Page 102 of A Scandal in Homeroom
“Edward? What are you doing here?”
I looked up, and there she was. Wearing jeans that were frayed, not because she’d bought them that way, but because she’d worn them for so long. The hoodie she was wearing swallowed her, but it probably still wasn’t warm enough, given how the temperature had dropped.
“I came to bring you these,” I said. I picked up the bouquet of flowers I’d bought this afternoon along with Fitz and Locke. I told them I was getting them for my mother as a nice gesture. I think they both knew I was lying.
She was tentative, probably still mad at me from all that bullshit with Sinjun. Such a stupid name. But I didn’t care. She wasn’t going to be the only one of her best friends who didn’t get flowers tonight.
“Why?”
Typical Janie. You couldn’t do anything nice for her without her being totally suspicious.
“Because I was at the florist today with Fitz and Locke. Thought you might like them. That’s all. If you don’t want them…”
“No,” she said quickly. “I mean, I like flowers. Who doesn’t like flowers?”
Tentatively she stepped forward and I walked down the steps of her front porch to hand them to her.
She buried her nose in them and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Reen told me you weren’t going to the dance tonight.”
I shrugged. “Dances aren’t my thing. I hate putting on the whole monkey suit just to stand around while everybody gossips about everyone else in the room. It’s stupid, if you ask me.”
“Yeah, I think so, too. There are so many better things you can be doing with your time.”
“Exactly. Look, I’m sorry about all that shit I was saying about Sinjun.”
Not that I didn’t believe every word of it.
“Okay. I’m not reallyhanging outwith him or anything. Just so you know. I don’t…like him…like that. Not that you care. Or anything. Because there is no reason why you should care.”
“Right. No,” I said quickly. “Of course. Still, I shouldn’t be a jerk all the time about it. I mean, you’re cute and nice and guys are going to want to be around you. Like Sinjun. And I can’t do anything about that…because of my…you know. So, no, I shouldn’t care at all. It’s your life.”
“Exactly,” she said softly, looking down at her flowers. “Still, I’m not with anyone. Right now…uh, thank you for the flowers. I said that already, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did.” I chucked softly. I was making her nervous. I always made her nervous, but it only seemed fair because she always made me nervous, too.
Nervous and happy and content just to be in her orbit.
“I’ll see you at school on Monday?” Stupid question. Janie never missed school.
“Yep. I’ll be there. We can hear all the stories from the stupid dance and pretend like we care, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure it will be a total snooze fest.”
“Goodnight, Edward,” she said, as she passed me to climb the steps to her front porch.
“Night, Janie. Hey…Janie?”
She stopped once she reached the porch and turned around. “Yes?”
“If I didn’t have a girlfriend… I mean, if I did break up with Bee…”
“Yes?”
I looked up at her. Her soft brown hair, her sweet face. Janie wasn’t the girl who turned every guy’s head at school. You had to look harder and longer to see the pretty. But it was there. Right there.
