Because You Exist (14 page)

It was a shame she kept so covered up all the time. She had a body I knew most boys would go crazy for. If I didn’t know her, or didn’t have a girlfriend who I loved, I'd probably go a little bonkers for it myself. And my appreciation only grew when I saw her run. She didn’t hold back. Maybe she didn’t know how to pace herself, or didn’t care, but she was full-speed from the moment the whistle blew. She would never be a cross-country star, but sprinting she could and would conquer.

The other girls never stood a chance.

When she won the race, way ahead of her competitors, there was little fanfare. She was doing Shepherd High proud, but they were all too busy acting like she was the scum of the earth to congratulate her.

As Josephine zipped her jacket back up, she noticed us. Taking a deep breath and tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ears, Josephine walked over to us. She looked from me to Jenna and back to me again. Her skin was flush from her cheeks down to the small glimpse of her collarbone that you could see peeking out from her jacket.

Not that I was trying real hard to look or anything.

“Great job, Jo. Really. They should do like an article in the school paper or something. I’ve never seen anyone run so fast. I bet you could beat some of the boys,” Jenna said, throwing Josephine, Jo, a dazzling smile. A genuine smile. I reached for Jenna’s hand, taking it in my own.

“I bet she could beat pretty much all the boys. Definitely all the boys at Shepherd and probably most of the boys in the district,” I added.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked shyly. It was strange to suddenly see her so diminished, so timid after the race she just ran.

“Jenna’s a sport’s freak. Watching humans defy logic really gets her going,” I joked.

“You never fail to disgust me,” Josephine replied, but a smile played upon her lips.

“It was Logan’s idea. He kept telling me you were some track superstar. He woke up early and everything. I’m glad he woke me up too. It was definitely worth it to see you run,” Jenna said.

“No way did I wake you up, Jenna,” I said, shaking my frapp cup in her face. I picked her up thirty minutes after calling her, and she was already ready and waiting with coffee when I arrived. She was one of those morning people.

“Is something wrong with that?” Jenna asked, motioning to the coffee I held in my hands. How could I tell her it tasted of dust and rot? I couldn’t. Not without telling her everything. Things I would never tell her. Things I needed to protect her from.

The ringing of Jenna’s cell phone saved me from trying to explain. She pulled it from her jacket pocket and glanced down at the screen. “It’s my mom. Excuse me.” Jenna began walking towards the car. We both knew the phone call would take awhile. Jenna’s mom could talk about her grocery list for thirty minutes, and Jenna was too nice to let her know she was rambling.

“Give it here,” Josephine said once Jenna was out of eyesight.

“Give what here?”

“The coffee.”

I raised an eyebrow and handed her the cup. “Football players usually drink Gatorade. If I knew that drinking overpriced coffee was the usual replenishing regime for runners, I might have joined the team.”

“Clever, Logan.” I followed Josephine as she walked behind the small set of bleachers set up by the track field and poured half the contents out. “When she asks you how you drank it so fast, tell her I dared you to do it. I challenged your manhood or something. You’re stupid enough to take up a dare like that in fifty degree weather.”

I laughed, scratching the back of my head. “You’re right. I would take that dare.”

“Why you here, Logan?”

“What? Not happy to see me?”

“Thrilled,” she replied dryly.

“You were amazing.”

“I did all right. I slowed down there at the end.”

I felt my eyes go wide. “That was slowing down? Hot damn, Josephine. Ever thought about joining the football team? You’d make a hell of a running back.”

“Let’s break one social barrier at a time, buddy.”

We casually strolled over to the parking lot. I waved to Jenna who was leaning against my car still talking to her mom.

“What did you tell her?” Josephine asked, stopping and looking up at me.

I fiddled with the ends of the sleeves of my jacket. Great. Josephine’s fidgeting must be catching. “The truth. Part of it at least.”

Josephine nodded. “Good.”

“Thanks for helping me with the coffee,” I replied, shaking the half empty cup.

Josephine’s mouth curved into a rueful smile. “Damn that apocalypse for ruining your Starbucks.”

