It's My Life - Stacie Ramey Page 0,29

you,” I manage to say, because it’s one of our things.

Ben tilts his head a tiny bit. “Let me have a look at your handsome escort.”

Julian puts his hand on his over his heart.

And I melt again.

Julian leans his body against the arms of my wheelchair. “What are we missing?”

Those two letters light a fire in me. He said we, as is the two of us, as in how couples refer to each other. We. We. We. Wheeeee.

Ben smiles at me—a little too obvious for my taste—and that makes me want to beat him silent. Is he kidding me? He dips a fry in ketchup. “So,” Ben says as he turns back to his crowd. “We need to get planning…”

I tune him out because this is his way of giving Julian and me space.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say.

“No problem. I can take you to your next class if you need.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.” The words are out before I can stop myself.

“You sure?”

I can imagine Jennifer cringing at how inept I am at this flirting thing, but in for a dime, in for a dollar. “Going to ditch this chair after lunch. Don’t need it.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.” He salutes Ben and takes off.

When he leaves, Ben says, “Well, that was smooth.”

“I know, I know. I am a complete idiot.” Julian’s trajectory to his table is intercepted by Tori, and I try not to watch her flirt with him, but it’s like the universe wants me to have a front-row seat. “Perfect. Just perfect.”

“Look at it this way, you’ve got the whole ‘playing hard to get’ thing totally down.”

Julian ducks away to join his hockey friends, but it’s pointless to get too excited about that. If it’s not Tori, then it’ll be somebody else. Someone who knows a thing or two about how to do the dating thing. Someone who doesn’t fumble over her thoughts. Who doesn’t mess everything up.

I nod and force my attention back to Ben and his friends and pretend as best as I can that I am not still feeling the sting from my stupid fantasies.

But the thing is, I remember.

I remember when we were little. When he hung out at our house. That time in first grade when the kids on the playground were playing who would you marry, and Julian didn’t hesitate. He shined his smile my way. “Jenna,” he said.

“Why her?” Elana Whaley pouted.

“Because she’s not afraid of anything.” He smiled at me, and I smiled back. I was pretty fierce back then; it’s true.

Lucy, one of the queen bee girls in my class, told him, “You’ll have to give her something. Or it doesn’t count.”

I thought that would end it right there, but with one hand he undid his prized Batman watch. He’d gotten it for his birthday and was never without it. He would never let anyone else touch it, much less hold it, but he took it right off and handed it over to me. My palm was stretched out, shaking a little. Even back then, he made me feel so important.

“A Batman watch? That’s so stupid!” Lucy declared.

I closed my hand around it, a simple movement for most people, but hard for me to pull off sometimes, without clamping down too hard. “I think it’s cool.”

Julian’s smile spread across his face and even filled his eyes. Then a couple of boys raced by with a kickball, and Julian ran off with them. He turned back and called, “Hold on to that for me, Jenna.”

“He’s kind of cute,” Lucy said.

But I didn’t need her approval. I already knew.

* * *

4:05 P.M.

Favorite Disney princess?

Who says I even like Disney princesses?

Please. Everyone does.

You do?

Of course. Mulan. She’s badass.

I’m not sure I buy that.

Buy what?

The Mulan thing. Guys say they want a badass, but when you were little, tell me you weren’t all swoony for Cinderella.

Ok. Guilty. I have two favorites. Mulan and Cinderella. Buuut the new version of Cinderella who doesn’t need the prince to save her.

So the Into the Woods Cinderella. Cool.

Don’t know her, but if you say so.

So you’re saying you don’t have a favorite?

Truth.

Ok. Belle.

I knew it!

Because of the books. And because she’s French.

Oh sure. Sure.

Would it interest you at all to know I am like the Beast? At least on the ice!

The Beast is really the prince. So…

The prince who gets the girl and scores all the goals.

Funny, I don’t remember scoring goals in any of the versions I’ve read.

You have to read between the lines. It’s