all she’s left wearing is a long black tank top, which still looks amazing with her outfit.
“Here,” she says, handing me her sweater.
“Lex…” I start to protest but she shoves the sweater in my hand.
“Take it.”
I slide the fabric over my head and I feel beautiful. The sweater was oversized on her short frame but on me its just right and it hugs my body in just the right way. She hands me her oversized white hoop earrings, and they’re the perfect final touch.
I feel a lot better. And it’s not just because I look amazing, either. It’s because I have a best friend who would skip class just to sit in the bathroom with me and do my makeup and talk to me after I had a really horrible day. Suddenly I feel like I might start crying.
“Oh no!” Alexa cries. “What’s wrong now? You look gorg!”
“No nothing.” I turn to look at her. “I’m just really glad you’re my best friend.”
Alexa smiles, shakes her head, then rolls her eyes. “We can totally have a Disney channel moment later, okay? I promise. But right now let’s go find the guy of your dreams.”
I smile, and let her pull me into the hallway.
“Now all we have to do is figure out where he is,” I say.
Me and Alexa both stop turn to each other. “Karli,” we say at the same time.
“I’ll text her,” Alexa announces, pulling out her phone. “One new text, yay!” Alexa says as she unlocks her phone. “Ugh, its from Shannon Fuller. She’s still chasing me around about that sweater I borrowed at the beginning of summer.
I mean it was so last season, and how was I to know I wasn’t supposed to put it in the dryer, I mean really...” but then she stops in mid sentence and the look on her face is one filled with worry and anxiety.
“What?” I ask her, trying to get closer to her screen so I can see what it says. “What does it say?”
Alexa hits the power button on her phone and the screen goes black. “It says ‘get to the café now, your sister’s in trouble.’”
Me and Alexa stare at each other for a second and then both take off running down the hall towards the cafeteria.
******************
Alexa swings the doors of the cafeteria open and I practically trip over her heels, I’m so close behind her. The door slams shut after us and I scan the room for any sign of Karli. At first I think Shannon must have made a mistake because everything appears to be normal, everyone’s laughing and eating, and I don’t see Karli anywhere. Then Alexa grabs my arm and points down to the very other end of the caf, and I see it. Karli and Melissa standing face to face and whatever words they’re exchanging do not seem to be pleasant.
Me and Alexa rush to Karli’s side. “Um, whats going on?” Alexa asks in a calm voice, a voice that even to me sounds like a voice of reason.
“She keeps throwing stuff at me,” Karli says. “So I came over to tell her to knock off her shit.”
I look to the table next to where we’re standing and notice that it’s all Melissa’s friends. A few seats down I can see Austin out of the corner of my eye.
His presence is enough to send butterflies shooting through my stomach. Suddenly I start to feel nervous, not only because Austin’s here, but because this isn’t even my lunch period, and the last thing I need is my parents getting a phone call saying I’ve been in the principal’s office twice in one day.
“And I was just saying,” Melissa’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts and back to reality, “that I didn’t throw anything at her, so maybe she should stop ACCUSING people of things that aren’t true.” She’s talking loudly and people are starting to look at us now.
Alexa sighs. “Come on Karli, let’s just go sit down.”
“No!” Karli says. “I KNOW it was her. AND I want to HIT her!”
The caf’s getting quiet, and I can see people stretching their necks a little to see what’s going on. I can’t help but wonder where the teachers are that are
Wayne Thomas Batson, Christopher Hopper