“I can’t believe I don’t have any classes with Max!”
Anthony slammed his locker door shut and waved his class schedule in Paige’s face. “Seven periods a day and not one class!”
“You do have gym with him,” Paige reminded.
“Gym doesn’t count. You can’t do any socializing in gym class.”
“Girls can,” Paige said smugly. “All we have to do is say we’ve got our period and we’re suffering from cramps. Then we can sit in the bleachers and gossip.”
Anthony stuck his tongue out at Paige. “Lucky you. Unfortunately, I don’t have that option. The guys in my gym class are too busy grunting and throwing some sort of ball at each other, although in my case, I’m usually running away from it. And nobody looks good in gym class. You get all hot and sweaty and wrinkly. I look my worst in gym! At least you’ve got a real class with Max.”
“A.P. History. My toughest class with the toughest teacher at Peppington. What was I thinking?” Paige groaned, leaning against Anthony’s locker. “Practically all my classes are A.P. or College Introductory. I should have taken no-brainer classes like Bianca and Rachel are doing.”
“We talked about this last spring,” Anthony said. “All those advanced classes will look good on your college applications, remember?”
“I know. I know. I just don’t think I’ll be passing any notes to Max. I’ll be too busy taking notes!”
“So you won’t have time to flirt with him in class. There’s got be some way you can get closer to him.” Anthony’s eyes lit up. “I know! You can arrange some after class study sessions with him. You can pretend to be dumb and ask him to explain stuff to you because Mr. Owling’s lectures are so dry and boring.”
“I’m not going to dumb myself down for some guy.”
Anthony ignored Paige’s comment. “And we can make sure you always look good!” He stuck a finger in his mouth and began nibbling on it as he started strategizing. “Maybe come up with a theme for each day of the week. Tropical Tuesdays. Fantasy Fridays. Yeah! We could even dress you up like a biker chick! Why don’t I come over to your place later this week and we can go through your closets. Come up with some outfits that will catch Max’s eye. Better yet! We can go to the Bryant Park Fashion Show next week. I’m sure I can score some passes from my parents. Maybe we can get you some clothes from the new collections. You’ll be one step ahead of all the other girls!”
“That’s awfully sweet of you, Anthony, but I don’t need any new clothes,” Paige said. “Besides, I want Max to like me for me. Not for what I look like.”
Anthony placed a hand on Paige’s shoulder and looked deep into her blue eyes. “Paige, honey, that’s all very hearts and flowers, very Hallmark, but listen very carefully. If Max turns out to be straight, chances are he’s got a copy of Stuff or Maxim under his bed and it ain’t for the articles!”
Paige’s mouth dropped open and she shoved Anthony’s hand off her shoulder. “You’re saying I should dress like a tramp?!”
“Of course not! But what’s wrong with using what you’ve got?” Anthony checked out Paige’s school uniform of a gray plaid pleated skirt, white blouse and gray vest. “You know, if you loosened a few buttons and raised up the hem of your skirt, you could have that naughty schoolgirl look.”
Paige swatted Anthony on the chest as the bell for first period rang. “Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. Are you sure you’re gay, because you’ve got the mentality of a straight frat boy. Come on, we’re going to be late for homeroom.”
Anthony followed Paige down the crowded hallway.
“Obviously you’ve been figuring out my strategy for landing Max, but what about yours?” Paige asked over her shoulder.
“Other than my screenplay, I don’t have a strategy, so I really hope he takes the bait.”
“You haven’t spoken to him since your party?”
“Nope.”
Anthony couldn’t explain why, but suddenly he’d become very shy around Max. Their paths had crossed more than once in the days leading up to the first day of school, giving Anthony more than one opportunity to talk to him. Last week there had been Senior Orientation and Anthony had sat two rows behind Max in the school auditorium. Another day they’d seen each other in the school library when they were both picking up their textbooks. They’d waved and smiled across the crowded library, but that was it. Max didn’t come over to talk to Anthony and Anthony didn’t go over to Max.
Part of him was waiting for Max to seek him out. He was waiting for a sign. Something that he could grab on to. To make him believe that Max liked him and wanted to be with him. He hadn’t told this to Paige—he was too embarrassed—but he couldn’t stop thinking of Max. He was the first thing he thought of when he woke up in the morning and the last thing he thought of when he went to sleep at night. And the rest of the day he was constantly daydreaming about things like their first date or their first kiss.
Why hadn’t Max called him? Didn’t he have a good time at his party? Didn’t he like talking with him?
