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Scheduled for Friday
by Anton M.

14: Fellow Devil

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Monday, January 23 (cont.)

"I swear his head is not usually this thick."

I didn't have the energy to act, so I just gave Jasper a bittersweet smile. Did it even matter at this point if I tried to make it seem like my crush was fake? Probably not.

We had the second class in adjacent classrooms but Alice was home with the flu (covid-negative), and she'd asked me to talk to Jasper, but naturally, Edward came up.

The squinty-eyed distaste Edward and Lauren seemed to receive in the hallways was balanced by the overwhelming support that I was receiving, sometimes from total strangers. People felt bad for how it all looked like from my side, not that I could blame them.

"She's lucky to have him," I said quietly.

Jasper gave me a sympathetic smile, and I shook my head.

"It's fine. It's whatever. Not his fault. She gorgeous, and I bet they have a lot in common, both seniors, both straight A students—"

"Anyone can be a straight A student."

He could tell from my expression that that was a lower blow than he meant it to be.

"Hey, fuck. Didn't mean it that way. Alice told me you sometimes work eighteen hours a week on top of full time school, so… I'm not talking about you. What I wanted to say is, being a straight A student never made anyone smart. I mean, look at me. I get straight As and I'm dumb as a bag of rocks."

I laughed. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Masen, though? Gets bored in AP Physics 2, and yet, and yet… look at him."

I really didn't want to, but I shifted to the side to see them on the other side of the hallway. Edward was leaning against the window sill, looking at Lauren talking in front of him. Just the sight made heart hurt.

"I'm looking," I said, leaning back so that I wouldn't have to look at them.

Jasper grinned. "You don't see it, do you?"

"See what?" I peeked behind him to see the two people who squeezed barbed wire around my heart, but when I looked back at Jasper, his eyes were full of mirth.

"You know something," I whispered, realizing that the two, much like Alice and me, were thick as thieves. Had Edward told him anything about our kiss? "What do you know?"

"It's not my place." He stifled his smile. "But now I'm curious if it's you or Masen who figures it out first."

"Figures out what?"

Chuckling, Jasper shook his head and didn't acknowledge my question. "But I can tell you one thing that will definitely lift your spirits."

"What?"

Jasper checked that Edward and Lauren were still far enough not to hear us before he leaned closer and smirked.

"Lauren wants to become an actress."

I laughed so loud a passing teacher shushed me, and I could practically feel Edward and Lauren's eyes on our side of the corridor as I almost keeled over in silent laughter. I did not always look forward to March, but Lauren was in for an outrageously unpleasant surprise once our teaser dropped.

"I mean, it's not unrealistic, but she's never been in anything related to theater, and I know you're only in a small indie series, but you're doing it. She's like a writer who's never opened a Word document, or a photographer who's never even explored their phone's camera."

"Jasper, you are my absolute favorite person today. Thank you."

He grinned, clearly pleased with himself, and I totally understood why Alice had revealed my secret to him. He was chill and easy to talk to, and maybe I would've also spilled my beans had I been attracted to him.

"But anyway, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yes," I replied. "Two things, actually. I mean, you know Alice a bit by now, so you know she's excitable and talkative when you get her alone but… she's shy around strangers, so it would be really kind if instead of always letting her find you in the hallways and make her face your entire friend group, you'd sometimes find her, too."

"Oh sure. Never thought about it."

I smiled sheepishly. "This would be a double favor because whenever she wants to find you, she'll drag me along, which means I have to look at—" I tilted my head meaningfully behind him.

"Gotcha."

It was so sweet how Jasper and Alice both knew they liked each other but hadn't quite put a label on it, and I wondered what it would feel like if the person you liked liked you back. I'd probably disintegrate into tiny love-achy atoms of affection if Edward wanted me for real and squeezed me close with the intention to kiss me breathless.

"And the second?" Jasper reminded me.

"The second—" I unzipped my backpack and took out a large postcard. "As is tradition, I make random people write birthday wishes for my dad. His name's Charlie and he'll be 32 tomorrow."

"32?" He raised his eyebrows. "Whoa."

"32," I confirmed. "They were crazy young when I was born. Anyway, the only rule is that you have to write wishes to him but you cannot write the words happy birthday."

"Oh sure," Jasper replied, as if this happened every day. He read the wishes already written down before he took my pen. "Can I write a bad joke?"

"Anything."

Smiling to himself, he scribbled down birthday wishes to my dad before handing the card back to me.

Knock, knock! (Who's there?) Hippo. (Hippo who?) Hippo birthday to you, Charlie.

