How was I supposed to help him now?
Chapter Eight
Ispent exactly thirteen minutes in the parking lot agonizing over whether or not I should meet Jett at his locker. I kept replaying his offer in my mind.Come to my locker tomorrow morning and we’ll give Tasha a show of her own.
A burst of warm bubbles rushed through me each time I considered it. I made up two pretty good reasons for wanting to take him up on the offer:
1. I’d like to prove to myself that I could move on from TJ.
2. I’d get a certain satisfaction out of making Tasha jealous. Obviously she wasn’t over Jett if she had to kiss TJ like that right in front of his face.
But inwardly, I knew exactly why I wanted to fling open the entry to the east hall, stride over to Jett’s locker, and let him plant a heavenly kiss on me. It was the same reason I’d chased him down in kindergarten. The same reason I’d beat myself up over passing on my chance to kiss him in junior high. I liked Jett Bryant.
So what was my problem? This should be perfect. I was finally getting what I wanted.
But I wasn’t so sure that I was.
First of all, I had a bunch of guilt surrounding the thing with TJ. I know he was the one who kissed someone else while we were dating, but I’d beenthinkingabout kissing Jett a whole lot over the last few days. If I strode right up to Jett’s locker and locked lips with him now, I’d feel like a complete jerk. I should at least pause and have some sort of…grieving period, right?
Plus, as much as I wanted to kiss Jett, and Ireally, reallywanted to kiss him, I needed him to want me too. If we were doing it for the sake of making Tasha and TJ jealous, Jett would be thinking ofherinstead of me. I hated that idea.
So that was final. I opted right out of that plan and walked into the school through the front entry instead, which I never do. I hoisted my backpack higher onto my shoulder and pushed my way through the swarm of band boys as they hummed out their notes in the foyer. I’d barely made it another two steps when Ms. Tolken grabbed onto my shoulder.
“Harper,” she said, sounding oddly cheery. “Mr. Meadows wants you to head to the theater room to work on posters during first period. I’ll mark you down as excused.”
I nodded, realizing this meant I wouldn’t see Jett. Relief clashed with a swelling tide of disappointment. Man, I really was a hormonal teenager. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
“How’s your assignment coming along?” Ms. Tolken hollered over the growing noise.
I stared at her dark-rimmed glasses and chronically-bunned hair, feeling oddly transparent in the moment, as if the woman had not only hair and clothes from that of an eighty-year-old but the seasoned intuition as well.
“Good,” I squeaked. “Yeah. It’s a…pretty interesting topic.”Shut up, Harper!
A spark of mischief lit the woman’s eyes. “Yes,” she agreed. “It is.”
Huh. I’d suspected that Ms. Tolken purposely handed me that red envelope. Her reaction fed the suspicion. I doubted that she memorized every topic she gave to every set of partners in her classes. But then again, she didn’t seem to have much of a life outside school besides possibly raiding garage sales at the old folk’s home.
The bell rang out as I approached the opening to the east hallway. Jett would be heading to first period about now, like the rest of the school. Hopefully I wouldn’t bump into him. I decided to skip the trip to my own locker and hurry to the theater room. Mr. Meadows wouldn’t care if I brought my backpack.
I weaved through one cluster after the next, hoping to hurry past the intersection of halls without incident, when I spotted a sight that drew my attention like a some sort of magic lure: Jett, of course. He wore a black tee shirt today, the color making him appear all the more that tall, dark, and handsome type girls always fall for.
The thunderous booms in my chest reminded me that I hadn’t actually wanted to bump into him. Especially since it was easy to see that I’d come in from the front of the school instead of the east hall where he’d wanted to hook up this morning.
“Hey,” he mumbled as he passed. He was quick to set his eyes back on the distant hallway ahead of him.
I didn’t bother saying it back since he was already shuffling further down the hall. Besides, I wasn’t even going to class today. Would he think I was avoiding him? Part of me was, but I hadn’t come up with the Sadie’s posters idea. I considered that as I filtered into theater. The low rafters were set up in preparation for the set building, which should be taking place in the next few weeks.
Bailey waved me to the floor where she sat hovered over a large sheet of butcher paper. A couple dozen markers lay scattered about, reminding me of the mess Missy made at home on the daily. I hunkered down, made myself cozy beside Bailey, and went to work. Mr. Meadows had scored a few boxes of donuts, so I snatched up a powdered one with red filling and tried not to moan in ecstasy at the taste.
More students filtered into the room to help. Officers, cheerleaders, that type of thing. Thank heavens Tasha was suspended from the squad; I couldn’t handle the thought of having to see her. Each group filtered into a different area of the large drama room, keeping their distance for the most part. It came to my attention, though, that one group had camped awfully close to us.
I felt my shoulders shrink a bit as I scooted back to create space. I was about to glance up and see who it was when a voice spoke up and answered the question in my head.
“Hey.” The second one-word greeting he’d given that day.
I knew my eyes were wide with surprise as I shot a look at him. “Jett?” Connor and a few other guys from the team sat beside him. “What are you guys doing?”
“He’s captain of the basketball team,” Connor said. “Coach said we had to come help.”
