Girl Crushed - Katie Heaney Page 0,61

packed up and left, and I realized it had actually only been thirteen minutes.

I sighed, and looked around the empty shop.

Jamie peered up at me from her hunchbacked reading position. “Keep reading.”

“It’s boring.”

“It’s due Tuesday. Do you want to be doing this on the weekend?”

She flushed a little when she said it, and I realized she knew about my date (question mark) with Ruby. Ronni must have told Alexis, who would have told Jamie. I felt both panicked and thrilled.

“No,” I agreed. “I don’t.”

We resumed reading, and I took a few note cards off the top of Jamie’s pile to write down the talking points I found in my book. (These were variants on drugs are bad, mainly, but expressed in many more and larger words.) I looked up a few academic studies online and wrote down facts and statistics from there, too. I didn’t really agree with the point I’d be arguing, but the more I looked into it, the more determined I became to argue it well. The next time I checked the time on my phone, an hour and twelve minutes had gone by. The coffee shop was closing in less than twenty minutes. Jamie had headphones on, so I tapped on the page she was reading to get her attention.

“What?”

“It’s almost eight.”

“Really?” Jamie pressed her phone screen—to make sure I wasn’t lying about the time, I guess. “Okay. I’m basically done anyway.”

“Me too.”

“Really?” I gave her a look. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

“Do you think we’ll need to meet again, then?” From the tone of her voice, it was hard to tell whether this was something Jamie wanted, or wanted to avoid.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I can do the rest on my own. But thank you for getting these books.”

“Sure.”

“I’m gonna win, you know,” I said.

Jamie laughed, which was the point. “We’ll see about that.”

We packed up our things and brought our empty glasses to the counter.

“Finally,” said Dee. “I want to go.”

I remembered something. “Oh, hey—Sweets wants to do another show.”

Dee looked from me to Jamie and then back to me. I could see the effort it took for her not to tease me about Ruby. “Do they,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“How’s next Friday?”

“Um. I can ask, but that’s homecoming weekend.”

“Oh yeah,” said Jamie. “Does that…matter?”

Does it matter to you? I thought. I felt myself go sweaty around the collar. I didn’t want to know. “I dunno. I think that cuts into attendance a bit.”

“Just remind me, and I’ll send you the calendar,” said Dee. “Actually, email Gaby too, will you? Pretend you’re asking her first.”

“Okay.”

“How’d you guys do last time?” asked Jamie, and immediately I felt embarrassed for not having asked the same thing.

“Good,” said Dee. “Better than average. It’s just, you know.” She shrugged.

“What?”

“The average is low.”

She looked resigned when she said this, and I wondered just how dire their situation really was. Dee was proud, and she would never ask for help, especially from teenagers. I wished there were something I could do, but I had an empty wallet and no job. I must’ve looked worried, because Dee perked up and laughed it off, like she’d been joking.

“Oh my God, relax,” she said. “Please, get out of here so I can leave.”

“Thanks, Dee,” said Jamie.

“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks.”

Dee waved us out the door, and in the parking lot Jamie surprised me by asking for a ride home.

“You didn’t bike?”

“I got dropped off,” she said. She was trying hard not to smile, and my stomach dropped like the ground had disappeared from under me. So Natalie was the reason for the mascara. It was clear she wanted to be asked for details, but I didn’t want

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