The Code for Love and Heartbreak - Jillian Cantor Page 0,93
be your friend, and I’ll teach you more about coding before I graduate—if you want.”
She’s still dancing, her red curls cascading down her back, away from her face, so all her features are visible. Her eyes are bright green and catch the revolving lights in the gym, and I’m staring at them, thinking I would deserve it if she hates me forever after the way I yelled at her about George. So it catches me off guard when she swoops in and gives me a hug instead. “I’m so glad we became friends this year, Emma. I’m going to get better at coding next year and make you proud.”
“And I’m glad the app worked for you and that you and George are happy. I really am.” Even as I’m saying it, I’m working extra hard to try and make myself sound convincing. The truth is, even now that coding club is over, I still hate the thought of her and George together. Because I hate the thought of George with anyone. And now that I’ve admitted that to myself, in my own mind, somehow it’s easier not to feel mad at Hannah anymore, because this has nothing to do with her.
“Emma, no, George and I—”
And then I realize George isn’t here with everyone else. “Hey, where is George?” I ask. I really need to apologize to him, too. More than anyone else, George is George, and I don’t want to spend the rest of our senior year not talking to each other.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Hannah says. “I don’t know where he is. George and I talked last night, and we both agreed we don’t want to date. We never really wanted to date. We just want to be friends. We were only going along with the whole dating thing because...well, we both really wanted our app to win. But now the competition is over.” She sounds weirdly relieved.
They don’t want to date? But what about all that stuff she said to me in coding club last week? “But you said he’s such a great guy,” I protest.
“He is a great guy. But we’re not in love with each other.” She shrugs, like it’s really no big deal.
What about what George said to the judges yesterday about his girlfriend? Maybe he feels differently than Hannah? Or was that all just George making stuff up to try really hard to win?
“So, he’s not here?” I look around again, still not able to process what she’s telling me. But I don’t see him nearby, and I can’t imagine who else George would be dancing with, other than coding club. George isn’t here.
“I haven’t seen him,” Hannah says.
“Neither have I,” Jane says, and Sam shakes his head.
“I texted him,” Robert offers. “And he said he needed to stay home to finish a project.”
“A project...?” We don’t have anything due in any of our classes. And George is so...George. It’s not like him to skip out on going to the dance with coding club as planned just because we lost, or even because he’s mad at me.
“I’m going to go out in the hallway and text him,” I shout as the DJ switches the song and something loud with a fast beat shakes the floor again.
I make my way out into the hallway and sit on the bench in front of the trophy case. I think about that last dance in the fall, when I sat here. When George tried to convince me what he heard outside the bathroom with Phillip and his friends, and I refused to listen. And all along, George was doing everything he could to help us win, wasn’t he? Even going along with his match to Hannah, making the judges believe, making me believe.
Haven’t you ever felt something that can’t be quantified? George asked me once. My stomach aches now, and my phone shakes in my hands as I consider what to text him. Is this what George meant?
I type out a few things in a text, then delete them. Then finally settle on: I’m really sorry for everything. Where are you? I’m at the dance and I want to talk to you in person.
Three dots pop up right away, and my heartbeat quickens. He’s not so mad that he’s not going to respond. He’s here, on the other end of my phone.
I’ve been working on fixing our code all day. Download the newest version of the app. And log in as you.