“Good for you, Jonah,” she says, but she’s kind of got a mad face on. Then she runs to catch up with her friends, and I think how funny she is that she’s not even excited about the cookies-and-cream eggs.
Then I remember that I won, and I race over to the rest of my classmates and we head for the classroom and I start to think about Marco and having him for a whole week.
THIRTY-NINE
EDEN
I walk with my besties, Carlee and Ava. Mr. Libey leads all of us across the blacktop toward the jungle gym and the field to hide the dumb eggs. There’s like twenty of us fourth and fifth graders on the spring egg hunt committee. I didn’t even want to be on the committee, but Carlee talked Ava and me into it. She told us we get out of class and that we could, like, totally steal some eggs when we were hiding them for the kindergartners. And then Ryan raised his hand to be on the committee, and when I saw him, I kind of raised my hand, too. Not that I like him or anything. I mean, he’s kind of cute. He’s got blond hair and big blue eyes and he makes jokes that are really funny. Not like Matt. Matt’s funny, but he makes jokes that are really mean, like making fun of other kids. Ryan doesn’t make fun of anyone; he just says stuff that makes you laugh. But I don’t like him, you know, that way. Okay, maybe I like him a little.
“I like the Butterfinger eggs best,” Carlee says.
Ava shakes her head. “Not me. I like the peanut butter ones.”
Corwin Kwe is walking right behind us, and when Ava accidentally drops her paper bag full of eggs, he picks it up really fast and hands it to her. I think maybe Corwin likes Ava, which is kind of funny because he’s really short and she’s like the tallest girl in fifth grade. She snatches the bag out of his hand and doesn’t even say thank you, just sniffs and turns away, which I think is rude, but I don’t say anything because Ava will say something mean to me, like, “Oh, aren’t you just Miss Goody Two-shoes, Eden?”
Anyways—oops, anyway, the committee spends about ten minutes hiding all the eggs for the kindergartners. Ava and Carlee head to the grass. I’m following them, holding my paper bag full of eggs, but then I see Ryan go to the jungle gym and I sort of turn and head in the same direction. I grip the paper bag really tight, and my hand feels really sweaty all of a sudden and I’m not sure why. I switch the bag to my left hand and wipe my palm on my dress.
Ryan puts a handful of eggs on the swinging bridge, then looks over at me. His bangs are a little bit long over his eyes, but I can see that his eyes are kind of crinkly at the corners like he’s grinning.
“You eat any?” he asks.
Mr. Libey told us we weren’t allowed to eat any of the eggs, that they were for the kindergartners, even though I know for a fact that Carlee and Ava both scarfed down like four each when nobody was looking.
I think about telling Ryan a lie, ’cause I don’t want Ryan to think I’m a geek, or a Goody Two-shoes, or something. I pour some eggs onto the platform next to the slide and shake my head.
“Nah. Me neither.” He shrugs. “They’re for the little kids. And I guess the committee gets to share whatever’s leftover, if there is any. At least, that’s what happened last year. Hey, we should hide some underneath, what do you think?”
I look down at the ground under the jungle gym, then back up to Ryan. He’s smiling and nodding like he’s excited to be doing something no one else thought of. My dress will get totally dirty, and if I rip it Mom will be so mad, but I don’t care. I nod back at Ryan, and we both drop to our knees and start crawling along the blacktop, pouring out eggs as we go.
“This is beast,” Ryan says, and I can’t help but giggle. It’s totally beast.
“What’re you guys doing under there?” Ava’s voice. “Kissing?” I hear Carlee laugh, and then Matt joins in.
“Ryan and Eden are under the jungle gym kissing?” Matt shouts. My cheeks go hot again, and when I look at Ryan, he’s frowning. And even though it’s dark under here, I can tell that his cheeks are red, too. He scrambles out from the other side of the jungle gym as fast as he can. I crawl out on my side, stand, and brush the dirt and pebbles from my dress. Ava and Carlee and Matt are still laughing. I glare at them.
“Shut up,” Ryan says. “You guys are total losers.”
“Okay, committee!” Mr. Libey calls from the four-square courts. “It’s time to bring out the kindergartners. Make a wide circle and keep an eye out for any shenanigans.”
I walk over to the monkey bars and cross my arms over my chest, then look over to the kindergarten gate. I pretend I don’t see Carlee and Ava come up beside me.
“God, we were just joking, Eden,” Ava says. She doesn’t sound sorry at all, and that makes me even madder.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Carlee nudge Ava’s arm. Then Ava takes a big deep breath. “I’m sorry, Eden. That was mean.”
This time, she sounds like she means it. I turn to her and shrug. “Whatever.”
Just then, the kindergartners race across the blacktop and start scrambling toward the eggs. I see Jonah running really fast, a big smile on his face. He waves at me but I don’t wave back, because even though Ava apologized, I’m still a little angry and embarrassed. I take a quick peek over at Ryan, who’s standing in the circle by the field. He’s looking at me, but when he sees me, he turns away real fast like he doesn’t want to be caught. My cheeks do that stupid red thing again, and it takes the whole spring egg hunt for them to cool off.
The hunt lasts, like, all of five minutes and then it’s over. The teachers take the kindergartners over to the four-square court to count their eggs, and the fourth and fifth graders start wandering back toward our classrooms, but because we got out of doing work for the egg hunt, none of us are in any hurry to go. Ava and Carlee and me are walking side by side, and Ryan and Matt are kind of a little bit behind us. I want to look back at Ryan, but I don’t let myself.
Just then, Corwin Kwe runs up to Ava and holds out his hand. I see four peanut butter eggs on his palm. “I got these for you, Ava.”
I’m thinking that was really nice of him and how would I feel if Ryan handed me my favorite eggs? I guess I would feel kind of warm and fuzzy. But Ava pulls her lip up in a sneer and looks at Corwin like he’s some kind of nasty bug.
“Ew. Like I’d ever eat something that was in your dirty little hand.”
Carlee and Matt start laughing. Corwin blinks real fast and looks like he’s going to cry.
“I think Corwin likes you, Ava,” Matt teases. “I think he really likes you.”
My stomach turns over, and I feel kind of how you feel before you throw up. I want to tell Matt to stop, that he’s not being nice, but everyone else is laughing, even Ryan, so I don’t know what to do. Then Corwin stamps his foot and throws the peanut butter eggs on the ground.
“I—I—I would never like you. You’re like the w-w-worst person ever. You’re bad at math and you’re so stuck-up.”