"You think I have a crush on someone?" I asked nervously.
"It's so obvious, Mandy. You have a thing for Billy." he laughed.
"Pshhhh. No. I mean, Does that sound remotely like me?" I was now sweating like a pig.
"Well, no, but you have been acting strange lately." he pointed out.
"I...I" I looked desperately at my passenger window. Maybe I could tuck and roll? "Okay, you caught me." I confessed timidly. "but if you even if you THINK about telling anyone, I will-"
"Make me pay?" he finished. My mouth twisted.
"Yeah. Something like that." I half smiled, half scowled.
"Don't worry. I won't tell." he said defensively, as we pulled up to the school. I was about to thank him, big time, but then I realized that I would never do that...even if my biggest secret was being kept by him.
"You better not." I faked a snarl, and got out of the car.
"Hey, Min." I greeted Mindy like we were just old friends, even though it was all I could do not to slap her.
"Oh. You showed up." Mindy scowled. I said nothing. "Okay, I am going to give you a job that even you can't mess up." she pointed over to a corner with some boxes. "Balloons. I want you to count the balloons. 52 pink and 52 black, but for every one you pop, it is...an hour of detention."
"Who made you queen of detention?" I mumbled.
"Well, since you asked, I was put in charge of you, on account of your awful track record." she explained. I mumbled a curse word and strode off to the corner. I began counting the flabby, un-inflated balloons. When I counted, I called for Mindy from across the room.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I counted 'em." I gestured to the box.
"Well, count them again." Mindy shrugged. "Maybe you miscounted. And then she strode off. After I counted them three more effing times, she finally let me join the others, only to hand me a spool of pink ribbon to curl. I caught on to her little game, and went of to curl the ribbon. I hoped that Billy appreciated this...