It’s another day of school, and I’m seriously considering dating Mr. Perfect. Crap balls. There’s the matter of my imaginary online boyfriend. Ugh! Oliver totally called my bluff, and I fell for it. I Snapchat him. “No more dances. I’m taken.”
He Snaps me back. “Yeah, right. I’ll believe it when I see it. Full-court press coming soon. Stay tuned.”
Butterflies ping off my ribcage. Oliver’s awesome at distracting. JuneBug and I head for the school.
“Let’s go to Scooters!” JuneBug yelps in my ear.
I about jump out of my skin as I see a different side of JuneBug. Usually she’s in a do-not-speak-to-me-before-ten-in-the-morning mode.
“JuneBug. It’s a weekday. I’ll be late to class.”
She waves me off. “Shush. Come on. It’s the first Wednesday of the month. It’s the only day they give free coffee, between 0730 and 0800. They have awe-some coffee!”
“Alright, fine.” I give in due to the good mood I am in; no idea why I’m in a good mood, couldn’t possibly be due to the closing time dance with Oliver. I wonder if I have the same effect on him.
I clear my throat. “It seems like Oliver is going through a lot of trouble to get my attention. I mean, I don’t want to get too cocky or anything.”
We’re at the drive through. JuneBug leans across my lap to hang out my window. “Yeah. I want a double espresso with a side of cream. Katie?”
I’m in Oliver land. “Yeah, same.” I speak over JuneBug’s head. “Hypothetically speaking, if I started dating Oliver, what are the chances his kind and considerate charms will disappear?” I ask.
JuneBug passes in front of me, clutching her coffee. She sits back, takes a sip, and turns to me with a big foam moustache. “Zilch. I’m telling you, you won’t be sorry.”
“I don’t know. Besides, I’m really enjoying the chase.”
JuneBug laughs and knocks her cup against mine, that rests in the cup holder. “You’re meaner than I thought.”
I’m feeling a little defensive. “I kind of made up a boyfriend online to make Oliver back off.”
JuneBug’s eyes bug out. “What? Why would you do that? How you going to find a fake boyfriend online?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
She snorts. “What you going to do when you decide you want to date Mr. Hottie? You going to have a fake online break-up too?”
I sigh. “I won’t know until I know. That’s all I know.”
JuneBug frowns. “No wonder Oliver’s annoyed with you.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
She throws up her hands. “I yam what I yam.” She raises a finger. “And if you date the school hottie and give Red something to cry about, that’s like a huge bonus for me. That girl could be the devil’s sister.”
I whip the truck into the lot, grab my bag and coffee, and race into the building. JuneBug calls after me. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
I ignore her and race into yearbook. It’s a breeze. It doesn’t matter that little miss Red makes snide personal comments at my expense. I choose to ignore, although the high road’s so high, I may as well be hiking up a mountain. Red’s really laying it on thick today.
Mt. Everest is in sight until she starts to pick at my wardrobe. I come rolling down my imaginary hill, laughing all the way. It must be the coffee that has foreign words flying from my mouth. “I could come to school in a gunny sack and a pair of crocs and still look better than you…not that I care.”
Her friends actually laugh at what I said. The power of laughter is massively understated. Red shuts them up with a glare. I know I will live to regret telling her off, but that moment is not now. I know who was chasing me last night and has been since we met; her ex-boyfriend, who she still wants. I don’t have the nerve to go there. Red has a wicked mean streak, and I’m not convinced she’s not a psycho.
I whip out my phone.
K: Your espresso is killer. I’m bouncing off the walls in here.
J: I didn’t make you drink it. Blame it on Mudpie Mojo Madness.
K: Yes. I think that’s fair.
The bell rings and I pocket my phone and rush off to French class.
To my utter and complete joy, Oliver sits behind me once again. All is right with the world. His feet touch my chair. Why does such a simple gesture made by him drive me absolutely crazy? I put my feet on the back of my chair legs so his feet are touching mine. Oh, what fun! Why am I giving him hope? Didn’t I tell myself I wasn’t dating anyone right before telling him I already am. The potential online boyfriend isn’t that much of a stretch. It could happen. Oliver and I play footsie all hour, and then the next five hours after that.
Before I know it, it’s time for gym class. Great. We get to class and there’s a different person teaching the class today. A Mrs. O’Meara. What happened to Mr. Smit?
Mrs. O’Meara blows her whistle. “Listen up. Today is sex ed. Participation is mandatory.” The class cracks up at her choice of words, and her face turns bright red, but kudos to her, she plows through it. “As I was saying, participation is mandatory.” Oh joy. I hope we don’t have to put condoms on bananas. Fortunately, we don’t.
She doesn’t seem to be the “Hands-on” kind of instructor. She gives us advice on the wisdom of always using protection and then instructs us on how to get to the Health Department because they have free condoms.
“Now, for our classroom exercise. Everyone get in groups of two.”
It’s my turn to be ornery. I grab Oliver’s hand. “Hey, buddy.” His face turns beet red. He’s too cute. “Relax, Oliver. I won’t make you touch the condom.”
He chuckles low. I think my orneriness is about to backfire on me. “Don’t worry. I think I know how to use a condom. This ain’t the first rodeo this cowboy has seen.” So the dude has a track record and he doesn’t seem to mind. Blech…
I tell myself looking like he does, of course I wouldn’t be his first girlfriend if we were together, but still, it bothers me to think about him getting it on with other girls. I know this isn’t fair, I mean, I just moved here. But still. I may be baller, but I’ve got standards. I don’t think it would help me to know the list of girls he’s known either. I think that would make it worse.
I find myself wondering who all he’s dated from this high school. My imagination’s in hyperdrive. I imagine a group of girls sitting around a round table, comparing their Oliver notes.
“My favorite part is when he held me after.” “Well, my favorite part was when he..” I cringe and shiver at the thought, “No, no, no.”
“Katie? Are you in there?”
His experienced hand is on my arm. “I’m sorry what?”
“Are you ready?”
My mind is still at the round table. I shove his hand off me. “No. Definitely not.”
He gives me a weird look. “Okay.” He raises his eyebrows as he looks down at his paper, while I try to listen to Ms. O’Meara.