Take Me There (25 page)

I’m trying to think of what to write next when a note flies over my desk. The note was apparently supposed to land on my desk, but Tatyana spazzed and now it’s on Jackson’s desk.

Fabulous.

Tatyana is trying not to laugh, but it isn’t exactly working for her. She’s hysterical, smooshing her hands over her face and hoping Ms. Portman won’t see. Meanwhile, I’m giving her a look like,
How hard is it to aim a note at the right desk?

I glance over at Jackson, waiting for him to toss me back the note. But that’s not what happens. What happens is that Jackson unfolds the note.

What a dick!

He sees Tatyana having a conniption. I can imagine what’s going through his head. He’s thinking she’s laughing at him and, therefore, the note is all about him. Jackson has been picked on for being a geek for as long as I can remember. He’s used to this kind of treatment by now. I don’t even know what the note says. But I’m pretty sure it’s about the sidewalk-chalk thing, since Tatyana got interrupted when she was trying to say something else about it. Which means that in about three seconds, Jackson will know I did it.

Not that people didn’t figure it out. But as long as it’s just a rumor, I can’t get in trouble for graffiti. If the note’s about that, it means there’s hard evidence on paper that I did it and Jackson could get me in trouble.

“Here,” I whisper to him. I hold out my hand.

No chance. He’s reading it.

Tatyana notices what’s going on. That shuts her up. Her eyes get huge.

Jackson shoves the note into his binder and goes back to work.

I hiss, “Give it back!”

But he totally ignores me.

I rip off a corner of the next page in my notebook and write:

I pass the note to Tatyana. Then I try to get Jackson’s attention. He ignores me.

Tatyana passes the note back. Now it says:

I write:

She writes:

I write:

My nerves are twanging to the extreme. I jump when the bell rings.

“Hand in your papers on the way out!” Ms. Portman yells over the noise of everyone suddenly talking. Mine is, naturally, still incomplete.

“But why would Jackson do that?” Nicole says.

“I wish I knew.”

“God.” She slams her locker shut. “What is his
damage
?”

We just can’t figure out why Jackson kept that note. Why would he want to get me in trouble? I try to think if I’ve ever been mean to him. I can’t think of anything.

“Anyway,” Nicole says. “I’m sure he’s just being his usual weird self. No worries.”

“I hope so.” I really wish this were the only crisis I had to worry about. Because the humiliation from yesterday has seeped into my skin so deep I can barely feel anything else.

Nicole knows. She’s like, “Forget Steve. He’s so beneath you I can’t even with it.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s going to be kicking himself that he let you go. Seriously. He’ll be walking down the hall one day and see you go by, and he’ll have to take his big stupid head and bang it into the wall, he’ll be hating himself so much.”

Everybody’s been telling me to forget Steve. How he’s totally lacking and a bonehead and not worth my time. And how it’s not me, it’s him. But, clearly, it was me. Because he dumped me. And he picked
her.
The spontaneous and exciting girl. The gorgeous and perfect girl.

I can’t believe I was such an idiot. Here I was thinking it was all about Steve going away next year, when the whole time he just didn’t love me the way I thought he did.

My brain won’t stop playing a continuous loop over and over of 1.) Steve and Gloria making out in his room with John Mayer playing and 2.) the whole school laughing at me for writing that sidewalk-chalk message and 3.) every single sweet thing Steve ever did for me, all condensed into one humungous lie.

“Do you think my nose is too big?” I ask.

“What?”

“My nose? Would you get a nose job if you were me?”

“Where is this coming from?”

“Maybe I’m not pretty enough.”

“Oh, yeah! I’m sure he broke up with you because of your nose. Which, by the way, is perfect.”

“Maybe if I—”

“Look,” Nicole interrupts. “You could be Marion and he wouldn’t care. No one is good enough for him right now.”

“Except Gloria.”

“No, she’s just some skanky ho-bag who he’s gonna be over yesterday.” She switches her bag from one shoulder to the other.

“I am so over these boys. Who do they think they are? It’s ridiculous what they get away with.”

“Seriously.” I can’t wait to get home and take a nap. “Let’s go.”

“We’re not leaving yet.”

“Why?”

“We have a surprise for you.”

“Really?”

“Um-hmm.”

“Hey,” James says, walking up to us. Danny’s with him.

It must be really hard for Nicole, knowing Danny still likes her. Or maybe he even still loves her. I could never be just friends with someone I loved. We’d be hanging out and I’d want to kiss him and then what? But I guess Danny thought having part of something was better than having nothing at all.

“Hey, Nicole,” Danny says.

“Hey, Danny,” Nicole says.

Then there’s this look between them. Nicole smiles a little at Danny. He smiles back.

“You guys ready?” James asks us.

Danny’s cell rings. He flips it open and goes, “Talk to me.”

“Okay,” I say. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“Not here,” James says. “Let’s go to Westville.”

The four of us only go to Westville when something big is about to transpire. This is because Westville has the best hot dogs and fries anywhere. Which is the all-time best combination of comfort food to reduce stress. They even have these awesome veggie dogs for Danny.

“Wait,” I say after they tell me about this note they found and their plan for how to use it. “We’re supposed to meet back at school for this tonight?”

“Yeah,” Nicole goes.

“How are we supposed to get in?”

“Aha!” Danny pulls his keys out and jangles them around. “Remember when the secretary gave me a key to come in on Saturdays? When I was doing that yearbook stuff?”

“Yeah?”

“Guess who still has the key?”

“She never asked for it back?” Nicole says. “That’s so classic.”

It really is. All the secretaries love Danny. To the point of giving him a key to the school and trusting him so much they forgot he even has it.

“So we’re in,” Danny reports.

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea, you guys,” I say.

“What are you talking about?” Nicole says. “It’s totally brill.”

“No, it is. And I appreciate it and everything, but—”

“If you’re worried about getting caught, don’t,” James goes. “Because we won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“We thought of everything. There’s a volleyball game tonight, but by seven everyone will be out of there. If we show up at seven thirty, no one will be around.”

“Even the teachers with no lives who stay late,” Danny adds.

“It’s not just that,” I go. “Isn’t this unfair to Jackson?” The plan is all about Gloria getting back the same kind of energy she’s been putting out, which is cool. Especially since I couldn’t think of anything good and here it is, all planned out for me. But it also involves Jackson. And not in a good way.

“He might see it differently,” Nicole says.

“Like how?”

“Well . . . it’s not like he was the one who wrote the note.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t deserve this. And wouldn’t it just make him mad? Then he’ll totally want to get me in trouble.”

“But he wouldn’t know you had anything to do with this,” James explains. “If he’s going to turn you in, it’ll happen regardless.”

“He doesn’t have anything on you anyway,” Danny says. “It’s not like that note had your name on it. Anyone could have written it, right?”