“It’s just pencil. It comes off.” To prove my point, I erased the first letter of my very first message. “See.”
That seemed to satisfy her and she went back to taking her own notes. I tried to take my own notes too but that missing S I’d just erased was distracting me. I filled it back in then listened very hard to what Mr. Ortega was saying.
I hated newspapers. Newspapers that told me about contests. No, I hated contests. I had nothing. Less than nothing. I had no songs in this notebook I carried around all day writing song lyrics in. Sure, I had a few really good lines here or there, lots of words, and lots of ideas for songs. Well, ideas was a generous word. What had I even meant when I wrote A song about monsters in trees would be awesome? Monsters in trees? Had I really thought something in this book was worthy of a song competition?
“Why are you groaning?” Ashley asked from the driver’s seat as she drove me to school. I had spent all night looking through my notebook. Sleeping hadn’t made any more lyrics magically appear.
I looked up. She had just pulled to a stop at the front of the school parking lot. “I wasn’t trying to groan.”
“You seem to do a lot of things you aren’t trying to do. Maybe you should try not to do things like that. You’d have more friends.”
“Thanks, Ashley. Good tip.”
I reached for the door handle just as a group of people walked in front of Ashley’s car, Cade among them. He slid across the hood, landed on his feet on the other side, and then winked at her.
Ashley opened her mouth in disgust. “Who is that arrogant jerk?”
“Nobody.”
She honked her horn three times.
“Ashley, stop.”
She rolled down her window.
“Hey!” she shouted at Cade. “That was totally rude, what you just did.”
I jumped out. “See you later.”
I walked away to the steady stream of my sister’s rant. I tried not to smile, but it was fun to hear someone tell Cade off for once. Nobody seemed to have the guts to do it at this school. He had turned as if actually listening to her, wearing his own smug smile. I picked up my pace so he wouldn’t see me.
A minute later I heard a voice from behind me. “It runs in the family, I see.” Had he jogged to catch up to me just so he could say that?
“Our feelings toward you?” I said, forgetting that I was supposed to be ignoring him. “Yes, must be genetic.”
“I hear there are meds you can take for that.”
I tilted my head. “Really? Do you sell these anti-Cade-annoyance pills? Is that how your friends manage it?”
“No, I was referring to your issues, but … ”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yes, I won that round.”
“So what’s the score, you three, me two hundred?”
“You’re keeping score?”
“Always.” At that, he left my side, joining up with a group of friends.
Not worth it, I repeated over and over again in my head until he was safely out of sight. My jaw hurt and I realized I was clenching my teeth. I let a deep breath out and tried to relax. It helped when I saw Lucas walking alone twenty feet in front of me. I could practically feel all the tension leave my body as I watched his relaxed gait.
Ahead of Lucas, Isabel waved at me from across the rocks. She bounded over, her dark curls bouncing. By the time she was walking beside me, I’d forgotten all about Cade. And since I was still pretending he didn’t exist, I was not going to tell her what had just happened. I was proud of myself for holding my tongue.
“Hey,” she said, linking her arm through mine. Her plastic bracelets clinked together.
“Hey,” I responded.
“I’m surprised he didn’t feel you burning a hole in the back of his head.”
“What? Who?”
“Funny. Like you don’t know who you were just staring at.”
My cheeks went hot and my gaze went back to Lucas, who was now almost to the lockers across the commons.
I was about to avoid the subject by asking Isabel if she finished the History assignment. But then four sophomore girls met up in front of us with a loud squeal. They all exchanged the lidded Starbucks cups they were holding. I was confused until Isabel whispered, “They each buy a drink in the morning and then they switch.”
“Why?”
“Why not? It’s fun.” We walked around them. “We need a morning routine.”
I gestured back toward the girls. “That morning routine?”
“Not that one. But something we do or say every morning when we see each other to start the day right.”
“Um … ”
“A handshake?”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “ ‘Hey’ has been working pretty well for us for the last three years.”
“But they’re so cute,” Isabel said, nodding toward the giggling girls.
“We’re not cute enough for you?”
“No. We’re not.” She smiled.
“Just last night, before falling asleep, I thought to myself, I wish Isabel and I had a morning tradition. It would make our friendship so much cuter.”
“And last night before I fell asleep, I was wondering how you got so lucky to have a best friend like me when you’re such a brat.”