Anthony shook his head. Maybe he was deluding himself. Hoping for something that wasn’t going to be.
But attraction was a two-way street, he reminded himself. How could someone know you were interested in them unless you let them know it? For all he knew, Max was waiting for him to make the first move. Maybe he’d never had a boyfriend before. Maybe he still hadn’t come out.
“So why haven’t you spoken to him?” Paige asked again.
Anthony shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m having a hard time figuring him out. Maybe he’s had his heart broken and he’s afraid of falling in love again.”
“If that’s true, then you’re perfect for each other.”
“Huh?”
“What you said about Max could also be said about you. Are you scared of putting yourself back out there? Is that why you’re staying away from Max? You can’t be afraid. Not every guy you meet is going to be like Ian.”
Anthony’s mouth dropped open.
“How did you know?”
Paige gave Anthony a smile. “I’m your best friend. Give me a little credit. And I know what you’re going through, remember?”
“Jeremy Lacter,” Anthony said.
“Jeremy Lacter. You know how he broke my heart sophomore year the day before the Spring Fling when he got together with his ex-girlfriend, Sheena Wolverton, and told me he was taking her to the dance instead of me. I locked myself in my bedroom for a week, cried nonstop, and wouldn’t see or talk to anyone.”
“How could I forget? When you finally emerged from your bedroom it looked like raccoons had nested in your hair! And let’s not talk about your face!” Anthony shuddered. “I thought I was going to faint! We had to get you an emergency visit to my mother’s salon. Thank God Jorge had an opening.”
“Do you remember what you said to me when my hair was being shampooed? You told me that Jeremy was a jerk.”
“I also told you that looking good is the best revenge,” Anthony quipped. “You should have listened to me and gotten those blond highlights!”
Paige ignored Anthony’s wisecrack. “You told me that I had to forget what had happened and move on because if I didn’t put myself back out there, if I didn’t start dating other guys and trusting them, Jeremy would be winning. You have to do the same thing.”
“I know, I know. You’re right. But it’s hard.”
Paige squeezed Anthony’s hand. “Trust me, it gets easier.”
Anthony and Paige walked into their homeroom and took two seats at the back of the room. Hopefully they’d have a homeroom teacher cool enough to let them sit where they wanted instead of an anal-retentive one who would insist on having everyone sit in alphabetical order. The fact that their homeroom teacher hadn’t show up yet was a good sign.
“Guess who’s in almost all of Max’s classes,” Anthony said.
Paige looked up from the notebook she was writing in. “Who?”
“Felix.”
Paige bit down on the end of her pen. “It makes sense. Felix probably helped him pick his classes.”
“And made sure he wasn’t in any of mine.”
“Felix would do that?”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
Anthony wondered what Felix had told Max about him. Felix’s style wasn’t to publicly trash someone. Oh, no, he was too smart for that. Felix liked to cover his tracks. That way he always looked innocent and nothing could be traced back to him.
Could Felix have told Max that he was gay? Was that why Max was keeping his distance? But that theory didn’t make sense. Max was hanging out with Felix and Felix was gay.
Plus, if Max were gay, Felix probably wouldn’t want him to know that Anthony was gay. Why help out the competition?
And if Felix knew that Anthony had the slightest interest in Max, well, he’d do everything he could to sabotage things.
Anthony knew he’d have to be careful around Felix.
Very careful.
Just then their homeroom teacher entered the room. It was Pamela de la Vega, who taught Spanish to sophomores and juniors. The late-twentysomething teacher was laid-back, but she didn’t take any bullshit from anybody. The year before she’d given the Torres twins Fs on their year-end term papers. The theme of the assignment had been to do a biography on a noted Hispanic figure in popular culture. Ms. de la Vega had been thinking along the lines of Frida Kahlo, Carmen Miranda or even Ricky Martin. Instead, Bianca’s paper had been on Speedy Gonzalez from the Warner Brothers cartoons while Rachel had chosen to write about Bumble Bee Man from The Simpsons.
Paige leaned over her desk to whisper in Anthony’s ear as Ms. de la Vega started taking attendance. “Can I give you some advice?”
“Sure.”
“Today’s your first gym class with Max. Find a way to talk with him.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” Anthony whispered back.
Paige pointed her pen at Anthony. “Do we have a question that needs answering or don’t we?”
Anthony chuckled, and Ms. de la Vega looked in their direction. “You’re right, we do!” he whispered.