Shadow of the Past (25 page)

It’s true, he was being ridiculous, but
all he could see is those eyes, and it made his back twinge in
pain.

Mark slinked into the gym, gave his
note to Coach DiMarco, and sat high up on the bleachers. He tried
to do some Algebra but couldn’t keep his mind focused on the book.
When everyone started lining up in squads, Mark found himself
staring at Jack as he casually sauntered to his spot and sat down,
his back to him. There were no threatening glances or wicked smiles
his way, just casual indifference.

Mark was about to turn back to his
homework when he noticed Victor staring at him. When he saw that
Mark noticed him, he turned away quickly, shuffling his feet and
missing a step before falling into place.

Aside from Vic’s glance at the
beginning of class, no one, not even the Coach or any of the other
classmates (including Steve) paid Mark any attention. When the
class was over, Mark took up a spot by the door as the other kids
got changed.

Mark couldn’t help but freeze with
panic when Jack and Victor came up the stairs before everyone else.
He looked away, trying to see if the Coach was anywhere nearby, but
he was nowhere to be found. Jack just leaned casually on the wall
across from Mark, looking down at the floor. Eric, however, was
fiddling with the straps on his backpack and pacing back and
forth.

Steve was the next person up the steps,
and judging from how out of breath he was, he had taken the steps
at least two at a time.

“Hey,” Steve said to Mark, and then
turning to stare at Jack and Vic.

“What?” Vic finally snapped at Steve.
Other kids had come up the steps by now, including Jack’s other two
friends.

“You know what. You fucking thugs,”
Steve snarled.

“Go fuck yourself, fairy,” Vic sniped
with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Whatever. Why don’t you guys try to
kick my ass, huh? Oh wait, it’s not the middle of the night and you
don’t have a bat or anything.”

“Steve!” Mark hissed. “Knock it
off.”

“You should listen to your girlfriend,”
Jack said, not even looking up.

“You are such scum, you know that?”
Steve said, walking over and getting right in Jack’s face. Jack
didn’t move a muscle.

“All I know,” Jack said, very softly,
“is that if you don’t settle the fuck down, your little friend over
there will have more than just bats to worry about.”

“Leave him alone,” Steve snarled, his
entire body trembling. “I mean it. If you want to fuck with someone
then step to me, okay?”

Finally, Jack looked up and locked eyes
with Steve. With Jack rising to Steve’s challenge, the rest of his
friends found themselves preoccupied with the scenic view of the
rest of the gym. Kyle had come up from the locker room during the
exchange, but he managed to stay back from all four of
them.

The bell rang, but Jack and Steve
didn’t move at all. The small crowd of kids that had been waiting
by the door watching the exchange decided that nothing was going to
happen and began to file out the door.

Finally, Jack just smiled and patted
Steve on the shoulder, and Mark was actually surprised that Steve
didn’t just explode and start swinging. “That’s good,” Jack said.
“‘Step to me.’ Very street.” Jack just turned and left, with
Steve’s eyes burning a hole in his back.

Victor followed after Jack, glaring at
Steve. Mark wasn’t sure if it was for standing up to them or outing
them for running him off the road. Kyle still hung back, blending
in with the rest of the crowd as they left for class. Mark just
stood there, staring in disbelief at the whole exchange.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Steve said, waving
Mark towards the door.

Mark just stood there as the last of
the kids from the locker room filed past them.

“Hey,” Steve said when they were all
gone. “Let’s go man, we’re going to be late.” Righteous Fury Steve,
with Public Humiliation Action was gone, apparently replaced with
Punctual Steve, complete with “What Did I Do Now?” look.

“Mark?”

“What the fuck is your
problem?”

“What?”

“What?” Mark echoed, his voice
wavering. “That! What the hell were you thinking? What was all that
‘step to me’ bullshit?”

“Boys!” Coach said, poking his head out
of his office door. “Watch the language and get to
class!”

Mark turned and stormed out the double
doors, not caring if Steve was behind him or not. “Hey,” Steve
said, jogging up alongside Mark. “What is your problem?”

“Oh Jesus,” Mark snarled. “Take your
fucking pick why don’t you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve
said, and then he waved his arms dismissively. “Look,” he
continued, “what is the big deal? I wanted to let Jack know he
couldn’t keep fucking with you like this and--”

“Of course he can keep fucking with
me!” Mark whirled around. “Look at my face! I was minding my own
goddamn business when they followed me, and who knows how long they
were doing that, by the way, and he just . . . ” Mark could only
wave his bandaged wrist at this point as his words piled on top of
each other.

“I don’t have any idea what you’re
talking about,” Steve said, sounding like an impatient mother. Mark
clenched his jaw as tight as he could, hoping it would keep him
from bellowing obscenities up and down the hallway.

“Look,” Mark finally said
through clenched teeth. “If Jack wants to fuck with me he’s going
to do it. He made that
painfully
obvious. I do
not
need you to finally try and stand up for me and to
get your big brother merit badge or whatever the fuck you were
trying to over-compensate for back there.”

“I was trying to be your friend,” Steve
said, an edge creeping into his voice.

“Because you’ve been doing such a bang
up job of that lately. Thanks for checking up on me this week, by
the way.”

“What? I didn’t have to! I called
Christine and she told me you were fine so I didn’t think I had to
bug you.”

“What do you mean you called
her?”

“Like . . . on the phone?” Steve said.
“Is that a problem?”

“How long have you been talking on the
phone with her?”

