Liars and Losers Like Us(7)

I press pound and star again, but nothing. My heart punches my chest. I am horrified.

I throw my iPhone. “Screw you robot lady.” It lands with a thud on my shaggy blue carpet. For crap sake, I can’t call back. Two messages would sound pathetic. Defeated, I pick the phone back up and send a text.

Hey Sean its Bree Hughes from Lang Arts If u need to, u can have my notes til Mon or I can get whenever

I press Send right away so I don’t overthink and mess this one up too. Before I can conjure up a story of how I became the proud owner of a nonexistent cat, my mom breezes through my door, asking if I want to go out for dinner instead of pizza, the usual end of the week meal. My face contorts as I worry about looking uncool hanging with my mom on a Friday night.

“C’mon hon, it’s been a long week. Let’s get outta here.”

“Okay. Fine. Can we go to Azumi?” She agrees and tells me to be ready in about an hour. I pick Azumi because yes, I like Japanese but mainly because it’s not a typical hangout for anyone in our school. On Fridays most everyone goes to a movie or just hangs out in the parking lot at the strip mall and eventually ends up at 24/7, Belmont’s only diner. The funny thing about 24/7 is that it closes at three a.m. Since I’m not a morning person, I don’t know what time they open. I make a mental note to check the opening hours next time I go.

A few minutes after Mom leaves my room, my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Is Bree there?”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Hey, it’s Sean from class, but I know you know that since you just called and texted me … Um …”

“Oh hey, how’s it going? Crazy day right?”

“Yeah, all the Prom stuff, blehhhh.”

“Really? I thought you were into that,” I say. “Aren’t you the one who said it was going to be fun?”

“Oh, right. I did say that, huh? I guess in a way it’s fun and dumb. Does that makes sense?”

“Yeah, actually that does make sense.”

“It’s crazy that they actually nominated Maisey. I bet she wins too. Molly Chapman would probably—”

I interrupt to say she’d probably shit her pants and then have Jane jump Maisey for the crown. “Yeah she’d probably—probably be pretty bummed out. That’s kind of her scene.”

“I was going to say she’d wrestle Maisey to the ground for that crown and weird bathrobe they wear. But yeah, she’d be bummed,” Sean says.

I laugh, wishing I’d said what I was thinking. After pacing the length of my room a few times, I start rearranging the books in my bookcase by color as a way to calm the butterflies moshing in my stomach.

“So … thanks for letting me swipe those notes. I didn’t even take any in class. All those labels and rules for writing go over my head. It’s confusing.”

“Yeah, it can. But you don’t have to worry, really, since the first assignment is to write whatever you want.”

“As long as it’s about an animal, right? Maybe I should write about your crazy cat that jumped on your lap and made you drop your phone while you were all alone.”

I laugh and cringe, because a) Unless the black cat clock on my wall counts, I don’t have a cat, and b) His voice is so handsomely hot and flirty. Or maybe he’s just being nice. I frown at a book cover with a guy and girl almost kissing in the rain.

“So when can I get these notes back to you. We could meet up.”

Meet up? The inside of my stomach is swishing around like crazy so I offer my stupid Monday idea. “You don’t have to do that. I can just get them back Monday if it’s a big deal.”

“Um, well I was …” He leaves the sentence hanging mid-air.

Instantly I regret trying to act indifferent. I’m glad he can’t see me right now. Wide-eyed, hot-faced, and pacing, wondering where to shelve a bluish-greenish book with a girl tiptoeing underwater. “Or yeah, we could meet up this weekend.”

“Okay, let’s do that. Can you meet up tonight? Like later though? I have a … a thing. But I could probably meet you at 24/7 or Java Joint around 9:30?”

I hesitate. Meeting up somewhere almost sounds like a date. Unless he’s already going on a real date and meeting me afterward. Or hanging out with his friends first and then me second. Not that it matters. Sean Mills!

“Okay, that works,” I say. “I have a thing too, so that’s perfect. How about Java Joint?” My second request tonight in order to avoid a busy social scene.

“Sure, and if you want, maybe you could help me a little with this poetry stuff? Only if you wanted. If you have time or if it’s not too late?”

He does sound nervous. He needs to look in the mirror more. And take more selfies. And send them to me.

“Okay, yeah,” I say. “I’m such a party animal anyways. My day pretty much starts at 9:30 at night so it works.”

“Great. See you then.”

Click. “Good-bye?” I say to the air. I hate when people don’t say good-bye when they hang up. But it’s Sean, the hottest cutest everything on the planet, so he gets a pass. For now.





THREE


When Mom and I step into Azumi, I’m surprised there’s a five to ten minute wait. Along with not having a very adventurous palate, Belmont is one of the smallest towns in Northern Minnesota, especially in the off-season. There are a lot of lake houses and cabins around here so most businesses do better in the summertime—especially places that aren’t all cheeseburgers and hot dogs.