Chapter 2

Mike takes Jacob’s hand in his and for a moment Jacob shakes free, his brow already darkening with anger. “What the—” he starts, but catches himself in time. A few of the kids in front of him turn around, bemused.

“The Our Father,” Mike tells him in a loud stage whisper. He takes Jacob’s hand again, and because everyone else is holding hands, Jacob doesn’t pull away this time. “You hold hands for this part.”

“Jesus,” Jacob whispers as he lets Mike push him out into the aisle. The boy across from him is waiting, hand outstretched, and Jacob glares at it before he takes it in his own. He’s all for holding hands with boys, don’t get him wrong, but these dudes just aren’t his type.

In front of him the aisle is filled with row after row of students, their hands linked as they begin the prayer. Jacob cranes his neck to catch a glimpse of the altar boy, so he’s the only one whose head isn’t bowed.

But neither is the altar boy’s. He’s looking around with an expression on his face that reads ‘anywhere but here,’ and Jacob knows that feeling all too well. When the prayer ends and everyone shuffles back to their seats, Jacob stands in the aisle a moment longer, willing the altar boy to notice him.

He does.

When he looks at Jacob, he raises his eyebrows in a wide-eyed, staring way that makes Jacob grin again. It’s one of those ‘why me?’ looks Jacob can appreciate because, right now, he’s feeling the same way.

During communion, Jacob waits his turn in the long line of boys, hands folded beneath his chin. At the altar he takes the wafer in one hand and pops it in his mouth, where it promptly sticks to his tongue. He side-steps away from the priest and makes the sign of the cross because he saw Mike do it. Forehead,he thinks, his hands following the words. Chest, left shoulder, right shoulder, chest. Amen.

He looks up and sees the altar boy watching him. With a wink, Jacob flashes him his best smile. He knows it’s irresistible.

The altar boy smiles back and ducks his head shyly. But on his way back to his seat, Jacob glances over his shoulder and sees he’s still being watched. He likes that.

* * * *

Mike doesn’t remember what the altar boy looked like. “Light red hair,” Jacob tells him. “Almost blond. Sticks up in the front?”

“Do you know how many boys fit that description?” Mike sits at his desk, leaning over his geometry book. “You and me both.”

“My hair’s more brown than blond,” Jacob tells him. “Come on, think. Pale green eyes. On the altar, damn it.”

How could he not remember? Jacob can’t forget. He’s lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and still thinking about that altar boy at mass. Homework is the last thing on his mind right now. “It was just this morning, Mike. How the hell do you make it through your classes with a memory as bad as yours?”

Ignoring that, Mike tells him, “I’ve got a schedule.” He’s an usher sometimes and he has a list of who serves for the month. As he looks through his notebooks for the piece of paper, Jacob asks him what he does as an usher. “Those guys who stand by the pew at communion?”

Jacob continues to stare at the ceiling; it takes him a moment to realize Mike’s waiting for an answer. “Yeah?”

“That’s an usher,” Mike says. “They tell you where to go when it’s your turn.”

“Up to the altar,” Jacob says. Everyone knows that.Hell, heknows it and he’s not even Catholic.

But Mike has found the paper and he holds it up as he scans it, looking for today’s date. Jacob’s about to snatch it from his hands when he finally says, “Avery Dendritch. Oh, him.I remember now.” He puts the paper away before Jacob can ask to see it. “Why do you want to know?”

“You know him?” Jacob sits up, interested. “Is he a sophomore?”

“Avery?” Mike laughs.

He was at St. Thomas Aquinas last year and acts like he knows everyone. There are only a couple hundred boys in the whole school—Jacob’s freshman class back home was larger than all four classes here combined—so he doesn’t understand why Mike doesn’t know more people, what with his big mouth. He thinks maybe it has to do with the way his roommate came in after dinner and closed the door on the noise in the hall so he could study. Study! Jacob still can’t get over that one. Studying is something he saves for the week before exams and he vows not to do it a moment sooner.