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Somehow, the festival always seemed to land on the first real nice day of the year. There were booths where you could throw pies, win games, stuff yourself silly with cotton candy, and get henna tattoos. Pies and cakes were auctioned off. A man in a gorilla suit would kidnap unsuspecting teens and put them in a fake plastic jail until their friends raised enough money to get them out. And at the end was a dance, where every sappy love song ever written would be played.
It wasn’t my kind of thing.
If I had my way, I wouldn’t waste a day like this playing useless games. I would be on that track behind the school, feeling the wind in my hair as I took the last curve on the 3200 yard run. My legs ached to move. To push past the lactic acid and really see how fast I could go.
But not today. Today, my role focused on playing the part of the best friend.
“First of all,” I said, putting my arm across her back. “I would be highly skeptical that anyone carries pitchforks with them anymore. So, I think we can cross that one off the list. But seriously, T, your sculpture is amaze-balls. They’re going to love it. Stop freaking yourself out.”
Trina wiped a hand across her face and glanced over at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Pitchforks went out of style in the 1800s.”
Her lips quivered in a reluctant smile. “Okay, I’ll stop. Thank you for that.”
“Not a problem.” I cocked my hip and winked at her. “Stop by again anytime for another best friend kick-in-the-pants reality check.”
That really had her laughing. I smiled in relief, glad that it had worked. There was nothing worse than a troubled Trina. The whole world went cold and gray when Trina wasn’t wearing her usual smile.
That hadn’t been a problem lately. Not after she got together with Mason Finnick. Now, it was all love-struck grins and goo-goo eyes. Between them and Audrey and Collin, it was practically Valentines all year long. If I didn’t love my friends so much, I’d be sick.
As if on cue, at that moment a pair of arms snaked around Trina’s waist and pulled her in tight. She giggled and squealed as Mason placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
“Has anyone told you that you’re amazing?” he asked, looking up at the covered statue. “I can’t believe I’m dating a world famous artist. Forget basketball. I’m retiring now to be your muse for the rest of our lives.”
“Not world famous!” She smiled humbly and looked down at the ground. “Yet...”
“But soon.” Audrey appeared at my other side, holding Collin’s hand. She wordlessly passed over her stick of cotton candy, knowing it was my weakness. “And seriously, I can’t wait to see it. Let’s get this show on the road.”
We didn’t have to wait much longer. A decent-sized crowd had gathered around us. Savannah strolled up to the front, looking far too important for her own good. As class president, she had taken it upon herself to unveil the senior class present to the school. Trina seemed relieved that the focus was off of her, but I couldn’t help feeling like Savannah was stealing her thunder.
“Thank you all for coming today,” Savannah announced with a toss of her long hair. I swear, I thought I saw a least a dozen of the younger guys start to drool as she shot a smile at the crowd. “The seniors of Rock Valley High are so excited to unveil our class present. It was a lot of time and hard work that went into creating this masterpiece. We’re thrilled to finally show it off.”
I noticed she didn’t mention Trina’s time and hard work, but that was typical. I snorted and bit the inside of my cheek, wishing I could say something. Audrey’s soft nudge of her elbow to my ribcage was a subtle reminder to keep my cool. I smiled at her in thanks, grateful to have someone remind me that today was about Trina.
Savannah marched up to the statue, where the rope that kept the sheet on hung down. “I won’t make you wait another second. Presenting our sculpture, Rock Valley High Forever.”
She tugged on the rope and the sheet fell away. The crowd around us oohed and aahed at the sight. I wasn’t sure how Trina had done it, but she’d taken her mangled mess of metal and welded them together to create a sculpture of a boy and girl walking across campus. They each wore backpacks and looked as if they were mid-stride, on their way to class. The detail she’d put into each person was incredible.
“Oh my gosh, Trina, it looks even better out here,” Audrey said, clasping her hands over her mouth.
“It’s amazing,” Collin added with a nod of his head. “Really.”
I added my agreement and pulled Trina in for a quick side hug.
“Thanks, guys,” she said, wiping away a tear on the corner of her eye. “You’re the best.”
Mason nuzzled her from behind again, his expression deadly serious. “Told you, babe. World famous.”
I found myself moving through the crowd, trying to get a view of every angle of the sculpture. Honestly, my best friend was an artistic genius. I couldn’t get over how
talented she was. Between her art and Audrey’s music skills, a girl could get kind of self-conscious about herself. It was a good thing I had my running. I wasn’t sure where I’d be without it.
Just as I was about to complete my round to view the sculpture, someone’s giant foot stepped in front of me, causing me to trip and nearly tumble onto the grass. I managed to right myself, but just barely. The first instinct I had was to apologize to whoever I’d stepped on, but that was quickly doused when I got a look at the owner of that ridiculously big shoe.
“Jayden Paul, you could’ve ended my track career with those clown feet of yours,” I said, placing my hands on my hips.
Jayden’s dark eyebrows were cocked and an amused smirk played on his lips as he looked me up and down. Most girls in school would’ve said he was hot. Honestly though, beside his meticulously styled brown hair and strong jawline, I wasn’t sure what they saw in him.
