send me a message, and the notification badge bloomed at the corner of the app’s icon.
“Sure.” Tamal tossed me my phone.
Mindy was watching me with a secret smirk. I hadn’t told her anything except that I’d kissed someone and didn’t want anyone else to know, but I was beginning to regret even sharing that much with her.
I wanted to check the message immediately, but I couldn’t with Tamal and Mindy watching me. Not tapping the app icon and reading Dre’s message was like being covered in poison ivy and not being able to scratch.
“So are you going to debate the Rosario kid or what?” Tamal asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Didn’t you see? Rosario challenged you to a debate in Teen Vogue.”
Mindy fired off a laugh that sounded totally cracked. “You read Teen Vogue?”
Tamal didn’t even look embarrassed. “Yeah. That a problem?”
Mindy held up her hands. “Nope.”
Before they could start arguing again, I wanted to know what Tamal was talking about, so I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Focus. What article?”
“It was some profile they did on him,” Tamal said. “He had a lot to say about everything. He called McMann a dick, and said you’d be too scared to debate him.”
My eyes must have been bulging out of my head because Tamal added, “I know, right? The balls on that kid thinking you’d be scared to go up against him.”
“Are you serious?” Why hadn’t Dre told me anything about it? It didn’t seem like the kind of thing he would do, but maybe he’d had a reason for it. It would have been nice if he’d told me. Maybe that was what the message was in regards to. If I could only slip away to read it. Speaking of reading, while I was lost in thought, Tamal had been pulling up the article, which he began to read aloud.
“Though Dre doesn’t have a background in debate, he showed no hesitation when asked if he would be willing to accept one of the many invitations he’s received to debate Dean Arnault at a local high school. His only fear seemed to be that Arnault wouldn’t attend, and when I asked him why, he responded that Dean would be ‘too scared of being shown up.’” Tamal glanced up from his phone. “You’re gonna debate him, right? He should do it, right?”
When Mindy realized he was asking her, she said, “I honestly don’t care.”
Now I had to read Dre’s messages.
DreOfTheDead: where u at
DreOfTheDead: need to talk to you
PrezMamasBoy: Hi, Dre.
PrezMamasBoy: I’m in the greenroom.
DreOfTheDead: can you get away???
DreOfTheDead: im in a supply closet next to the mens room
I stood so abruptly that Tamal and Mindy both turned to stare at me. “Restroom.” I pressed my hand to my stomach. “We had tacos for dinner last night.”
Mindy wrinkled her nose and looked away. Tamal said, “Didn’t need to know that.”
I left before I could embarrass myself further. The problem with Dre’s directions was that the UNLV arena where the debate was being held was huge, and there were multiple men’s rooms. I checked two supply closets and still hadn’t found Dre, and I was getting frustrated. I turned the corner and ran straight into Jackson McMann.
As a young man, he had been slightly awkward and long-limbed, but becoming a billionaire had changed him. He was now famous for his commitment to fitness and strength training. Running into him was like running into a wall.
“Dean Arnault, right?” McMann had a soft New England accent that was difficult to place. It was noticeable but just barely.
“Mr. McMann. I’m sorry. I was looking for the restroom.”
McMann pointed over my shoulder. “Seems like it’s right behind you.”
“Right,” I said. “I mean, I was looking, but I found it and I went. I feel much better.”
There was something about McMann’s expression that made me think he knew I was lying. It was the smirk or the little crinkle around his eyes. I don’t know. Either way, it was unnerving.
“You debate, isn’t that right, Dean?”
“Yes, sir.” Just because I couldn’t stand McMann didn’t mean I couldn’t be polite.
“This is my first, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m nervous. Any tips for a newbie?”
Jackson McMann was asking me for debate tips? Maybe if he’d been anyone else or if I hadn’t watched him give an interview where he had insinuated that my mother wasn’t a real soldier and had only been allowed to serve to fill a quota, I might have given him some actual advice. Being polite didn’t mean