have. I didn’t like hiding, but I also wasn’t naive enough to believe his mom was gonna be happy her golden boy was dating a problem child. The press might get focused on me and Dean instead of on my dad’s immigration reforms or Governor Arnault’s views on abortion or Jackson McMann’s shitty views on everything and his lack of actual political experience. And rather than voting for the person they thought would be the best president, people might cast their vote based on whether they thought me or Dean was cuter or whether they approved of us dating or some other nonsense.
I must’ve gotten turned around because this was not where my greenroom was. I was texting my mom that I was kind of lost and trying to find the room and not to worry when I spotted a sign on the wall outside a door that read “McMann.” Curiosity got the better of me, and I crept to the door. His room was the same size as the one my dad had been given, but his looked like a secret hacker hideout. Every table had a laptop on it, it seemed, and there were people working, oblivious to me. No one was talking, no one was shouting into their phone the way Jose always was. It was a little freaky. I got out my phone to take a picture so I could show Dean. When I opened the camera, it was set for a selfie and I spotted McMann creeping behind me.
I shut the camera app and turned around quick, trying to look more annoyed than surprised. I’d never met him in person before and he was a lot taller than I’d expected and, okay, decently attractive for an old dude. Objectively speaking. Not that I thought he was attractive. He was a little too Tech Billionaire Supervillain for my taste. Moving on. “Uh, can I help you?”
“This is actually my greenroom.” McMann didn’t look startled at being caught. If I had to guess, he actually looked pleased. “You’re Andre Rosario, aren’t you? Or do you prefer Dre?”
“I prefer old dudes to not sneak up on me, but Dre’s fine.”
“Jack.” He held out his hand, and I let it hang there. “I liked your profile in Teen Vogue. You certainly have a lot to say.”
Holly had included that I’d called McMann a dick. I’d expected my father to be more upset by that, but I think he would have actually laughed if he hadn’t still been pissed at me about Boston. Well, that was fine if McMann knew what I thought about him. It would certainly save me having to be polite. “Yup. Just not to you. See you around.”
“If you see Dean, tell him his girlfriend is looking for him.”
I froze midstride and turned back to McMann. “Dean doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
McMann’s curious expression morphed into a smug, self-satisfied smile. “I suppose she didn’t explicitly say they were dating—however, he did bring her to the debate tonight, so certain assumptions could be made.”
My brain was a shattered wreck, trying to piece together everything McMann was saying. It was like I’d been riding a roller coaster and the operator had slammed on the brakes while we were traveling at top speed. Was that what Dean had wanted to tell me? If Dean had a girlfriend, why the hell was he kissing me in the janitor’s closet?
I did my best to recover, but all I could come up with was, “You really are a dick.” My voice dropped an octave and all the happiness I’d felt while holding Dean had vanished.
But instead of looking offended, McMann’s seemed mostly amused. “Enjoy the debate tonight, Dre.”
I should have walked away. I should have walked away the moment I saw him and not engaged him at all. But I didn’t because there was something about McMann that sparked an ugly, angry fire in me. The last time I’d felt that way was when Mel had found out this guy Karl she was with was dating two other girls in addition to her, and he’d tried to convince her it was her fault for not being enough to satisfy him, so I’d made up a fake set of test results showing he had super chlamydia and then left them all around school so that no girl would ever want to get with him again. He’d found me after school and given me a black eye, but it had been totally worth it.
Mouthing off