Change Places with Me(5)

The line bunched up behind Rose, and she moved on.

She noticed Kim Garcia at the end of a long table, which was where she always sat, and gave her a big wave and an even bigger smile. But Rose wasn’t able to catch her friend’s eye. She made her way over through the crowds and sat on the bench opposite Kim, her long legs bunched up beneath the table.

“How was your weekend?” Rose asked.

Kim had a long, ropy braid down her back, pale-gray eyes, and light-brown skin, and she always wore colors that didn’t quite match—olive green and red, for instance. But Rose thought she looked really good.

As usual, Kim brought her own lunch; today she had a tuna sandwich and blueberry yogurt. “My weekend?” she said.

Rose took a bite of the scuffin. It crumbled to gravelly bits in her mouth, and she had to work hard to swallow it. Still, it was sweet, and the juice stick that turned from solid to liquid helped, she had to admit. “Did you have fun? I went to the zoo. It was really great. I never get tired of seeing the gorillas.”

Kim blinked at her. “I wasn’t sure you were speaking to me.”

“Of course I am! You’re my oldest friend.”

“You got so freaked out at my place, and then you just left, no explanation—”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s long over.”

“It was only last Friday.”

“Feels like a lifetime ago. Speaking of which, I’d like to be called Rose from now on.”

“Rose? Why?”

“It suits me, like a second skin.”

Kim sighed. “How many skins do you need?”

“Hey, remember when we were in second grade, and we had to do that post office project, and we were supposed to write letters to kids in first grade, but we got in trouble because we only wrote letters to each other, so then Ms. Zimmer separated us and I threw a fit? My dad said I needed extra care and attention because I was ‘sensitive,’ but I don’t think Ms. Zimmer agreed with him.” Rose took another bite of the juice stick. “You remember my dad, don’t you?”

“Rose . . .” Kim shook her head, as if brushing dust out of her hair, and took a deep breath. “Yes. Of course I remember him. He called me Kimmy—nobody else did.” She took what was left of Rose’s juice stick. “He always had these great little jokes. Like, a man wants to take piano lessons. He’s told the first lesson costs fifty dollars but the second lesson is only five. He says, ‘Can’t we start with the second lesson?’” Kim started to smile, but it didn’t turn into an actual smile. “I remember you, too.”

“Well, I should hope so!” Rose looked across the cafeteria. “That wall video for the boys’ basketball team. Isn’t that Nick Winter? The cute one?”

Nick Winter was one of the most popular guys in tenth grade. He was in Rose’s bio class and virtual lab, last period of the day. His hair was always messy in what looked like a carefully planned way, and he was tall, like Rose, with a diamond in his front tooth. She’d seen it once, sparkling in sunlight. He was gorgeous. What would that diamond look like up close, if he leaned in to kiss her?

“I wonder if I should try out for the girls’ basketball team,” Rose said, thinking it would give her something in common with Nick.

“Basketball? You?”

“Why not? I’m tall. In middle school the coaches were all over me to join the team.”

“The tryouts were in September. It’s way too late.”

“Oh, too bad. Well, there’s always next year.” Rose smiled—a smile she was sure did not look Photoshopped.

“I’ll try to remember,” Kim said, half to herself.

“Remember what?”

“To call you Rose.”

In bio, Rose’s lab partners were Selena Kearn and Astrid Mills, who were best friends and the two most popular girls in tenth grade. Selena, an ex-girlfriend of Nick’s, was all bouncy red curls and freckles; Astrid was a blond beauty with stick-straight hair and glowing skin. She always wore black; today, a black dirndl with black leather ties. Astrid was sure not to question Rose’s name change, as Kim had, because once upon a time Astrid had been Abigail; she’d changed her name in sixth grade. She’d understand.

Rose found herself staring at Nick Winter at the next virtual lab table, willing him to look at her. But why should he notice her now, any more than he ever had? She didn’t look any different, in the same overalls and the same flannel shirt and the same bangs she had to push out of her eyes—why’d she always let them get so long?

“Is she seriously serious?” Selena said to Astrid. “Nick?”

Rose gave her head a little tilt. “He’s not too hideous.”

“Oh my God,” Selena said. “Now she thinks she can just chime in.”

“She must be ill,” Astrid murmured. She often spoke in a low voice; people had to lean in to hear her.

“Never felt better!” Rose said brightly, and turned to Selena. “How come you broke up with Nick?”

Astrid let out a sharp laugh. “Who told you that?”

Selena’s face burned behind her freckles. “It was a mutual decision. We decided it would be best if we saw other people.”

“Sure,” Astrid said, “except he started seeing other people before arriving at this so-called mutual decision.”