“I don’t know, man. I got her number
when you were suspended because she asked about some school stuff,
but it’s no big deal.”

Mark just stared at him.

“C’mon, man,” Steve said. “We just talk
about what’s going on with you because we’re worried,
okay?”

“I know,” Mark said flatly. “Because
you’re such a good friend.”

“Mark,” Steve started, but Mark turned
a corner and headed for the stairwell. Steve’s class was down the
hallway the other way.

“Just leave me alone,” Mark called over
his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

Everything else in Mark’s last two
classes was just a blur. At the end of the day he had wandered to
the bike rack lost in turning his conversation with Steve over and
over in his head. He rolled his eyes at his own foolishness, and
turned and started the walk home. “Hey,” a voice called after him.
He sighed, turned around, trying to feign excitement.

“I was hoping I’d run into you,”
Christine said, throwing her arms around his neck with a big
smile.

“Well, consider me run into,” he said,
trying to grin.

Hey, maybe Steve texted her
between classes and she's trying to be extra sweet to
you.

“How’re you feeling?” she
said.

“Okay,” he lied. “Tired, but I’m not
that sore anymore.”

“Well, aside from that. You seemed so
distant at lunch.”

“Oh,” Mark said, breaking their embrace
and taking her by the hand. “I dunno. I just felt kinda out of the
loop.”

“Well,” she said, giving his hand a
squeeze, “it’s not like you missed anything this week. Just basic
stuff.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I just . . .
Steve and I got into it after Gym, because he had to try to stand
up for me or some shit to Jack and his buddies, and really he just
made himself look like an ass.”

“Oh,” she said, supportive demeanor
beginning to crumble. “I’m sure he was just trying to
help.”

“I know, I know. Everyone is just
trying to help. I just wish I wasn’t so fucking sad that I needed
everyone’s help. It’s just . . . what’d you call it? Stupid macho
horseshit? I guess I’m just really pissed off at him right
now.”

She laughed a little and then gave his
hand another squeeze. “Look, I forgot to mention it at lunch but he
and I were going to get together tonight and study. He has some
history notes that would be really helpful for that big paper I’m
so lost on.”

“Really? He didn’t mention anything to
me about it.”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s
weird.”

“That’s Steve for you.”

“Look, if you’d rather me not go over
there until you two have had a chance to work this out that’s fine.
I understand.”

Mark rubbed his forehead, trying to buy
himself some time before he had to answer.

“I,” he started with every
intention of finishing that with
don’t
think you’ve got to worry about it. You do what you need to
do.
Instead, it came out, “think that would
be a good idea. Just until things cool off, y’know?”

“Oh,” she said, seeming even more
confused by what he said than he did.

No. Not confused.
Disappointed.

He wanted it to be ridiculous but he
could see it flash across her eyes. “That’s cool,” she said looking
away. “I don’t want to cause problems between you guys. It sucks,
because even if I don’t go over there, I still have to get cracking
on this thing or I’m going to totally bomb this class.”

“That’s fine,” Mark said, alternately
wanting to take it back so she wasn’t so hurt and eager to get away
from her so her disappointment didn’t hurt him so damn much. “I
have a shitload I’ve got to get done too.”

“Okay,” she said, forcing a smile. “Do
you want to do something tomorrow?”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll call you,
okay?”

“Okay,” she said. She leaned in a
kissed him quickly and then turned and walked towards
home.

As he watched he go regret began to
seep into him. What if what he thought was disappointment about not
going to Steve’s was really just disappointment in Mark being such
a goddamn baby about the whole thing?

Then again, he knew exactly how most of
Steve’s “study dates” went.

Even if everything was perfectly
innocent it was probably for the best, he thought. With everything
in his life flying in every which direction the last thing he
needed was to have some kind of panic attack laying in bed at home
worrying what his girlfriend and his best friend were up
to.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Christine had gotten used to the walk
home in the absence of Mark’s scooter. She had tried not to take it
for granted given how irregular it had become with his suspension,
the grounding and now the sick days. A free ride home from school
wasn’t something she could count on all the time.

Of course, nowadays, neither was
Mark.

She’d wanted to shriek at him when he
asked her not to go to Steve’s. It was so stupid and pointless. He
might as well have started pounding his chest and tried to drag her
back to his house by her hair.

Then again, she thought, maybe I’m just
angry because I was disappointed that I’m not going to go. Or that
I even asked “permission” in the first place.

She’d ask to be polite, thinking he
wouldn’t be bothered by it, but then she remembered that this was
Mark she was dealing with. She never would’ve asked any other guy
she’d been seeing if she could hang out with another boy,
especially one of his friends. She’d had “study dates” with plenty
of boys before, ones she was far more attracted to than Steve, and
nothing had happened. In Mark’s case it was just a matter of making
sure he didn’t freak out about something that wasn’t a big deal, no
matter how much Steve playfully flirted with her. He had enough on
his plate without worrying about something like this, no matter how
much of a pain it was.

When she got home, she deftly avoided
her brother, who was in the living room watching reruns of Magnum
P.I. in his bathrobe. He’d settled into a weird, summer-vacation
like schedule of staying up really late, sleeping in until at least
noon, and then hanging around the house for the rest of the
afternoon to make himself a pest to everyone, especially Christine.
She was well barricaded in her room before he could throw anything
or bait her into a tedious exchange of insults.

She ended up staring at the phone for
almost ten minutes before she picked it up and dialed Steve’s
number. She had to do this quickly, like pulling off a
band-aid.

“Yellow,” he answered
cheerfully.