Liam: Can you work tomorrow after school? Band practice.
Me: Sure.
Liam: You are a lifesaver.
? ? ?
Me: You ever realize how many of our day-to-day expressions are about death? Like someone just called me a lifesaver.
SN: yeah. since, you know…it’s everywhere. dead meat. my mom’s going to kill me. died and went to heaven. but the worst part? as soon as someone says it, they look at me all apologetically. like I’m going to be offended or freak out or something. so whose life did you save?
Me: Just taking an extra shift at work.
SN: that’s nice of you.
Me: Not really doing it out of the goodness of my heart. Will do anything for extra cash.
SN: hmm…anything?
? ? ?
You have an IM from Ethan Marks.
Ethan: From Merriam-Webster: Tuber: “a short, thick, round stem that is a part of certain plants (such as the potato), that grows underground, and that can produce a new plant.”
An IM from Ethan. Eight p.m. on a Thursday night. Which meant he was thinking about me, because you can’t message someone without thinking about them first, right? Or maybe he was thinking about “The Waste Land,” which isn’t exactly the same as thinking about me, but close enough. The poem and I are now aligned. I’ll take it. This is the sort of ridiculous analysis you engage in when you have a ridiculous crush.
Which I do not.
Me: Huh. Kinda makes sense. The whole feeding a new life part of the poem.
Ethan: But why are they dried?
Me: No idea.
Ethan: I like the word “tuber.” Makes a good insult.
Me: ??? Example, please.
Ethan: Gem and Crystal? Total tubers.
Although I know Ethan heard Gem be rude to me that first time—he was, of course, the whole reason for the what are you looking at? fiasco that somehow set her off hating my guts—I didn’t realize he hears all the crap she mutters under her breath in English class. Great. It’s one thing to be mocked daily; it’s a whole other thing when cute guys bear witness to it.
Today, the target was the stickers that decorate the back of my laptop. Scarlett made them for me for my birthday last year, and they are awesome. All the tattoos I would get if I were the sort of person who had the nerve to get tattoos, which I am decidedly not. Instead, I’m the kind of person who has spent hours debating said theoretical tattoos, despite my crippling fears of both needles and long-term commitment. Hence painless, temporary stickers: two Korean characters that Scarlett swears say “Best Friend”; the line to thine own self be true, written in Gothic script; and lastly, a snake, which was not on my list but which Scarlett added because she thought I should be more badass, even if only theoretically. Gem’s brilliant take: “I bet that says ‘loser’ in Japanese.”
Me: Total dried tubers. And thanks.
Ethan: For what?
Me: I don’t know. Defending me, I guess.
Ethan: I didn’t.
Me: Okay then.
Ethan: It’s just that you don’t seem like the kind of girl who needs defending.
? ? ?
Dri liked a photo of you and her on Instagram.
I click. Dri and I at the lunch table, Agnes just out of the frame. Was she cropped out? I can’t remember. Maybe. Possibly. I think so. That shouldn’t make me happy, but it does.
? ? ?
Scarlett: Not that you asked, but homecoming dress has been procured. FLUORESCENT YELLOW.
Me: You’ll definitely stand out.
Scarlett: Don’t need a dress to do that.
Me: How’s Adam? Psyched?
Scarlett: Think so. Having major breakout issues. Not just little ones, but big-ass whiteheads. Takes all my willpower not to attack them with my nails.
Me: Gross.
Scarlett: Too bad that wouldn’t count toward our community service requirement.
I’ll admit it. I take a screen shot. Four conversations at once. Four different people who have something to say to me. True, one was about work, one was about a school assignment, one is with Scarlett, who doesn’t count, and one is with someone I don’t even know, but still, I’m going to count them all. Proof that maybe I’m starting to have something resembling a life again.
CHAPTER 14
SN: three things to kick off your morning: (1) I’m terrified of flying. I hate every second I’m on an airplane. man was not meant to fly.
Me: Don’t love to fly but LOVE airports. Great people-watching.
SN: best hellos and goodbyes.
Me: Exactly.
SN: (2) I was a vegetarian for all of 8th and 9th grades, but I stopped because: bacon.
Me: Mmm. Bacon.
SN: (3) I spend way too much time playing video games. and you?
Me: Not so into video games.
SN: you: three things.
Me: Oh, right. (1) I generally don’t like vegetables, but I hold a special place in my heart for the brussels sprout.
SN: mmm. with bacon.
Me: (2) I’m a night person. Mornings suck. Why does school have to start so damn early? WHY?
SN: then I’m honored you’re talking to me before 8 a.m.
Me: Three cups of coffee. Gloria makes it strong. Have I told you about Gloria?