“Ah! Soupe, ” he gently corrects.
“Sí, soupe. I mean, oui. Oui!” My cheeks burn. “And, um, the uh—chicken-salad-green-bean thingy?”
Monsieur Boutin laughs. It’s a jol y, bowl-ful -of-jel y, Santa Claus laugh. “Chicken and haricots verts, oui.You know, you may speek Ingleesh to me. I understand eet vairy well .”
My blush deepens. Of course he’d speak English in an American school. And I’ve been living on stupid pears and baguettes for five days. He hands me
a bowl of soup and a smal plate of chicken salad, and my stomach rumbles at the sight of hot food.
“Merci,” I say.
“De rien. You’re welcome. And I ’ope you don’t skeep meals to avoid me anymore!” He places his hand on his chest, as if brokenhearted. I smile and shake my head no. I can do this. I can do this. I can—
“NOW THAT WASN’T SO TERRIBLE, WAS IT, ANNA?” St. Clair hol ers from the other side of the cafeteria.
I spin around and give him the finger down low, hoping Monsieur Boutin can’t see. St. Clair responds by grinning and giving me the British version, the
V-sign with his first two fingers. Monsieur Boutin tuts behind me with good nature. I pay for my meal and take the seat next to St. Clair. “Thanks. I forgot how to flip off the English. I’l use the correct hand gesture next time.”
“My pleasure. Always happy to educate.” He’s wearing the same clothing as yesterday, jeans and a ratty T-shirt with Napoleon’s silhouette on it. When I
asked him about it, he said Napoleon was his hero. “Not because he was a decent bloke, mind you. He was an arse. But he was a short arse, like
meself.”
I wonder if he slept at El ie’s. That’s probably why he hasn’t changed his clothes. He rides the métro to her col ege every night, and they hang out there.
Rashmi and Mer have been worked up, like maybe El ie thinks she’s too good for them now.
“You know, Anna,” Rashmi says, “most Parisians understand English.You don’t have to be so shy.”
Yeah. Thanks for pointing that out now.
Josh puts his hands behind his head and tilts back his chair. His shirtsleeves rol up to expose a skul -and-crossbones tattoo on his upper right arm. I
can tell by the thick strokes that it’s his own design. The black ink is dark against his pale skin. It’s an awesome tattoo, though sort of comical on his long, skinny arm. “That’s true,” he says. “I barely speak a word, and I get by.”
“That’s not something I’d brag about.” Rashmi wrinkles her nose, and Josh snaps forward in his chair to kiss it.
“Christ, there they go again.” St. Clair scratches his head and looks away.
“Have they always been this bad?” I ask, lowering my voice.
“No. Last year they were worse.”
“Yikes. Been together long, then?”
“Er, last winter?”
“That’s quite a while.”
He shrugs and I pause, debating whether I want to know the answer to my next question. Probably not, but I ask anyway. “How long have you and El ie
been dating?”
St. Clair thinks for a moment. “About a year now, I suppose.” He takes a sip of coffee—everyone here seems to drink it—then slams down the cup with
a loud CLUNK that startles Rashmi and Josh. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he says. “Did that bother you?”
He turns to me and opens his brown eyes wide in exasperation. I suck in my breath. Even when he’s annoyed, he’s beautiful. Comparing him to Toph
isn’t even possible. St. Clair is a different kind of attractive, a different species altogether.
“Change of subject.” He points a finger at me. “I thought southern bel es were supposed to have southern accents.”
I shake my head. “Only when I talk to my mom.Then it slips out because she has one. Most people in Atlanta don’t have an accent. It’s pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though,” I add jokingly.
“Fo’ shiz,” he replies in his polite English accent.
I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I’m laughing, too, the painful kind like abdominal
crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. “Fo’. Shiz.” He repeats it solemnly.
Cough cough. “Please don’t ever stop saying that. It’s too—” I gasp. “Much.”
“You oughtn’t to have said that. Now I shal have to save it for special occasions.”
“My birthday is in February.” Cough choke wheeze. “Please don’t forget.”
“And mine was yesterday,” he says.
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yes. It was.” He mops the remainder of my spewed lunch from the tabletop. I try to take the napkins to clean it myself, but he waves my hand away.
“It’s the truth,” Josh says. “I forgot, man. Happy belated birthday.”
“It wasn’t real y your birthday, was it? You would’ve said something.”
“I’m serious. Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday.” He shrugs and tosses the napkins onto his empty tray. “My family isn’t one for cakes and party
hats.”
“But you have to have cake on your birthday,” I say. “It’s the rules. It’s the best part.” I remember the StarWars cake Mom and Bridge and I made for Seany last summer. It was lime green and shaped likeYoda’s head. Bridge even bought cotton candy for his ear hair.
“This is exactly why I never bring it up, you know.”
“But you did something special last night, right? I mean, El ie took you out?”
He picks up his coffee, and then sets it back down again without drinking. “My birthday is just another day. And I’m fine with that. I don’t need the cake, I promise.”
“Okay, okay. Fine.” I raise my hands in surrender. “I won’t wish you happy birthday. Or even a belated happy Friday.”
“Oh, you can wish me happy Friday.” He smiles again. “I have no objection to Fridays.”
“Speaking of,” Rashmi says to me. “Why didn’t you go out with us last night?”
“I had plans. With my friend. Bridgette.”
Al three of them stare, waiting for further explanation.