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asked the question. He thought for a moment before dropping his hands back into his lap with the untouched burrito in it. “I moved down here for a while,” he said. Then unceremoniously, he took a huge bite of his food giving me a chance to digest the information.
     
    I took another bite thinking he might explain further.  Nothing, before my next bite, I said, “And?” Then I bit into my taco again.
     
    Swallowing, he took a long drag on his coke before clearing his throat.  “I thought I could help Brent better if I was here,” he said. “And my parents had to go to Ireland to take care of my sick grandfather for a while.  He’s not doing so well and my mom wanted to spend time with him.  So instead of staying at the house by myself, I thought I could help Brent get through his new reality.  He’s having a tough time with the fact he may not play football again,” he added soberly.  His words clued me in on what may have been going on with Brent and his anger.
     
    Taking another bite, I let the silence fill the car.  There just wasn’t more to say about that topic.  Sooner than later further conversation revealed that Tom was a junior too. I was surprised. I would have pegged him as a senior.  I thought back to last year when I saw him last at Brent’s welcome back bash.  Brent had nearly choked some poor kid to death for touching Maggie on the bottom.  The poor guy had pleaded it was an accident, but Brent wouldn’t listen.  It had taken both Luke and Flynn to pull him off the guy before Tom had swooped in and manhandled the bigger boy.  Surprisingly, Brent had cowed under his scorn.  It seemed odd then and seemed odder now.  There had to be more to who Tom was.
     
     “Hey, wait a minute,” I said when we pulled back into the school parking lot.  “I can’t believe I missed this,” I said pointing to the little figurine of R2D2 from Star Wars tacked to his dashboard.
     
    “Yeah, I love that movie,” he said.
     
    “Oh my god, I do too,” I said in shock, getting out of the car.  Once we were headed back to the school, I said, “The original trilogy I mean, not the prequel. Although, the last one of the prequels was pretty good.”
     
    He stopped and looked at me for a moment longer. “You look more like a Princess Diaries kind of girl,” he said.
     
    I lightly punched him on the shoulder.  “Hey, what’s that suppose to mean,” I said with a scowl.
     
    “Most girls aren’t into science fiction,” he said, arching a brow at me.
     
    “I’m not most girls,” I said wryly, wiggling my eyebrows.  There I went again with the flirting.  It was harmless though because neither of us was interested in the other.  I think that’s why it was so easy to do.  Talking to Tom was like how it used to be between Paul and me.
     
    “That much I’m sure of,” he said, giving me a wink. Then he paused and narrowed his eyes for a quick moment.  He spoke slow and careful when he asked, “So what are you doing tonight?”
     
    We were halfway to the school from the parking lot when he said it. I turned to eye him suspiciously, but I didn’t stop walking. “I’m doing the un-Valentine’s Day thing,” I said cautiously.
     
    He laughed. “And what’s that,” he said, while trying to suppress his chuckles.
     
    “It means ice cream and movies,” I said proudly.  Actually, I wasn’t sure I was going to do that, but it’s what I’d done in the past.
     
    “Do you want company?” he asked.  He looked serious.
     
    This time I did stop.  I paused on the top step.  We were almost to the front door of the school. He’d taken a few steps before realizing that I wasn’t in step with him. “What?” he asked, turning to look down at me.
     
    “You’ve made it clear that you’re not into me, so why would you spend Valentine’s Day with someone you’re not interested in?” I asked, with one eyebrow arched.
     
    He held a hand up. “First its un-Valentine’s