I Kissed Shara Wheeler(43)

“Okay, well,” Rory says, apparently bored. He hops down from the stage. “Congratulations on being best friends forever. Can we go get the next note before seventh hour?”

“I don’t know where it is,” Smith says.

Rory sighs. “I do.”



* * *



The next card is in the football stadium. Shara’s tucked it inside a plastic sandwich bag to protect it from rain and taped it to the underside of a row of bleachers so high up that Chloe has to climb onto Rory’s shoulders to retrieve it. Rory looks and sounds like he’s about to snap in half from the effort.

“You know, you could have counted the rows, climbed up to that seat on the topside, and reached through the gap in the bleachers,” Smith points out as Chloe clambers down Rory’s back. “That’s probably how Shara put it there.”

“A suggestion we could have used two minutes ago,” Rory grunts.

Smith shrugs, clearly fighting a grin. “Yeah, but it was fun to watch.”

Hi, Rory & company,

There was a football game last fall that got postponed due to lightning. They tried to play, but by the end of the first quarter, everyone was soaked, and nobody wanted to be out there anymore. Smith, I met you right here, under the bleachers, and I kissed you . On the drive home, you looked out through the rain at a red light and told me it was the first time in a long time that it felt right.

It’s so stupid how my dad makes students work for free at the concession stand as a form of detention, isn’ t it, Rory? You looked miserable, and that was before you even saw me kiss Smith right in front of you. I know you saw, because I knew you were there, watching the same way you watch from your bedroom window, turning away every time somebody looks.

Jealousy is a funny thing. We spend so much of high school consumed by it, hating that another person has something we don’ t, wishing we could taste what it’ s like to be them. To take that feeling out of your hands for a second and pass it to someone else is a relief.

So, I guess that’ s why it felt like I meant it.

XOXO

S

P. S. Chloe, I would offer you a basic question with a simple solution, but I know that wouldn’ t satisfy you. Still, it might be fun to see your reaction.

Smith, who finally seems to be nearing his limit, turns to Rory when he’s done reading.

“Where did you find the first note?” Smith asks him.

Rory frowns. “What?”

“The first note y’all showed me from Shara. It was for you, wasn’t it? Where was it?”

The question must catch Rory off guard, because he doesn’t hesitate before admitting, “In Shara’s bedroom.”

“Oop,” Chloe says, in Rory fashion. If it were up to her, Smith would never have known either of them set foot inside the Wheeler house.

“You told me you never hooked up with her.” It’s not an accusation; he sounds different than earlier, when he thought Ace might have been hooking up with Shara. He’s reviewing the facts, realizing he’s missing something.

“I didn’t,” Rory confirms.

“So how did you get in her room?”

There it is.

“It was—I was—” Rory starts, and then he visibly realizes that he needs an alibi he doesn’t have. He panics and points at Chloe. “She was there too!”

“Really, dude?” Chloe groans. She thought they had a no-snitching policy between them. “At least I used a key. You climbed through her window with a ladder.”

Smith’s eyes widen. “You did what?”

“Shara told me she was leaving her window unlocked!” Rory insists. “She obviously wanted me to use it, hence the note with my fucking name on it!”

“See, this is what I’m talking about,” Smith says, waving the card in Rory’s face. “You’re always in my shit! Every time I go to Shara’s house, there’s Rory in his window like a fucking Elf on a Shelf. You’re always just—just there.”

“I live there! I’m allowed to be at my house!”

“You screwed this whole thing up for me! It’s supposed to be me and Shara, and instead, it’s always me and Shara and you, and I know you hate me for dating her even though I knew you liked her, but—”

“That is not what my beef with you is.”

“What, am I supposed to act like I wasn’t there when we were thirteen and you told me Shara was the only pretty girl in school?” Smith says. “Like, do you think I’m dumb?”

“I think you act like a lot of shit from when we were thirteen never happened.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rory opens his mouth, thinks better of it, and closes it. “Forget it. You know, if your relationship is ruined, that’s your problem, not mine. I’m only in Shara’s life as much as she wants me to be.”

“You don’t know shit about what Shara wants!”

“Neither do you, obviously!”

“Hey!” Chloe finally interrupts. “Chill!”

Smith and Rory stop, their faces inches apart. She was going to let them go at it—seems overdue, anyway—but she can’t take this anymore. Neither of them deserves the blame for Shara’s nuclear fallout.