Page 52 of Snowballed

I feel a little sad. Martin is a nice guy, and we have things in common. I could have liked him if Noah weren’t already taking up all the attraction molecules in my body. However, Martin is a bird in the hand and Noah is an eagle soaring way beyond my reach.

“You’re taking too long to answer. Are you attracted to him?” Rocky makes the O-sign and raises her eyebrows.

I shake my head. “It’s a shame.”

“I don’t think so. You don’t aim high enough. Having a boyfriend that you’re attracted to is the minimum.”

“What shall we bid on?” I ask to change the subject. No need to explore my dating insecurities right now.

“There are some nice gift baskets, but we should do it strategically. We’d have more luck bidding on things other people don’t want,” Rocky says. All my teammates are so competitive, we want to win everything—even undesirable things.

Helen, being the no-fun police, won’t let both Rocky and me go around and look at the same time.

“Someone needs to guard your boxes,” she says.

Rocky and I snort because that sounds dirty, and Helen tells us to grow up.

“Nobody’s going to steal tickets,” Rocky points out. “They can’t win without the other half.”

“You never know,” says Helen. That’s her standard argument when she knows she’s wrong but won’t admit it.

So I go alone and deposit our tickets in various unappealing prize packages. Rocky and I will split the winnings if our ticket gets drawn.

I get a couple of waters and head back. The crowd around Noah has not diminished at all.

“Finally,” Rocky says as I hand her a water.

“Oh sorry. Did you need to go to the washroom?”

“No.” She comes close to me and whispers in my ear. “Guess what happened while you were gone?”

“Helen put 100 tickets in Noah’s box.”

“Close,” Rocky says. “Noah put tickets in your box!”

“What? Really?” I look over at him, but he’s completely oblivious to me.

“He did it very stealthily. He thought nobody could see him, but I saw him in the window reflection.” Rocky is proud of her spying abilities.

“Are you sure? Why would he do that?” Because if he wants a date with me, all he needs to do is ask.

“Don’t play dumb. It’s obvious. He wants to go out with you.Andhe doesn’t want Martin taking you out.”

A warmth comes over me, and I can’t stop smiling. Noah wasn’t ignoring me all week. Either he’s shy (can this be possible?) or he was worried about Bobby. Our kiss meant something to him too. Now I can’t wait for this night to be over.

“When are the draw results, Helen?” I ask as things are finally winding down. We have a game tomorrow, and I’m playing, so I don’t want to stay out too late.

“I’ve done all the draws, but I’m going to go over them and double check everything. Results will be posted online.”

“When?” I ask with my fingers crossed.Please be Noah, please be Noah, please be Noah.

“When I’m done,” she says in the most Helen-y way.

Noah moseys over. “Are we going soon, Zee?”

“Sure. Unless you, um, need to check to see if you won anything,” I hint. While Helen would never tell me anything, I’m certain she’d give state secrets up for Noah.

He’s nonchalant. “Helen’s posting everything later, isn’t she?” “

---