Page 16 of The Beta Test

Dan turns to Jake, grin still glued in place. The high of seeing two girls slapping and wrestling on one another in the middle of the school hallway is stamped all over his face. I roll my eyes.

“Bro—that was nuts. Natasha is dating Ben, but she’s also BFFs with Sarah. But like, Sarah was matched with Ben on Connection Services and they’ve been messaging non-stop, and apparently told each other their real names. Natasha found out about it from overhearing Sarah tell someone else and went ballistic.”

My nose crinkles at the absurdity—and at his complete inability to form a coherent sentence. Not that more was expected after our moment at Jenna and Jake’s birthday party.

“That’s ridiculous, Sam,” I say, emphasizing the fact that I just called him by the wrong name. Is it a bit petty? Sure. No regrets though. “Connection Services is anonymous, so it’s not like Sarah and Ben chose to be matched. Natasha should have realized that.”

Dan gives me a confused look. “Why did you call me Sam? I’m Dan, Annie.” Then he shrugs and continues, addressing Jake instead of me. “Girls be trippin.’ You know how it is.”

Clearly Dan doesn’t understand the unspoken jab I just took with his name, and he still can’t remember my name! He quit swim class a week ago due to his ankle healing, so maybe the entire situation has already been wiped from his limited mental space.

Jake gets it though. He smirks and gives me a tiny, chiding head shake. Then he turns to Dan and nods his head gravely, as if he understands the meaning behind Dan’s statement. “Totally, man.” Then he leads me away down the hallway.

“‘Girls be trippin’? Please tell me Dan isn’t a close friend of yours. My inner feminist can’t accept that. It’s staging a protest as we speak. Plus he can’t remember my name, which I can’t get over.”

We arrive at my locker and Jake turns to me, reaching out to run my braid through his hand. It’s so unexpected that it’s over before I can even think about knocking his hand away.

“With guys like Dan, it’s better to smile and nod. I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about most of the time. But enough about Dan,” he says while leaning in a bit closer, his minty breath invading my personal space. The sounds of the students in the hallway fade away as I look up at Jake and notice that he has a light stubble growing on his jawline. Is he even old enough to have that? It’s one of the many things that have made me realize Jake isn’t a boy anymore. “You coming to the Halloween party? I know Jenna mentioned it to you.”

I shake my head. “Can’t. I’m on little brother duty that night.”

Jake’s lips thin in disappointment, but in true Jake form, he pivots fast. “So… want to meet up tonight and do some calc homework together?”

While I rearrange my books in my locker, the picture of Braden and me catches my eye—taped inside eight weeks ago, at the start of the school year. Was it really that recent, hugging him one last time before he flew off to college? We were close for so long, and now it feels like we might as well be on separate planets. He used to hop over my backyard wall to do homework with me almost every day. I miss that. I miss him.

But he’s gone. And maybe hanging out with boyfriend-stealers like Tricia. Plus, he’s left me to struggle through calculus alone.

With a sharp slam of metal, the locker door shuts. I smile up at Jake. My calculus grade is on life support, and I’m doing nothing wrong by finding a new study buddy, as long as physical boundaries are maintained.

“Sure. Is seven at my house ok?”

“You look nice. Are you going somewhere?” my mom asks. She is wearing threadbare sweats and eating cold cereal at the counter. Her spoon clinks against the ceramic bowl in the otherwise quiet kitchen.

I love my mom. She can triage emergencies and make life-or-death calls for twelve hours straight, then come home and eat cereal in ratty sweats like it’s a reward. Dad’s occasional guilt trips don’t stand a chance. She’s strong and stubborn and basically my blueprint for life.

I look down at my outfit and frown. Sure, I tried on three different outfits, but it’s because of comfort, not appearance. And yes, I brushed out my long hair and tested out a braided-crown style I’d seen on Instagram. It took forever and my arms burned like I was training for Olympic-level heavy lifting. But I only did that because I’d had the idea saved for a while and conveniently had time this afternoon to try it. That’s all.

“Uh, no, not going anywhere.” I wander closer to the counter and grab an apple to slice. “Jake is coming over to do some calculus homework together soon though.”

My mom’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh? Jake who?”

“Jake Jake. You know—Jake Taylor.”

“Huh.” She takes a couple more bites of cereal, her ‘huh’ echoing with an air of intrigue and judgment.

Doing math with Jake doesn’t mean anything. The red ‘D’ flashes behind my eyelids. I need help, and Braden’s across the country.

“Anyway, I wanted to grab a couple snacks and take them upstairs.”

My mom nods and goes back to scrolling through her phone as she munches on the fresh bowl of bran flakes she just poured. I open the cabinet and grab some crackers to go with some sliced cheese. After rooting around for more options, I grab some grapes and throw them on the plate, along with the apple slices.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” my mom mutters, more to herself than to me.

“What?” I ask while changing the plate arrangement for the third time. Should the crackers be in a straight line? Or maybe in a circle around the edge, with the cheese and grapes inside, like a snack fortress?

“Oh, nothing.”

I turn around and peek at her phone over her shoulder. An Instagram post of my dad fills the screen. He’s on the movie set in Australia, and he’s smiling at the camera with an arm around a young woman with glossy lips and flawless hair. She’s the star of the movie, presumably. They certainly look… friendly. Perhaps too friendly.