Ella's Twisted Senior Year(46)
I kiss her goodbye before first period and watch her turn the corner to her history class. “Hey, April,” I call out, jogging to catch up with her and Toby.
“What’s up?” she asks.
“Dude,” I say to Toby, pointing at his shirt. “Did you pay for rush shipping?”
He nods casually. “I have to support my boy, after all. I wanted to wear it before everyone else gets theirs.”
I bump my knuckles to his. “Nice.”
“These shirts are way better than Ella’s poster idea,” April says, nodding to Toby’s shirt. “I’ve already heard people saying they’re going to buy one. Seems like the whole school is on your side after her little social media rant.”
We pass some girls from student council hanging up prom posters in the wall. “Hey, so, the reason I wanted to talk to you is about prom.”
April lifts an eyebrow. “Did Ella finally admit that she actually wants to go?”
I shrug instead of giving her a real answer. “Do know where that pink dress is sold? The one she has a picture of?”
“Yeah, it’s at the Galleria. A store called Dress Fantasy.”
“You gonna wear a dress to prom, Poe?” Toby says.
I wiggle my eyebrows at him. “You wish.”
By seventh period, Ella’s shirt has been ordered fifty more times. It’s now ranked as my most popular shirt on my storefront and I almost want to turn off email notifications because my phone is blowing up nonstop in class.
I haven’t seen Kennedy all day, and by Wednesday when most people’s shirt orders come in, she’s been a complete ghost. Maybe she learned her lesson about messing with us and decided to keep her distance. Probably not, but, a guy can hope.
The school hallways are a sea of navy blue shirts. I get high-fived several times and Ella gets quite a few impressed looks as we make our way to lunch.
“Okay, as soon as I see a teacher wearing one of these shirts, I’m gonna lose my mind,” Ella says, taking a place behind me in the lunch line. “I can’t believe this has worked out so well. I almost feel evil.”
I grab a tray and fill it with a slice of pizza, a soda, and some cheese fries. “Me too, but as soon as those thoughts cross my mind, I just remember what she posted about me online and suddenly, I’m okay with it.”
She lets her head lean against my arm for a second, her adorable little consoling gesture. “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon. I can’t wait to be out of this sham they call a high school education.”
She takes an order of cheese fries and grabs the squirt bottle of ranch, drowning the things in the stuff.
I go to pay for our food and she holds out her hand to stop me. “I got mine today.”
“I don’t mind buying your food.”
Ella gives me a pointed look. “Dad gave me some cash today, so I’m good.”
I’m not about to argue with her in front of the lunch lady so I pay for my food and wait while she pays for hers. It’s funny how a few weeks ago I was so annoyed when Kennedy would expect me to buy everything for her. Now I have a girlfriend who doesn’t need my help and all I want to do is shower her with all the things she wants.
Like that prom dress.
It’s raining outside so we’re forced to sit in the cafeteria for the first time since we’ve been a couple. “Where to?” Ella asks, looking around the half-filled cafeteria.
Toby appears behind us, his tray filled with three hot dogs and pizza. “The regular table, or somewhere else?”
I shrug. “We could sit with the guys, I guess.”
Toby scowls. “Yeah, but now we both have beautiful girls to spend our time with. That table is a freaking sausage fest that only talks about football.”
“Touché,” April says, holding up a hand with bright red nails.
“Oh my god.” Ella pretends to gag herself with her finger, her food tray balanced in the other hand. “Who even are you?”
April laughs and glances back at Toby. Something passes between them and I think it’s pretty cool that they seem to like each other so much for being a random match. All I had done was pick the nicest guy from my group of friends and introduce them and now they’re a thing.
We choose a table at the far right of the cafeteria, and although no one says it, I know this spot was chosen by the four of us collectively because it’s as far away from Kennedy’s table of cheerleaders as you can get.
I don’t see her though, not that I’m looking. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been to school all week. That, or she’s really good at avoiding me. Too bad she didn’t bring out those evasive skills the day after we broke up. Maybe then this whole mess could have been avoided.
My knee touches Ella’s under the lunch table. She steals some of my fries even though she has her own so I steal a drink of her sweet tea for no reason other than I know I can. We’ve slipped back into our old best friend ways only now there’s the added (and most important) benefit of getting to make out.
Ella scoots closer to me on the bench seat. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” she says, staring at her food.
“What is it?”
She swirls the straw around in her drink and casts a glance toward Toby and April who are laughing at a video on Toby’s phone. “Does Kennedy have . . . other things she could use against you? Like more texts or dirty photos or something?”