Anna adjusted her pink faux fur Kangol cap one more time before joining the throng of students walking the Harbor School's halls. She was dressed in pink Capri pants, a pink and white checkered V-neck sweater, and pink hi-top sneakers with white laces. She knew everyone would probably find her outfit laughable, but that was okay. She felt pretty, which was the important thing. She openly smiled as she continued down the hall, a noticeable spring in her step. Talk of the dance, two weeks away, dominated conversations in the halls, which wasn't surprising considering the walls were plastered with posters and banners advertising it. Anna was certain she'd be going with Seth. She could see them now, he in a black tux, she in a black strapless dress, dancing under one of those silver disco balls as Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight" played over the sound system. As she turned a corner, she could see Seth walking up ahead, his curly brown head bobbing above the crowd. She had to suppress the impulse to call his name. It had been four days since he'd come over to her house and if she didn't know better, she'd swear he was avoiding her. Well not today, Anna thought. Today she was determined to get to the bottom of what was bothering him. Whatever it was, she was sure they could work through it together. Silently, she watched as he stopped at his locker. After a few minutes, she walked up to him.
"Hey," she said tapping him on his shoulder.
He jumped almost dropping his books. "Jesus Anna, why are you sneaking up on me?"
"Why have you been avoiding me?"
Seth flinched then looked away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you'd excuse me, I need to go to the washroom," he said slamming his locker door shut and brushing past her. He quickly walked down the hall and into the men's washroom. He stirred so many emotions in her – confusion, affection, and attraction. Seth was the smartest, quirkiest, funniest, most interesting boy she'd ever met and she liked him … a lot. Focus, she thought as she swung her bag over her shoulder and sauntered up to the door of the boy's washroom. She hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, then pushed open the door and walked through.
The men's washroom was similar to the women's except it was painted blue instead of yellow and there were urinals. It smelled better than she would have guessed though there were paper towels on the floor near the garbage can where guys had obviously been shooting baskets. As Anna walked further into the washroom, a few guys smirked at her while others just stood watching her with shocked faces.
"You must be looking for me. Well here I am," a big burly guy said pointing at his crotch.
"Fuck off," Anna said.
"That's what I'm trying to do, baby."
She spotted Seth standing at a urinal and walked up to him. "We need to talk."
"Anna! What the hell?" Seth said in a rush as he stuffed his penis back into his pants. "For Christ's sake, I'm trying to pee."
Anna averted her eyes but not before getting a look at his penis. It was perfect but she had to will herself not to smile, she couldn't afford to waiver from her course now. "We need to talk."
Suddenly the room filled with laughter, coughing, and whipping sounds as all of the guys now stood watching them.
"Let's get out of here," he said grabbing her by the arm and leading her out of the men's washroom. On their way out, they nearly bumped into Ryan who was going in. As he passed, Ryan gave Seth a quizzical look.
"Don't ask," Seth said simply as he led Anna into the hallway. "What is this about?" he demanded.
"You tell me," she said putting her hand on her hip and staring pointedly at him.
"Anna, I don't have time for this. Can't we talk later?"
"No." It was obvious by her tone that if he didn't talk to her now, she would cause a scene.
He sighed then ran his hand through his hair. "Then let's go to the auditorium."
Seth led the way as Anna followed closely behind. They ran downstairs, turned to the left, and walked down the hall to the auditorium. As they entered, Anna could see the floodlights on at the base of the stage giving light to the kids practicing for the winter talent show. The back of the auditorium, though, was dark, quiet, and empty so they sat back there.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" Anna asked. Even in the shadows, she could see Seth shift uncomfortably. She wanted to touch his cheek, a gesture to show him that she was there for him, that he could trust her with whatever was troubling him. She assumed it had something to do with either his parents or Ryan. In fact, she'd recently read in the Los Angeles Times that his father, an attorney, had taken a case against his grandfather's real estate development company, which was probably causing some tension at home.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me Seth. I thought you had more respect for me than that."
For what seemed like an eternity, he sat without uttering a sound, looking down at his shoes. "I don't know where to start."
"How about why you suddenly left Saturday night when you were supposed to spend the night at my house. My father said you had a family emergency but when I called your house Sunday morning, your dad didn't seem to know anything about it."
"Look, Anna," Seth said reaching out to grab her hands but stopping himself. "I know."
"Know what?" she said. She could feel her heart beating faster as adrenaline flooded her system causing her skin to flush and her breathing to become shallow.
"About the letter."
"Oh." Suddenly Anna felt nauseated, as if she'd just ridden one of those floor drop rides at an amusement park. "So what do we do now?"
"You know how I feel about Summer, but I hope we can stay friends."
Bile slowly began to rise in Anna's throat. This was just too much. After everything that had happened between them, Seth still couldn't see she was the woman for him.
"I don't think that's possible," she said then looked down at her hands. Her pink nails were ragged where she'd bitten them earlier in the day. No more, she thought. I can't do this anymore. "I thought I'd never say this," Anna said as she rose, wiping a tear from her cheek. "But I actually feel sorry for Summer because you don't know the real her and I don't think you're interested in getting to know the real her. I think you're only interested in the Summer you've invented. When you invent people, you project and ascribe those qualities onto them that you want them to have regardless of whether that's who they are or not." With that, Anna turned and walked out of the auditorium without looking back.