The Probability Of Us

ainst my locker, watching it bounce off the polished walls of Westbrook Academy. Everything here gleams. The s

coming to

looks like he stepped out of a prep-school magazine, tie loose, grin

my phone into my pocket. "Go

ect me to play the part. The playboy. The heartbreaker. The one who smiles like he has never lost anything in his

of chatter and perfume and laughter that sounds just a little too rehearsed. I

s says, brushing her hair back in a m

ing,

es. They

first period. "You really shoul

say, smirking. "C

the hall. Three of them, varsity jackets, too much swagger and not en

as we pass. "Wouldn't want you s

the whole hallway to hear. He

. "You need someone to make her feel wanted w

htening just enough for me to notice. For a second, I think he might actually do something. But then th

One day he is g

" I reply, but my smile d

ve on it. And maybe I do. But it also keeps them at arm's length, which is exact

about tragic heroes and fates they cannot escape, and all I can

eare used fate as a device in Romeo and Jul

be because it is easier to blame the s

t there is something like approval in her eyes. She

s in one corner, artists in another, the silent kids hidden along the edges like the

leans forward, smile too sweet. "So, Aid

Will it be fun, or another one of those event

icking her hai

s sandwich. "You will be

Because it is easier to st

e. It is the only untouched thing in this entire place. The sunlight hits it just right, dust floating lazily through the air, and for a strange second, I

ing about my plans for the weekend. I answer wi

oes is keep me moving. The coach yells instructions, the air smells like sweat and grass, and the wor

thud. Ryan waves goodbye, calling out something about meeting later, but I barely hear him. The fi

kind that echoes through Westbrook's halls. It comes from the bleac

oks new - not in the obvious way, but in the way she does not carry herself like she owes anyone an explanation. Her

closer before I e

ted area, right?" I say, vo

ing mine. They are not the kin

nly players are supposed

urning a page. "And you alwa

rty way I am used to. More like she alr

ends on who

she says, with

ows me off. Everyone else in this school tries too hard - to fit in, to impress, to b

ask, "You

The lack of shiny shoes or the fact that I

e, the kind that feels unfamil

losing her book. "Well, now you

supply. "

e does not impress her. "Right

"Depends what

ou are

u belie

second longer than comfort

allenge. The thing I did not r

and, calm and unbothered. I notice the faint scar along her wrist, the kind pe

ou planning on sittin

ing slightly. "Unless y

"But I might need to

," she says, standing up. "Because

rs, brushing past me like she has known me her entire life. She smells like vanil

den Cole," she says

ike that,

lightly when I was not looking. I stand there for a while, trying

time, I do not have a line

oing across the field and the strange thought tha