“Oh, right!” Val exclaimed, then winked. “Well, I’m really glad you’ve met.”
“Thanks,” he said drily. “Keep an eye out for our ‘Save the Date.’”
Nobody said anything. Val was once again wrapped up her boyfriend, not caring to comprehend the joke. I squeezed Luke’s hand, and it stayed silent until Charlie blurted: “Can I talk to you for a second?”
I nodded, but then noticed he was looking at Luke, not me.
Luke disentangled our fingers. “Sure.”
They walked across the lobby and stopped beside a giant cardboard cutout of Chris Hemsworth. Val asked if I was auditioning for Bexley’s Winter Dance Expo, but I wasn’t really paying attention, trying to send Charlie a mental hug from afar. He was doing the talking, but while staring at the floor. Luke was no wealth of information either, since his own expression was completely neutral as he looked at Charlie.Homecoming, I guessed again.Something happened at homecoming.
“It’ll be great,” Val said. “Emma’s got some cool choreographyideas, and I’m trying to talk Charlie into auditioning, but might need your help…”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” I replied as I saw Luke nod, and then he and Charlie were heading back over to us.
“Ready to go?” Luke asked me.
I nodded.
“What do you guys have planned for the rest of the night?” Val wondered. It was only 10:00 p.m., so we had plenty of time before our midnight curfew.
“We’re seeing another movie in ten minutes,” I lied.
“Yup,” Luke said. “And we should probably go if we wantback-rowseats.”
Val didn’t catch the jab. “Have fun!” she chirped, tugging Charlie’s arm. “Come on, Charlie…”
He gave us only the briefest of glances before following his girlfriend toward the exit.
“What did he say to you?” I asked Luke as we waited for Main Street’s traffic light to change so we could cross the street.
We’d hung out at the movies for a while after Charlie and Val left to avoid walking back to campus with them. I wanted to ask as soon as they were gone, but some hockey guys had spotted us. Paddy asked Luke how he’d done on their last AP Chem test. “Eh, okay.” He shrugged, and Paddy nodded understandingly.
“Yeah, I shit the bed too,” he said. “And apparently some asshole in our class aced it, so the curve’s all fucked up.”
Luke’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Yeah, that sucks…”
“Nothing very interesting,” he responded now. “He just wanted to brag about banging Val in the bathroom.”
“Be serious.”
“I am,” he said, smirk visible in the streetlight’s glow.
I rolled my eyes. “No, you’re not.”
“Okay, maybe he didn’t say that,” he caved. “But youknowthat’s what happened.”
The light finally changed and we crossed the street. “Well, what did heactuallysay?”
“Honestly, nothing. He mumbled an apology for this text he accidentally sent me the other day. That’s all.”
My spine straightened. “What’d it say?”
“I miss you,” Luke cleared his throat. “He said it was meant for Val.”
I let out a deep breath. “Do you believe that?”
“Yeah, totally,” he answered, nodding emphatically. “The spellings of ‘Morrissey’ and ‘Val’ are so similar. It’s an easy mistake to make.”
