Yeah, she loved Dave. And life had gotten a little bit suckier since the realization sunk in. But in many ways, things were still exactly the same. Sure, every now and then she’d buy a bag of chips just to stomp on it and watch the crumbs explode out. But that was kind of a cool thing that she could envision herself doing for the rest of her life, even when ecstatic and in mutual love with some unknown, future person. Everything else was normal. Dave was her best friend. She was his best friend. Nothing had changed.
She wasn’t about to spend her class periods lamenting the fact that Dave was dating someone else. Most of the time, she barely even noticed. It was weird that Dave could drive now, because Dave never drove. Aside from that, the bag of chips thing, and the occasional passing bout of sadness or desire to punch Gretchen, Julia was dealing with it pretty damn well.
“Julia, would you like to come up and solve this equation?”
Julia looked up to see the class’s eyes on her. Marroney was holding up a piece of chalk like an offering. She considered going up and reciting her slam poem, but thought better of it. “Eh, not really. I wasn’t paying attention and wouldn’t want to embarrass myself.”
A few people snickered and Marroney sighed. “I guess I’ll thank you for your honesty.”
“Anytime,” Julia said, resisting the urge to wink.
Marroney called on someone else and Julia sank back into her chair, fiddling with her phone. A small crack ran along the side of the screen from when she’d thrown it at her bedroom wall the night of the party. She couldn’t help but think of Dave when she saw that sliver of broken glass, so fine it didn’t even sting her finger.
A few classes later, when the clock finally reached 2:30 and the clanging bell released her from her seat, Julia grabbed her bag and shot out of the classroom. School was starting to weigh more than she could bear. Expecting Dave to be a little late, off smooching with Gretchen, Julia slipped in her earbuds, stepped out of her mocs, and leaned against her locker, watching everyone pass by. When music was playing, Julia felt not as critical of people. At the moment, she couldn’t stand the sight of couples, but everyone else seemed a little less offensive, a little closer to her when, say, Conor Oberst was singing.
Dave appeared earlier than she’d expected him to, on his own. She kept her earbuds in as he made his way toward her, trying not to think of the light in his eyes, trying not to look at his hands. When he started speaking she couldn’t hear a word of it. Then he plucked out the earbuds.
“Oww, dude, I hate that feeling,” Julia said, rubbing at her ear and curling the white cord around her phone.
“Sorry. You feel like scheming?”
She slipped her phone in her bag. “I don’t know if I’ve got another tree house in me. I nearly hammered my finger off last time.”
“No, this doesn’t involve any construction. It’s a promposal.”
Julia stared at him blankly.
“Get it? It’s the words prom and proposal combined into one. Promposal. A proposal for prom.”
“I understood, I’m just having trouble, you know”—she gestured with her hands—“understanding.”
“It’s another cliché.”
“I’m well aware.”
“It wasn’t on the Nevers, but only because when we were freshmen we couldn’t really envision anyone dating us.” They started walking down the hall toward the parking lot, the habit long ago ingrained into their end of school ritual. “But if we’d had the foresight and the self-esteem, it totally would have been.”
“Speak for yourself, I’ve always known I’m awesome. People date me all the time.”
“That’s not that point.” Dave held open the door for her and a few other people. “I’m gonna ask Gretchen to prom and I need your help to make it as over-the-top as possible.”
“Oh, right, you and Gretchen.”
Dave laughed. “Who’d you think I was talking about?”
“I don’t know. You and Vince Staffert would be cute together. He seems really into you.”