I laughed.

"Technically—" Jasper began to defend, but I cut him off as the bell rang.

"It's brilliant, he'll love it. Thanks a lot, appreciate it."

I avoided Edward and Lauren like the plague (or maybe not quite like the plague given how many people got others killed during the actual plague) as I gathered little wishes from random people. I told the people who were scared of not knowing what to write to tell my dad about the weather, or their next class, or what they were excited about this year in general. From last year, I knew that Mr. Makarov from Drama: Acting (I&II) was up for quirky shit like letting students pass around a card for someone, and after Jane let the card loose in her VisArt: Drawing I class as well, I got it back so full of wishes and drawings I could've kissed her.

After lunch, I found Mr. Needham grading papers in his classroom. He was a soft-spoken thin man who bit the tips of his frameless glasses a lot. He was one of those teachers who could've made reading a pharmaceutical ad interesting, and he was widely regarded as one of the most beloved, approachable teachers.

"Bella," he said, getting up. He removed his glasses and leaned against his table. "How can I help you?"

I held out my card.

"Charlie's birthday," he replied immediately, grinning. "Of course. Any room left for me?"

He squiggled his birthday wishes on the back of the card since the center almost had more ink than white in it before handing the card back to me. He spun his glasses in his fingers.

"And how are you?"

I hopped on the table. "Busy. Tired. Catching up with all the tests and exams I've missed, but I'll have more of a school routine for a few months now before full-time shooting restarts in April. What about you?"

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied. "Same old, same old. Should probably catch up with your parents." Glancing at the doorway, he lowered his voice and hesitated. "Never in my life would I have thought Edward Masen would treat anyone the way he treated you. Smart as a whip, that boy… or so I thought. On his way to a full ride to Emory and this is what he's up to." He paused, eyeing me. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay."

Mr. Needham raised his eyebrows and bit the end of his glasses.

"I'll be okay," I corrected, giving him a bittersweet smile. "But that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." I explained the overall agreement Edward and I had had, and I was glad he was a family friend because explaining even the basics felt a bit awkward, and while he still thought it was a terrible idea from Edward's side (and felt bad for me), he agreed not to continue adding unethical minuses to perfectly beautiful essays.

Two hours later, I was revising for a GSE Geometry test I had to take after school (I wasn't in school on Friday) behind Mrs. Patel's Environmental Science classroom when the very same warm, tall boy who sent my heart into the stratosphere sat on the floor next to me, casually, like he did it all the time. His scent distracted me as he folded his knees, his elbow brushing mine, but I was determined to seem unaffected by his presence even if his touch wrapped a painful vice around my chest.

"Spheres," he said, nudging me. "The easy stuff. Want me to quiz you on the formulas?"

I did, I'd agreed with Kate that she'd quiz me on the next break, but I didn't want Edward to know how stupid I was compared to him. A guy who got bored in AP Physics 2 wasn't going to understand that math didn't come easy to me, and I was too embarrassed to admit I sucked at it.

"That's okay," I replied.

Edward's new navy-and-white hoodie accentuated his wide shoulders, but I didn't like evidence of him trying to impress Lauren and found myself missing the ragged edges of his old ones. He had a skin-colored, band-aid looking cover on two of his right hand fingers, and his permanently stained fingers were intertwined. He was so unexpectedly close to me, casually, as if we'd been friends forever, and I didn't know how to handle the sharp longing twist in my stomach when his eyes locked with mine. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that I felt this simmering energy in his green eyes, his warm touch, the slightly amused curve of his lips, and he didn't feel any of it.

"I spoke to Blaise—Mr. Needham," I said, reminding myself not to ogle at Edward's face for too long. "That minus didn't actually go in the record, I think he was just… making his point. He agreed not to do it again."

"Thank you." Edward stifled a smile. "I feel like half the school is ready to burn me on a stake on your behalf, not that I blame them." He paused, tilting his head up as we both observed the passing students. Leaning towards me, he whispered, "The other half is apparently amazed that we're on speaking terms."

It was true. Nearly every student passing us either gaped or pretended not to see us, and I grinned back at Edward. I felt like we shared a secret, even if he didn't quite know the truth of my side of the story.

Kate, Jane and Skylar returned from the bathroom and headed straight for me before they realized Edward had sat in their place. Their jaws dropped, but they recovered just in time to give him a hesitant smile. He returned their smile but the moment he'd turned his attention back to me was when all three of my friends made animated 'WTF' gestures. I stifled a smile, shaking my head a little, and Edward's eyes lingered on my face but he didn't say anything.

