Wes & Toren

wash them. She made a face at me and then shook her head.
“I just don’t look good in an apron… not like you,” she said. “Besides, what could happen? Crumbs could fall on me after toasting the bread?”
“That’s another thing too,” I said, tapping the counter with my fingers. “You always make easy stuff when it’s your turn. Tuna sandwiches? C’mon, even Mom can make those.”
Alycia laughed and agreed, but didn’t offer to make any vegetable to accompany. I took out a can of green beans and put them over a low heat.
Alycia groaned and rolled her eyes. “I swear, you’re gonna make someone a wonderful housewife someday.”
I thought of Wesley and blushed; I thought of my affair in the bathroom and blushed deeper and upon realizing that I was blushing, I blushed even more. Alycia caught the guilt in my eyes and grinned from ear to ear.
“Tor? What’s that look for? Got someone in mind already?”
“Give me a break,” I groaned.

Chapter 2
MR. HANNITY was late to class and Wesley was later, repeating yesterday’s dialogue. Wesley smiled at me as he walked to his seat, and my stomach fluttered. Mr. Hannity described the semester project in detail and then allowed us to choose our own partners. I hated when teachers did that; it reminded me of gym class in grade school. I stared at my desk, waiting for everyone to partner up so I could be paired with the other person who wasn’t chosen.
“Mr. Hannity, me and Toren are gonna work together.” Wesley rapped his knuckles on my desk, and Mr. Hannity looked at me before nodding and writing it down in his grade book. Wesley grinned and I stared back at him blankly. “You don’t mind, do ya?” he asked. I shook my head and blushed. “Cool. Wait for me after class.” I nodded and hid my face.
Mr. Hannity lectured for the rest of the hour, but I was too distracted to listen. I drew pictures in the margins of my notebook, but my mind always drifted back to Wesley. My heart was thumping.
Mr. Hannity asked me to stay after class. He was quiet until the classroom cleared, and then he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.
“Thanks for staying after, Toren. I just wanted to talk to you briefly about your project…. Well, more just to give you a heads-up,” Mr. Hannity explained, looking down at me over his glasses. “If you have any problems working on your project, talk to me right away. Okay? Will you do that?”
“Um… sure. Thanks, Mr. Hannity.”
He patted my shoulder as I walked out of the classroom. He didn’t have to say Wesley’s name specifically, but the implication was there. I was glad Mr. Hannity recognized that I might have trouble working with him and gave me some leeway with his expectations. I was a good student and worked hard to get good grades. Someone like Wesley could mess that up if he screwed off instead of working on the project, but I still felt excited that he picked me to be his partner.
“Hey. What’d Hannity wanna talk to you about?” Wesley asked after I stepped out of the classroom. He furrowed his brows and stared at me. “Did he give you a warning about me or something?”
“No. He—he didn’t say anything.”
“Yeah, right. He already has me pegged for disaster. But you, you get straight As, right? So, I figure I got myself an A already.”
“You’re gonna have to do your share of the work too,” I said quietly.
“Ah, he did warn you about me. Seems like that guy has had it in for me all along. Look, I gotta get a good grade on this project or he’ll fail me, so I need you to get me an A.” Wesley leaned back against the lockers and crossed his arms on his chest. “So, you’re gonna do your part and not talk to Hannity about anything. Got it?”
My heart was beating wildly. He seemed so nice when I talked to him yesterday. “I’m—I’m not gonna do your work for you. You’re gonna have to study too.” My voice was weak and I was trying so hard to sound confident. A smile cracked Wesley’s lips. I was waiting for something; I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was coming.
“Yeah, okay,” he said after a long pause.
That wasn’t what I was expecting.
“So we have to present on June fifth, right? That’s gives us… what, about a month? Well, we should probably start thinking about a topic then.”
“I’m kinda interested in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Or maybe the Chinese Exclusion Acts of the 1880s,” I suggested. I had already thought about the topic for this project.
“Cool. Why don’t you follow me to my house and we’ll figure it out there.”
“Follow you?”
“Yeah. Don’t you have a car?”
My cheeks reddened as I shook my head. What a stupid thing to be embarrassed about.
“Hmph. I thought I saw you driving around in an old blue Taurus.”
He noticed me? “That’s my mom’s car.”
“Well, I’ll give you a ride then.”
“But… shouldn’t we go to the library?”
“You wanna go to the library? C’mon, I don’t wanna be in school any longer than I absolutely have to be. Let’s just go to my house.”
“Well, I kinda think the library might be better.”
“I’d rather go somewhere with a smoking section, ya know? C’mon,” he said, starting to walk away. He stopped and waited while I got my book bag from my locker.
We drove to a ranch-style house with an unmowed lawn, a broken shutter, and a torn screen door. The driveway was cracked and weeds grew in the cleavages between concrete slabs.
“You want a beer or something?” he asked, dropping his book bag inside the door.
“No, thank you.” I stood just inside the front door, gripping the straps of my bag tightly. I looked around at the mismatched furniture, the nicked-up coffee table with two overflowing ashtrays, and the gold shag carpeting from the 1970s.
“Have