It was deja vu. With Geometry over, it was time for lunch. Once again, Logan came up behind me and wanted to speak with me.
"Mary Anne," he said softly.
I sighed. "What do you want, Logan?" What was the point of making attempts to contact me if all he wanted was the impossible--for us to get back together?
"I want--" he hesitated. "I don't really want anything."
"Could have fooled me," I mumbled under my breath. I started to feel slightly guilty. I was being so mean to Logan. It wasn't like me at all. I took a deep breath and vowed to be nicer to him. What was it about our current state that made me so irritable towards him?
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Nothing, nothing. Look, I'm really hungry. Can't we continue this another time?" So much for promises to myself.
"No, this can't wait," he said, putting his hand on my arm and looking in my eyes. His hand felt like a thousand spiders. I pushed his hand off and looked away.
"I want you to know," he continued. "That, regardless of what you may have heard, I am not going to ask you to the dance. In fact, I've already got a date."
This was news to me. Good news. "I'm happy for you, Logan," I said sincerely. "But the cafeteria is calling me." It really was too. Geometry always felt like the longest period of the day. Each day I entered the cafeteria ravenous with hunger.
I turned and left the classroom. Cary was waiting for me. "Hey," he said, with no trace of a smirk in his smile. "I was thinking, do you want to go to the Rosebud?"
"When?" I asked, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
"Right now," he said. "We can go off-campus for lunch now, remember?"
"Oh yeah," I said. Back in the days of SMS, only kids who hated the cafeteria food enough to break the rules, like Shawna Riverson, left the campus for lunch.
We went out the main door of SHS, watching the kids with cars zoom off, obviously with the same idea. But since the Rosebud Cafe was just down the street, we didn't need a car.
We reached it in about two minutes, which felt like one because Cary kept me thoroughly entertained with a story about how Alan had gotten his hand stuck in the vending machine and Claudia had to go run through the halls to find a janitor. Cary's descriptions were priceless. I recalled Kristy saying how Cary was a serious writer once. It certainly seemed to be true.
At the Rosebud, Cary didn't even try to order for me. He never made decisions for me, and he listened to what I had to say. He made me feel totally at ease and in control.
***
After the great lunch, the rest of the day was anticlimatic. Until after school, when Kristy joined Claudia on the sidewalk. I arrived a few seconds later, and I couldn't help wondering what Kristy was doing there. A friend of theirs, Carly, was joining them in the conversation.
I heard a snippet of it before they saw me. "I can't believe you, Kristy. Are you sure she's going to be okay with it?" Carly said, sounding worried.
"Well," she said. "I've liked him for a while, you know."
Claudia shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea."
I made my entrance then. "What's not a good idea?" I asked innocently.
By the looks on their faces, I could tell that they didn't want me to know.
Kristy took my arm. "C'mon, Mary Anne. Let's go for a walk."
"Alright," I said uncertainly.
Logan was off my back, Cary was wonderful--things were pretty near perfect.
"Mary Anne," he said softly.
I sighed. "What do you want, Logan?" What was the point of making attempts to contact me if all he wanted was the impossible--for us to get back together?
"I want--" he hesitated. "I don't really want anything."
"Could have fooled me," I mumbled under my breath. I started to feel slightly guilty. I was being so mean to Logan. It wasn't like me at all. I took a deep breath and vowed to be nicer to him. What was it about our current state that made me so irritable towards him?
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Nothing, nothing. Look, I'm really hungry. Can't we continue this another time?" So much for promises to myself.
"No, this can't wait," he said, putting his hand on my arm and looking in my eyes. His hand felt like a thousand spiders. I pushed his hand off and looked away.
"I want you to know," he continued. "That, regardless of what you may have heard, I am not going to ask you to the dance. In fact, I've already got a date."
This was news to me. Good news. "I'm happy for you, Logan," I said sincerely. "But the cafeteria is calling me." It really was too. Geometry always felt like the longest period of the day. Each day I entered the cafeteria ravenous with hunger.
I turned and left the classroom. Cary was waiting for me. "Hey," he said, with no trace of a smirk in his smile. "I was thinking, do you want to go to the Rosebud?"
"When?" I asked, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
"Right now," he said. "We can go off-campus for lunch now, remember?"
"Oh yeah," I said. Back in the days of SMS, only kids who hated the cafeteria food enough to break the rules, like Shawna Riverson, left the campus for lunch.
We went out the main door of SHS, watching the kids with cars zoom off, obviously with the same idea. But since the Rosebud Cafe was just down the street, we didn't need a car.
We reached it in about two minutes, which felt like one because Cary kept me thoroughly entertained with a story about how Alan had gotten his hand stuck in the vending machine and Claudia had to go run through the halls to find a janitor. Cary's descriptions were priceless. I recalled Kristy saying how Cary was a serious writer once. It certainly seemed to be true.
At the Rosebud, Cary didn't even try to order for me. He never made decisions for me, and he listened to what I had to say. He made me feel totally at ease and in control.
***
After the great lunch, the rest of the day was anticlimatic. Until after school, when Kristy joined Claudia on the sidewalk. I arrived a few seconds later, and I couldn't help wondering what Kristy was doing there. A friend of theirs, Carly, was joining them in the conversation.
I heard a snippet of it before they saw me. "I can't believe you, Kristy. Are you sure she's going to be okay with it?" Carly said, sounding worried.
"Well," she said. "I've liked him for a while, you know."
Claudia shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea."
I made my entrance then. "What's not a good idea?" I asked innocently.
By the looks on their faces, I could tell that they didn't want me to know.
Kristy took my arm. "C'mon, Mary Anne. Let's go for a walk."
"Alright," I said uncertainly.
Logan was off my back, Cary was wonderful--things were pretty near perfect.