I laugh. “I do not have a crush on him. He’s like the hugest nerd on campus.”
“Oh come on. He’s totally cute,” she says.
I feel my cheeks warming, even though I have no reason to be embarrassed. I guess I’ve never thought about it before but Jonah is kind of cute. I mean…in a nerd way.
“Absolutely not,” I say instead. “He’s not cute. He’s just a guy. He’s uptight and too smart and so nerdy it makes my head hurt.”
“And he has a great smile and pretty eyes and you’ve said like three times that he smells good.”
“I only said that because it’s unusual for a teenage male to smell like anything other than body odor or cheap body spray.” I’m getting defensive, but I can’t help myself. Jonah is a total dweeb. I don’t like him. He’s not cute. I could never stand dating someone who’s so unbelievably nerdy. “April, you’re losing your mind if you think I have a crush on the guy. He’s just my tutor. He’s not even my friend.”
“But he could be more than that,” she says in a singsong. She bats her eyelashes at me for emphasis. I shove her into a light pole.
Chapter 11
My life has taken a weird turn. In just forty-eight hours, things have happened that I would have never in a million years believed.
I studied chemistry so much I actually learned it.
The Magpie is now selling books and by that, I mean we’resellingbooks. Twenty four were sold on Saturday and at least that many more sold on Sunday. We make around seven dollars a book so that was a huge income boost.
Finally, and probably the most shocking turn of events ever—I can’t stop thinking about Jonah.
I mean,what?
Why?
He’s Jonah. He’s an uptight nerd. He has perfectly styled hair and pressed, wrinkle free preppy outfits, and he organizes everything in such a way that means he’s so unbelievably nerdy I want to die.
And of course, April had to run her stupid freshman mouth and put the idea in my head that I might have a crush on him. I don’t.
I totally don’t.
He’s just like that stupid car wash jingle they play on the radio that gets stuck in your head for days at a time. Jonah Garza is just an annoying jingle. Not a crush.
On Monday, first period math class seems to fly by. I hadn’t told Jonah this because I’d be embarrassed for him to realize just how much he’s taught me, but I spent a little time last night on the school’s math website. I studied the modules for the chapter we’re currently learning in class, so that when Mrs. Mafi begins teaching it this morning, I’m already a little ahead of her. It makes more sense this way. I take notes and I pay attention, and the whole time I’m picturing Jonah in the back of my mind, that stupid lopsided grin on his face. He’d be proud of me if he knew this.
When the bell rings, I’m anxious to get to chemistry for our big test. Although I’d had a few nightmares this weekend of flunking the thing, I’m still pretty confident. The ChemXLabs website works so much better than filling out those stupid extra credit worksheets.
My backpack feels a hundred pounds heavier as I set it on the floor by my desk, knowing I still haven’t worked on the extra credit. But I did study for this test and I think I’ll ace it.
Mr. Greenstein passes out the tests, giving us detailed reminders that there is to be no talking until every student has finished. I hold my pencil tightly in my hand as I wait for my copy to land on my desk. Then I write my name at the top, and I take a deep breath, and get to work.
***
I’m clenching my chemistry test in my hands the next day after school, trying to remain calm. Mr. Greenstein passed back all the graded papers at the end of second period, but I’ve had to wait until my tutoring session with Jonah to show him the results. Though I never see him in the hallways between classes, I could have told him at lunch. I thought about it as I watched him sitting at a circular corner table in the far back of the cafeteria. Somehow, walking up to Jonah was just as intimidating as the idea of talking to Caleb at his lunch table. And that, of course, makes no sense because Caleb is my real crush. Jonah’s just my tutor.
I shake the resulting emotions from my mind. There’s no time to think about crushes and boys right now. It’s officially Tuesday, which is tutoring day, and all I should focus on are my studies.
Yeah, right.
I stand at the entrance to the library, wanting to catch him the moment he walks in. Students rush past the library on their mad dash home, and none of the dark haired guys who pass me are Jonah. He’s always here before I am, and by the time the hallway has emptied out, I’m starting to wonder if he’s ditching me today.
And then I get tapped on the shoulder.
I whirl around and find Jonah, who is somehow already in the library.
“Wha?” My mouth falls open. “I’ve been waiting for you. How did you get here?”