Like many others, my friends pretended not to pay attention to us as they walked by.

"I'm hearing there's a mysterious card going around," Edward said, his low voice squeezing my insides. He nudged me. "I don't get to contribute?"

"I didn't know you wanted to," I replied. "But mostly I wasn't sure if Lauren would beat me to a pulp if she saw me being friendly with you."

I felt hot all over when his gaze stopped on my lips. "She's in Marketing Principles."

Thankfully, Mr. Chatman's classroom was two whole floors and courtyard away from us.

"So?" Edward asked.

"So what?"

"Am I to be the only person in our school who doesn't get to wish your dad happy birthday?"

"Oh, right." I laughed, unzipping my backpack and handing him the card. "It's pretty full, though."

Edward flicked his index finger against the back of it. "Plenty of room."

He began to get up, but I took hold of his elbow. "Where're you going?"

"Chemistry," he explained. "Well, IB Chemistry SL. I'll have time there. I'll bring it back to you after the class, promise."

Oh, sure. Yeah, totally. Only college prep STEM stuff, easy-peasy. I'd also paint my fingernails if I had college prep chemistry, definitely.

I struggled with what to tell my friends as they questioned me about Edward's casual presence next to me. What did he want? Did I like him? Why did I still speak to him? I didn't think we were quite friends but he kept popping up in places, and Lauren would've probably peed all over Edward if she knew that we were on friendly terms.

Edward was leaning against the wall a few feet from the door as I exited the classroom, and my friends turned around and walked backwards as they mouthed their 'WTF' at me. I ignored them. I hadn't set out to be around Edward quite so often, but I'd have been lying if I said I didn't enjoy the masochistic way my ribcage felt too small for my heart around him.

"Here," Edward said, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry I smudged it."

His knuckles glinted blue as he held out the card to me.

"No way." I held out my own left hand with a silvery shine from my pencil.

"A fellow leftie," Edward grinned. "Who'da thought?"

"A fellow devil," I replied, feeling all aflutter at his attention. "If my granny had her way I'd have grown up being forced to use the right."

"In this day and age?"

"She's from Vietnam," I explained. "My mere existence is a nuisance for her given how I came out of the womb all cinnamon and not kosher salt."

My heart grew wings when his eyes glinted with amusement.

"I have… so many questions."

"You know where to find me," I replied, desperate to stay and talk with him forever but knowing I did have to review for my math test (I also didn't want Lauren to murder me). "The smudging is totally my fault, though. I have the perfect pen for this but forgot to give it to you. Doesn't matter, anyway, it's only—"

Good God, he had covered the last page in crabbed but legible handwriting, from the top left to the bottom right, politely writing around the two other birthday wishes on the back page.

"You know I'm not grading you for this, right?"

Edward laughed.

"Are these your IB chemistry notes?" I asked, starting to read his words, but they weren't. Edward crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"No," he replied quietly. "My gran-gran wrote a daily journal ever since she was a nurse stationed in… well, Vietnam. Hundreds of notebooks, all labelled in chronological order, so I… I remembered how you said you'd lived in Sunrise Forest up until three years ago. I was curious if she'd mentioned you, and found a few entries where I think she wrote a few stories about you and your parents. I didn't quite mean to take over the entire page—"

I threw myself at him and hugged him with all my might. He smelled good enough to eat, all new hoodie and Edward, and I nearly died when he relaxed into my hug before I rushed to pull away. My heart felt so full. He towered over me, looking not quite as intimidating now that I knew what a sweetheart he could be. I wished I could've ran my fingers over his buzz cut and felt the tingle of his hair on my skin. I wished I could've touched his barbell and asked him about it before inhaling him in and pressing my lips against his.

I wished he would've wanted me the way he wanted Lauren.

"You're the sweetest."

My heartbeat echoed in my ears when he licked his lips and observed me under his beautiful long eyelashes.

"Don't tell anyone," he whispered, leaning just a bit closer. "I have a reputation to uphold."

"Don't worry, I bet half of the people passing us think you're cheating on Lauren, now."

His eyes glinted with excitement. "You think she'll be jealous?"

Pieces of my heart shriveled up somewhere between his feet.

"Probably," I answered, keeping my voice casual and friendly. "Go, go. Go before my murder is premeditated."

Edward laughed.

"I'll catch you later, okay?" he said, brushing past me, kicking up dust from the shriveled up pieces of my heart as he walked away.

…

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your comments. I love them.