Rory was not kidding about wanting to widen his social circle.
When Phil and I get to the cafeteria, we hear Rory’s loud laugh from the other end of the room. He is huddled at a table with his new pals. There is Martie, who trains at Rory’s gym, and Theo. Rory shares a locker with Theo.
“Should we go over there?” Phil sounds nervous.
“Why not?” I say, though I can think of a few reasons.
“Hey,” Rory says as Phil and I sit down. Rory goes back to his conversation with Theo and Martie without introducing us. It’s hard to tell what they are talking about. I hear them mention numbers—eight, seven, seven point five. Rory is good at math, but I would not have pegged Theo or Martie as the kind of guys who discuss math over tuna sandwiches. This goes to show how wrong it is to make assumptions about people.
“Are you guys in accelerated math?” I ask Theo and Martie.
Theo grunts. Martie looks at me like I am from Saturn. “What are you talking about?” he asks.
“Well, I figured…since you’re discussing numbers…”
Rory guffaws. “That’s a good one, little buddy!” I like that Rory has called me buddy in front of the other guys, but I wish he had left out the little part.
The blonde girl we saw on the first day of school walks past our table. She is wearing a black T-shirt with red cut-off pants and carrying a tray with salad. Alfalfa must be her favorite food.
“Seven-point-five,” Theo says.
Rory scratches his head. “Eight.”
Then Martie adds, “Seven. Definitely seven. Not round enough.”
“What’s not round en—” But before the words are out of my mouth, I figure out what the three of them are discussing. Not math. They are rating girls’ butts on a scale from one to ten.
My mind flashes on the photo of the female baboon’s swollen rump. I blink to make the image go away.
Another girl walks by. This one is about a foot shorter than the blond.
Martie uses the back of his hand to wipe tuna off the side of his mouth. “Seven. Too round.”
Theo sighs as if to say rating girls’ butts takes a lot of effort. “Eight,” he says.
Rory high-fives Theo. “Hey, that’s what I was going to say.” Rory punches my arm. “So what do you say, Eric?” Then he looks past me at Phil. “What about you?”
Phil tenses up next to me. I have never heard Phil make the kind of comment about a girl that Rory and his pals are making. So I nearly fall off my chair when Phil says, “Seven,” and then adds, “I agree with Martie. Too round.”
Now all four guys look at me. I consider saying this is a dumb game and asking if they realize they are objectifying girls. But I can already hear them laughing at that.
“Uh, seven-point-five,” I say.
Martie leans across the table toward Phil and me. “You two should come to the gym sometime.”
I spot Daisy and Rowena in line, buying lunch. I lower my head so they won’t see me. If they come to sit over here, the guys will rate their butts. And I will have to do it too.
Rory sees them. And then he does something I really wish he would not. He waves them over.
“You friends with that girl Daisy?” Theo asks Rory. Theo sounds impressed.
“Actually, she’s my friend,” I say.
Daisy and Rowena stop at a nearby table to talk to some other girls, giving us a perfect view of their butts.
“Ten. Eight-point-five,” Rory says.
“Ten. Eight,” Theo calls out.
“Not so loud,” I tell him, but it is too late.
Rowena turns to face us. She looks like she just tasted sour milk. “Are you guys doing what I think you’re doing?” Her voice is so shrill that kids from other tables are turning around to see what is happening.
Rowena grabs Daisy’s arm and whispers something in her ear.
I can tell from the way Daisy’s eyes are flashing that she is angry too. The worst part is that she seems to be especially angry with me. “I thought you were better than that,” she hisses at me before she storms off with Rowena.