“Tell me about it,” I replied in mock outrage.

A beep from Josephine’s pocket broke our easy and enjoyable conversation, maybe the first one we’ve ever had. Josephine pulled out her cellphone. “I’m really starting to hate these things,” I said, snatching her phone from her hand.

It was as I expected. Bentham,

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, pushing ignore.

“What the hell, Middleton?”

“Was it before or after you held a gun on him that you two had a moment to exchange phone numbers?” I asked, pushing her phone into my pocket.

“It was when you were sleeping,” she hissed.

“You told me to rest. If you’re trying to imply something just say it. Since when do you hold back on the snark?” I could feel my face going red. I wasn’t sure if I was more pissed at her veiled implications that I was a pussy, or the fact she was talking to him behind my back.

Josephine took a deep breath. “I thought it might be a good idea to stay connected to the other shifters. We are in the middle of some life-changing, save the world thing that we don’t quite understand.”

“So, we’re teaming up with them now? Don’t you think you should have asked me before you let them into this world?”

“Not this again. Look, I know you want to keep everything separate in your life. Segmented in these neat little boxes you hope to control. But it would be stupid not to build allies.”

I pulled her cell phone out of my pocket and tossed it at her. “That’s the only reason?”

I don’t know why I was so nervous to hear her response.

“Yes,” she answered, but she couldn’t look at me when she said it.

“I don’t want to fight,” I admitted. “We can’t fight.”

She nodded. “No. We shouldn’t fight. We’re...”

“Partners,” I finished.

“Thanks for coming to my meet. Can’t say I’ve ever had anyone come out here to see me run. It was nice.”

“Wow. A compliment. You really should rehydrate. I don’t think you’re feeling too well.”

Josephine laughed in response. It sounded a little forced, but the tension eased a little.

“Thanks for the idea with the coffee,” I said.

Josephine shrugged. “That’s what partners are for.”

Chapter 20

The following Monday was the second day in less than a month that I headed to school earlier than I needed to. I promised Jenna I would stop by the gym and help the cheerleaders put up the homecoming posters. They needed a big, strong man. Or a big enough schmuck who was willing to get up early and do the bidding of a bunch of girls in matching skirts and ribbons because his girlfriend looked cute when she asked him.

Either way, I was there a full hour earlier than usual. With our winning record, Homecoming was a big deal. Which meant every inch of the school had to be covered with mundane, monotonous slogans like: Shepherd High is #1 or Go Team Go!

I let my head bang against the shelf of my locker as I threw my book bag into it.

“Someone’s not a morning person,” a voice chirped, annoyingly amused.

I slammed my locker to find Josephine leaning against the locker next to mine, holding two cups of coffee. She held one in front of me. “Don’t worry it’s not Starbucks. It’s from Dunkin. A lot cheaper. Hopefully not too low class for Mr. High Brow.”

“I thought we were done with nicknames?” I asked, cradling the beloved substance in my hands.

“Were we? I don’t remember saying that. I kind of like em, Richie Rich.”

“You are more annoying than usual in the mornings,” I replied, pointing a sluggish finger in her direction. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Jenna asked me to help with the posters. I think she thinks if she’s super nice to me in front of all the cheer robots, the rumors will stop.”

I felt the color leave my cheeks. “Um. What rumors?”

“You know...the ones about you and me getting all biblical. Mating. Making the nasty. Doing things—”

“I got the picture. You can stop.”

Josephine laughed as she started to walk to the gym. Always walking ahead of me. I followed her. “You and Jenna are talking now?”

“Yeah. She called me yesterday. Can’t say we talked very long, but it was cool she asked me.”

Great. Sure. I wanted them to be friends, but the thought of secret conversations seemed a little dangerous. “So, you’re here, fully prepared in hoodie-mode, to help the Shepherd High cheerleaders just because of some stupid rumors? I thought you didn’t care about crap like that.”

“I never said I didn’t care. How come bullies always try to make themselves feel better by claiming the bullied don’t give a damn what anyone thinks anyways? I don’t value their opinion, but I’m not exactly thrilled they are going around saying I’d mess around with someone’s boyfriend.”

