It’s a silent, unacknowledged touch that makes everything inside of me roar to life.
Twenty-One
Ms. Jennings holds her hands up, fingers stretched out, triumph written all over her face as we hold the final note of our graduation medley. She snaps her hands shut, and we stop in unison. With a teary-eyed grin, she nods. “Perfect. Just perfect.”
“Ms. Jennings,” Kyle says, “can you please go to college with us?”
“You pretty much look young enough to be a senior in college, anyway,” Alex chimes in.
“Suck-ups,” I mutter.
“But it’s true,” Clem whispers as she peels a piece of purple nail polish from her thumbnail. “She looks young enough to be in our class.”
The bell rings and the thrum of noise in the hallway is immediate. “Okay,” says Ms. Jennings over the commotion, “I’ll see you all next week. And Waylon, if you could stay behind for a moment, that’d be great.”
“Ooooh!” Clem pokes at my side. “Someone’s in trouble.”
I roll my eyes and toss the keys her way as she joins Hannah in the hallway. “This teacher’s pet would never. I’ll meet y’all at the truck.”
I hover at Ms. Jennings’s desk as the last student scoots off to lunch. Being asked to stay behind after class by a teacher will forever make me anxious.
She closes the door behind her and turns to me. “It’s been a big couple weeks for you, huh?”
She’s talking about prom, but the video too, which I’m sure she saw. “That’s an understatement.”
She nods, her lips twitching into a sad smile. “That thing people say about high school being the best years of your life? It’s a lie.”
“I’d hoped that was the case.”
She crosses her arms and leans against her desk. “I hear Clem is off to Georgia with Hannah. Have you given any thought to what’s next for you?”
I shrug. “Community college maybe. I don’t know. We were supposed to go to Austin, but that’s not . . . well, she’s going to Georgia.”
“Community college is a good option,” she says. I can tell she’s not lying, but she’s not telling the whole truth. It’s like she’s waiting for me to say some kind of magic phrase as a sign that it’s safe to let her guard down.
“Too bad there’s no college courses on drag,” I say with a laugh. In Clover City, you either go off to school or you’re stuck here forever.
Her face lights up. “Teachers aren’t supposed to say this, and this might be crossing a line, but . . . I wanted to say . . . college isn’t for everyone, Waylon. Or it doesn’t have to be. And . . . if you’re really serious about drag, I know some of the best queens in Texas. It’s not really ideal career counseling to encourage a student to pursue a career in drag, but it’s a real art form and I think you could really thrive. You know, right down the road, we have our very own—”
“Lee Way,” I finish for her. “She’s amazing.”
She pushes her glasses up into her hair and laughs. “Well, I’m glad to know we have similar taste. Lee is a dear friend. At least I haven’t had an awkward run-in with you at the Hideaway. Though, if I had, you wouldn’t be the first student or former student.”
“Oh, I’ve already had an awkward run-in of my own there,” I say, sounding much more experienced than I am.
“Listen, Waylon, I want you to know that I’m here for you. After graduation, too. Of course, if you need any letters of recommendation for school . . . or an introduction, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” I tell her with as much genuine gratitude as I can muster. It really does mean so much to me. She sees something in me, and if she sees something in me, maybe I can see something in me too. “And Ms. Jennings . . . you’re the shit.”
She chuckles. “Back atcha.”
Out in the parking lot, I head to my truck with an extra bounce in my step.
“There he is!” calls a voice.
I double back, glancing down the aisle of cars to see a whole ton of seniors hanging out in the beds of their pickup trucks. It’s not just any seniors, though. It’s decidedly popular senior guys, most of whom are football players.
“Pumpkin!” calls Bryce.
Patrick Thomas and another guy named Aaron echo him. “Pumpkin!”
Beside them, Tucker stands, leaning up against his brake light. He gives me a single nod.
Bryce lets out a gut-busting laugh. “You