I glance at my open notebook where I scribbledwhat the hellwith a daisy on top in the margin during chemistry.
“Yeah, it’s fine.” I don’t ask her for her notes, because she still hasn’t offered to share.
“You’ll get used to the speed,” she reassures me. “You’re insanely smart, Ji. Don’t you worry about it.”
“I guess.”
“I had no idea you didn’t have a partner for chemistry.” Her tone changes to a curious one. “Was Jamie really your partner?”
The hair on the back of my neck stands.
I clear my throat. “I don’t know.”
“Oh.” I hear a hint of disappointment in her voice. I wonder if the girls asked her to ask me about it.
I run my tongue along my teeth. “So you have a boyfriend?”
She makes a surprised sound. “Yes and no. We just hooked up a few times. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
I chew my tongue. “Why didn’t you?”
She sighs. “You were going through a tough time. How could Itell you about a stupid boy when the worst thing ever happened to you?”
My heart warms. Maybe I was being too harsh.
“I don’t know what to say but thank you.” I pick up my pencil and start drawing another daisy. “And you have a crush on Jamie?”
She laughs. “Not like Nicole.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I hear her shuffling, like she’s adjusting her sitting position. “She’s been hoping he asks her out for ages. Ever since he started at our school, actually. He dated this one girl, Isabella Young, last year. She was a senior, and they broke up when she graduated. Nicole was devastated when they first went out. She really thought she was getting closer to him, you know? But I guess he treats everyone the same enthusiastic way. It was kind of misleading, to be honest.”
I bite my tongue, my pencil digging into the paper.
I want to call her out on this, but I hold my tongue for the sake of peace. I want to remind her of the boy from junior high she told me about who kept talking to her during gym, staying back to help her tidy up when it was her turn. She turned him down when he asked her out, and he got angry, calling her a bitch. She didn’t mislead him. And Jamie didn’t mislead Nicole.
“But after, he kept to himself. Nicole thinks she’ll be able to land him for sure this year. Which brings me to my next question.”
My hand pauses. “Mmm?”
“Nicole was wondering if you’d be okay changing partners with her?” she says hesitantly. “You’d partner with Hayley, then.”
The tension creeps along my shoulders, turning the muscle into stone.
“Wouldn’t that be better for you?” Alexis continues. “You, me, Hayley, and Jenny would have a group chat. We compare all answers and share notes and stuff. You’d be with us. People you know.”
My old computer groans out a notification. There’s a new email inmy inbox. I swivel, clicking on the mouse a few hundred times before the screen lights up.
Subject: Today’s Class Notes
I told you I’d send them.
I’ve also attached the voice memos for the classes, in case you’d like to listen.
Prepare to be sick of me and my daily notes emails.
I noticed the what the hell note you wrote in the margins beside the titanium atomic mass, so I clarified it in my notes.
