I bumped into Charlie Joe in the hallway on the way to my next class.
“How was study hall?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“Was Nareem there?”
“Yup.”
“What did you guys talk about?”
“Not much.”
We stared at each other awkwardly.
It would have been easier to just text Charlie Joe, so we could have a real conversation. If we’d been texting, he could have said ARE YOU EVER GOING TO BREAK UP WITH NAREEM OR NOT? And I could have answered, I WILL WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT! STOP ASKING ME! YOU’RE BEING ANNOYING!
But we weren’t texting each other, so we couldn’t say any of those things.
Charlie Joe started to walk away. “So, uh, I’ll talk to you later,” he said.
“He invited me to a concert,” I blurted out.
Charlie Joe stopped. “What concert?”
“Plain Jane.”
“Wow, you totally love them.”
“I know, I do.”
We looked at each other. I think he could read my mind. That I wouldn’t be breaking up with Nareem after all. And not necessarily for the right reasons.
But all he said was, “Text me later.”
And all I said was, “Okay.”