––––––––
The second we made it back to street level, my phone buzzed. I pulled the Daisy Duck case from my pocket and looked at the screen. It was a Facebook message. Someone wanted to be friends. Curious, I typed in my passcode and looked at my friend request screen. Jake’s profile picture looked back at me.
A friend request? What did that mean? Dana wouldn’t see our conversations. Her and I weren’t friends on Facebook. What could he want?
I accepted his request and noticed that I had a new message. I clicked that, too. It was from also from Jake.
Jake: Why don’t I have your phone number? Meet me in front of Ms. Davis’s class before first period. Don’t be late.
I bit my inner cheek, feeling used. I turned to Ariel, but her face was in her phone, her smile bright.
Jasmine caught my eye.
“Ariel and Eric sitting in a tree. K I S-”
Ariel shushed her and looked around.
“What are you shushing me for? If it was me, I would be sitting on the roof of his car right now.”
“We’re trying to keep it light,” Ariel hissed. “We don’t want any gossip like-”
She looked at me and her mouth clicked shut.
“Like me,” I said, hurt spearing through me. “You don’t want to become a spectacle like me?”
She sighed.
“Me and Eric are just friends right now, and I don’t want to ruin that,” she said. “That’s all.”
I wanted to tell her that my spectacle was the reason why her and Eric were friends. I wanted to tell her that this was her chance to see if it was real or not, and that in two weeks, she may discover that Eric wasn’t the dream boat she’d thought he was, just as I’d discovered with Jake.
But I didn’t say any of those things. Instead, I hugged my heavy bag to my chest.
“I have to meet Jake,” I said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Bella, wait-”
I didn’t turn around. Instead, I walked in to school and down the hallway to Ms. Davis’s class.
“Hey, Bella.” I looked up at the mention of my name. Claire Thomas made eye contact with me, smiled, and waved. I awkwardly waved back. Claire Thomas was a cheerleader, which meant that she would never demean herself to speak to me.
“Hey, Bella.” Jeffrey Wolowitz, or Wally as he was known around school, nodded and waved at me, too.
“Hey, B. What’s up?”
“Bella French!”
“Oh my god. I love your dress!”
“Your hair looks awesome today, Bella!”
Students who’d never looked at me before now knew my name. Kids on student council, cheerleaders, jocks. Suddenly, I existed to them. Suddenly, I was no longer invisible.
My heart sped up in excitement and joy. I adjusted my walk, swinging my hips like I’d seen Dana do. Casually flipping my curls over one shoulder, I waved to my very new, very adoring public. By the time Mrs. Davis’s class came in to view, I was on cloud nine, my confidence through the roof.
Being popular was already turning out to be pretty amazing!
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another student approach Kenny with something in his hand. It looked like a wad of money. Kenny took the money from him, pushed off a locker, and the two of them walked further down the hall.
An odd sense of doom washed over me, but when I saw Jake leaning confidently against the wall, waiting for me, that all went out the window. He was absolutely gorgeous this morning, in his football jersey, jeans, and high-topped sneakers. His blond hair was purposefully messy and his skin without a blemish. He gave me an easy smile, and held out his hand. I took it. His gaze caressed mine, and for a moment, I forgot that this was fake. I forgot that we were making Dana jealous. I even forgot that I was supposed to hate him after the way he’d treated me yesterday. In this moment, it was just him and me, those beautiful eyes, and the memories of fantasies, wishes, and dreams.
“Hi,” Jake said, pulling me close and placing my hand on to his shoulder.
I gave him my best smile. He leaned in for a kiss, but, at the last second, I turned my cheek. His shoulders tightened beneath my fingers.
“What was that about?” he asked, his tone low enough for only me to hear. He pretended to nuzzle my neck, but I could sense the tension in his large body.
“No kissing on the lips.”
“Why not?”
Because I don’t kiss fake boyfriends, I wanted to say. But I didn’t.
“I just don’t want to,” I replied.
“You wanted to yesterday.”
“You caught me off guard yesterday.”
“So?”
“So, this isn’t real.” And I don’t want to get any more confused than I already am, I silently added. “Let’s keep it on the cheek, okay?”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m not kissing my girlfriend on the cheek like some loser.”
“I reserve my lips for real boyfriends. You know, ones who remember my name and that I go to this school?”
He let out a hot breath against my neck. I cringed.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll let it slide for now.”
That statement was like cold water dumped on my head. For now? What did that mean? What was Jake planning? I got the feeling that, whatever it was, I was not going to like it.
“Anyway,” he said. “we have to exchange numbers. I am not going to be Facebook messaging you all the time.”
He placed one hand on my hip and maneuvered me so my back was pressed against the locker.
I kept my smile in place, and peeked over his tall shoulder.
Sure enough, Dana was glaring at us. No. Not us. At me.
But why would her anger be directed at me? Where was her new boyfriend?
“Is she looking?” Jake pressed.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Is she pissed?” he asked.
“Super.”
“Excellent.”
The first period bell rang, and he gave me a peck on the cheek. His lips moved from my cheek to my ear.
“For now,” he said. There was an undertone there that made my blood run cold.
Was that a threat? I wondered. No. It couldn’t be. Jake was a jerk, but he wouldn’t threaten me.
“I’ll see you at lunch,” he said, stepping back and walking in to his classroom.
A shiver raced from my ear down to my toes.
He didn’t just threaten me, did he? Jake would never do something like that, would he?
I pulled on my book bag straps and started to walk back down the hallway to my first period class.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cole’s blue eyes examining me, his mouth in a hard line.
Just as the second chime of the bell rang, he was gone.
“Hey!” Ariel rounded a corner, sans bookbag. She waved at me, phone in hand. “I was just coming to find you. You have to see this text.”
“What text?” I danced in my shoes. If I was late for Art, Mr. Weathers was going to be pissed.
“From, well, you know.”
By the way her eyes widened, I knew immediately. It was a text from Eric. My curiosity got the best of me, and I stopped my power walk.
She squealed, her cheeks reddening in excitement as she handed me the phone.
I took it and read the message on the screen.
Eric: Guys wait their entire lives for girls like you.
Wow. Was he for real?
“Aw. He’s so sweet,” I said, handing the phone back to her. “He seems to really like you.” I smiled to hide my confusion.
“I know, right! I really hope that I don’t mess this up.”
Impossible.
I placed my hand on her shoulder.
“If he really likes you, and you really like him, there is no way that you could mess this up.”
Her smile brightened.
“Really?”
I nodded. “Really.”
She threw her arms around me, almost knocking me backward.
“This is like some sort of weird, beautiful dream. I don’t know how it happened, but I definitely do not want to wake up.” She pulled away, her cheeks reddening in happiness. “Now go to class before you get a tardy.”
It was too late for that, but maybe I could get Mr. Weathers to let me slide this once.
“I’ll see you in second period,” I said.
“See you.”
I jogged to my first period art class. Half of my mind was trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this tardy. The other half of me was happy that my friend was happy.
I slid in to my seat in art class just as Mr. Weathers walked in and placed his bag on his desk.
He looked at me for a moment, then looked down at his bag.
“Well, Ms. French, since we both were late this morning, I’ll let it slide. Just, don’t let it happen again, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
I opened my book, and took out my pen as Mr. Weathers began to write on the black board.