost, searching for someone who was either my best friend or my worst enemy.
YOU ARE READING
Hiding From Us
Teen Fiction❝We can't win. We're fighting a spherical war. We're hiding from us. And we're losing.❞ This is the sequel to Looking At Us, where a new generation of teens come into Shain and Erick’s lives, and love becomes a force of power and weakness.
