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Jaron’s words make my stomach twist. But not in a good way. I appreciate that he saved me from Brody and everything, but does that really mean I owe him? I don’t like feeling manipulated. I don’t know how to respond. I look down at my feet again instead.
Jaron sighs. “I better get to class,” he says.
I watch as Jaron moves quickly away from me and out of the library. He pushes the door open hard. It slams against the wall behind it.
I jump.
Even after Jaron is gone, my body remains frozen in place. I can’t move. I want to chase after him but I know it won’t do any good. I want to make a decision. I don’t want to drag all these guys along. But I don’t want to be forced into it either.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class Ms. Carpenter?” The school librarian stands in the open aisle. She waves a finger at me. “You better scoot. The bell rang almost ten minutes ago.”
I slink past her without saying a word. I find myself in the girl’s restroom instead of in class, where I should be. I’m really shook over what Jaron just said to me. I step into a stall and spillall my feelings to Steve. Then I finally grab my bag and head to class, almost twenty minutes late. But for the first time in my school career, I don’t even care if I get in trouble.
***
At lunch, Stephanie and I sit at our normal table in the corner of the cafeteria. Once seated, Austin comes over and sits with us. Several of his friends settle in beside him.
“This is the Academic Decathlon team,” he says, introducing the other six students, one at a time.
They each say, “Team Austin” in turn. Then as he introduces the last girl she says, “Team Ethan.”
Austin nudges her. “Hey!”
Everyone laughs.
“Don’t worry,” Austin says, “I’ve told them all about you.”
“Oh great,” I say. “Well, I haven’t actually made the team yet. Maybe you should wait to spread rumors.”
Austin gently grabs my shoulder. “You’ll do great,” he says. “Don’t stress. We went over lots of the material last night and you knew it all.”
“Are these seats taken?”
Ethan stands across the table with a small group of friends, most of whom I recognize from the Netflix night.
“No, go ahead and sit,” I say, holding out my outstretched hand.
Adika sits across from us and she and Stephanie make eye contact. Steph quickly looks away. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she was blushing.
“Trying to weasel your way up the poll, huh?” Ethan says, plopping down.
“No,” Austin says calmly, “I don’t have to campaign for my votes.
Ethan laughs. “Touché, nerd boy.”
“Votes?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Ethan whips out his phone and opens up to his own channel. There’s a poll at the top asking who I should take to prom. I’m surprised to see Jaron, Ethan, and Austin’s names are all tied, neck and neck.
“You actually did it?” I ask. I don’t know why I’m shocked. Of course Ethan posted a poll.
“Yeah,” he says, setting his phone back down. Then he adds in a whisper, “It’s bringing in a lot of traffic.”
I spend most of lunch going back and forth between Austin and Ethan, talking about the upcoming try-outs and then making fun of the movie we watched.
When the lunch bell rings, Austin stands. “See you after school,” he says loudly, glancing at Ethan.
“Bye, Austin,” I say. “It was nice meeting you guys.”
