Another class joined the unofficial festivities. An art class, judging from the large sketch pads the students carried with them. The teacher was reading a paperback as she walked, smug in her knowledge that if anyone could get away with having their class outside it was the art teacher. Dave spotted Gretchen among the art students, a dark green sketchbook with a pencil in the spiral binding tucked under her arm. She was talking to Joey Planko, a junior soccer player who, from what Dave had heard at the Kapoor party, was already getting scholarship offers. Frankly, he looked like he could receive scholarship offers solely for having muscles. He looked like the human version of a sports car.
Dave watched them walk across the blacktop, passing in front of where he and Julia were lying. He kept preparing his arm to wave at Gretchen when she noticed him, but her eyes were turned in Joey’s direction. The two of them and a couple of other people made their way across the lush soccer field to the far goal, none of them casting so much as a glance in Dave and Julia’s direction, and Dave was somewhat thankful to not have to explain to Julia his newfound friendship with Gretchen, or whatever it was.
“Debbie’s been trying to kill the pink spots on her tail. Sometimes I catch her looking at my hair and I can just tell her brain is whirring, making the connection. She’s going to come after me soon.”
Dave looked down at Julia, whose eyes were still closed. “You’re a goof.”
“You can’t use ‘goof.’ I use ‘goof’ about you.” She raised her head a bit and adjusted her ponytail, then laid back against his sore ab muscles. “I bet that when we travel the world and we’re hanging out with other travelers at hostels and stuff like my mom does, we’re gonna fight each other for whose turn it is to tell people about the Nevers. ‘You told it last time!’ ‘No, you did! Let me tell it.’”
“I don’t think you’ve ever been as excited about anything as you are about this.”
“Don’t be hyperbolic. Remember that time when I asked for just one donut hole and they not only refused to charge me, but gave me three of them?”
“Yeah.” Dave smiled at the memory. “You couldn’t stop giggling for the whole car ride.” He picked out a blade of grass that had gotten stuck in her hair. A shriek broke out across the soccer field, and when Dave looked in the direction it had come from, he saw Joey bear-hugging Gretchen, lifting her feet off the ground. She was laughing, allowing herself to be wrapped up.
“Kind of like the time that author you like responded to your e-mail.”
“I was not giggling,” Dave said. “My voice just cracked while laughing.”
“I’ve never seen you happier,” Julia said, poking his side, making him squirm.
All of a sudden it felt silly that he’d even thought he might be developing a crush on Gretchen. A few good conversations and noticing that she was prettier than he’d realized did not amount to anything. Okay, so she was friendlier than he’d given her credit for. But Dave was an outsider. Without Julia, he’d probably be a loner, and Gretchen was not one for loners. Her ex-boyfriend, the one who had graduated last year, he vaguely remembered, was very much a Joey Planko type. Athletic and popular and not even a dick about it. Dave couldn’t recall the guy’s name, but now flashes of the two of them last year came back to him. The guy had tattoos and could go from clean shaven to hipster beard within a week. Dave could grow exactly three hairs above his lip on each side.
The principal, Dr. Hill, walked out onto the blacktop and everyone held their breath, hoping that their temporary idyll wasn’t quite over yet. But Dr. Hill squinted against the sun, lingered for a second at the entrance to the building, then took a seat at a picnic table and smiled his approval. Dave pulled his phone out of his pocket and played one of his favorite songs, Beck and Daniel Johnston singing “True Love Will Find You in the End.” It felt a little cheesy and cliché, and therefore perfect, especially since the meaning would be lost on Julia. Never pine silently, the Nevers said. This felt like speaking up.
As the beautiful harmonica hook rang out, Dave put his hand on Julia’s forehead, right above her temple. “My mom used to do this to me to get me to fall asleep,” he said, starting to run his fingers gently in a circle.
Julia sighed. “I can see why. That feels nice.”