Major Crush(22)
Author: Jennifer Echols

“What was she wearing?”

A llison closed her eyes. “Jeans and one of those new school spirit T-shirts.”

“They both are,” Drew muttered. The furious look in his eyes had faded. But he was avoiding everyone’s gaze, examining the water-stained ceiling.

“How about something else that distinguishes them from each other?” Luther prompted A llison. “Earrings, or shoes?”

“I didn’t notice,” A llison said, putting her hand to her forehead. “I was kind of preoccupied with this girl questioning my right to breathe her air.”

Luther moved closer to her. “This is important. We may be able to track her if we can figure out that, say, Tracey carries a pink bag and Cacey carries a red one.”

“They both wear bad blue eyeliner,” I offered, “but I think it’s Cacey who sometimes experiments with green.” I was making this up.

“That’s good,” Luther said, pointing at me. “Barry, write that down. A llison, did her eyeliner jump out at you?”

I asked, “How could it not?”

“Now you’re being captious,” Drew said to me.

“Don’t you dare excoriate me,” I said. “You’re the one with the nefarious girlfriend.”

Craig Coley and some of the other trombones at the end of the table talked low together, looking up often at Drew.

Drew’s eyes focused on me like he wanted to say something else to me. Then his glance slid off me to Craig. “What, Craig? Bring it on.”

“You’re the leader of the band, Drew,” Craig said. “Not just the half of the band that’s white.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Drew said.

“Drew, you have to break up with her,” said Luther. “Serious.”

“Back off,” Drew told Luther. He turned to me. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

“No. I’m not loving what she did to A llison. Where is your girlfriend, anyway? Why don’t you go find her? Why don’t you go comfort her in this time of great sorrow for her and/or her sister?”

“Good idea.” He got up, towering over the table, and walked across the lunchroom. He stopped at the table where both twins in their matching school spirit T-shirts sat with some of their friends.

A ww, man! I hadn’t expected him to take my suggestion. But I should have known he’d want to discuss the situation with the twins like responsible adults.

I turned to A llison to see if she was feeling better. But she was watching Drew. So was Luther. The whole table watched Drew as he bent to talk to the twins with his arms crossed on his chest.

“When he comes back,” Luther said quietly, “I’d advise you ladies to cool it a little. We know Drew isn’t a racist. He’ll do the right thing. He just doesn’t want to break up with her on hearsay. But he’s under a lot of pressure right now. If you push him too hard, he’s liable to snap.”

He snapped his fingers.

I insisted, “I am not going to tiptoe around Drew Morrow just because he wants to hang on to long hair, big boobs, and her sister.”

Drew walked back toward us, arms crossed, and didn’t uncross them until he pulled out his chair and sat down. He hardly glanced at me as he announced to the table in general, “She said she would never make a comment like that.”

“Which one?” I asked.

Barry and Craig and the other trombones snorted with laughter. Luther gave them a warning look.

Drew glared at me. “Both of them.”

“Well, one of them is lying,” I said. “Or A llison is lying. Who do you believe?”

He looked over at the twins’ table, where the twins and all their friends were watching our table. Then he turned to A llison, as if he were really pondering the question: A llison versus Evil Twins. “Everyone is attacking me when I didn’t do anything,” he said, again to the table instead of me. “It’s not fair.”

“How do you think A llison feels?” I asked.

A llison raised her carefully shaped eyebrows at him.

He reached across the table, covered her hand with his hand, and squeezed. “I know,” he said. “But you’re acting like I did something awful, when I didn’t.”

“Ouch ouch ouch ouch!” she squealed, pulling her hand from under his and shaking it out. She examined her manicure.

“Sorry.” He finally turned back to me. “I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t do something like that, and neither would Tracey.”

“You’re dating Cacey!” called the table.

His jaw was set. “I said back off.” Luther sat up straight and clapped his hands. “Drew says back off. I trust him to investigate and to do the right thing.”

“You didn’t trust him a few minutes ago when you had Barry charting the twins’ wardrobes,” I said. “You’re going to let Drew get away with this just because you’re afraid he’s going to blow?”

“Back. Off,” Drew told me.

“Me! Why don’t you tell the twin to back off A llison? What do you see in that racist, anyway? Why don’t you break up with her?”

“Virginia,” A llison said in warning.

Drew shouted at me, “Don’t tell me what to do!”

“Drew,” said Luther, looking over our shoulders.

It occurred to me that Luther and A llison might see a twin behind us. But I didn’t care anymore. I screamed at Drew, “You’re not supposed to yell at girls!”

I felt someone close at my shoulder. I whirled around to tell Tracey/Cacey exactly what I thought of her/them.

It was Mr. Rush.

I braced for him to let us have it. But he glanced over to Ms. Martineaux at the teacher table. Then he said quietly, “I thought we agreed you kids would play nice.”

Drew shouted at Mr. Rush, “Take a number!”

I slapped my hand over Drew’s mouth.

The lunchroom had fallen so silent that I could hear air hissing in the ceiling ductwork and pots clanking way back in the kitchen. Drew’s chest rose and fell quickly under my arm, and I could feel his heart thumping.

Mr. Rush spoke slowly through his teeth. “I am busy with my colleagues. Go wait for me outside my office. I’ll be down there when I wrap this up. A nd while you’re walking, enjoy your last five minutes as drum majors.”

Drew and I tried to escape the hushed lunchroom as quickly as possible. But of course the lunchroom lady stood guard at the door. We had to go all the way back to our table, take our trays all the way to the dishwasher, and walk all the way back through the lunchroom with the entire band and a hundred other people watching our every move. Clayton Porridge seemed especially interested.