say again.
“Even prom?”
“Even prom,” I repeat. “I didn’t go last year either.”
We walk all the way across campus to the gymnasium, where there are a bunch of my fellow classmates running around, trying their best to follow the orders of the girl standing around in the middle with the megaphone. “I’m guessing that’s Stephanie?” I say under my breath.
“Nathan! There you are.” She runs toward us before Nathan can answer, eyeing the cans. “Is that the paint?”
“Well, Steph, it’s not chocolate pudding.”
“Funny,” she says, while aggressively not laughing. “Okay, you two go ahead and get to painting the stage pieces, we need those first.”
“Oh, I’m not in—” I start to say, but she shushes me with a hand.
“Didn’t ask. I name you an honorary student council member, we’ll get you credit hours if you need them. Now get to work.” Stephanie points to the large wooden panels propped up on the stage. “Now!” she screeches into her megaphone when we don’t immediately run onto the stage. Stephanie almost earns herself a can of paint emptied on her precious gym floor for that.
“Sorry, she can be a little …” Nathan considers his words carefully. “‘Abrasive’ is the nicest word that comes to mind.”
“Meleika is going to kill me.” I climb the short ladder to the stage.
“When she finds out Stephanie dragged you into this, she’ll forgive you, no worries.”
“Why are you guys waiting until the week of?” I grab the screwdriver from the toolbox on the stage and pop open the paint can, reaching for the wooden stir stick.
“We were more behind than we realized, and now we’re scrambling.” Nathan eyes the boards in front of us. “At least we won’t need these pieces until Friday.”
“Are you going to dress up the rest of the week?” I swipe the excess paint on the edge of the can and pour it slowly into a tray.
Today’s theme was simple: school pride. Everywhere I looked, there were people dressed in royal blue and gold. Nathan’s sweater is less royal than azure, but with the gold trim at the bottom I don’t think anyone’s going to challenge him on the specific shade.
“Yes, and where is your blue and gold, my friend?” he asks.
“Don’t have anything,” I say. I probably should’ve dressed up. I have a feeling I’ll need the points in English.
“You don’t want to dress up? Tacky Thursday is going to be fun.”
“Tacky Thursday?” I eye him.
“You dress up in your tackiest clothes!”
“Of course!” I try to mimic his enthusiasm.
“Where’s your school spirit?” Nathan pops the lid off his own can.
“Don’t really have any.” I roll my brush through the deep blue. “Are we just painting this whole thing?” I ask.
“Yeah, top to bottom, then we paint the gold stars.”
“Fun.” I let the brush roll onto the wood. “So how did the quiz go?”
He scoffs. “Which one?”
“You had two today?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, bless your heart,” I say. “How did Algebra go?”
Stephanie shouts something into her megaphone again. Thankfully it’s not directed at us, but it’s enough to make the two of us jump. Nathan just rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
His smile gives him away. “Passed. At least, I think I did.”
“Nice,” I say.
“The test was easier than I thought. I triple-checked everything too, and it came out the same almost the whole test!”
“I told you that you could do it.”
“Boys! You aren’t painting!” Stephanie’s voice echoes through the megaphone again.
“Yeah, yeah.” Nathan waves her off.
“So stop flirting and paint!” she yells.
I feel my face get hot and I turn forward, focusing on where exactly my brush is going. I’ve already missed a few spots anyway. “That’s great, about your test,” I say.
“I owe you, De Backer.”
“Oh, you don’t … really …” I stammer.
“Come on, let me treat you. Whatever you want to do, we’ll go out this weekend.”
“I’ve already got plans, sorry.” Hannah had mentioned going out and doing a little shopping. I wasn’t really planning on going with her, but it could be fun.
“Get to thinking, because I owe you. Big-time.”
“Okay,” I say, and try to get back to the painting, but every few seconds my eyes sort of drift down, and he’s there, right in the corner of my vision. I don’t want to grin, but I can’t help myself. And when he catches me, Nathan looks up, and he’s smiling too.
“So how has your week been?” is the first thing Dr. Taylor asks me when I sit down in her office. I’d been digging into my hands the entire drive over