"See you tomorrow, honey," my mom said as I stepped out of the car in front of the library on Saturday evening. "Have fun!"
"Yeah, sure," I said halfheartedly and waved as she pulled away.
I glanced at my watch as I started up the stairs to the library entrance. It was almost seven pm and I wondered if Jana was there yet. And if she was if she'd say anything to me. Maybe she'd be surprised to see me- I wasn't sure if she even knew I was coming. I sighed as I pushed open the front door. Most likely she'd probably just ignore me either way. Why had I even come to this dumb thing anyway?
It was easy to tell where everyone was- the noise coming from the children's section was pretty loud, which seemed weird in a library since libraries are always so quiet. Once I reached the children's department, (which is the coolest part of the library because it has so many great places to read, including a real treehouse), I paused near the checkout desk for a minute to survey the scene. Most of the bookbuddies (which were what us jr. high helpers were called) had already arrived and I recognized all of them. I even knew some of the little kids running around as students from Mark Twain.
But where was Jana? Surely she had come. Yes, she must have, I thought a moment later as I noticed Beth Barry, her best friend, standing near the refreshment table, staring over at the treehouse which is located in the middle of the room. Out of curiousity, I turned to see what Beth was so interested in. And that's when I saw Jana. She was standing next to the treehouse with her arms folded, watching Keith Masterson talking to two young boys. Of course I had no idea what they were talking about, but it was obvious that Jana was pretty impressed. Finally the little kids ran off and Jana and Keith started talking. I guess that really shouldn't have bothered me, but somehow it did. Especially when he stepped even closer to her and said something else. Or maybe it was the way he was smiling at her. A normal smile wouldn't be so bad- but this wasn't a normal smile. More like the kind Keith used to give Beth before they broke up. Or that kind I'd give Jana before WE broke up. But. . . could it be? I thought skeptically, as a new idea suddenly flew into my mind. Could Keith Masterson actually like *Jana*? No way. How could he? Keith was one of my really good friends. He wouldn't do something like that to me, would he? But Keith had a reputation for being a jerk at times, so I couldn't really be sure. But what about Jana? Surely she would never go out with her best friend's ex-boyfriend. Jana wasn't that kind of girl. Or had she changed? She sure had been acting different lately.
I was feeling so confused that I didn't even notice the moment Jana walked away from Keith. When looked back to the refreshment table, I saw she was standing next to Beth, helping her rearrange the plates of snacks. I tried not to stare, but I couldn't help it, and suddenly Jana looked up and our eyes locked. For a minute I thought she looked puzzled, then she actually looked sort of nervous. Before I could try to read her expression further, she turned away.
Why did I have a *really* bad feeling about tonight?