Free The Low Notes by Kate Roth

Kevin were. How could she put that into words? For now, Kevin was her secret to keep. It didn’t feel like a lie.
    Todd. Now that was a subject she’d left untouched for quite some time. If not for James and his grilling, she might have forgotten about Todd altogether.
    Nina sighed, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear. When she opened her mouth to speak but was hushed by James quickly.
    “ Oh honey, you lost an earring. I like it though. It’s very 80’s--,” James clearly saw the annoyed look in Nina’s eye as she stared at him, absently reaching up to feel her naked earlobe. “Carry on,” James added before continuing to eat his lunch.
    “ I haven’t talked to Todd since he left. Since the first of June,” she said casually, biting off a fork-full of her salad. James’ eyes went wide and his hands slapped the table.
    “ What?” he exclaimed.
    Nina shrugged. “We didn’t exactly break up before he left but I’m certainly not going to be dating someone who hasn’t made the time to call or write me for three months. You know how he is. Selfish,” Nina said as she stabbed at her pile of lettuce and vegetables mindlessly.
    She was avoiding James’ eyes, knowing he found her reaction suspect. Finally she spoke again, after mulling over her feelings about what happened with Todd for the first time.
    “ We had an alright relationship but it’s over and who’s to say I won’t find some other guy?” Nina said, smiling to herself again, letting Kevin’s face creep back into her mind.
    “ It’s pretty clear you already have a guy, Nina.” Her head snapped up to see James eyeing her blankly. The irrational paranoia filled her once again as she ran through her actions of the previous night in a split second.
    A smile spread on James’ face, “Me. Duh. You’ve got me. Now that I know you two are Splitsville, I can say this. Todd Dawson is a complete tool.”
    Nina burst out laughing. Relief swept over her hearing his joke instead of an accusation.
    “ Not that I entirely disagree with you, but why do you say that?” she asked through fits of giggles.
    James rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, you know! Todd thought he was better than the entire town of Wexley Falls. And you and I both know that's not the case. He was an okay guy for a starter boyfriend. But you need someone who's more mature and genuinely nice. And hotter. Too bad things with that other guy didn’t work out. I can see you with someone older.” James washed down his rant with a gulp of soda and smiled sweetly at Nina before they were interrupted by the bell.
    The pair hopped up and headed for their lockers in the next hall over where Nina opened her locker and exchanged a few books from her bag, grabbing the notebooks and folders she needed for the second half of her day. Before she was finished, James was done at his locker and back at her side. He leaned his shoulders against the pale blue metal next to Nina’s, watching her impatiently as she primped in the mirror. Her fingers ran through her already smooth, dark hair. She checked her face for any imperfection as James continued to huff. He glared at Nina until he saw something that pulled his interest from her.
    “ Nina!” he said in an excited whisper. Nina groaned, her lips currently being coated with shimmering gloss.
    “ Hottie English teacher alert and he’s coming right for us,” he exclaimed, his tone still hushed. Nina’s ears perked at that. She gave herself one more examination before closing her locker, seeing Kevin in the distance.
    The hall seemed to go dim and each student slowly disappeared from her view, their voices diminished. She saw only Kevin walking to a soundtrack in her mind. He walked toward her in slow motion, his hand rising to push through his thick chestnut hair. Their eyes locked and as he got closer, a smile crept onto his lips.
    She heard James’ voice, sounding miles away in her ears, muttering a sentence containing the words Jesus and