I stopped walking. “You think I’m a bully? I mean aren’t I a little old for that?”

“Sure, you are. Doesn’t mean you aren’t one at times,” she replied, only stopping her walk to damn me before heading to the gym.

Ouch.

Jenna waved excitedly when she saw us. The other girls, cheer robots as Josephine properly deemed them, stopped and stared as I walked in with Josephine.

This was going to be loads of fun.

“Hey guys! Has he passed his addiction on to you?” Jenna asked, eyeing the coffee in our hands.

“Um. No. I just...” Josephine fumbled. It probably would have been a good idea to get a coffee for Jenna as well. Instead, I’m sure we looked pretty chummy walking in together with our discount coffee.

“So, how many posters do I need to put up?” I asked before leaning in and giving Jenna a kiss. I could hear the whispering around us begin. The next few moments were going to be very important in Operation Save My School Status, and the ball was most certainly in Jenna’s court.

“Only a few...”

“How many, Jenna?”

“You love me right?” she asked, a little louder than needed.

I grinned. “I love you enough to hang up every poster you and your friends created, paper cuts and all, without a single complaint.”

Jenna laughed. “That’s what I thought. We’re partnering up. Why don’t you and Jo start down on E hall?”

Good move, Jenna. If Jenna openly trusted us to be alone together, maybe the 'bots would lay off. They wouldn’t feel the need to protect her from the Big Bad Boyfriend.

“Sounds good, Jenna. Thanks again for calling me to help,” Josephine added with a smile. Her smile was a little less believable in comparison with Jenna’s, but Jenna was a cheerleader—she had a lot of practice. Besides, Jenna wasn’t the one they wanted to crucify. Either way, things looked good for Jenna. If I were cheating on her, not that I ever would, she would be the saint. If I wasn’t, she was the understanding and mature girlfriend who trusted her boyfriend and helped those socially beneath her.

Twenty minutes later, Josephine and I had hung up all of the posters Jenna had given us. We worked silently and methodically. We were a good team. “This coffee is pretty good,” I said as we both took a seat on one of the benches in the school, neither one of us able to stomach hanging another Go! Fight! Win! poster.

“Big compliment coming from the coffee snob,” she replied, stretching her long legs in front of her.

“I am not a coffee snob. Jeesh. For someone who claims she is bullied, you certainly have called me a lot of names this morning,” I replied.

“Like I could hurt your feelings,” she scoffed.

I cleared my throat. “Maybe you could,” I replied quietly. Because she did. Even if everything she said was honest, it still wasn’t fun to hear them. That’s the price of truth. I could see her start to apologize, but I stopped her. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I think for this whole partnership to work we have to be honest with each other.”

“I think you’re right. You want to know how else this partnership could become stronger?” she asked.

“Do tell.”

“You bring the coffee tomorrow.”

I clanked my cup against hers in a mock cheers. “No problem.”

She smiled, wrapping the drawstring of her hoodie around and around her free wrist. “Good. I can’t be supporting your addiction with my six dollars an hour I make at the library.”

“Six dollars an hour to shelve books? They are really overpaying you,” I joked.

“Funny,” Josephine said as she began to stand up.

“Where you going?” I asked.

“People are going to start coming in here any moment. You know, that whole school thing?”

“And?”

Josephine laughed, pulling her hood over her head. She took a step away from me. “You did real good telling Jenna we’re friends and all, and coming to the meet, but you’re not ready for that yet. I respect that. I can’t expect you to handle things the same way I do. Besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been popular, so can’t say I entirely understand the situation.”

She was right. The thought of the entire school walking in and seeing Josephine and I sitting on a bench with our coffees seemed pretty daunting. I’d rather the news work its way through the school from the mouths of the bots. Less in my face. I wasn’t above admitting the whole thing still made me a little nervous.

I nodded. Josephine nodded back before turning away from me and heading down the hallway.

I stood up. “Wait. So, we’re friends then?”

“Looks like it,” she called over her shoulder.

“Have a great day, Jo,” I called out, liking the way her name sounded on my tongue.