“Sara!”
Joe’s calling her over to his table, where there’s plenty of room for her to join. Rose, Subwayboy, and a few other juniors are sitting around him. I watch Sara’s face light up as she slides into the empty space next to him.
I grip my chopsticks so hard I think they may snap. “That traitor’s gonna have lunch with Subwayboy?”
I don’t realize I’ve said this aloud until, from next to me, Tammy goes, “Who’s Subwayboy?”
“No one,” I mumble.
Even though I’m mad at Sara, I’m not going to make her situation worse by telling Tammy that Subwayboy Oliver is now her calculus tutor. That’s her own drama to share with Tammy if she wants.
Tammy shrugs. “All right.”
I’m surprised Tammy’s even speaking to me right now, considering I almost shared a nonconsensual kiss with her yesterday. Ugh, I really shouldn’t have done that.
“Hey,” I say, and she lifts her eyes to mine. “I’m sorry about trying to kiss you yesterday. That wasn’t cool.”
The corners of her mouth lift into smile. “Thank you for saying that,” she says.
Across from us, Joe’s eyes crinkle as he laughs at something Sara says. I can tell she’s sharing a story by the way she’s waving her hands around, something she does when she’s excited. So now Joe gets all her attention?
“What, are they best friends now or something?” I grumble.
Tammy’s eyes dart from me to Sara as she smooths her napkin in her lap. “I mean, they seem pretty cool?”
Listen, I’m well aware I should be grateful Tammy’s letting me sit with her, but validating Sara and Joe’s friendship? Not. Helping.
“Don’t say that.” I pull my tray closer and shoot her a sidelong look. “Eat your lunch, Tammy. It’s the most important meal of the day.”
Tammy only throws me an inquisitive look. “I thought that was breakfast?”
But I barely hear her.
Sara’s not replacing me.
She’snot.
TWENTY-TWO
Sara
Here’s what’s going on inside my brain: I’m sitting next to Joe,yippee!
And also: But I’m directly across from Subwayboy,whyyyyyyy meeeee!
Rose sits on the other side of Joe and, oddly, Lulu’s at the end of our table. That’s strange. She’s not with her artsy friends today. Lulu is mysterious, though, so who knows why she does anything. She gives me a low nod of acknowledgment, so I toss her a wave.
And then I understand why this very specific group of people are sitting together.
“We were talking about the first Newspaper Club meeting after school,” Joe tells me. “Think you can make it?”
Oliver’s eyes jump to mine as he shovels rice into his mouth. The last thing I want is to spend lunch being scrutinized by him, so I focus on his brother.
“Oh—you’re all in newspaper?”
“Yeah, it’s been a little tough,” Joe admits, then gestures to Rose. “We didn’t get many applications, but we still had enough interest to form this group.”
“I don’t think people wanted to write an extra essay,” Rose adds, sparing a cool glance my way. “So we had to settle with you, Lulu, and these three juniors.”
