Free The Opposite Of Tidy by Carrie Mac Page A

care of. To hell with the small ones. “Actually, no. I haven’t,” she corrected. “I don’t know why I said yes.”
    “Well, I’m a big fan. He’s a filmmaker. Clockwork Orange , The Shining , Full Metal Jacket , you know? The conspiracy theorists say he even manufactured the footage of the first moon landing, all on a closed set somewhere outside of London. They say it never happened at all. That it was ‘just’ a movie.”
    “Really?” Junie scrolled down to the part where it stated that prisoners of war were entitled to the same quality of health care as their captors. That would make a good question.
    “I found some cuttings from Dr. Strangelove for sale online.”
    “Cuttings?”
    “The actual bits of film that the editor cut.”
    “I take it they’re pretty rare then.” Junie carefully transcribed the text onto an index card. “Right?”
    “Very rare. So, the guy who’s selling them lives in Chilliwack, if you can believe it. He’s that close.”
    And all of a sudden, Junie realized where this was going. She swallowed. Her hand shook. She had to put her pen down so she wouldn’t mess up the rest of the words.
    “Yeah?”
    “So, I thought I’d drive out after school on Thursday to get them.”
    “Sounds like a plan.” Junie’s throat was dry. She needed a glass of water. She wasn’t sure if she could bark out even one more word without a drink of water first. She glanced at the water fountain by the door. She coughed. “Excuse me.” She got up and crossed to the fountain and took a long drink. He was going to ask her to go with him. Where was Tabitha at a time like this? But, if she’d been here, and Junie asked her for support, would that be gloating? This not-gloating thing might be harder than she thought.
    The walk back to the desk was long. Very long. It went on forever, in fact. And the whole while, Wade was looking at her, his face pale. Apparently that was the face of someone about to ask another someone out on a date.
    “So, Junie.” Wade forced a smile. “Remember when I said you’d know when I asked you out on a date?”
    Junie could only nod. She felt like he was asking herto marry him. She was surprised that he wasn’t on one knee, the whole class looking on.
    “Will you go with me? To Chilliwack? On a date?”
    “Yes.”
    Wade whistled. The people on either side of them glanced up from their own work. “Phew. Jesus. That was hard.”
    Junie couldn’t have agreed more.

    That afternoon at Tabitha’s house, Tab said that telling her a fact was not gloating. It was a fact that Wade had asked her out. It was a fact that Junie had said yes.
    “Anything more than that and I might have to cry.” “You just tell me when to shut up.”
    “I will.”
    And then Tabitha squealed and bowled Junie over with a great big hug. “Oh my God! You’re going on a date! Our first real date! But why Chilliwack? What the heck is out there except farms and smelly cows? And what are you going to wear ?”
    It was funny to hear Tabitha talk like that, but Junie was relieved. She wasn’t sure she could stem her excitement, even in the face of Tabitha not being the chosen one.
    Tabitha leapt off the bed. “I have the perfect thing.”
    And it was. A white cotton sundress dotted with small pink flowers. It had dainty straps and a bodice that snugged neatly across Junie’s chest. The skirt wasn’t too full either. It was exactly right. Junie remembered it from the summer after eighth grade. Tabitha had got it for her uncle’s wedding.
    “It doesn’t fit me any more,” Tabitha said by way of explanation. “Boobs got too big.”
    “It is perfect.”
    “I think you should wear those pink cowboy boots with it.”
    “Really?” Junie spun in front of the mirror, trying to picture the boots with it.
    “And this.” Tab topped the outfit with the straw cowboy hat Junie had brought back for her from the Calgary Stampede, which was also where she’d bought the boots. It was one of