really likes Alyssa.”
Her eyes fill with tears. Clearly that wasn’t the right thing to say, either. Fortunately the bus comes before I can make things even worse. When the door opens I step on ahead of Kylie, who is still rooted to the ground. I see the familiar sight of Dustin with his arm around Alyssa and wish I could shield Kylie. But what can I do? I take my usual seat and don’t even turn my head when Ruby or Stephanie get on. When we get to school, I let them get off first and wait until I see them go up the school steps before I get off.
“Have a nice day,” the bus driver says sweetly. How she can remain calm with thirty screaming kids is beyond me. I notice for the first time that she has a birthmark shaped like a duck on her cheek. It wiggles when she smiles. I don’t think she’s our usual driver, but I ride so rarely I never paid much attention.
I know I should say thank you, but it comes out as a grunt. I’m NOT going to have a nice day, no matter
who
tells me to. When I get inside, Stephanie and Ruby are inthe lobby. When Stephanie sees me, she cuts Ruby off and runs over. Ruby throws me a dirty look.
“Hey, Birthday Girl!” Stephanie says, giving me a hug. I hug her back, but my heart isn’t in it. She walks me to my locker. The streamers and letters look clean and bright again. I mutter something that sounds like a thank you.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asks. “You don’t seem like your cheery self.”
I force myself to smile. “I’m fine. Just a little worried about tonight. You know, I’ve never had my own party before.”
Stephanie nods and glances down the hall toward Leo’s locker. “I know it’s weird, but your party will be fun, you’ll see. You won’t even notice he’s not there.”
I strain to keep the smile on my face, but it’s getting harder. Stephanie gives my arm a final squeeze and runs down to her own locker. “See you at lunch,” she calls back.
I turn to my locker, the smile quickly disappearing. Even the colorful sign can’t lift my mood. I don’t even bother to try my combination. Stopping to readjust my heavy backpack, I notice the lollipop on the floor. Not even looking around, I bend down and grab it. Clutching ittightly, I duck into the classroom. Since I didn’t fight with my locker, I’m actually on time today.
Even before the class reads the board and collectively groans, I’m reaching into my bag for my pen. I don’t even bother to glance at Leo, even though I can see out of the corner of my eye that he’s in his seat. Maybe if the boy studied once in a while, he wouldn’t have to worry so much about failing a pop quiz.
I circle the same answers as before, barely even skimming the questions. I know this test so well I probably could have written it. Jimmy hands me back my 86, and I can’t help but turn to look back at Leo. I’m so sure he’ll be resting his head in his hands as usual, that it takes me a few seconds to realize that he isn’t. What he IS doing is looking directly at ME.
Then he winks.
My heart literally stops. I gape at him for a few seconds before turning to stare down at the desk in front of me. I must have imagined that wink. This isn’t the first time that someone has behaved differently from how they did on my first eleventh birthday, but that was only if
I
did something different first. But this time I did exactly what I did the first time — I glanced at Leo when the testwas finished. Then why isn’t his head in his hands? I’m afraid to look again. Maybe taking the lollipop messed up the natural order of the universe. Or maybe my timing was off, and he always WOULD have winked at me, if only I’d looked later. For the rest of the class I stare straight ahead, afraid to do or say anything.
“Yes, Mr. Fitzpatrick?” Ms. Gottlieb says with a few minutes left in the period.
“Can I go to the bathroom?”
My heart starts pounding again. Leo definitely did not ask for a hall pass before.
Ms. Gottlieb
Her eyes fill with tears. Clearly that wasn’t the right thing to say, either. Fortunately the bus comes before I can make things even worse. When the door opens I step on ahead of Kylie, who is still rooted to the ground. I see the familiar sight of Dustin with his arm around Alyssa and wish I could shield Kylie. But what can I do? I take my usual seat and don’t even turn my head when Ruby or Stephanie get on. When we get to school, I let them get off first and wait until I see them go up the school steps before I get off.
“Have a nice day,” the bus driver says sweetly. How she can remain calm with thirty screaming kids is beyond me. I notice for the first time that she has a birthmark shaped like a duck on her cheek. It wiggles when she smiles. I don’t think she’s our usual driver, but I ride so rarely I never paid much attention.
I know I should say thank you, but it comes out as a grunt. I’m NOT going to have a nice day, no matter
who
tells me to. When I get inside, Stephanie and Ruby are inthe lobby. When Stephanie sees me, she cuts Ruby off and runs over. Ruby throws me a dirty look.
“Hey, Birthday Girl!” Stephanie says, giving me a hug. I hug her back, but my heart isn’t in it. She walks me to my locker. The streamers and letters look clean and bright again. I mutter something that sounds like a thank you.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asks. “You don’t seem like your cheery self.”
I force myself to smile. “I’m fine. Just a little worried about tonight. You know, I’ve never had my own party before.”
Stephanie nods and glances down the hall toward Leo’s locker. “I know it’s weird, but your party will be fun, you’ll see. You won’t even notice he’s not there.”
I strain to keep the smile on my face, but it’s getting harder. Stephanie gives my arm a final squeeze and runs down to her own locker. “See you at lunch,” she calls back.
I turn to my locker, the smile quickly disappearing. Even the colorful sign can’t lift my mood. I don’t even bother to try my combination. Stopping to readjust my heavy backpack, I notice the lollipop on the floor. Not even looking around, I bend down and grab it. Clutching ittightly, I duck into the classroom. Since I didn’t fight with my locker, I’m actually on time today.
Even before the class reads the board and collectively groans, I’m reaching into my bag for my pen. I don’t even bother to glance at Leo, even though I can see out of the corner of my eye that he’s in his seat. Maybe if the boy studied once in a while, he wouldn’t have to worry so much about failing a pop quiz.
I circle the same answers as before, barely even skimming the questions. I know this test so well I probably could have written it. Jimmy hands me back my 86, and I can’t help but turn to look back at Leo. I’m so sure he’ll be resting his head in his hands as usual, that it takes me a few seconds to realize that he isn’t. What he IS doing is looking directly at ME.
Then he winks.
My heart literally stops. I gape at him for a few seconds before turning to stare down at the desk in front of me. I must have imagined that wink. This isn’t the first time that someone has behaved differently from how they did on my first eleventh birthday, but that was only if
I
did something different first. But this time I did exactly what I did the first time — I glanced at Leo when the testwas finished. Then why isn’t his head in his hands? I’m afraid to look again. Maybe taking the lollipop messed up the natural order of the universe. Or maybe my timing was off, and he always WOULD have winked at me, if only I’d looked later. For the rest of the class I stare straight ahead, afraid to do or say anything.
“Yes, Mr. Fitzpatrick?” Ms. Gottlieb says with a few minutes left in the period.
“Can I go to the bathroom?”
My heart starts pounding again. Leo definitely did not ask for a hall pass before.
Ms. Gottlieb
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