“Me too.” Aubrey puts her arms around both of us,and we all hug.
The first bell rings, letting us know we have ten minutes before class starts. “Dang it. We still have five more lockers to do,” Leah says. “I’ll go get hall passes from the office and catch up to you.”
“Okay,” Aubrey and I say together. The two of us go back to decorating lockers.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut,” Aubrey says.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you told me about the fan club websites. At least I will understand and be prepared for the stares and whispers.” I pull at my cheer skirt for the tenth time. I’m wearing hotpants underneath, but I still feel naked. I wear short shorts all the time, but my cheer skirt is so breezy.
“The skirt takes a while to get used to.” Aubrey gives me a sympathetic smile.
“Thanks for saying that.”
The five-minute bell rings. “Shoot. My first period class is Spanish Two. Even with a pass, Mrs. Meyer makes anyone late say some absurd phrase, all in Spanish.”
“Go to class; I’ll finish.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, my first class is AP English. We’re startingWuthering Heightstoday, and I’ve already read it. Go, I’ve got this. There are only two more lockers.”
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you at lunch.” Aubrey hands me the list and takes off for class.
I read the next name on the list. It’s Beckett’s. The one we did before his was Dave Coombs. My locker is only one over from Beckett’s. I don’t even have to guess whose locker is next to mine, but I turn the paper over and look. Sure enough, Ford’s locker is in between Beckett’s locker and mine. Whatever. I guess I could try to change it, but a locker in B hall really is the best, so I will deal with it. For now. I knew it was Ford who made Jack get me a locker. I just didn’t think mine would be next to his.
I finish Beckett’s locker and move on to Ford’s. After I finish putting on his decorations, I glance at his combination lock. It looks like the same one he’s used for the last three years. I look around the hall, but it’s empty. I spin it, try the numbers 3, 23, and 18, and then pull it, and it pops open. You’d think he would have gotten a new combination after I filled his locker with tampons sophomore year. He has it all decked out. On the door is a mirror, one of his sports letters, and two pictures. The first picture is of all his friends from his kayaking trip over the summer. I gasp when I see the second. It’s of the two of us, on the day I almost got caught buying beer by Beth, and I forced him to get a pedicure with me. That was the first week of summer. I laugh, remembering the pained look on Ford’s face as the technician scrubbed his feet.
I reach into my backpack and pull out the little kissy face Mickey. I was going to slip it into his bag sometime today, but this is better. I set him on top of one of Ford’s books, so I’m sure he’ll see it the next time he opens his locker. The tardy bell rang a couple of minutes ago, so I hurriedly open my locker, put a couple things away, so my backpack isn’t so heavy, and put up a couple of my own pictures. A picture of my family from last weekend that we took on the boat with a selfie-stick, and another of Ford and Jack surfing with Scotty and Hank on their backs. I love the smiles on the little boy’s faces. It’s pure joy. I need a little of that this year.
“All done?” Leah asks, walking up to me.
“Yeah, just finished.”
“You snagged a locker in B hall? Lucky you.”
“Thanks.”
She taps a knuckle against Ford’s decorated locker.
“Yeah, I know.” I roll my eyes.
“Here’s your pass. Where’s Aubrey?”
“She has Spanish first hour and didn’t want to be late.”
“Oh yeah, Mrs. Meyer can be brutal to kids who are tardy. I better go too. I have government. Yuck. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Sounds good.” I take my time going to class. When I open the door, Mrs. Hammond is already talking aboutWuthering Heights. I walk up to the front, handing her my hall pass.
She gives me the evil eye from behind her reading glasses, along with a disapproving tisk. She points to the back left corner. “Your seat is there, Miss Clark. The second to last seat in the first row. In front of Mr. Cross.”
As I walk to my seat, Ford smiles and winks at me. I ignore him sitting down. “Welcome to senior year, Clark,” he leans in, whispering. When Mrs. Hammond turns her back to write on the chalkboard, Ford tosses me a note. It’s going to be a long year with him, but then this is the one thing I’ve been able to count on these past four years. Ford sitting next to me being a pain in my side. I open the note. It has four words scrawled across it.
Wanna make a bet?
1.The Wager
Wanna make a bet?I almost laugh out loud at his note. I glance back at Ford. He gives me a crooked smile and winks. It sends a little jolt through me, and I smile back. Does he have any idea how those four words have changed my life? I’m a completely different person because of that bet, because of Ford. If I’d never made that bet, I’d still be a lonely, unhappy girl wishing high school was over and hoping college would be better. I wouldn’t be a cheerleader. I wouldn’t be dancing again. I wouldn’t be trying to live my best life right now. I’d just be waiting for the next phase, hoping for it to be better than my current predicament. I owe Ford for showing me how to live a better life and be happier now.
