The others in class hadn’t heard what Ray said
to me. They thought Ray was being nice to me.
So they gave me the money.
Becca gave me hers reluctantly, warning me,
“Stay away from Ray. You don’t even have the
right background for it. You’re a frog trying to
kiss a swan.”
I ignored her, silently collected the money, and
<
took out my allowance to cover the cost of the
swimsuit.
I counted the money, and once I was certain it
was enough, I gave it to the teacher right away.
It was lunchtime when I finished, and everyone
was pretty much done eating.
I pulled out a sandwich from my bag and
started eating it in the empty classroom,
thinking about ways to get a part–time job for
more spending money. If I asked my parents,
they’d give me the money, but I didn’t want to.
I was halfway through when Ray walked in.
He looked surprised to see me.
I didn’t make eye contact with him, and kept eating my sandwich.
Ray headed to his desk.
く
Then he poked me and asked in a husky tone,
“Finished eating, valedictorian?”
I took a look at the last bites of my sandwich
and shoved it all in my mouth, then nodded in
silence.
He turned to face me, lifted his shirt to show
the scrape and cuts on his waist that were still
bleeding.
He tilted his head, smiled at me. “Can you help
me put some ointment on this?”
I quickly chewed and swallowed my food and
quietly agreed. “Sure.”
I went over to him, squatted down and frowned
at the wound. “Why didn’t you get iodine? Alcohol’s gonna sting.”
Ray chuckled. “Real men ain’t afraid of pain.”
As soon as Ray was done talking, I started
swabbing the wound with alcohol.
“Ouch-”
I looked up at him, “Real man?”
Ray looked back down at me and laughed a
little. “Valedictorian, you have really long
eyelashes.”
It was a casual remark, I knew that.
I lowered my gaze, pressing down on the wound
harder.
Ray went silent, but his abs were tight. He was
in a lot of pain.
Finally, Ray gritted his teeth. “Damn, that hurts. Be gentle.”
I stopped for a second, then instinctively
く
I looked away quickly.
Ray looked away too. He just pinched the girl’s
cheek and walked away, smiling.
I don’t know why, but I kept paying attention to
Ray.
Lying on my bed, I thought about it and
concluded that it was his face.
Just looking at it was fine with me.
Later, when I saw Ray with another girl, I’d
quickly walk in another direction.
Or I’d walk far behind him, without looking up.
I figured that way I wouldn’t be bothering him.
When Ray hurt himself again, he came to find
me with his first aid kit.
<
This time it was his arm.
He rested his arm on the desk, looked at his injured arm, blinked at me. “Valedictorian…..”
I’d just reached for the kit when I saw the senior girl coming.
I jumped out of my seat and accidentally smacked Ray in the chin with my head.
“Ouch- Valedictorian, you trying to kill me with a headbutt, huh? What if I get brain damage…?”
He reached for my head.
I stepped away, avoiding his hand.
I bowed to Ray quickly as the senior came
closer and rushed out.
Ray stood there, his face unreadable.
The swimsuits came in, and the first class in
the afternoon was swimming.
Everyone changed into their suits.
I had never worn anything this revealing before,
so I kept my jacket on.
“Dude, Ray’s got nice legs.”
I heard a voice and looked around.
