Page 55 of To Love or to Lose
“You don’t have any possibilities in mind?”
“No, El, I don’t.” I start to copy notes again, glancing between the board and my paper. “I’ve only talked to her once, and you were present.”
“Well, you need to find out what she wants, Gen,” Eloise urges. I can’t quite figure out why she wants to know about Briar so badly.
“That’s the plan, El.”
When Winnie, Eloise, and I walk into sculpture, I see Briar.
She’s working on one of the pottery wheels in the back corner of the room, leaning over the mound of clay, attempting to center it as the wheel spins quickly. Her arms are anchored on both of her knees, and the wheel is spinning in the opposite direction than how Eloise uses it.
I look at Eloise, nodding toward Briar. “Did you know she was left-handed?”
“Everyone knows she’s left-handed,” Winnie answers.
“How?” I look toward Briar again, as if this time there will be a ‘LEFT-HANDED’ tattoo on her forehead.
“She’s the number one left-handed girl’s lacrosse player in thecountryright now!” Eloise snaps. “Gosh, Gen, how do you not know this stuff?”
Eloise has always been up to date with all the school’s sports, so I’m not shocked she knows this information, but it’s odd that she expects me to know it as well. I keep up to date with school events per my Student Body President requirements, but beyond that, I have no interest.
If I were into school sports, people would fear me because they’d realize how competitive I am—not that most of our class doesn’t already know.
Winnie gives me a wide-eyed expression but turns away from Eloise and I to keep herself from laughing. In turn, I do too.
“I’m going to go talk to her,” I tell the girls, running my hands down the sides of my skirt and preparing myself to enter the corner of the classroom where every square-inch is covered in clay.
“I’ll come with you,” Eloise says. Winnie heads over to Logan and Jameson’s table.
“Hey, Briar,” I say, as I approach the wheel she’s working on. “I heard you wanted to talk to me?”
Briar has already gotten the clay centered, and is spinning the wheel slower than before, attempting to raise the walls of the cylinder. It looks like she’s trying to build a vase. She looks up from her project, not stopping the wheel from spinning; her hands continue moving up and down the vase, smoothing out any imperfections.
“Oh, hey Gen.” She smiles. “Yeah, I was looking for you this morning but couldn’t find you.”
“I’m usually in the back of the library, on the second floor,” I tell her. Usually, I don’t tell anyone this because I like peace and quiet in the mornings.
“Ah,” Briar says, almost in realization. “I only looked on the first floor.” She picks up a tool from the crate next to her wheel, running it over the clay to make small grooves.
“So, what do you need to talk to me about?” I cut to the chase.
She lifts her head again, this time her hair falls in her face. “Shit,” she mutters, her hair almost falling in the spinning clay. I can tell that Eloise locks eyes with hers from behind me. “Could you?”
Eloise steps forward, not saying anything while she grabs a piece of Briar’s long, chestnut colored hair and gathers it together with the rest of her hair that’s splayed over her back.
“Do you have a hair tie?” Eloise asks her.
Briar looks at her wrists, both of which are covered in clay, and then shakes her head.
“Here.” I pull the hair tie that’s around my wrist off and pass it over to Eloise.
Briar gives me a grateful look before sitting up straighter when Eloise puts the hair tie between her teeth and gathers Briar’s hair into a ponytail and wraps the hair tie around a few times.
“Sorry,” Briar says to me once Eloise takes a step back, apologizing for getting distracted. “I was looking for you because I have a kind of embarrassing favor to ask of you.”
“Okay.” All I’m thinking is,why me?“What kind of favor?”
She looks at me for a second and then glances at Eloise. Her cheeks flush as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. I notice the signs of her apprehension immediately, and I also notice how her eyes train on Eloise.
