Never Always Sometimes - Adi Alsaid Page 0,63

bad.

“Just. You know. Take a guess. When their faces are about to touch

would be a good time.” She looked around for Brett. “Did you get a

confetti shooter?”

“Get the fuck out of here.”

“I’m kidding. You have the rose petals?”

“Right here.” He pointed at two buckets on either side of the car,

filled to the brim.

“Perfect. You get one; I’ll get the other. Wait until they kiss.”

They stood at opposite sides of the car, looking out in the direction

of the mall. The band kids were quiet, too, used to remaining silent

until their cue. For a long time, Julia could only see the lights of the mall, the faint green of trees that lined the road to it from the harbor.

She could hear the ocean, and the sound of cars on the highway. Her

knuckles hurt from how hard she was gripping the bucket, and for a

JULIA 211

second she closed her eyes and wished for this whole thing to fail, for

Gretchen to admit that she was not interested in Dave in the least,

that she’d been faking it, just like Julia and Dave had faked their way

through most of the Nevers.

Then Dave and Gretchen stepped out from the shadows, smiles

plastered on both of their faces. Julia turned and motioned for the

orchestra to begin playing. Even Julia couldn’t help but smile as the

couple came closer. She could see exactly when Gretchen read the

writing on Julia’s car, and she hoped that the happiness in her eyes was real, because that’s what Dave deserved.

“Ha!” Gretchen cried out, beaming at the sound of the string section

getting louder. “Guns N’ Roses!” She turned to face Dave and threw

her arms around his neck. “You are insane. A crazy rose serenading me

with clichés.”

“I had help.” Dave shrugged, glancing at Julia, tearing her heart

apart just like that, then wrapping his arms around Gretchen’s waist.

“Is that a yes?”

“I would have said yes at the first rose.”

As the music crescendoed, Julia threw fistfuls of shredded rose

petals into the air, using the shower of red and white as an excuse to

avert her eyes. This was how she could love Dave. From exactly this

distance. Within sight but apart. Cheering him on, providing whatever

happiness she could provide for him. As his best friend.

212 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES

ROAD TRIPPOSAL

HOMEROOM, AS USUAL, was more or less a shit show. Ms. Romero

was checking her Facebook when Julia walked in with her tardy slip

in hand. Dave was on his feet with a smile on his face, chatting with

Jenny Owens and that guy that always smelled like cheese. Julia waved

and kept her earbuds in, but Dave still sidestepped backpacks and

chairs to come over and give her a wordless high five before returning

to whatever conversation he was having.

Julia laid her head on her desk, trying to sleep but mostly watching

Dave. She hadn’t managed to fall asleep the night before. At first it’d

been the adrenaline of executing the plan so well. But even after her

eyelids felt swollen with tiredness, her mind was a flurry of thoughts.

Nothing too obvious like being heartbroken. More like a bunch of

little things, debris caught in a tree after a storm. What her mom

was like in high school, whether she would have done something as

cliché as love her best friend silently, whether she was finally going to come. Whether anyone would ever know about all the Nevers, or if in

a few months her college friends would have no idea that this period

of her life had ever existed. She wondered if there was some sort of

expiration date to her friendship with Dave as she knew it, if it was

possible that it had already passed.

The bell rang out and everyone gathered their belongings and took

their conversations to the hallways, where girls were taking selfies and a couple of jock types were throwing granola bars at each other, picking them up only to reload and shoot again. When the game lost its fun,

they left the crumbled remains on the ground like spent ammunition.

Julia followed Dave and they wordlessly tossed the mess in the trash.

Then they went to his locker, where he replaced one of the binders in

his backpack with a different binder that was hidden under piles of

loose-leaf paper.

“Hey, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Thanks for softening the blow by announcing that a surprise will

be coming.”

“Why do I even talk to you in the mornings?”

“Because despite your new position as the center of attention, you

still crave the intimacy of someone who really gets you, and only I fill that role?”

“Deep.”

Julia laid her head against the row of lockers. “These should be lined

with pillows.”

Dave rummaged through his