“No,” I said. “Of course not. He’s just been a little slow at getting things together. Being … sick and all.” I bit my lip. “Is there any chance they’d accept a late application?”
“I’m afraid not.” Barlow stroked his jowls. “It’s a competitive school. All their slots and the waiting list will fill up just from the applications that are turned in on time. Both you and Daniel will need to get your applications, essays, letters of recommendation, and your portfolios turned in by Friday of this week, or neither of you stands a chance—no matter how good your work is.” Barlow put his hand on my shoulder. “I wish there was something more I could do.”
“No.” I indicated the letters. “These are enough.” I left Barlow’s office and headed for my desk. My hands were shaking, and I wanted to put all those papers down before I lost them all over the floor.
“You okay?” Katie Summers asked as she slipped into the empty seat that should have been occupied by Daniel. I wanted to tell her to move, but instead I gave a slight smile and said, “Yeah. I’m just worried about Daniel, you know.”
“I bought him a little present to help him feel better.” She smiled sweetly, but I couldn’t help noticing that the regulation khakis and polo shirt required by HTA’s conservative dress code looked down right salacious the way she wore them. Katie was one of those girls who could make anything seem sexy. “I was thinking I’d stop by his place this afternoon to drop it off.”
“No!” I practically shouted. “I mean, he’s like super-freaking-contagious. You don’t want to go over there.” The last thing I needed was for Katie to show up at Daniel’s place to find not only that he was missing, but also that a pack of teenage were-boys lived there—especially looking like she did.
“Oh, okay,” she said, scrunching her nose. “Will you give it to him for me then?”
She pulled a small package from her knapsack. It was wrapped in paper decorated with an exquisite, intricately hand-drawn design I didn’t doubt she’d done herself. A lot of work on her part for a present to my boyfriend.
“Yeah, sure.” I know Daniel had sworn that nothing had ever happened between him and Katie—but I couldn’t help getting the feeling that she wanted something to.
I glanced from the present to Daniel’s Trenton letter sitting on my table. An old sneaking thought trickled into my mind—in between everything else I had to worry about—what if Daniel and Katie were the ones who got acceptances to Trenton, and not me?
The two of them headed off to college together.…
Gah. None of this was good for my sanity. I took the present from Katie and shoved it into my backpack with all of Daniel’s and my assignments.
What else could this day possibly throw at me?
LATER
The ring of the lunch bell couldn’t have come soon enough.
“I’m gonna go to Day’s to get Jude some lunch,” April said, with the keys to her car in her hand. It’s a good thing she was around, or my brother would probably starve, considering everything else I had on my mind.
“I’ll hitch a ride with you,” I said. I needed to get away from the school for a while.
She gave me a hopeful smile. I’m sure she was thinking I’d changed my mind about visiting Jude. I hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed that I was only planning on going with her to the grocery store.
I know I shouldn’t have been surprised by the fact that Ryan, Slade, Brent, and Zach were waiting outside the school when April and I headed out to the parking lot. You’d think they’d be able to figure out what to do with themselves other than wait around for me all day.
Then again, I was glad they weren’t left to their own devices.…