Little Do We Know(22)

I started cracking up. “Yes, we can make pancakes.”

He kissed me in that way that made the whole world disappear, and for a moment, all that sadness I’d been bottling up began melting away.

Luke pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. “Let me be sure I have this straight. We’re going on a road trip, having a sleepover on Friday, and you don’t want to break up with me anymore?”

“Not right this second. Ask me again next week.”

I started to kiss him again, but he leaned back and shook his head. “Nope. I’m not asking you again. This is your last chance. After this, you’re stuck with me until August twentieth.” He held out his hand. “Deal?”

I shook it. “Deal.”





“Wait. You’re doing what?” Alyssa asked.

I let out an irritated sigh. “I’m helping Aaron gather a few testimonials for one of the videos he’s doing, that’s all. It shouldn’t take long.” I shut my locker door. “I’ll meet you in the quad when I’m done.”

Apparently, Alyssa was still stuck on the first part of what I’d said. “You’re spending lunch with Aaron?”

“Yeah, it’s this video for Admissions—”

She cut me off. “I can help. Let me, like, hold the microphone or something.”

It didn’t seem right to bring anyone else. “These guys might be nervous as it is. I don’t want to make it a bigger deal. I’ll tell you everything he says, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

I shut my locker and took off for the Grove. When I arrived, Aaron was already setting up the video camera and Skylar, Kaitlyn, and Kevin were talking with one another at the picnic table. I slid in next to Skylar. Bailee arrived a minute later.

“Thanks for doing this,” Aaron began. He explained the video and what he was hoping to get from each one of them. “We’re only going to use a small piece of your story, but just talk. Say as much as you want and we’ll edit as needed. We don’t want you to sound scripted.”

The way Aaron said “we” wasn’t lost on me. It made me feel good to be part of something that might help the school. And it made me temporarily forget how angry I was about the fact that he was here in the first place.

“I’m going to start rolling,” he said, taking his place behind the camera. “This is perfect. Just stay where you are and talk. Hannah will ask the questions.”

The five of us spoke while Aaron filmed, and before I knew it, the lunch bell rang. After the others gathered up their stuff and took off for class, I stayed behind and helped Aaron put all the equipment back in his bag.

“You’re good at this,” Aaron said as he threaded his head through the camera strap and adjusted it across his chest. “You have a way of drawing people out. You let them speak without talking over them, and when they’re done, you’re right there with the next question, encouraging them to keep going.”

“I didn’t really think much about it.”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “You’re a natural.”

The bell rang.

He tapped the video camera. “Want to help me edit this after school? I’ll show you how it’s done. Then when you’re at BU next year you can start your own investigative journalism show on YouTube. You’ll be famous.”

“I don’t want to be famous.” I grinned. That BU part still made me feel like I wanted to punch something. But unlike the day before, I no longer wanted to punch him. “But yeah, I can help,” I said. “Why not?”



After school, the sound booth door was locked and Aaron was nowhere in sight, so I waited on the first pew in the balcony, leaning on the railing overlooking the sanctuary and checking my Instagram feed.

I scrolled past a selfie of Alyssa in her bedroom, another of Logan and his dog at the park, and a bunch of posts from all my old friends from middle school, who were now all at Foothill High. And then Emory’s face blurred by and my heart started racing. I backed up.

She was standing on the stage in the theater with her arms outstretched at her sides, like she was mid-monologue, delivering important words to a rapt audience. Her hair was piled up on the top of her head and her cheekbones looked even more pronounced than they usually did. She looked beautiful. Then again, it was kind of impossible for her not to.

I was careful not to like the photo. Even though she probably knew I never stopped following her—just like I knew she hadn’t stopped following me—I didn’t want to make things more awkward than they already were.

“Hey, sorry I’m late!” I looked up. Aaron was jiggling the key in the bolt. “Staff meeting went long. Come in.”

I dropped my backpack next to the shelving unit and followed him.

“Grab a soda from the mini fridge,” he said. “I’ll get everything set up.” Aaron sat on the stool and kept talking. “I imported all the raw footage after lunch and started working on it a bit, cutting out the obvious stuff. Now we need to figure out what to keep.” He tapped on an icon and our little lunch in the Grove came to life on the screen. “We’re looking for sound bites. We don’t need long stories, just short, punchy, grabby sentences.” He slid a notebook and a pen over to my side of the desk. “When you hear something you like, mark the time.”