Page 85 of Okay, Cupid

And I need to accept that.

I don’t have a love story.

“There you are!” Huy booms when he sees me.

Alice’s eyes shoot toward me, and she smiles too.

“Hey, Jude. Where you been?” she asks.

“I, uh … was sick.”

“Oh!” Alice reaches to grab the neckline of her sweater, stretching it over her nose and mouth. “Are you still sick? I can’t get sick right now. I’m not missing hội chợ.”

“No, I’m fine. It was just a stomach bug,” I tell them both. Huy makes no motion to move as I sit at my desk, which makes for an awkward position. That’s when Alice fully swings around to face the both of us. Huy fishes around in his pocket for a moment before he produces a black Sharpie, handing it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“A Sharpie,” he says. “You can write with it, draw with it, even dye your skin. Though I’d advise against that.”

“Do I even want to know?” I ask.

“No,” Alice answers for him. “You do not.”

“I got my cast.” Huy lifts his arm, pulling back his hoodie sleeve and giving me a full view of the green cast that wraps itself all the way up to just below his elbow. “And you told me you’d sign it.”

“He wouldn’t let another soul touch it,” Alice says.

“Noah tried, but I stopped him.”

“Me?” I stare at the Sharpie again. “Why?”

“I promised you’d be first, Jude.” He seems so genuinely sincere it’s almost heartbreaking.

“Ugh, I’m going to vomit.” Alice digs in her backpack to get her notebook, giving Huy the space to give me his arm. “Won’t you two just get a room already?”

I want to vanish, to disappear.

“Jealousy isn’t cute, Alice,” I reply, not as quickly as I’d like.

“Please just sign the thing,” Alice says. “I’ve been dying to cover his arm in dicks.”

“You know, that’s very immature of you,” Huy says in a voice so oddly straight that I can tell in an instant that he’s messing with her.

“Jude, please hurry.” She clasps her hands together. “I have so many good ideas.”

For some reason, I start thinking too much when I’m putting the pen to his cast. It’s stupid, just sign your name, you don’t have to write anything extra. I write out my name quickly, four simple letters, and hand the Sharpie to Alice.

“Finally!” She puts the ink to his cast, writing out her name in bubbly letters, even adding a heart over the i.

The bell rings and Mrs. Henry calls for everyone to take their seats, but Huy still lingers above me, unmoving.

“Hey,” he whispers at me, “you okay? After … you know, the other day? You left in a hurry.”

“Right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He pauses, biting at the bottom of his lip. “Are you still interested in going to hội chợ tomorrow? I can give you a ride.”

“Oh, I … uh …”