Chapter 10

Later, when it was clear this was all we were going to do, that we weren’t going to strip off our clothes and madly rub up against each other or do anything sexual—whatever that meant to a fourteen-year-old—we calmed down. Smith peeked outside first and signaled for me to follow. It was late in the day and classes were long over. Father Ringer, who presided over detention, would be long gone.

“Where do you live? Can you get home okay?” I knew very little about this boy.

“Sure,” he said, “my house isn’t far.” We were almost to the door when he turned, put his hand on my shoulder and asked if I liked him.

“Yes,” I said.

“Really? I’ve liked you since that day in the bookstore.”

“Well, you were awful quiet about it,” I said.

“It’s the St. Sebastian way,” Smith said. “Quiet but forceful.”

This was a kid I could like.

“Listen, let’s take the pledge.”

“We just did. In homeroom this morning.”

“No, not that one,” Smith said. “I mean a pledge that we’ll be friends.”